How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker

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Google Flights has two great features you might not be using that could save you significant time and money.

 

The first—Google Flights Price Tracker—monitors the ups and downs of airfares for you. I detail six easy steps to use it to its fullest potential below. 

 

The second—Google Explore—shows all the places you can fly and drive from your origin point. Learn more about it in my article, “Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore.”

Table Of Contents

What is Google Flights Price Tracker?

Google Flights is a top airfare search engine. And it is the first travel planning website many seasoned airline travelers go to research route options and fare prices.

 

Using the price tracker tool found in Google Flights allows you to follow the ups and downs of a specific route or fare by receiving emailed alerts. 

 

Once you see a price you like in an alert, you can buy your ticket directly from the airline or an OTA (online travel agency)—Google Flights does not sell them. 

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Though—this works best when you have time before your trip and when you can use the tracker to watch the fare pattern over several weeks or months before deciding to buy.

 

If you need to purchase a last-minute ticket or even a few weeks out, skip using the tracker. And instead, buy the best ticket price you can find at the time.

 

As the date of your travel approaches and the supply of available seats shrinks, you can—at best—expect fares to stay flat. It is far more likely that airfares will increase.

Using Google Flights Price Tracker: 6 Easy Steps

Find the price tracker feature on the desktop and mobile versions of Google Flights. I outline six quick steps on how to use it below.

6 Steps to Using Price Tracker:

Do you prefer to learn how to use Google Flights Price Tracker by watching a video? View my YouTube tutorial below.

Play Video about Cover image for Gather & Go Travel's You Tube how-to video for how to use Google Flights Price Tracker

1. Go to the Google Flights Website

To find Google Flights, enter “Google Flights” into Google’s search engine and click on the top result. Or click here

2. Log into Your Google Account

You must log into a Google account for the price tracker feature to display.  Google will only send alerts to the email associated with your Gmail account. 

 

If you do not have a Google account, sign up to get one here.

3. Enter Your Flight Information

Input your departure and destination airports and travel dates to kick off your search. Also, specify the type of fare (e.g., round-trip, economy, etc.).

 

Watch the brief video below for a demo.

Play Video about Google Flights entering flight information for Rome screenshot.

In the example above, I input a route from Chicago to Rome. Once I enter my return date and click “Done” in the fare calendar, Google auto-generates my fare results page, as shown below.

 

Although the fares are looking well-priced, I am buying for four people. So, even if I can use the price tracker feature to save $50-100 per ticket, it is worth it.

4. Customize Your Search Results

Before I turn on the price tracker, I want to customize my search to display only flights that meet my travel needs and preferences

 

In my Rome example, I want to find an affordable and shorter-duration flight. We have limited time to travel. So, I would love to avoid spending a chunk of my vacation on a flight with a long connection.

Customize These Flight Elements:

  • Number of stops
  • Specific airline
  • Number of carry-ons or checked bags 
  • Price: set limits for what you are willing to spend
  • Flight times
  • Emissions: search for flights with less emissions only
  • Layover duration: set time limits for your layover
  • Connecting airport: select your preferred connecting airport
  • Separate tickets: opt to hide multi-leg tickets booked on different airlines

To customize my search, I click the horizontal oval filter buttons at the top of my results page. And then, select my preferences from the drop-downs. The video demo below shows how to do this.

Play Video about Screenshot of Google Flights customized fare results for spring break fare from Chicago to Rome.

Because Chicago does not offer non-stop flights to Rome when I want to travel, I am looking for shorter flights with one-stop

 

From the filter buttons above, I click “Stops” and select “1 stop or fewer” from the drop-down. And from the “Duration” button, I set the drop-down slider to “under 15h.”

 

Customizing my search allows me to eliminate 29-hour flights like the one below. This way, I avoid including fares with unnecessarily long layovers in my tracking results.

5. Click on the "Track prices" Switch

Once I click the “Track prices” switch, I receive Gmail alerts for price increases or dips for the fares that meet my customized search.

 

In my example, this will include all flights from Chicago to Rome with one-stop or fewer and under 15 hours.

 

View the short video below for a demo. Notice the Google notification indicating you will receive price-change emails at the bottom of the screen.

Play Video about Screenshot of Google Flights fare search results for spring break trip from Chicago to Rome with the price tracker switch circled.

You can also set the tracker for a specific flight

 

For example, I can already see from my fare results that I like the United and Lufthansa ticket. The price is affordable, has a shorter duration, and leaves later, which helps me keep the kids in school that day. 

 

Plus, I have the lowest level of elite status on United Airlines. A round-trip ticket to Europe will help me retain my premier standing for next year.

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Because the fare is running more expensive than the others, I would like to track it. And ideally, buy it when and if the price falls.

 

In the video demo below, I show where to turn on the price tracker for a specific ticket. I also show where to adjust “Fare options” to see regular Economy ticket pricing.

Play Video about A screenshot of a Google Flights fare from Chicago To Rome highlighting where to track the specific ticket.

Although many travelers prefer to purchase Basic Economy tickets to save money, I find them too restrictive for family travel. So, I pay the premium for the regular Economy ticket to check bags, bring carry-ons, and select seats. 

 

If you prefer regular economy tickets too, know Google Flights price tracker will always default to showing the basic economy fare in your tracked results. 

 

To view the regular economy fare, you must manually select the regular economy ticket from “Fare options” each time you look at your tracked results. 

6. Get Your Price Alerts & Updates

Google will send price tracker alerts to your Gmail account address. You can wait to receive them—or view tracked activity on your Google Flights main page when you are signed in.

 

See the brief video demo below for the two places to find your tracked flights.

Play Video about A screenshot of a Google Flights main page highlighting where to find Price Tracker flight data.

To stop receiving updates for a tracked flight, visit the Google Flights main page and view your “Tracked prices” section, shown in the video above. Once on your tracked prices page, click the trash icon to remove the fare you no longer want to follow. 

 

In your “Tracked prices” section, you will also see the price history for your tracked flights. 

 

In my Rome example, my ticket history shows fares were running under $400 just over one month ago, indicating that I should have bought them then. 

 

Looking at the history helps me gauge fare patterns, giving me helpful information to make buying decisions.

What Google Flights Does Not Do

Google Flights does not track fare pricing for all carriers and all flights. 

 

You will not see fare pricing for US-based Southwest airlines and a few Asian airline carriers. Find an up-to-date list of airlines not included in Google Flights fare results on Scott’s Cheap Flight’s website.

 

Depending on your destination, you may need to search for fares on individual carriers to get a complete picture of your travel options. 

Takeaways

Google Flights Price Tracker is an excellent time and money-saving fare monitoring tool.

 

It takes a few minutes to set up. And it works best for travelers who plan their trips with time to spare and can wait out flight price ups and downs before they make their purchase.

Price Tracker Will Help You:

Save time.

Let Google do the work for you. Receive email alerts for fare price changes—no need to monitor prices on your own.

Spend less.

Recognize the best pricing. View the price history of a flight to see patterns. This history will show you when to buy your ticket.

Stay organized.

Easily keep track of the flights you want to take. Get alerts to your Gmail inbox or see tracker status on Google Flights.

Related Reading

If you are looking for more Google travel tools to help you save time and money, check out Google Explore, an open-ended fare and travel search. 

 

Use it to scan all the domestic and international fares quickly and easily that you can afford to fly from any departure point—and identify driving trip options for local trips.

 

Learn more about it in my article, “Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore.”

Love to travel? Sign up for my monthly Gather & Go Travel Discovery Newsletter and get a free trip budget calculator.

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Janice Moskoff in Positano, bio image for Gather and Go Travel website
About Me

Welcome to Gather and Go Travel, a blog inspiring families, adult friends, and couples to explore US and international destinations and to get outdoors. I am Janice, an experienced traveler to over 50 countries and a travel writer, book lover, and blogger. Learn more about me, read our story, and how to work with me.

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