Christmas is just a few weeks away and that means millions of Americans are preparing to travel this month. Indeed, 606,218 domestic flights were scheduled in December 2023, according to reports from the US Department of Transportation – and we expect an even busier 2024.
If you're one of the millions of people planning to travel by plane for the holiday season, you may be looking for the cheapest airfare available – and Google Flights has a feature to help.
On October 16, Google unveiled a new “Cheapest” tab on Google Flights to help travelers save money and easily find super cheap flights. Here's how it works and how it got me super cheap tickets for trips I couldn't wait to book.
Learn more: Southwest Airlines flights are now available on Google Flights
How I found the cheapest flights on Google Flights
To get started, I looked at Google Flights, which you can do by going to www.google.com/travel/flights or by searching for “Google Flights”.
The “Cheapest” tab groups flights strictly based on price.
Now all you have to do is enter your trip details and tap the “Cheapest” tab to browse the lowest priced options available.
In my testing, I tried to book a flight from Charlotte to Philadelphia from Friday, January 17 to Tuesday, January 21 to visit an old college friend. The platform first took me to a “Best” tab, which displays flights ranked by convenience and price. Next, I moved on to the “Cheapest” tab, which displays flights strictly based on price. Under the “Best” tab, the airfare started at $219 for an American Airlines flight. Under the “Cheapest” tab, the airfare started at just $76 for a nonstop Frontier flight. The caveat, however, is that the Frontier flight requires an additional fee to bring a carry-on bag.
To get an idea of how cheap domestic flights can be, I experienced routes from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and from Atlanta to Boston, and from New York to Denver, and I found that many flights cost less than $400 – and some cost around $400. or less than $200.
I was also curious what impact this new feature would have on the cost of international flights. Visiting Vienna is at the top of my travel list and I've always dreamed of booking a trip during the city's ball season, which peaks in January and February. I simulated a trip from Charlotte to Vienna between Monday, January 20 and Monday, January 27, and almost 150 flight options were available for those dates. Premium ticket prices ranged from $850 to over $1,000, but the cheapest price was $504. As someone who constantly follows flights to Vienna, a plane ticket costing $500 is a steal.
While $500 is quite affordable for a flight to Europe, the problem is that this flight itinerary includes three stops on the return flight, including an overnight stopover. Departing and returning flights are also self-transfers, which involves booking two or more separate flights with different airlines. This can save a lot of money, but requires more in-depth planning and research.
How does the “cheapest” feature work?
To consolidate the cheapest options, Google Flights has expanded its flight offerings from third parties, such as online travel agents, and offers flight routes that may be less convenient, such as flights with longer layovers or booking different legs of the journey with different airlines or reservation providers.
The “Cheapest” tab feature rolled out globally in October and November, ahead of the peak holiday travel season. We have already covered the cheapest times to book flights based on destination and time of year, and now Google Flights offers a new upgrade when cost is a higher priority than convenience to maximize your travel budget.
