Summer is in full swing, a time when millions of Americans will embark on their annual vacations, either domestically or abroad. Data from Skyscanner shows that roughly 62% of those who plan to take a summer vacation have already booked their trips. Around 38% have not yet bought their tickets.
If you’re among those who still need to book flights for a July or August vacation, you may worry that buying airfare at this late stage might cost an arm and a leg.
But according to Google Flights’ product lead, James Byers, the platform has three lesser-known features that can actually help you secure summer flight deals.
Use the Date Grid to see how flexibility could save you money
Most people use Google Flights like any other flight aggregator: they enter the departure and arrival cities and their travel dates to see what options Google Flights spits out. While this is an efficient way to search for flights when your dates are fixed, you may miss out on big savings if you have more flexibility in your travel plans.
Of course, even people with flexible travel plans don’t want to spend hours entering different dates into Google Flights looking for the best deals. That’s why Byers recommends that anyone with flexible travel plans use the platform’s date grid and price graph to quickly see how changing a departure or arrival date could save them money.
“The date grid shows how prices change if you make slight adjustments to your departure or return dates (for example, departing on Thursday instead of Friday),” Byers explains. “The price graph shows how airfares change for a trip of whatever duration you’re considering, when you look across several months.”
You can access the date grid and price graph from any Google Flights results page. Below the “View Price History” bar on the results page, you’ll see the Date grid and Price graph buttons. Click either to quickly skim through a chart or graph to find dates on which you can get lower flights to the destinations you want to go to.
Include multiple airports or cities in your search
If you live between two major cities, or your arrival destination is near two major cities, you are likely missing out on potential deals by searching only for a single departure or arrival spot. But you can greatly expand your flight options—and find potential deals—by widening your search in Google Flights to include more locations.
“Maybe you live between two cities, like New York and Philadelphia, or you’re open to different arrival cities, like Rome or Milan,” says Byers. “You can search across all these options by adding multiple cities to either your origin or destination….That way you can mix and match airports to get the best deal.”
To do this, in the Google Flights search bar, click the + button after you’ve entered your first departure or arrival city. This lets you add another airport or city to the same departure or arrival field, which returns more flight options—and potential deals—than searching for a single location.
Combine price tracking alerts with refundable fares
A final Google Flights tip Byers suggests that can help you save big is to combine Google Flights’ price-tracking alerts with refundable fares. This is especially helpful if your flight dates aren’t flexible, but you think there’s a chance that cheaper flight options could become available for your trip in the future.
“If you know you need to fly on certain dates but think prices could drop before departure, you might try booking a refundable fare first and then turning on price tracking alerts after the fact,” says Byers. “This way, you’ll get an email if prices drop for the flight you’ve already booked, giving you the option to cancel and rebook to get an even better deal.”
To do this, first perform a regular search with Google Flights to find and book a refundable fare. Then, from the Google Flights’ search results page for your itinerary, toggle the “Track Prices” switch on. If Google finds a cheaper deal, it will send you an email notification, and you can decide whether it’s worth it to cancel your refundable fare and book the new, cheaper flight.
Of course, before you do any of this, make sure the fare you originally booked is actually fully refundable.
The best time to book summer airfare, according to Google Flights
Even if you haven’t booked your summer flights yet, there’s some good news—if you’re traveling domestically. Byers says that Google data shows that “the lowest prices for those trips have historically been available 21 days before departure,” noting that “14-43 days is the low price range.”
That means that if the vacation you are looking to take is in the latter part of July or any of August, there’s still a good chance you can nab some airfares on the lower end of the price range (again, provided your destination is within the United States).
For those planning on traveling internationally in July and August, unfortunately, “the story is a bit different,” according to Byers.
“The lowest prices have been 49 days or more before departure,” he says. “If you’re traveling abroad, our best guidance is: Don’t delay, and book early!”