Google Flights unveils new feature to help travellers save money and reveals most-searched holiday spots

Regular users of Google Flights might notice a new feature the next time they go to the site to check out airline schedules and compare flight prices.

The new feature officially announced on Monday morning in a news release is Google guidance on the cheapest time to book a flight, which supplements price tracking alerts and a price guarantee option already in place.

And whether you want to follow or avoid the holiday crowds, the search engine behemoth has some intel there as well.

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It released the most-searched destinations on Google Flights so far this year for trips departing from December 20, 2023, to January 5, 2024, from US airports. The resort of Cancun in Mexico takes the top spot.

A spokesperson for Google confirmed with 7NEWS.com.au the new insights were available globally, including Australia.

New money-saving feature

Here’s what to expect on the new feature, plus some details on the others:

Cheapest time to book: Google Flights said it already lets users see whether current prices for a search are low, typical or high compared with past averages for the same route.

But starting this week, searches that have reliable trend data will also let users see in what time frame prices have typically been lowest.

Users can then better decide whether to book now or later, Google said in the release.

The spokesperson said that the insights aggregate how airfares for various route and date combinations have changed over time and identifies when prices have typically been the lowest.

Price tracking: Users who want to wait for lower fares before booking can use a price tracking feature that “can do most of the heavy lifting for you,” Google said.

People who enable price tracking will be automatically notified if flight prices drop “significantly,” Google said. It can be set up to track for specific dates or for “any dates” price tracking. Users must be logged into their Google accounts to use this.

Google also said the best time to book flights for Christmas holidays is around early October.

“Average prices tend to be lowest 71 days before departure — a big change from our 2022 insights, which found that average prices were lowest just 22 days before departure,” Google said in the release.

- with 7NEWS.com.au