I travel by air about once a month, and several times a year with my family of four, so finding the best rates on air travel is a rather regular theme in my life.
Before I book any trip, I always use Google Flights as my first search tool. While Google's flight booking platform is not always the cheapest route, it is one of the simplest ways to look for flights.
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How to book a flight on Google Flights
To book a flight with Google Flights, first you should sign into your Google account on your Mac or PC. You can go through most of the process without doing so, but your research will be lost if you close your browser without signing in.
1. Navigate to Google Flights on your PC or Mac computer.
2. Click on "Round trip" to select from the dropdown menu whether you're looking for a round trip, one-way, or multi-city ticket.
3. Then, next to the ticket type option click on "1 passenger" to select how many tickets you need. Click on the blue "+" icon to add a passenger to that category, or the "-" sign to take off the passenger.
4. Then, click on "Economy" to select the class of ticket you're looking for.
5. In the box on the bottom-left enter the airport code or the name of the city or airport you'd fly out of. In the box on the right enter the airport code or city or airport name that you'd like to fly to.
6. For a roundtrip flight, in the boxes on the far-right, click the box on the left to select the date that you'd like to leave in the pop-up window. Then, click on the date that you'd like to return in the pop-up calendar. You can click the arrow in the middle of the box on the right to see the next month.
7. For a one-way flight, click the box on the right and select the date for your flight in the pop-up calendar.
8. For a multi-city trip, select a date for your first flight by clicking the box on the far-right, and then click the blue "Add Flight" button in the bottom-left of the window. Another flight should pop-up underneath the first flight. Select the destinations and date for your trip. You can add up to five flights to a multi-city trip.
- Multi-city trips are useful if you want to visit multiple places and conveniently search and book your tickets all at once. For example, with a multi-city search you could find the best deals for your three week trip from New York to New Orleans to Italy and then back to New York without having to do multiple searches.
9. Once you've selected your dates click the blue "DONE" button at the bottom of the window.
10. Once you're done entering all of your flight info, click the blue "Search" button at the bottom of the window.
11. On the next page, a list of flights will be shown. If you selected roundtrip, these will be the options for your departing flight. If you selected multi-city, these will be the options for your first flight. The top three results are what Google deams your "best options," which it decides by comparing their convenience and price with other options.
12. You can change the order and comparison of flights by clicking the arrows next to "Sort by:" in the top-right and selecting from the dropdown menu how you'd like to sort your flight options. You can filter flights using the options at the top. You can also see more flights by clicking the "More" dropdown option (though they will be much pricier).
13. Select your flight by clicking on it. If you selected a roundtrip flight, then on the next page select your return flight as well. If multi-city, select all of your remaining flights.
14. Once you've selected all of your flights you will be taken to a page with the flight(s) that you selected, the price, your booking options, and any other information relevant to your trip, such as extra baggage costs.
15. Under "Booking options," click the blue "Select" box next to the airline or travel site that you'd like to purchase your ticket from.
16. You will now be taken either directly to the page of the airline or travel site to complete your booking, or if the option says "Book on Google," you'll be able to fill out your information and purchase the ticket directly on Google Flights.
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Related coverage fromHow To Do Everything: Tech:
How to find and track flights using Google Flights to get the best deal on your next flight
How to add flight details to your Google Calendar manually or automatically
How to add a boarding pass to your Google Pay app
How to add holidays to your Google Calendar on desktop or mobile
How to print your Google Calendar for a specific range of time using a computer
Freelance Writer
Steven John is a freelance writer living near New York City by way of 12 years in Los Angeles, four in Boston, and the first 18 near DC. When not writing or spending time with his wife and kids, he can occasionally be found climbing mountains. His writing is spread across the web, and his books can be found at www.stevenjohnbooks.com.
