Finally! Google Flights adds ability to filter out basic economy, launching flight deals
This has been a big point of frustration among Google Flights users for years, and now there's a fix.
Google just introduced the ability to filter out basic economy fares in its search results. This should make it far easier for travelers to easily compare prices without wondering whether they're viewing a restrictive, no-frills ticket.
TPG had been asking for a long time whether the site planned to deploy this feature, and we just learned that it will soon be live for all users.
Google started rolling out the basic economy exclusion this week (under the seating class selector). According to Google, it should be available to everyone over the coming weeks, if not sooner.
You can now ditch basic economy fares in your Google Flight search results
It's a feature many of us have been clamoring for: the ability to screen out basic economy tickets. After all, these slimmed-down tickets can come with all sorts of restrictions. For instance, Delta Air Lines won't let you earn SkyMiles or access Sky Clubs on basic tickets, and United Airlines won't let flyers on basic fares bring a full-size carry-on bag on board.
But until now, it was often hard to tell whether the price you were seeing on Google Flights was for a full-fare or a basic coach ticket.
Now, you can choose which type of coach fare you see. Google has been testing this new feature with a select group of users, and now this option is expanding.
Here's what it looks like when I use the new feature on my cell phone to search between New York and San Francisco. As you can see, there's a dropdown bar in the type of fare section.
Google Travel is launching flight deals
Google is also launching "Flight Deals," a new AI-powered search tool within Google Flights.
"Flight Deals is designed for flexible travelers whose number one goal is saving money on their next trip," Google said in a blog post announcing the news. "You can describe when, where and how you'd like to travel, and Flight Deals will take care of the rest.
To see the best bargains available, try searching for something like "week-long trip this winter to a city with great food, nonstop."
"Flight Deals uses Google's advanced AI models to understand the nuances of what you're looking for and then taps into live Google Flights data to quickly show you relevant, up-to-date options," Google told TPG.
For now, Flight Deals is in beta testing only "to see how AI can improve travel planning."
I'll do a deep dive into Flight Deals as it expands in the next few weeks and months. For now, it will start in the U.S., Canada and India.
Look for that article soon.
Bottom line
Google is rolling out some great new features to its popular Google Flights pages, including (finally) the ability to screen out basic economy fares in search results.
Google Flights is one of my favorite tools for hacking travel, and I've been writing about Google Flights for years. In fact, I've written the definitive guide to Google Flights.
These are welcome additions to an already powerful arsenal of deal-hunting tools for flights.
I also wrote a complete guide to Google Flights Explore, an incredible feature within Google Flights. Click that link to explore it further.
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