Google, the search giant, has announced that it is rolling out a new set of travel search tools inside its Google Travel portal. This includes new flight tools such as Trip-planning features including Google showing you fares of flights for specific dates between two cities and also notifying the user for when airline ticket costs go down.
Google, in a blog post, said that until now, you could just search for your destination, toggle to opt-in, and Google would email you if prices drop substantially for the dates you selected. Now, you can start tracking prices to find deals for any dates, and you’ll get an email if Google detects lower than typical flight fares in the next 3-6 months.
Further, the Explore tool lets you browse locations around the world with filters for things like budget or trip length. In the default view, Explore will show flight prices, but now you’ll also see a pink dot and a bubble that reads ‘Explore nearby’. One can use this feature to narrow down their search to places they can drive to in a few hours, and select any destination to see “helpful information including average hotel prices or what kind of weather to expect”.
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For some trips, you may want easy access to a certain landmark or address. Now, you can enter that location in the hotel or vacation rental search bar and you’ll see a toggle to show properties within a 15 or 30 minute trip by foot or car. “This might be helpful if you’re going to an event, like a wedding or a conference, and want to stay near the venue”, said Google.
For the vacation dreamers and planners, Google has introduced a new way to keep track of properties that pique your interest so you can pick up your travel planning where you left off. You can tap the bookmark icon on any hotel or vacation rental, and it’ll be saved for easy reference.