TPG unique: Travel hacks from Google Flights, and an replace on primary economic system fares

Google Flights is one among our favourite instruments at TPG, however Google Travel goes nicely past cheaper flights — and it is consistently evolving, as I discovered in a current dialog with James Byers, group product supervisor for journey at Google.

We each agreed that Google Flights Explore is without doubt one of the best-kept secrets and techniques of Google Flights that will help you hack low cost journeys.

But whereas our speak centered on Google Travel’s greatest journey ideas, we additionally did some myth-busting and mentioned what’s subsequent for Google Flights.

Google additionally gave us an replace on the flexibility to display out primary economic system fares in searches at Google Flights. Some people at present have that energy, but it surely’s only a check for now — most customers will nonetheless see primary economic system fares in Google Flights searches in the intervening time. But keep tuned: Google guarantees that if and when it is rolled out on a wider scale, TPG will know first.

Read on for Google’s prime ideas, what’s forward and our dialog round primary economic system — and take a look at the video beneath for the total interview.

Google Flights Explore and different key instruments

Byers and I share a favourite device — Google Flights Explore. “You can search without a destination in Google Flights and see a whole range of possibilities on a map and then continue on to filter them,” stated Byers. “[You can] look at trip length and budget and kind of find that trip you might not have expected, and, in fact, the majority of our users are destination flexible.”

Using Google Flights Explore isn’t difficult. Once you strive it, you may be as addicted as we’re. “Explore really scratches that itch when users are trying to figure out where to go next,” Byers added.

Byers calls out just a few different Google Flights instruments as “classics for power users.” But he stated many individuals nonetheless do not use the date grid and value graph options inside Google Flights.

“So when you’re looking for when to fly and you want to see what leaving a day earlier or a day later might do for you, the date grid is a great option to kind of visualize what those small changes might make,” stated Byers. By the identical measure, he continued, “The price graph lets you look across a whole range of dates for a same duration trip, and see how prices fluctuate over time.”

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Google Flights takes those search options further into geographic flexibility as well, allowing users to search multiple origins and destinations at once. Byers highlighted this tool as another hidden gem to expand users’ possibilities.

To explain, he laid out how strategically spreading out your airports could help you plan your next Italian adventure, for example. Say you’re on the East Coast, and “could drive to Philadelphia or drive to New York,” suggested Byers. Similarly, you’re not terribly tied to where in Italy you want to go — Rome or Milan, for example, could do equally nicely. “You could put in both [New York and Philadelphia], and then choose Milan and Rome as your destination[s], and see all the combinations filtered by best [to] see what might work for you.”

With a bit of flexibility, these filters can really help you save big bucks on a dream vacation.

Byers also pointed to a major Google investment in notifications, including price alerts that monitor changes in pricing over time.

“Knowing … when the right time is to book, setting a notification and letting us … tell you as prices change lets you hone in with confidence on that great-price ticket,” said Byers. “And I’m sure you know, as many Points Guy readers know, that feeling of booking a really well-priced flight … it’s a great feeling.”

Full conversation with Google’s James Byers

Basic economy filter coming to Google Flights?

Recently, some Google Flights users have reported that they have the ability to filter out basic economy fares. I asked if that was something Google was ready to roll out on a wider scale.

“Well, it’s something we’ve been experimenting with for a while,” said Byers. “We think there’s a real continued need to invest in the fundamentals of finding flights. You’ll see that with features potentially like basic economy in the future, and best versus cheapest, [which] we launched recently.”

Sadly, he said Google wasn’t ready to make an announcement now — but Byers said TPG readers would hear first.

At TPG, our advice has consistently been to book domestic flights one to three months ahead of time, and to book international travel three to five months in advance. Byers concurs: “There’s some market to market specifics where there’s a little bit of a later or earlier advice that we give. But, generally speaking, that’s consistent with what we see.”

“We know there’s a lot of strong feelings about that magical day,” he adds, “but it’s not a huge difference.”

What about the myth that clearing the cookies off your browser will score you a better deal? The idea is that since your browser sees what market you’re currently shopping in, retailers will change the price to what they think they can get out of you.

“For Google Flights,” Byers says, “it’s false. We show the same price across all of our users within a particular country.”

“Sometimes airlines do have country-based or point of sale-based pricing,” he adds, “but within a country the price isn’t changing by Google’s influence. … We’re always showing the same prices [across markets] — they’re just changing really, really often.”

Bottom line

Byers and I also discussed some trends for the rest of 2025 and 2026. Byers said he’s seen a big surge of interest in solo travel. He and I also agreed that artificial intelligence is certainly coming for our travel bookings — but that for now, consumers still love to hunt for bargains on their own.

“Users really love finding deals,” said Byers. He also pointed out that there’s been a big uptick in interest in travel hacks recently — something we love to cover at TPG.