Google Search adds new travel features to save on flights and hotels

Ahead of the busy travel season, Google is launching a few new Google Search features. The features aim to help users find and save on flights and hotels and find things to do while on vacation.

In a blog post, the tech giant announced it’s rolling out three new Search features travelers should find pretty handy. These new additions include a feature that will make it easier to browse hotels on mobile, a price guarantee for flights, and something that will help users find things to do while on their trip.

Browsing Hotels

Between reading reviews and looking at prices, searching for hotels using a phone wasn’t exactly the best experience. But Google’s hotel browsing feature appears to optimize the mobile experience, making it a bit easier. Now if you look for something like “Soho London hotels” and tap on view more, Google says you’ll be presented with “a new option to explore each property in a swipeable story format.”

When you’re there, you can swipe through photos of the hotel, save the hotel, pull up more details about the area, and view a summary of what people find notable about the hotel. After you’re done, you can swipe up to continue browsing.

Saving on flights

Possibly the most interesting feature is the new price guarantee badge. The company describes the feature as “a new pilot program for price guarantees in the US.” While users could already see whether prices were low, typical, or high, this new badge points out what Google thinks is the lowest price available for a flight before takeoff.

Google also says that it will continually monitor prices every day. If there’s a better price, Google will send users the difference through Google Play.

We’ll monitor the price every day until departure, and if it does go down, we’ll send you back the difference via Google Pay. Now you can book with the confidence that you’re not missing out on a great deal. During this pilot program, price guarantees are only available for ‘Book on Google’ itineraries that depart from the United States.

Finding things to do

The last feature is designed to help users discover experiences and top attractions in the area of their vacation. According to Google, when you look for an attraction or tour company, “you’ll find prices directly on their listing, plus a link to book your ticket.” In addition, attractions will come with suggestions for other similar experiences.

This announcement comes only days after the company revealed new features for verifying information. This included a Perspectives feature and an “About this result” tool.