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Breaking news, faa warns of impacts to air travel during great north american eclipse.
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The Federal Aviation Administration is warning travelers and pilots the total solar eclipse in April could snarl air traffic, especially at airports located in what is known as the path of totality.
The FAA posted what it called “special air traffic procedures” on its website Thursday that listed the possible impacts on the industry and what airports could be subject to operational changes.
Hundreds of airports are either located in the path totality or are close enough in proximity to service aviators interested in the phenomenon.
The bulletin includes major airports such as Dallas-Fort Worth International, Indianapolis International and Cleveland International.
Starting before noon on April 8, the Moon will completely block the Sun for several minutes, leading to temporary darkness that will begin over Texas and travel over 15 states.
All of the Lower 48 will be subject to a partial event, but communities that are under what space experts call the umbra will have prime viewing of the narrow path of totality.
More than 30 million Americans are estimated to live in the path, with millions more expected to travel to states such as Texas, Ohio and New York to see the spectacle.
The event is similar to an eclipse that happened back in 2017, when the Sun was temporarily shielded by the Moon from coast to coast.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association reported air traffic during the previous event increased 20-40% at control centers that were in range of the path of totality.
The association said Indianapolis Center saw a 36% increase, its Seattle Center reported an uptick of 33% and Kansas City saw a 35% jump when compared to typical workday traffic.
While commercial traffic stays within a manageable range, air traffic controllers said the addition of civilian aircraft causes numbers to exceed holiday traffic volumes.
The combination of any type of weather systems on top of the increased traffic can lead to significant delays, like what happened to Chicago’s main airports during the event nearly seven years ago.
The FAA warns pilots that special restrictions may also be issued three to five days ahead of the event.
Neither the FAA nor the Transportation Security Administration have released specific guidance for passengers ahead of the eclipse, but as a general recommendation, airlines always suggest arriving at the airport at least two hours before departure.
Some airlines, such as Delta and Southwest, have offered special flights designated to view the path of totality from around 30,000 feet, but deals lasted only a few hours before selling out.
One of the last communities in the continental US to see the path of totality will be Houlton, Maine, where the entire event will be over by 5 p.m. EDT.
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The 7 Best Websites for Flight Deal Alerts [Don’t Miss Out!]
Katie Seemann
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Knowing the right time to purchase a flight can cause some travel anxiety. Of course, you want to buy at just the right time so you can get the best deal — but how in the world are you supposed to know when that is?
Luckily there are lots of websites that can help you out. These websites and mobile apps can keep track of your flights and alert you when the price changes so that you have a better chance at making your purchase at just the right time. Some even offer predictions to help you narrow down the perfect time even more.
Here are our recommended websites and apps that offer flight deal alerts — they’re all easy to set up and they’re (mostly) free .
Kayak has been around for a while and it’s a great tool to use to search for flights, hotels, rental cars, and more . It’s also handy when it comes to setting up flight deal alerts.
To set up a flight alert, you will need to first create an account, then you can turn on flight tracking for any flight search in the upper left-hand corner of your search results window. You may also see a pop-up in the lower right-hand corner allowing you to set up a price alert for the flight you’re searching for.
You can manage all of your flight deal alerts on Kayak by going to the Notifications section of your account.
One of the cool things about Skyscanner alerts is that you can set them up going to and from multiple airports. This can be helpful if you are in a place like New York City where you have easy access to more than 1 airport. Just be sure to select Add Nearby Airports right under your departure and arrival cities.
The first thing you’ll notice is that you have to sign up with Facebook or an email address before you can access Airfarewatchdog .
Once you’re in, you’ll see that this site looks like a lot of other sites — you can search for deals on flights, hotels, and more.
When you’re logged in, setting up an alert can be done in 2 ways. First, you can search for a flight and then check the box to add that flight to your alerts.
Another option is to click on My Alerts > See My Alerts in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. From there you can set up alerts about flights from your home airport, alerts about specific routes, and even hotel alerts. This is also where you can manage all of your active flight deal alerts.
That’s it! Now, your alert will be saved in your account and you’ll receive an email when there are good deals available. You can also easily unsubscribe from your alerts or put them on hold.
Airfarewatchdog is not a booking site, so when you see a flight you want to book, you’ll be directed to an online travel agency (like Priceline or Expedia ) to finalize your booking.
Hot Tip: Traveling soon? Check out these websites and apps for finding last-minute travel deals .
Google Flights is a popular way to search for the best flight deals. The site is easy to use and offers lots of features that make searching for a flight a breeze.
It’s easy to set up flight deal alerts on Google Flights — all you need to do is enter your search criteria and click on the toggle button that says Track prices above your search results list to get price alerts and travel tips by email. You’ll be able to get alerts for your specific travel dates or for any dates.
If you’re logged into Google, your alerts will automatically go to your Gmail address, otherwise, you will need to enter an email address.
To check on all of your tracked flights, click on the 3-line icon in the upper left-hand corner. Then click on Tracked flight prices . Here you’ll be able to see a graph of the flight prices since the day you set your alert.
Hopper is a mobile app that gives predictions to help you find the best time to book your flight. It’s so confident in its app, it claims 95% accuracy up to 1 year in advance!
You can view flights on the Hopper app without signing in, but you must create an account to set up an alert.
To set up an alert you first need to search for the flight you are interested in. Then, you’ll be able to watch when prices drop and you’ll get an alert if Hopper predicts that they are going to rise.
To set up a price alert, open the Hopper app and select Flights. Then input your destination and dates of travel. Then you’ll see Hopper’s prediction along with a button that will turn on flight notifications. You have to enable push notifications on your phone to receive alerts .
Going uniquely monitors the best flight deals from your home airport. So instead of choosing a specific flight to follow, you’ll select your home airport. The site will also recommend nearby and hub airports to follow for even more deals.
There are both free and paid memberships. While the free version will send you deals, it doesn’t include serious savings like mistake fares and cheap business class flights. Paid memberships cost either $49 or $199 per year.
Once you have signed up, you’ll see deals from the airports you selected. Click on any deal for more information including how long Going thinks the deal will last.
Hot Tip: Keep in mind that some airlines (mostly “low-cost carriers”) don’t show up on these online travel agencies, metasearch engines, or flight deal sites. If you often fly these airlines (think Southwest or Allegiant ), you’ll want to keep an eye on those flights on their respective websites.
FareCompare is another site that will send you flight deal alerts. Unfortunately, you’ll also get emails with travel tips. If you prefer to keep your inbox clean, this might be a deal-breaker.
To set up a flight deal alert on FareCompare, just enter your travel details, and be sure to click the box right underneath that says Alert me when prices change . When you click Find Flights you’ll be prompted to enter your email address if you aren’t already signed in.
FareCompare is a flight search engine, so if you find a flight you like you’ll be transferred to an online travel agency to complete your booking.
No one ever really knows the exact right time to purchase a plane ticket to save the most money. Unfortunately, there’s not a tried and true formula for the best time to buy a flight, but there are lots of sites out there that can help narrow down the window. When you keep track of the flights you are after, you’ll be able to keep tabs on price trends which will help you decide a good time to buy.
You can set up a flight deal alert so you’ll be notified right away if there is a change in price, and some sites even alert you when they are predicting prices will rise or fall.
While setting up a flight deal alert isn’t a guarantee you’ll save money, it sure does help to make an educated guess on when to book your next flight.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do i monitor flight prices.
There are lots of websites and mobile apps that will help you monitor flight prices. You can set up alerts on these sites so you’ll be notified when your flight price changes. Some of these sites will even offer predictions about when your flight price will go up or down. Check out these sites to set up flight deal alerts: Kayak, Skyscanner, Airfarewatchdog, Google Flights, Hopper, Going, and FareCompare.
What websites can help me get the best flight deals?
Getting a great deal on your next flight can be tricky — but if you set up a flight deal alert you’ll be notified if the price on your selected itinerary changes. Some sites and apps like Hopper will even offer predictions on the best time to purchase your flight to save the most money.
Do flights get cheaper closer to the date?
Flights don’t necessarily get cheaper closer to the date of departure. While sometimes you can find a good last-minute deal, it’s usually better to purchase plane tickets in advance. Use a site like Google Flights that lets you track flight prices and displays the information in a graph so you can see how a flight’s price changes over time.
What are the cheapest days to fly?
While some claim that Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are the cheapest days to fly, that’s not always the case. If you’re looking for the best flights, set up a flight deal alert monitoring your itinerary so you can get notified when your flight’s price drops.
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About Katie Seemann
Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure, Forbes Advisor, and Fortune Recommends.
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United Airlines announces miles pooling, seat preference alerts in new updates
United Airlines announced two updates this week aimed at making travel easier.
The airline is introducing a new way to collect and share miles among friends and family, known as miles pooling, and an app feature that will help you secure your preferred seat onboard.
According to United both features are about providing better value and flexibility to customers and are aimed at helping flyers tailor their trips to their own preferences.
Here’s what travelers need to know about the announcements and how to take advantage of the new features.
What is miles pooling?
United’s new MileagePlus feature allows frequent flyer program members to share miles with each other.
"We're always looking for new ways to provide the most value to all of our loyalty members," Luc Bondar, Chief Operating Officer of MileagePlus said in a statement . "MileagePlus miles pooling further reinforces United's position as the leader in family and group travel and gives our members more flexibility to use their miles while making it easier to connect to the destinations and moments that matter most, with the people that matter most."
The program allows groups of up to five people to share redeemable miles and apply the pot toward the price of a reward ticket.
According to United, here’s how the program works:
Any MileagePlus member age 18 or older can become a group leader and can invite up to four other members of any age into the pool. Members can transfer their miles to the pool by following instructions on the airline’s website or app.
“If a group of friends is planning an upcoming summer getaway and each friend has their own individual MileagePlus accounts with their respective number of miles, they can combine all, or a select amount of their personal miles into one central 'pool' that can be used to purchase flights and offset the cost of ticket prices,” the airline’s announcement said.
There is no limit to how many miles can be contributed to the pool.
Check out United’s website for full terms and conditions of the program.
How do seat alerts work?
The new feature in United’s mobile app lets you set your seating preferences so you’ll be notified if the one you like becomes available.
United began rolling out the option Friday.
It allows passengers to request their desired seat type (aisle, window or middle, including exit or bulkhead rows).
United will automatically change you to your preferred seat type if it becomes available up to 12 hours before departure and will notify you of the change.
“With up to three million users interacting with the United mobile app daily, United is continuing to bring helpful features to its app, and this is just the latest new app feature that gives customers more options and makes travel a breeze,” a statement from the airline said.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected]
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How to Use Flight Price Alerts to Save Money on Your Next Trip
This simple tip can help you score the best flight price for your next vacation.
Annika McFarlane/Getty Images
These days, everyone is looking for the best flight deals. But with prices fluctuating so frequently, how do you know when to book to get the best price? One helpful way to ensure you're getting a good deal is to sign up for flight price alerts, a free service offered by several travel companies.
"You can think of price alerts as your personal travel deal scout, helping you save time and money by tracking prices daily and alerting you in real-time when the price changes for a flight, hotel, or rental car you want," Kayla Inserra, Kayak’s consumer travel trends expert, tells Travel + Leisure . Kayak was one of the first travel companies to set up a price alert tool in 2006.
Here's everything you need to know about flight price alerts, from how to set them up to the best sites to use.
Related: The Best Time to Book a Flight for Domestic, International, and Summer Travel
How do flight price alerts work?
When you set a price alert with a certain company, that company will monitor flight prices for your specifications, including departure and arrival airports, dates, and airlines, and notify you when it’s the best time to book. Some services even allow you to set price alerts for broad parameters if you're particularly flexible with your travel plans, such as price alerts for an entire month or any destination in the world. Or you can be hyper-specific, selecting a particular flight for your price alerts. No matter what you set your specifications to, you'll receive a notification if the price changes for matching flights.
How to Set Up Flight Price Alerts
There are many ways to set price alerts, but you'll always have to select at least a few parameters, which could include origin, destination, and dates. Depending on the service you use, you'll likely be able to create an alert that suits your specific needs. For instance, if you are eyeing one specific flight, you can enter those flight numbers and track the price of that flight. But if you don't have a particular travel date in mind, you can select a date range, and the service will search for the best deals to your destination within that range.
"Flexibility is the best way to get the lowest airfares," Laura Lindsay, Skyscanner’s global travel trends expert, tells T+L . "To snag the best deal, set up price alerts for other airports close to your chosen locations and try different dates. This way, you’ll get notified if there are even better deals on alternate routes. You can also set multiple price alerts to keep your options wide open.
And here's another hack: You can set price alerts for flights you've already booked. If the price drops, you might be able to change your flight with your airline and receive the difference in the form of an e-credit. Just remember that e-credits do have expiration dates, so this hack only works if you plan on flying with your airline again within the next year or so.
Related: 10 Tips to Help You Score Cheap Last-minute Flights
The Best Flight Price Alert Services
Kayak is a metasearch engine that scours multiple sites for the best deals in travel, from airfare to hotels to car rentals. The most common way to set up a flight price alert is to search for flights on the site or in the app — inputting your origin, destination, and dates as you normally would — and set up a price alert for that search to find the best deal.
But that's not the only way to use Kayak's price alerts. "If you know exactly where you want to go but are not sure when, you can set up a flexible price alert to snag a low price to your destination," says Inserra. "As you create a new alert, select 'Flexible Dates' in the top navigation and enter your departure and arrival airports. You can make your travel dates anytime, upcoming weekends, or the month you’d like to travel. You’ll receive notifications for that route with whatever is the lowest price during the time period you selected."
And if your destination doesn't matter, you can even set up a price alert for the 25 most popular cities on Kayak, from London to Miami.
Skyscanner is another travel metasearch engine. As with Kayak, you can search for flights to and from specific destinations on specific dates, then set a price alert for that search. But you can also take advantage of Skyscanner's "everywhere" function to search all destinations in the world, either on specific dates or for an entire month. "If you want to get even more intel on when to book, check out the Savings Generator tool to understand the best time to book and the potential savings available for the most popular destinations for U.S. travelers," says Lindsay.
Google Flights
Google Flights is an easy-to-use flight metasearch engine that allows you to track prices for your searches. Once you input your search parameters, you can click "track prices" to receive alerts if those prices change. You can also see the price history for your flights, and Google Flights will let you know whether the current prices are average, high, or low for that route.
Metasearch engine Momondo might not have as much brand recognition as some of its competitors — at least in the U.S. — but it's a powerful tool for searching for flights. To set a price alert, search your origin, destination, and date, then toggle on price alerts for that search. Momondo also lets you know its predictions about whether or not it's a good time to book. You can click on "flight insights" for a detailed report about the best times to fly to your destination, including the cheapest months, cheapest days of the week, and cheapest airlines to fly.
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Alaska Airlines Flight Was Scheduled for Safety Check on Day Panel Blew Off
The 737 Max remained in service for a day after the airline’s engineers, concerned about warning lights, scheduled it to come in for maintenance. During that period, a door plug came off in flight.
By Mark Walker and James Glanz
A day before the door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5, engineers and technicians for the airline were so concerned about the mounting evidence of a problem that they wanted the plane to come out of service the next evening and undergo maintenance, interviews and documents show.
But the airline chose to keep the plane, a Boeing 737 Max 9, in service on Jan. 5 with some restrictions, carrying passengers until it completed three flights that were scheduled to end that night in Portland, Ore., the site of one of the airline’s maintenance facilities.
Before the plane could complete that scheduled sequence of flights and go in for the maintenance check, the door plug blew out at 16,000 feet, minutes after embarking on the second flight of the day, from Portland to Ontario International Airport in California.
The plane landed safely and no one was seriously injured, but the incident focused new attention on Boeing’s manufacturing processes and the safety procedures followed by airlines.
The scheduling of the maintenance check on the plane has not previously been reported. It demonstrates that the airline chose to keep the plane in service while it made its way toward the maintenance facility rather than flying it to Portland without passengers.
Alaska Airlines confirmed the sequence of events. But the airline said the warnings it had on the plane did not meet its standards for immediately taking it out of service.
Donald Wright, the vice president for maintenance and engineering for Alaska Airlines, said the warning signals — a light indicating problems with the plane’s pressurization system — had come on twice in the previous 10 days instead of the three times the airline considers the trigger to take more aggressive action.
Alaska Airlines has repeatedly asserted that there is no evidence that the warning lights, which could also be caused by electronic or other problems, were related to the impending plug blowout.
“From my perspective as the safety guy, looking at all the data, all the leading indicators, there was nothing that would drive me to make a different decision,” Max Tidwell, the vice president for safety and security for Alaska Airlines, said in an interview.
The airline’s engineers had called for the plane to undergo a rigorous maintenance check on Jan. 5 to determine why the warning lights were triggering based on their use of “a predictive tool” rather than on the number of times the warning lights had gone off, the airline said.
While it kept the plane in service, the airline did put restrictions on it following the recommendation of the engineers. It restricted the plane from flying long-haul routes over water, like to Hawaii, or remote continental areas in case of the need for an emergency landing.
Extensive evidence of a potential problem with the plane had been accumulating for days and possibly weeks, according to interviews with the airline and records of the investigation into the blowout. In addition to the flashing lights, investigators say the door plug had been gradually sliding upward, a potentially crucial link in the accumulating string of evidence. The airline said its visual inspection in the days leading up to the blowout did not reveal any movement of the door plug.
A door plug is a panel that goes where an emergency exit would be located on a plane with the option of expanding the number of passenger seats.
A preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board last month said that four bolts meant to secure the door plug in place were missing before the panel came off the plane. It outlined a series of events that occurred at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash., that may have led to the plane being delivered without those bolts being in place.
Mark Lindquist, a lawyer representing passengers on the Jan. 5 flight, said the series of mishaps involving the Alaska Airlines jet were alarming, adding that both the carrier and Boeing, the 737 Max 9’s manufacturer, would struggle to explain the events in court.
“When jurors find out they’d actually been cautioned by engineers to ground the plane and they put it into commercial rotation instead, jurors will be more than mystified — they’ll be angry,” Mr. Lindquist said.
In his court filing, Mr. Lindquist said that passengers on a previous flight heard a “whistling sound” coming from the area of the door plug. The documents say passengers brought the noise to the attention of the flight attendant, who then reported it to the pilots. When asked about the report, Alaska Airlines said it could not find any record of a report of whistling coming from the plane.
Almost a week before the blowout, the 737 had been taken out of service on Dec. 31 because of an issue with the front passenger entry and exit door. Records show the plane resumed service on Jan. 2. However, on Jan. 3, a pressurization warning light was triggered during at least one of the plane’s flights. Alaska Airlines officials said the plane was inspected by engineers and the carrier determined it was safe enough for the plane to continue flying.
The next day, the same light was again triggered.
A spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines said it was then that engineers and technicians scheduled the deeper inspection of the plane for the night of Jan. 5 in Portland. But the airline chose to keep the plane flying with passengers as it made its way across the country that day.
The revelations about the warning signs of a potential problem have raised questions about whether routine inspections should have been able to weave together various indications of an issue and avert the incident.
Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters last week that over the 154 flights the plane had flown since entering service in the fall, small upward movements of the door plug had left visible marks, and possibly created a gap between the panel and the fuselage.
Alaska Airlines officials said they did not notice any unusual gaps between the door plug and the plane’s fuselage during inspections on the days leading up to the door plug coming off.
Additional evidence includes the pressurization system lights on previous flights and the unconfirmed reports of a whistling noise.
Mark Walker is an investigative reporter focused on transportation. He is based in Washington. More about Mark Walker
James Glanz is a Times international and investigative reporter covering major disasters, conflict and deadly failures of technology. More about James Glanz
Boeing: A Company in Turmoil
Boeing is weathering a particularly difficult period: two fatal crashes, a loose panel that blew out during a flight, quality concerns and production slowdowns..
United’s Planes : An engine fire sparked by plastic packaging wrap, a tire lost shortly after takeoff and a plane veering off the runway: These are among several incidents that have occurred over two weeks on Boeing flights operated by United Airlines.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282: After a section of a plane headed for Ontario, Calif., blew out 10 minutes after it took off , there was increased scrutiny on the plane’s manufacturer: Boeing . The Justice Department has since launched a criminal investigation .
Quality Control Issues: An audit that was initiated by the Federal Aviation Administration after the Alaska Airlines incident found dozens of problems throughout Boeing’s manufacturing process and one of its key suppliers.
Whistleblower’s Death: John Barnett, a former quality manager for the company, was found dead in Charleston in March with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was set to testify in a lawsuit in which he accused Boeing of retaliation for his complaints about quality and safety.
At Fault: A report released in February by the Federal Aviation Administration said that Boeing’s safety culture remains flawed , despite improvements made after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Solving an Enduring Crisis: The Federal Aviation Administration has asked Boeing to produce an action plan to address quality control issues. We asked experts how Boeing should try and fix its longstanding problems .
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Find plane tickets on Google Flights
When you use Google Flights to find plane tickets, you can get the best fares for where and when you want to travel. Use Google flights to:
- Find and book round trip, one-way, and multi-city tickets.
- Use an interactive calendar and price graph to find the best fares.
- Filter your flight search by cabin class, airlines, and number of stops.
Google Flights allows you to book flights from more than 300 airline and online travel agency partners. These partnerships have no impact on the ranking of offers suggested to you.
Find your flights
- Go to Google Flights .
- Tip: You can also find destinations by clicking a popular destinations list or a world map.
- At the top, select your ticket type: one-way, round trip, or multi-city.
- At the top, select the number of passengers and cabin class.
- Tip: Flight prices are updated approximately once every 24 hours.
- To filter your results, click Stops , Airlines , Times , or More .
- Choose a flight for each part of your trip.
- When you click Select for your ticket(s), you’ll usually be taken to the airline’s website or online travel agency to complete the transaction.
- In some cases, you can book separate tickets for one trip .
- Once you’ve booked a flight, contact the airline or online travel agent to confirm your booking, change it, cancel it, or to resolve any issue that may arise.
For more info, refer to the airline or online travel agent's terms and conditions on their site.
Tip: If your flight can’t be booked online, you'll find instructions to book by phone.
Flight insights
After searching for your tickets, “Flight insights” gives you options to optimize your travel experience.
Booking separate tickets for one trip
Flights can be bought as separate tickets from one or more partners. This option might appear when it could save you money or open more flight schedules.
Instructions to buy tickets separately
If you find a notice that both tickets can be bought in a single transaction from an online travel agency, click the link to visit their website.
- Visit the first airline or online travel agency’s website.
- Double-check the price, and buy your first ticket.
- Immediately visit the next airline’s or travel agency’s website, and buy the second ticket, to make sure your second ticket is still available. If your second ticket can’t be bought, in the United States, in most cases, you can call the airline to take advantage of 24-hour refund policies to refund the first ticket.
- If you need to make changes, you might be charged a change fee for each ticket.
- Each airline has different baggage rules and fees.
- Buying separate tickets from different airlines may require claiming and rechecking baggage, which takes additional time, so plan accordingly.
- If your outbound trip is delayed, for example in the case of a layover or multi-city trip, you might miss your second trip. To find out about your options, contact the airline.
Why some flights aren’t included
Google Flights uses over 300 partners, like airlines, online travel agencies, and aggregators, to display its offers. Not all airlines or available flights are included, as a partnership with Google is required. Most of these partners provide Google with all prices and flight options that they would show on their own websites or through third-party sites. This ensures that you get a complete view of the flights and prices that match your search, without the need to check prices on multiple sites.
Some flights might not show up when:
- The flights are sold out or unavailable.
- The carrier hasn’t yet been added to Google Flights.
About baggage fees, prices & more
Specific or additional insurances and/or commercial warranties may be offered by the carriers. For more info, please visit the carrier’s website.
Related resources
- Track flights and prices
- Filter flight prices by bag fees
How to use Google Flights to find cheap flights and maximize your next travel booking
Google Flights is constantly evolving, and it's the one tool I always mention when people ask me how to find better flight prices.
This easy-to-use website can help you find the best possible price on airfare (and even hotels). It's one of the biggest weapons in our arsenal at TPG to help save money on travel. While TPG does offer deal alerts , if you are looking for a particular flight, destination, airline or routing, Google Flights is the way to find personalized deals.
Google Flights is where I almost always begin my search for new bookings. I come back to it again and again to book trips, see if prices have dropped and check if I can get a better deal.
Here's everything you need to know to use and master Google Flights.
What is Google Flights?
Google Flights is one of our favorite tools for finding deals on flights. It's an amazingly powerful flight search engine, and the best part is that it's easy to use. Google shows you nearly all available flights for a given search but doesn't force you to book with it.
Unlike Expedia, Orbitz, Tripadvisor or Kayak, it's not an online travel agency. Google is simply showing you what's available. Once you find the flights you like, you "click through" to actually book. You can choose to book directly with the airline or via a third-party OTA, but not Google itself.
One frustrating note is that Google Flights does not show Southwest Airlines flights, so keep that in mind as you search.
What's new at Google Flights?
Google has introduced new features that suggest when prices are historically lowest and when you should book for maximum savings. Google has always shown whether the price for a suggested flight itinerary is typical, low or high, but now it gives you even more data to consider.
The tool will "let travelers know when airfares are expected to be lowest for booking their chosen dates and destination," according to Craig Ewer, who works in communications at Google.
For example, when I searched last year, Google showed me that a flight from New York to San Francisco in October was $93 cheaper than usual, and the typical range is between $245 and $415. In other words, it was a good time to book.
It gets even better: In some situations, Google will suggest alternate dates you should actually book the flight to save a few bucks. The example below shows that a December flight to Miami would have been much cheaper if I had waited to book it until Sept. 13.
Here's a final example. I apparently waited too long to book my flight home for Christmas a few months ago.
Basics of Google Flights
How to perform a basic flight search.
First, you'll want to navigate to Google Flights .
The toolbar has additional features for trips, including things to do, hotels, vacation rentals and a shortcut to a cool tool called "Explore." However, we'll focus on using the tool to book flights for now.
All of the fields and drop-down menus on this page are relatively easy to decipher:
- Departure (where you want to fly from)
- Destination (where you want to fly to)
- Date(s) of travel
- Round-trip flights, one-way flights or multicity trips
- The number of passengers (but here's why you should search for a single ticket , even if you're traveling in a group)
- Ticket class: economy, premium economy, business class or first class
If you know where you're going and when you want to be there, all you have to do is plug in that information and hit the blue search button.
For example, here are all the options I see when I search for flights from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). You can search by destination or by airport code.
Note that Google automatically displays what it considers the best departing flights based on a combination of factors, such as price, the convenience of routing, the number of stops and the travel time. Of course, these may or may not be the best flights for you.
In this case, there are hundreds of options to choose from.
For this example, I chose to book an American Airlines flight on my outbound trip.
The cheapest option is sometimes to fly the return on a different carrier. However, Google Flights clearly indicates there will be two tickets purchased separately.
Often, Google will suggest remaining on the same carrier for both legs. In this instance, one of the flights was on JetBlue.
There are all kinds of ways to filter your searches. We'll get a bit more into that below.
Once you've found the flight you want, you have the option to book directly with American Airlines. Google will give you several options for the type of ticket you want to purchase, including basic economy, refundable and other types of fares.
Clicking that link would take me to American's website , with these flights and prices already selected. There, I could enter my passenger details and loyalty number, select a seat and pay for the ticket.
All elite perks and other loyalty benefits are honored on flights booked directly on the airline website via Google Flights. However, if you are booking via a third-party site, that may not be the case. It pays to make sure you book directly with the airline if possible.
In this example, the cheapest option is for mixed tickets with multiple stops. Most people are not going to want to take that option. It involves booking through a third-party website with tickets on different airlines and multiple flights and layovers. No thanks.
Related: 9 things to consider when choosing to book via a portal vs. booking directly
Below is an example of Google Flights' handy historical price guide, which shows whether the fare you found is low, high or near the average price for flights on this route.
I can see the flights were more than $600 a few months ago, and my $442 fare was considered low. Given how expensive airfare generally is these days , I was happy enough with that.
The bottom of this screenshot also shows the options available at the bottom of each Google Flights page, where you can select your preferred language from a drop-down menu. You can also customize your location and preferred currency for easy conversion.
Search by specific times of day
Say you want to take a weekend trip away. You need both flights to be outside business hours but not too late in the evening, as you don't want to land in the middle of the night.
Google Flights has a handy filter we use to make sure the flights are exactly when we want them. No matter how inexpensive that 6 a.m. flight may be, a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call rarely feels worth it.
So, you can set the search results to only show flights departing and arriving within your chosen specific time range.
See how many bags you can bring on board
In the same series of buttons below your Google Flight search, click on the "Bags" button to specify how many pieces of luggage you want to bring on board with you.
This selection may greatly limit your search results — or drive up your price options — so be prepared to change it if necessary.
Nonstop, one-stop or any flight will do?
Similarly, you can filter flights by the number of stops along the way. You might be the glutton for punishment who longs for a 50-plus-hour flight with multiple layovers. You can do that if you so desire.
However, if you want to minimize the chance of delays or disruptions, have a family to rush back to or just want a shorter flight, nonstop is your friend. Headed overseas? The usual sweet spot between price and comfort will be a one-stop flight.
Search for flights from your preferred airline or alliance
If you don't fly often, the operating airline may not matter to you as much as the price does.
However, if you've begun accumulating miles and status with a specific carrier, it can be addictive to stick with that carrier and program. The exclusive benefits of elite status can be exhilarating, and there's nothing more exciting than booking your first award flight — especially if you know you got an amazing deal.
Related: What are airline alliances, and who's in them?
With filtered airline search results, Google can help you keep that momentum going. Use the button under the search results to filter out unwanted airlines or select specific airline alliances you want to patronize. Or, turn off the "Select all airlines" option and manually select the carriers you want to choose from.
Whether booking with cash or points, you may want to stick with one program to maximize mileage earning or status. For example, if I were trying to hit Diamond on Delta Air Lines, I would search only for Delta flights.
You can also pick airline alliances like Oneworld and SkyTeam to ensure you travel on your preferred airline or its partners. In my case, I would select SkyTeam.
Connecting flights
You can also decide if you want to fly nonstop or choose how many stops you are willing to make. You can even choose the connecting airport.
Especially with international flights, some airports are better to connect in than others. Helsinki Airport (HEL) is lovely. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) can be challenging , even if you are an experienced traveler.
Related: What are the best European airports to connect in?
If you have a range of options to travel from New York to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO) with a choice of connecting airports, you can filter the results to only show the airports you want to connect through.
You can also choose how long you would like your layover to extend. You might want to keep it short to reach your destination as quickly as possible. Or, you may prefer a long layover to allow for some buffer time in the event of delays.
Related: How to plan a free stopover on your next trip abroad
Score the best legroom and other seat amenities
Don't you hate boarding a flight to find your knees touching the back of the seat in front of you? Fortunately, Google Flights has a feature that will show you the legroom you can expect on your next flight before you have purchased the seat.
Legroom can differ noticeably from carrier to carrier, aircraft type to aircraft type. From the search results below, you can see that Spirit Airlines' is below the industry average at 28 inches, while JetBlue's is above average at 32 inches.
If you value legroom, this means the JetBlue option will have 4 inches more legroom than Spirit.
In coach seating terms, that's a lot.
Along with legroom, Google Flights will also indicate if Wi-Fi is scheduled to be available on your flight (and if it is free or available at a cost), if the plane has in-seat charging options, and if the flight offers entertainment like live TV or options to stream to your personal device.
On a flight longer than five hours, your devices may run out of juice. So, again, you may want to choose the product that best suits your needs rather than selecting a flight based entirely on price or carrier.
Know your emissions
With sustainability becoming an increasingly important topic in travel , Google Flights will let you know the approximate carbon emissions for your flight based on the route, aircraft type and seating classes.
Below are the search results for a flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT). United Airlines operates a fuel-efficient Boeing 787 on this route, which would produce a lower-than-average 734 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
However, the Singapore Airlines flight uses a less fuel-efficient (and larger) Boeing 777 aircraft that produces a higher-than-average 1,163 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
You can even filter your search results only to show lower-emissions flight options.
How to search by cheapest dates
Let's say I want to get from JFK to LAX in September, but I'm not tied to any specific dates. Google Flights can help me find the best possible prices for that trip.
On the search page, I can see the lowest price for that particular day if I click on the calendar icon. Prices listed in green represent the lowest price available across all current dates, while the days highlighted in blue show which dates I've selected.
Another way to view the cheapest dates is to click the date grid option. This will again show the cheapest dates in green, and you can easily line up different outbound and inbound options to see if the cheapest dates work for you.
You'll often find that the cheapest flight isn't necessarily the best or most convenient route. Google will show you those lowest prices but prioritize better routes before it.
In this example, Google Flights prioritizes slightly higher fares as the "best flights" search results because they include a full-size carry-on bag.
How to set a pricing alert for yourself
After all that diligent work, give yourself a pat on the back. You've likely found the best option for you.
Some people are ready to book immediately, but most of us might need a day or two to solidify our plans with our fellow travelers or with work. Never fear: Google will help you track your flight and even tell you when the price goes up or down.
Immediately above your search results, a little toggle reads "Track prices" (boxed in green in the screenshot above).
Click on that — and log in to your Google account if necessary — and Google Flights will send updated pricing alerts directly into your inbox.
If you have booked a refundable or changeable fare, you may want to switch this on even after you've booked. You will be alerted if the price goes up or down, so you can feel comfortable knowing you are getting the best deal. You can see part of my list of flights I'm currently tracking in the screenshot below.
Related: How to avoid airline change and cancellation fees
How to search multiple airports at once
Sometimes, you're willing to land or depart a bit farther away in order to find a better flight deal. Google Flights can help reward that flexibility. In fact, you can enter as many as five departure or arrival airports on Google Flights.
Let's say you live in New York City, where you have three major airports from which to choose. You want to fly to Southern California, which is easily accessible from multiple airports as well.
There are two ways to run this search:
- Type in your city name and let Google offer suggestions: This works for many major metro areas. As soon as I type in New York, I see several of the major airports: Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and JFK. Sometimes, you'll even see New York Stewart International Airport (SWF) in Newburgh, about 60 miles north of Manhattan, as an option.
- Manually type in your airport codes or names : Some cities won't show you all the logical potential airports. For Southern California, you will have to manually type in the names or codes of each airport in the area for some searches. (Don't forget San Diego International Airport [SAN] as a potential option.)
You can open a separate browser tab and look up local airports by name. Or, if you're a pro and know the codes, you can type them directly into the destination airport search field (i.e., LAX, SNA, BUR, ONT). Then, hit the blue check to run the search.
Voila: The cheapest option for March 18-25 is taking a nonstop, round-trip flight from EWR to LAX for $258 in United basic economy.
How to check for carry-on bag policies
I don't care what anyone says: Low-cost carriers can be fantastic for finding great deals.
However, if you're a heavy packer, you'll need to plan ahead. Many airlines cut costs by charging extra for bags. You're used to this with major airlines, but some ultra-low-cost airlines will even charge you for carry-ons larger than a backpack or a purse .
It can be difficult to track which airlines charge what, but Google Flights can also help with that.
Basic economy flights will show on the search results page, with the little "no luggage" icon next to the $247 price tag in green.
When I click through to the final booking page, Google will remind me again that I'm booking a basic economy flight; it'll show my current price and its limitations while also displaying economy and first-class booking options next to it.
Remember: Google Flights doesn't work with Southwest Airlines
One important caveat: You might wonder why you don't see any Southwest flights on Google Flights.
Well, you might see them, like with this search result for Austin to Las Vegas:
However, Southwest doesn't allow other travel platforms to book flights with the airline — it wants to control its passengers' booking process completely. So, if you're a Southwest fan, check the airline's website or app for price comparison before you book with another carrier through Google Flights.
Organize your travel
There's a "Travel" button on the toolbar of Google Flights.
It will display the travel you have already booked. When you click on the trip, it neatly shows travel booked through your Google account, such as those reservation emails sent to a Gmail account.
It will also show "potential trips." This is where you may have been searching Google Flights for a particular destination but have not yet bought the ticket. Additionally, it will provide suggestions based on what destinations you've Googled in general.
Perhaps you have searched for " When is the best time to visit Hawaii ?" Google Flights may show you suggestions to help you continue planning that trip.
Finally, the "Travel" button will suggest trips you might consider taking based on upcoming trips you have booked or trips you've taken in the past.
For example, if you've been to Melbourne, Australia, it may show options to visit Sydney.
Related: The best ways to use points and miles to fly from the US to Australia
How to find the best getaway deal
This function is similar to the previous tip but focuses on another aspect of your search. Start by clicking the "Explore" button on the toolbar.
If you know you want to get away on specific dates — let's say the second week of October — but don't have a specific destination in mind, use Google's open-ended search functionality to find good flight deals within your window of availability.
In the example below, I picked a long weekend in October and set my hometown of New York as my departure airport. Instead of specifying a destination, I just left it open-ended. You can give Google a hint by typing "Europe" or "Caribbean" to narrow your search results to a specific region.
Related: 9 awesome features you didn't know about in Google Flights
If I zoom in closer on the map, the system recalibrates and shows me more destinations and price points within the updated map view.
If I zoom way out for a world view, I'll see the best-priced destinations of note across the globe.
I can also force the algorithm to show me price points for a specific region.
For example, the world map above doesn't show me many deals for Australia, South America or Africa. However, if I zoom in on Africa, I see more than half a dozen options on the continent and more than a dozen in "surrounding" areas.
Related: Safaris, cities and lots of elephants: How I returned to South Africa using points, miles and cash
Bottom line
Google Flights is an incredibly powerful tool the TPG team uses daily to price airfare . It can help you quickly find the best flights for your travel, but it can also track prices and let you know if you are getting a good deal. It can also help you plan trips and find hotels and activities.
It's one of my favorite tools to find deals and new places to visit. Add it to your travel toolbox. I promise it will become one of your favorites, too.
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ISIS claims responsibility in deadly attack on Russia's Crocus City Hall
Gunmen opened fire on concertgoers in the attack, Russian media reported.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall where at least 60 people were killed and over 145 others were wounded Friday evening, according to Russian officials.
Gunmen opened fire at the hall, which is one of the biggest shopping and entertainment complexes in Russia, and a large fire began after the shooting which rapidly engulfed the complex, according to the Russian Foreign Security Service.
ISIS released a statement later in the evening claiming their fighters "attacked" a "big gathering for Christians in the Russian Moscow suburb," in the statement, injuring "hundreds" and causing "major destruction."
Russia's foreign ministry called the incident a "terrorist attack." It's the largest terror attack in Central Russia in terms of the number of victims since the Domodedovo airport bombing in January 2011 that killed 37 people and injured 172 others.
The attack began at around 8 p.m. local time when a group of at least 5 gunmen stormed the complex during a concert by the band Picnic and opened fire with automatic weapons, state news outlet RIA Novosti reported.
More than 70 ambulance teams were sent to the sight of the attack, according to Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov. Two firefighting helicopters are also on the scene trying to put out the fire, which spread over a large area, Vorobyov said.
Of those injured, at least 115 people were hospitalized, including five children, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said in a statement. One child and 60 adults are listed in serious condition, the health minister said.
Most of the building is engulfed in fire and the roof partially collapsed, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
The cause of the fire is unknown but unconfirmed reports said there was an explosion inside the concert hall.
A U.S. official told ABC News the U.S shared intelligence with Russia about the risk of an imminent threat posed by the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS), and that the threat was related to the security alert released by the U.S. embassy in Moscow two weeks ago.
Another U.S. official told ABC News the administration sees no reason to doubt the ISIS claim of responsibility for the attack.
In Podolsk, near Moscow, public events were canceled due to the incident at Crocus City Hall, the head of the district said. The mayor of Moscow also canceled all "sports, cultural and other mass events," in Moscow for the weekend.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the attack when the shooting started and he has been receiving constant updates.
An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied any Ukrainian involvement in the attack in a post on X. Two pro-Ukrainian Russian military groups that recently launched a cross-border incursion into Russia have also both denied any involvement in the attack.
MORE: Russia launches massive air attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure
The White House is aware of the incident in Moscow, but has limited information as of now, according to National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby.
"The images are just horrible. And just hard to watch, and our thoughts, obviously, are going to be with the -- the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack," Kirby said.
Kirby also reiterated the State Department's warning that all Americans in Moscow should avoid large gatherings, saying, "They should stay put where they are, and stay plugged into the State Department for any additional updates and information."
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said on Telegram Friday it is "horrified by reports of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall venue in Moscow."
The statement continues: "We offer our sincere condolences to the Russian people for the lives lost and to those injured in tonight's attack."
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a warning on March 7, advising U.S. citizens to avoid large gatherings for 48 hours, saying extremists have "imminent plans" to target large-scale gatherings in Moscow.
ABC News' Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.
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ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall where at least 60 people were killed and over 145 others were wounded Friday evening, according to Russian officials.