Google takes off with flight search feature

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Google engineering teams have been working hard to produce a travel tool that will make it easier, faster and more flexible to search for flights.

A new feature in Google makes it possible to view a list of the most relevant flights, figures out when to travel based on expenses and considers destination options by filtering different airlines, times and prices, according to Google engineer Kourosh Gharachorloo.

The feature builds on the acquisition of ITA Software, which faced strong opposition from other search providers like Microsoft, who feared the move would give Google an unfair advantage. ITA powers many travel search rivals.

Google has nevertheless gone ahead and implemented the feature. In its attempt to have legitimate search results, Google automatically allows customers see both reasonable price and duration of flights. If this isn’t satisfactory, it is easy to adjust filters to view more options.

Because this is just the beginning of the process for this Google Flight feature, the search engine provides limited travel cities as well as economy-class flights only.

Keep in mind that the flights are chosen from airline websites, therefore not influenced by factors based on your history online or with Google. The blog states that Google is working on adding opportunities for partners in the travel industry to participate as well.

“We’re working hard to improve this feature and look forward to sharing more updates,” Gharachorloo said in a blog post.

See below for a demonstration of how the flight search will work.

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