There are a bunch of ways you can hunt down the cheapest possible flight these days. Heck, even Google’s Gemini AI can help you outsmart the ever-changing prices set by the airline industry. But Google Flights is about to make it even easier to get the cheapest flight possible, even if it means sacrificing a little convenience in the process.
Google Flights works using all those algorithms that Google is fond of, typically offering the best combination of pricing and convenience to find you the best ticket prices. Now the Flights menu has split everything into two separate tabs. There’s the “Best” results tab, which offers the traditional Google Flights results, and “Cheapest” which is a perfectly literal description.
To test this out I pumped in details for a 2-week trip from New York to Tokyo, leaving next August. According to Google Flights the best flights are nonstop flights with America, JAL and ANA — costing between £670 and £718 for a return economy class ticket. That converts to $873 to $935, but for some reason Google Flights won’t show me both tabs when I switch the currency to U.S. dollars.
According to Google, these prices are “typical” for that sort of journey, but they’re not the cheapest flights currently available. The “Cheapest” tab reveals that you can save some money by flying with Air Canada, which involves a layover in Montreal or Toronto. Flying to Montreal comes with a 2 hour 21 minute layover for £635/$828, while switching planes in Toronto leaves you with a 1 hour 10 minute wait for £640/$834.
The price difference isn’t particularly large on this particular route, but it goes to show that there are ways to save money if you’re willing to sacrifice the convenience of flying direct. Not to mention the fact you can decide whether waiting an extra hour and 10 minutes is worth saving $6 on your ticket price.
Naturally, the way airlines price their tickets is a mystery, and sometimes things don’t make any sense. Like trying to fly from JFK to LAX in January 2025, and finding the cheapest flight is £255/$332 — which doesn't allow checked luggage and features a 57 minute layover in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, a direct flight with luggage, which saves you almost 2 hours of extra travel time, is just $25 more.
Is that extra cost worth it? Only you can really decide, and the point is that this feature lets you make that decision. You get to choose whether you’re willing to sacrifice convenience and take on some extra risk for the same of a few dollars. Google claims that factors it considers include longer layovers, self-transfers, being forced to make multiple purchases, and trips that involve traveling from different airports.
Maybe you only save $25, but that $25 might be better utilized elsewhere — like buying yourself dinner at the airport. It won’t be a very good meal, because airport food is only a small step above airplane food, but it’s better than nothing right?
