Google announced new travel features on Google Flights earlier this week, including a price guarantee badge for booking flights. This badge is currently in the form of a pilot program in the U.S., which means that Google Flights is confident that the price you see will not get any lower before taking off according to Google VP of Travel Products Richard Holden.
How does it work? If you see a “Price Guarantee” badge for a flight, the cost would likely be the lowest it will go so that you can book more confidently without concerns that it will get cheaper later. And after you book the flight, Google would keep monitoring the price and pay you back the difference via Google Pay. Along with the Price Guarantee feature, Google is also able to predict when the price of a flight goes up or down.
“No one likes to feel buyer’s remorse, and that’s especially true for a big purchase like plane tickets where the prices change from day to day. We’ve all thought to ourselves: Should I book now in case the price goes up tomorrow? Or should I wait in case there’s a better deal next week?” wrote Holden in the product announcement. “On Google Flights, you can already see whether current prices are low, typical, or high compared to historical averages. Now, we’re going a step further with a new pilot program for price guarantees in the U.S. If you see a flight with the price guarantee badge, it means we’re confident that the price you see today won’t get any lower before takeoff.”
This feature is currently just available for airlines that are through “Book on Google.” So you would most likely just see the badge on flights for Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines. Plus this feature only works for flights that are departing from the U.S. and the price difference has to be more than $5. The maximum amount of money you would be able to receive is $500 per year for a maximum of 3 bookings via Price Guarantee.
