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    6 min read 7 stepsMay 8, 2026Verified May 2026

    How to Find Cheap Flights with Google Flights Price Tracking

    Use Google Flights' free price-tracking and date-grid tools to spot the lowest fares and get an alert when the price drops on your route.

    At a Glance

    Category
    Travel & Abroad
    Difficulty
    Beginner
    Read Time
    6 min read
    Steps
    7
    Topics covered
    flights
    google flights
    travel
    price tracking
    savings

    In this guide (7 steps):

    1. 1.Open Google Flights in a browser
    2. 2.Enter the route and dates
    3. 3.Look at the results sorted by price
    4. 4.Open the Date Grid to find cheaper dates
    5. 5.Turn on Price Tracking for the route
    6. 6.Wait for the price to drop and book on the airline's site
    7. 7.Save the confirmation and add it to your calendar
    1

    Open Google Flights in a browser

    ~24s
    On a computer, phone, or tablet, open a web browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox all work fine) and go to google.com/flights. The site loads with a search box at the top. There is no app to download — Google Flights is a website, not an app. If a Google account is signed in on the browser, the site will save searches. If not, the site still works fully without signing in.
    2

    Enter the route and dates

    ~33s
    In the search box, pick "Round trip" or "One way" from the dropdown. In the From box, type your home airport's 3-letter code (ATL for Atlanta, DEN for Denver, JFK for New York, LAX for Los Angeles) or the city name. In the To box, do the same for the destination. Click the date boxes and pick the departure and return dates from the calendar. Tap Search.

    Quick Tip

    If you are not sure which airport is closest to your destination, type the city or country name (for example "Italy") and Google Flights shows fares to every major airport in the area on one screen.

    3

    Look at the results sorted by price

    ~39s
    Results appear in a list sorted by Best (a mix of price and convenience) by default. Click "Cheapest" at the top of the result list to re-sort by lowest fare first. Each result shows the airline, departure and arrival times, total flight time, number of stops, and price. Layovers under 90 minutes are tight for older travelers — pick a flight with a 2 to 3 hour layover when changing planes.

    Warning

    Some very low fares are "Basic Economy" tickets that do not include a carry-on bag, seat selection, or any change-or-cancel option. Click the fare to see what is included. For most older travelers, the next fare class up (often $50 more) is worth it for the carry-on bag and free cancellation.

    4

    Open the Date Grid to find cheaper dates

    ~23s
    Above the result list, click the link that says "Date grid" or the calendar icon. A 7-by-7 table appears showing the price for every combination of departure and return dates within the next 2 months. Cheaper dates are shaded green. Tap any cell to switch your search to those dates. This single tool often shows that shifting the trip by 2 days saves $200 or more.
    5

    Turn on Price Tracking for the route

    ~38s
    Once the dates and route look right, find the toggle near the top of the result list labeled "Track prices." Slide it to On. A pop-up confirms that price alerts will be emailed for this route and dates. If you want alerts on the route at any dates, also slide the "Any dates" toggle to On. Google now watches the fare and emails you whenever it changes by more than $20 or 10%.

    Quick Tip

    You can track up to 100 routes at once. To see all of your tracked routes, click "Tracked flights" in the top menu of Google Flights. Routes can be turned off the same way they were turned on — slide the toggle back.

    6

    Wait for the price to drop and book on the airline's site

    ~30s
    Most domestic round-trip fares fluctuate by 15% to 30% over a 60-day window. International fares move 20% to 40%. The cheapest day to book a US domestic flight is, on average, 28 to 35 days before departure (Hopper's 2025 data). When a price-drop email arrives, click the link, confirm the fare on Google Flights, then click Select to be sent to the airline's own website to complete the purchase. Always book directly with the airline — never with a third-party site that adds fees and complicates refunds.
    7

    Save the confirmation and add it to your calendar

    ~24s
    After booking on the airline's site, the airline emails a confirmation with a 6-character record-locator code (also called a confirmation number or PNR). Save the email in a folder named "Trip — [destination] [month/year]." Add the flight to your phone's calendar with the flight number, departure time, and confirmation code in the notes. This is the information you'll need at check-in and if anything goes wrong with the flight.

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    Google Flights is a free flight-search website at google.com/flights. It pulls fares from nearly every airline that flies in or out of the United States — about 300 carriers — and shows them in a single, plain list. Unlike Expedia or Travelocity, Google Flights does not sell the tickets. It shows the price and sends you to the airline's own website to buy. That means no booking fees, no "agency fees," and no third-party customer-service nightmares if a flight gets canceled.

    The two features that save older travelers the most money are Price Tracking and the Date Grid. Price Tracking watches a route for you. Pick a flight you might want, click the toggle that says "Track prices," and Google emails you whenever the fare goes up or down. The emails arrive once a week, or right away when the price drops by more than 10%. The service is free and does not require a Google account beyond a free Gmail address.

    The Date Grid shows a 60-day calendar of fares for your route in one screen. Suddenly it becomes obvious that flying out on a Tuesday instead of a Saturday saves $180. Or that the same trip costs $400 less if shifted by one week. AARP's 2025 travel-savings report found that travelers who shift their dates by 3 days based on a price-grid view save an average of 22% on domestic flights and 28% on international.

    Google Flights does not require an account, an app download, or any payment. The site works on a phone browser, tablet, or computer. The same tools work for one-way, round-trip, and multi-city searches. The only flights it does not show are Southwest Airlines fares (Southwest does not share its data with search sites — those have to be checked at southwest.com directly).

    This guide walks through using Google Flights to research one round-trip flight, set a price tracker, and find the cheapest dates to travel. The same steps work for any route, any time of year.

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