5 tricks from Google Flights to help you get the cheapest holiday flights

Holiday travel can be expensive, but if you book through Google Flights you can save moneywithout mandatory middle seat or red eyes.

This tool alone is pretty amazing, but if you know how to use it properly, you can save even more. Here are five Google Flight tricks you should know before booking your holiday flights.

Don’t fill in the blanks

When looking for airline tickets for your vacation, you might think that entering your destination and desired travel dates would be one of the first steps. However, TikTok has a different idea, according to the New York Post.

Enter your departure city, type “anywhere” in the destination city, and leave your travel dates blank. You can also add specific filters if desired, such as non-stop flights. This gives you a variety of options to choose from, all with prices directly in front of you so you can compare easily.

Of course, since you’re trying to fly during the holidays, you’ll need to add some sort of date range. If possible, instead of adding specific dates, opt for flexible dates, selecting December as your travel month, along with a weekend, one-week or two-week trip.

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Use the ‘Cheapest’ tab

By default, Google Flights automatically chooses the ‘best flights’, but that does not mean they are the cheapest. Typically these include features such as flying with the same airline, no excessive layovers and no airport transfers.

However, if you are very focused on price, you may be willing to sacrifice convenience for cheap tickets. In this case, take a look at the ‘cheapest’ tab.

This is visible after you choose a destination city. Simply click ‘view flights’. You will then be taken to a page with the ‘best’ flights on the left and the ‘cheapest’ flights on the right.

Sign up for flight alerts

If you don’t see prices that fit your budget yet, sign up for flight alerts. You can track flights on specific dates or flexible dates and receive an email if prices change.

This saves you time because you don’t have to check flight prices every day.

Check pricing insights

No one wants to buy airline tickets if the prices are higher than normal. Google Flights provides real-time pricing insights so you can better understand ticket prices for your destination and travel dates.

If the price falls below green it is the least expensive, yellow is average and red is the most expensive. The data also includes the price history of your flights, so you can see the cheapest and most expensive times to book.

Please refer to the date grid

If you know where you’re going, you can choose the cheapest dates using the Google Flights date grid. Simply click on the calendar and you will see which return dates are the cheapest.

This can save you a lot of money. Traveling to the same destination on certain days of the week instead of others can save you hundreds of dollars, so don’t skip this step.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 tricks from Google Flights to help you get the cheapest holiday flights