Google Flights – ready, steady, launch

Nothing spectacular……

A couple of days ago Google – without making a lot of noise -has launched Google Flights in Switzerland. At first sight – nothing spectacular and by far no revolution in Metasearch. All functionalities of the application are pretty well known from sites such as ebookers, Expedia, Momondo and Kayak/Swoodoo.

… but everything has changed

But then everything has changed for the industry. Not that every agent on the phone will notice this immediately – it will take some time. From now on and without knowing any of the above mentioned Metasearch Engines, every caller will potentially know the fare for flights that he or she is about to book through the agency. The entry “flight Singapore” is all it needs to start the engine. Further criteria can be entered here or later. Et voilà.

Google still shows search results and sponsored content from Online Travel Agencies, Airlines and other providers. But close to the top Google shows real-time (cached?) connections, airlines and fares.

Functionalities:

As usual Google is just acting as a search engine and is displaying the best possible, personalised results. And what Google Flights provides is from what we have seen, accurate and very, very fast. No need to wait once a criteria is changed. A couple of filters allow to further tighten the search. Further a bar chart and fare hints right in the calendar section help to find the best fares. Additional comments for best combinations or upgrade options are shown during the process. Search and Fares can be stored for further reference and continuous fare checks or shared on various Social Media channels and by Email. Some fare checks conducted by TravelBrain have so far not shown any noticeable discrepancies to ebookers, Expedia and Momondo

For a booking Google sends the user directly to the website of the Airline or partner-site. During our test in Switzerland mostly eDreams and BravoFly were displayed. Nothing yet from ebookers, Expedia or Opodo or Swiss Touroperators although those companies are spending millions in advertising in Google. We expect that this will change rather sooner than later. In an interview with the Tagesanzeiger Matthias Thürer from ebookers mentioned that a partnership with Google Flights is soon to be announced and integration work is already under way.

Our thoughts

Google is further working on the customer journey and has yet launched another piece of the puzzle. Why should anybody still use the search on ebookers or Swoodoo when a fare is instantly available in Google? Metasearchers will not be happy but are apparently still playing their role in markets where Google Flight has been rolled out earlier. Whose offers will be shown and referred to in addition to the airlines is still open but it can be expected that advertising budgets will play an important role in that game.

Travel Management companies and travel agencies have to handle callers that are a lot better informed and will more often quote the Google Fare during the booking process. Get your agents prepared for those discussions. They had to lead them before but there will be a lot more in the future.

Nothing spectacular – but everything has changed!

We recommend to discuss the launch of Google Flights and its potential impact with your agents. Should you want TravelBrain to do this during an Afterwork-Event or a workshop – we are ready to help.

Daniel Grenacher for travelBrain