Google Updates Hotel Search Features, Will Offer Automatic Flight Price Guarantee

Google has rolled out a variety of features on its travel booking platform, the most notable of which is a price guarantee designed to do away with buyer’s remorse.

What does that mean exactly?

As part of a pilot program, the Google Flights platform will now include a price guarantee badge next to certain flights. And if a consumer books a flight displaying that badge, and the airfare price goes down at any point after booking, Google will refund the traveler the price difference via Google Pay.

“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,” Google said when announcing the changes. “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.“

The new price guarantee aims to eliminate such worries. When consumers book a flight that includes the price guarantee badge, Google promises to monitor the price of that ticket every day until departure. And if the price drops, the consumer gets paid by Google. It’s that simple.

Now for the fine print. The guarantees are only available for “Book on Google” itineraries that depart from the United States. 

The new flight guarantee pilot program was just one part of the new features announced by Google.The tech giant also announced new ways ago browse hotels.

Travel technology (photo courtesy ra2studio/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

“Choosing the right place to stay can make or break a trip, but it’s not always a simple process. There are lots of factors to consider — from location to reviews to price. And that’s a lot to take in, especially if you’re trying to do all this research on your phone,” the company said

To help address such challenges, Google is offering up a new way to browse and discover hotels on mobile. Hotel properties are now able to be viewed in what the company is calling a “swappable story format."

This new feature allows users to tap through photos of a hotel and get a sense of what to expect onsite. And with a single tap, users can also save a hotel, or pull up more details about the area, or view a summary of what people find notable about the property.

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