Google Flights is far and away the most powerful search platform for cheap flights, bar none. And the company just made it even better, answering our prayers (and yours) with one of the most requested features.
On Tuesday, some members of the Thrifty Traveler team suddenly started seeing the ability to filter out pesky basic economy fares. Google appears to be testing this latest-and-greatest new feature, so not every user will see it. And even so, travelers who do see the option to filter for basic economy won’t see it on each and every search.
Representatives for Google did not immediately respond for a request for comment. But it’s real – and it’s an absolute game changer, a new feature that could officially cement Google Flights atop the long list of flight search engines.
We’ve lost track of how many readers and travelers have griped about the lack of a basic economy filter … heck, we’ve been personally wishing for it ourselves for years. It’s one of the few knocks against an otherwise unbeatable platform for finding the cheap flights you actually want to book.
Some travelers will happily sacrifice some perks in order to save some money on basic economy, but others avoid these fares like the plague. And nothing’s worse than seeing a low price at first only to click through and see that the main cabin economy fare you really want will actually cost you another $80, $100, or even $250 roundtrip.
The extra restrictions of basic economy add up fast.
Travelers who book a basic economy ticket can’t pick a seat for free nor can they change or cancel their flights. Some airlines like United take it even further: They don’t let you bring a carry-on bag with a basic ticket. With Delta basic economy, you can’t even earn SkyMiles, work toward Medallion Status, or get into a Sky Club® lounge.
We first spotted this when searching for flights between Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Hawaii. In some cases, users now see the option to search explicitly for “Basic economy” in addition to “Economy,” “Premium economy,” and other fare types.
But not all members of the Thrifty Traveler team saw the option there. Instead, another member of our team noticed this new filter in the filter bar called “Basic economy” – allowing you to either show or hide basic economy fares.
We aren’t seeing this new feature everywhere yet, however. At launch, it seems to only show up on domestic flight searches within the U.S. or up to Canada. And several users don’t see this option whatsoever – a clear indication that Google is testing out a feature for possible widespread launch.
If it expands, it’s just the latest example of Google Flights leveling up.
It pulled even further away from other sites last year by adding Southwest Airlines fares to the mix – becoming the first major flight search engine to list Southwest prices before it eventually expanded to Kayak and Expedia. After some testing a few years back, the company rolled out a new “Price Guarantee” option to dole out a refund if prices eventually drop after booking a select few airlines like Spirit, Hawaiian, and Alaska.
Bottom Line
At long last, the most-requested new feature for Google Flights – by far – is rolling out.
Select users can now filter out basic economy fares when searching on Google Flights. While this new feature is clearly just being tested right now, we’re hopeful it becomes a fixture soon.
