One of the better kept secrets of services from Google is Google Flights. The web app allows you to search for flights and find the lowest price for your travel. Now Google has taken it a bit further by adding Machine Learning to the service.
Using Machine Learning, Google Flights will now give you trend information on flights you are searching in a new section, Flight Insights. As the company stated in the release:
Using machine learning and statistical analysis of historical flights data, Flights displays tips under your search results, and you can scroll through them to figure out when it’s best to book flights
The new feature is great because you can see a graph that allows you to see what flight costs over a four day window. This way, if your travel is flexible by a day or two, you could end up saving yourself hundreds of dollars on your airfare. You will also see a notification on the Flights site if fares for the trip you are looking into are lower than normal – thus it might be the time to buy that flight.
As part of these improvements to Google Flights, the Hotels tab also has been updated with more detailed pricing information and which hotels at your destination are a good deal. Conversely, it will now indicate when prices are high, like when a convention is in town, so you can avoid those higher costs.
All of these changes are cloud side changes and have already rolled out. If you visit the Flights site, you should see the new layout with new information.
