Whether you live in Ireland or Poland -- Flight Search on Google makes planning your trips fast and easy. You can now access google.ie/flights and google.pl/flights, or search for flights directly within Google to quickly find, compare and book flights -- and see prices in your local currency and language.

Let’s say you live in Dublin and you’d like to visit Nice, but you’re unsure of the least expensive time to travel. When you click on the departure date field, a calendar pops up with the lowest fare highlighted for each day. You’ll also see the lowest fares graph below the calendar that shows how prices may fluctuate based on the season, holidays or other events. Scrolling through a couple of months you can quickly see that May is a great time to fly.

Once you select your departure and return dates, you’ll be presented with a list of ‘Best flights’; these represent the best tradeoff of convenience and price. You can always view other flights that might be longer or more expensive by scrolling through the summary list or selecting, 'Show all'.

The Ryanair flight at €52 looks perfect. It’s nonstop, short and inexpensive. You can select your return flight, confirm the number of passengers and simply click on the red book button to complete your purchase on Ryanair’s website.

Our goal is to provide you with fast results as you explore where you want to go, figure out the best time to travel, browse a simple list of the most relevant flights and book your trip. We hope you’ll enjoy planning your next trip with Flight Search!

Posted by David Olliges, Product Manager

If you’re visiting an unfamiliar city or just want to stay near a specific landmark or location, Hotel Finder can help. Use the search by travel time filter to quickly narrow your options and find the closest hotel -- whether you’re traveling by car, public transit or walking.

Lets say you’ve always wanted to visit the famed fictional detective Sherlock Holmes’ home in London but you’re not really sure which hotels are nearby. Start by going to www.google.com/hotels. Enter “Sherlock Holmes Museum, London” and select your dates. In the top left corner of the map, click “Show hotels 15 minutes from...” to filter by travel time. Select 10 minutes by public transit. In less time than it takes to read these instructions, you’ve just narrowed your search from 2000+ choices to less than 200.

If you want to narrow your options further, you can sort by travel time and only hotels with a 4.0+ user rating. Elementary my dear Watson! You’ve further refined your choices to only 33, making it much easier to plan your trip!

We’re very excited about the planning power this gives you, and we hope Hotel Finder makes planning your next trip a little more fun and a lot easier.

Konrad Gianno, Software Engineer

Let’s say you want to go skiing in Vail, Colorado this winter, but you’re flexible on when you leave and how long you stay. Try our improved Flight Search calendar from any of your devices to help you quickly figure out the best deal. As soon as you start entering your dates, a new, expanded calendar pops up with the lowest fare highlighted for each day. Select your outbound date and prices update instantly for return dates. You can change stops, length of stay, preferred airline or more -- and prices update instantly, without having to do any extra searches!

To see how prices may fluctuate based on the season, holidays or other events, use the lowest fares graph under the calendar. It lets you scroll through future months to quickly and easily compare airfares across dates. Now you can see low-fare flight options, even if your travel dates are far in the future.

For your Vail trip, as you enter your origin and destination cities, a calendar pops up with lowest fares for each day. If you quickly scan the lowest fares graph below, you’ll see that March is the least expensive time to travel. Select your outbound and return dates. Try restricting the results to non-stop flights and compare the price difference for a 3, 4 or 5 day trip. Now you can make your final selections and book your flight, feeling confident you’ve found the best option for your trip.

We hope the changes we’ve made will help you save time and money! If you haven’t already done so, try our enhanced calendar shopping and lowest fares graph when planning your next trip.

Posted by Rani Manoharan, UI designer, travel

(Cross-posted on the UK Travel blog)

Travelers searching for a good flight deal in Europe may have needed to check multiple online sites to be sure they found the lowest airfare and best flight options. Now with the addition of Ryanair flight information in Google’s Flight Search, it is much easier to find the lowest fare -- at lightning speed.

We are delighted that Ryanair, which is Europe’s largest airline and the largest airline in the world in terms of flown international passengers and which is known for its low fares, has joined the Google Flight Search family.

Using Google’s Flight Search, travelers in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain (as well as Canada and the USA) can quickly find, filter and compare flights, view prices in their local currency, save the results for later, or book directly with any of our booking partners.

Since we launched Flight Search in 2011, we've worked hard to add new features that make it fun, fast and easy to shop and book airfares

• Best Flights and Tips - Quickly get the best answers with suggestions for alternate dates, airports, and trade-off between price and convenience 
• Interactive Maps - users are able to explore possible destinations and view live ticket prices by surfing an interactive map 
• Saved Flights - Results can be saved to track price changes, helping users make smart booking decisions 

Google Flight Search is fast, easy to use and interactive so business people, parents and star crossed lovers can quickly book their travel and get back to their work, parenting or pining. We want to give users as many flight options as possible, so introducing Ryanair is very exciting. We are working to expand our relationships with other airlines and travel partners to bring Flight Search to more countries in Europe and around the world.

Posted by David Robles Fosg, Partner Development, Travel

China Southern Airlines, a SkyTeam member and the largest airline in Asia, signed a multi-year agreement to use our QPX™ pricing and shopping technology to improve the international airfare shopping experience for their online users.

With China becoming one of the world's fastest growing travel markets, China Southern Airlines is the first Chinese airline to take advantage of our technology to enhance the overall shopping experience for their customers. “QPX is the most advanced air ticket pricing and shopping engine in the market. QPX will help us innovate our online air ticket shopping and drive our online direct sales, which will allow us to slash distribution costs.“ said Mr. Jerry Hu, CIO of China Southern Airlines.

China Southern Airlines plans to use QPX for international revenue and reward redemption pricing and shopping, as well as ticket exchanges and refunds. The rollout will take place in phases, with the first release expected in Spring 2014. When launched, China Southern Airlines will provide a faster, more accurate and easier to use online air ticket shopping experience for their customers.

To learn more, visit www.itasoftware.com.

Posted by Kevin Wang, Strategic Partner Manager, Travel

Over the past year Virgin Atlantic completely redesigned www.virigin-atlantic.com and expanded the way they use Google’s QPX™ pricing and shopping technology to simplify and improve the flight shopping process.

Their hard work has definitely paid off, as Virgin Atlantic has seen a significant increase in flight search conversions and the overall value of completed bookings since launch. Additionally, Virgin Atlantic was recently named the Lovie Award’s 2013 Web Futures Gold Winner for Best User Experience. 

David Bulman, Director of Information Technology, Virgin Atlantic, “One of the biggest benefits we realized since launching QPX is the dramatic increase in booking values. It’s easy for customers to quickly compare the different classes of service and realize the value they can get for different fare families. This means customers are frequently trading up and in fact, booking values on our flight search page have increased over 17% year-on-year. Working with Google and implementing QPX technology played a critical contribution to this success.”

We work with our travel partners, like Virgin Atlantic, to make the travel experience better for our users and help them innovate to accomplish their goals. You can check out the video and details about Virgin Atlantic's recent success. Way to go Virgin Atlantic!

Posted by Nicola Simionato, General Manager, Travel, EMEA & APAC

In honor of National Travel & Tourism Week in the U.S., and just in time for summer travel planning, we thought we'd share some tips on finding the best airfares.

Let’s say you want to plan a long weekend somewhere in the U.S. that involves an easy flight (under two hours, nonstop) and costs less than $350. You can easily search for the best option by going to www.google.com/flights , where you can pick dates, set the sliders to your parameters and leave the destination blank. Live prices will appear on the map, so you can quickly see the destinations that fit your criteria.

Another option for flexible travelers is to check prices for different airports in your origin area. We always wanted to visit The Grand Ole Opry, and it could be especially fun during the Fourth of July weekend. Since we live in Chicago, it is easy to drive to several surrounding airports to save money. As shown below, I used the dropdown check list to search fares for flights departing from Rockford, Milwaukee, O’Hare, and Midway to anywhere. Instantly I was able to see that good flight options are still available for our dates to fly from O’Hare to Nashville for $246. (Sometimes, the closest airport does work best for you. But it’s worth trying the others.)

Whether you’re planning a trip on your desktop, tablet or phone, you can use Flight Search to search for countries, states, islands and even continents from any origin in the U.S., Canada, France, U.K., Italy, Spain or Netherlands.

Set your parameters and go explore the U.S.! It’s easier than you think.

Cara Kretz, Marketing Communications, Travel

Want to go on that dream vacation with your American Airlines’ AAdvantage miles but not sure where you can fly? Redeeming miles for flights just got easier now that American has launched the new Award Map, powered by our QPX™ Reward Shopping feature.

This new tool helps users quickly and easily search for and book award travel using their AAdvantage miles. Users simply search with criteria, such as destination category by region or interest, and the miles they wish to use, in addition to regular search parameters like their departure airport, dates of travel and cabin preferences. Behind the scenes the QPX Reward Shopping engine quickly computes a huge number of possibilities to present the user with all available award flight options within their desired mileage amount. Available destinations are then displayed on American’s intuitive Award Map, making it easy for travelers to evaluate all their options and book using their AAdvantage miles.

“We’ve had a long standing relationship with American Airlines, helping them innovate with pricing and shopping since 2004,” said Gianni Marostica, Commercial Director for Travel at Google. “We were thrilled to help them take this latest innovation from idea to implementation in a few short months. Congratulations to the team at American Airlines on this exciting and successful launch.”

Posted by Nate Nottke, Senior Technical Account Manager

If you live in the UK, France, Italy, Spain or the Netherlands -- and are thinking of hiking the Swiss Alps, visiting the Greek Isles, taking a bite out of the Big Apple in NYC or simply planning a business trip -- Flight Search is now available to make planning your trip easier.

Starting today, you can use Flight Search to quickly find, compare and book flights originating from each of these countries to any airport in the world. You'll also be able to search for flights from airports in these countries and see prices in your local currency. Additionally, you can conduct searches in 8 languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Basque, Catalan, Galician and Dutch -- and see prices in your local currency.

Smarter travel planning
Let’s say you’ve decided the Greek Isles are your vacation destination of choice, but you’re not sure which airport offers the most affordable fares. By typing ‘Greece’ as your destination, you’ll be able to quickly compare the cost of the different options, viewing live prices on the map.

Likewise, if you’re looking to take the family to New York City but are unsure of the best time to go, you can click on our ‘Lowest fares’ icon to see which dates will get you the lowest fare.

We choose the best flights based on cost and total travel time, while covering a variety of departure times and airlines. But, you can always view longer or more expensive flights by selecting, 'Show all'. Flight Search makes it easy for you to:

• Find flights quickly. As you make changes to dates, destinations and filters, results will load fast in a format that’s easy to scan. 
• Discover places to go on a map. Explore possible destinations and view live ticket prices by surfing the map. You can filter by price, airline or flight duration. 
• Figure out the best time to travel. Quickly see which travel dates are least expensive by dragging the date selector forward or backward, or click the "Lowest fares" icon to compare lots of dates at once. 
• See a simple list of the most relevant flights. Use our easy-to-scan list or compare options and find the flight that's most convenient, least expensive, wi-fi enabled or simply the one that best meets your needs. 

Sometimes we are not able to show results for every single airline and we will make that clear. We are working to expand our relationship with other airlines, and bring Flight Search to more countries and in more languages.

To access Flight Search in your local country or language, type:

• google.co.uk/flights/ 
• google.fr/flights/ 
• google.it/flights/ 
• google.es/flights/ 
• google.nl/flights/ 

We’ve worked to provide you with fast results as you browse a simple list of the most relevant flights, figure out when to travel, and get ideas about where to go and book your trip online. We hope you’ll enjoy planning your next trip with Flight Search! Bon Voyage!

Posted by Noam Ben Haim, Senior Product Manager, Travel

One year ago, Cape Air launched our new airline platform, a 100% completely new, scalable and modern airline passenger service and reservations system. After 130,000 flights and three New England superstorms, we can say the system has been fully tested and is proven, reliable and efficient.

Hosted on two parallel systems, disaster recovery is integrated into the very architecture of the system. When unplanned events strike, or major infrastructure upgrades are required, we have the capability to move between parallel systems without downtime or interrupted service -- and in a matter of minutes. There is no need for experts to fly data tapes to another safe location or spend hours transferring large data files, as with some legacy systems.

Having a redundant architecture allowed us to move Cape Air from their primary reservations environment to their secondary environment and back again, a number of times over the past year. Even during Nemo, Superstorm Sandy and the recent Nor’easter, Cape Air employees were able to offer uninterrupted service to their customers, getting them where they needed to go -- as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Since launching, Cape Air has seen additional benefits and efficiencies, including:

• The new system made it easy for Cape Air to roll out a steady stream of new features and releases that lighten the load for customers and employees. In the past 12 months, Cape Air integrated 464 improvements with an average integration time of only 30-45 days. 
• The integration between the reservations and departure control components allows Cape Air employees to easily shift between the call center and the airport -- using a system that looks and feels the same across these very unique functions. 
• Agents love how easy it is to check in passengers and baggage, and to add other additional information, to better serve their customers. 
• Cape Air customers often cite the ease of use, convenience of booking with a profile, how quickly and easily they can change and cancel reservations, and the general intuitiveness of the system. 

Dan Wolf, CEO of Cape Air, said “The past year has been full of success moments, in large part thanks to the team and technology provided by ITA. The launch was just about the smoothest I’ve ever seen, and we’ve been able to roll out new features without missing a beat. More importantly, our passengers are finding the way they search, book and travel to be faster, easier and more personal. ITA’s airline platform did not disappoint!”

We’re thrilled with the success Cape Air has had over the past year, and look forward to the exciting updates they’re planning for 2013. To learn more about how Cape Air is making history and delighting its travelers, you can read the full case study.

Posted by Ed Orciuch, Manager, Software Engineering, Travel

MileWise uses our QPX™ pricing and shopping technology on milewise.com to give users a faster and more comprehensive flight shopping experience. Now, Android and Nexus 7 users have access to the same great speed and broad range of search options. In addition to these benefits, QPX also enables other innovative features for MileWise Users: Combo Fares let users combine two one-way tickets with different carriers and payment types, for big potential savings Price Alerts let users instantly know if the lower-tier mileage seat or a great cash fare has become available Search Filters give users a full set of filters, making it easier to find exactly what they're looking for Users also have access to several innovative MileWise features that allow them to:

• Track 500+ programs (including airlines, hotels, credit cards and many others) 
• Explore places to go, using individual rewards or cash 
• Get expiration alerts to make sure they never lose hard-earned miles and points again 
• Receive activity notifications when status level or balance changes 

MileWise lets users see real-time flight prices in cash, airline miles, and hotel and credit-card points -- on one screen. They track reward program balances, status and expirations, combining that data with travel and redemption preferences, to recommend the best way to pay.

Congrats to MileWise on their successful launch. MileWise for Android is available for download in the Google Play Store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.milewise.app.

To learn more about ITA by Google, visit www.itasoftware.com.

Posted by Asif Khan, Sales and Business Development Manager

When visiting a city for the first time, you may want to stay close to the sites you want to see -- or, you may wish to stay in an area of town that you find intriguing. We've made it easier for you to do both, via a new Google Hotel Finder feature that makes it easy to explore neighborhoods in some of the most popular destinations.

Just go to www.google.com/hotels and choose the city you’re planning to visit. After you pick your travel dates, you’ll see a small panel on the top left corner of the results map. You can hover over that panel to see descriptions of different neighborhoods within the city you’ll be visiting. When you’ve done your reading and chosen the neighborhood that best suits your travel needs, you can select that neighborhood to narrow the list of available hotels.

In addition to making it easier to choose the location of your hotel, we’ve also simplified the process for filtering hotel results. To take advantage of this improved experience, simply type your preferences in the search box along with the location (e.g. “3 star hotel in London under $200 with wifi”). The correct filters will be automatically set.

Finally, you will now be able to find your favorite hotel chains with greater ease via a new filter that restricts results by hotel brand.

We look forward to helping you find the best hotel for your next trip.

Posted by: Maciek Nowakowski, Product Manager, Travel

Since launching Flight Search, we’ve heard from many travelers eager to use Flight Search to plan trips for their entire family. Starting today, we’re adding support for multiple passengers, as well as children and infants.

It’s easy. Select the number and type of passengers you want to bring along. Your price will be updated, instantly. Then click on the “Book” button to conveniently complete your booking with our partners.

Our goal is to make planning and booking travel as fast and enjoyable as possible -- whether you’re traveling alone, with a friend or with your entire family. Try Flight Search today to see how fast and easy it is.

Posted by Bob Lewis, Software Engineer

Let’s say you want to take your family to Hawaii for spring break, but you’re not sure which of the islands sounds most appealing. There is now a way to quickly and easily search for a broader set of destination information. In this case, instead of checking prices to Kailua-Kona or Kahului, you could type ‘Hawaii’ into Flight Search. Live prices would then appear on the map, so you can quickly compare the cost of the different options.

Whether you’re planning a trip on your desktop, tablet or phone, you can use Flight Search to search for countries, states, islands and even continents from any U.S. or Canadian origin.

Try searches like ‘Australia’, ‘Europe’ or ‘Florida’, and don’t forget to send us a postcard!

Posted by Peter Balsiger, Software Engineer

Recently, we introduced MileWise as one of our newest QPX™ customers. MileWise presents users with real-time flight prices shown in cash, airline miles, and hotel and credit-card points -- on one screen. MileWise also tracks traveler reward program balances, status and expirations, combining that data with travel and redemption preferences, to recommend the best way to pay.

Now, MileWise users can search with our QPX pricing and shopping technology on milewise.com and their iPhones (Android will be available in Q1 2013). This means MileWise users have improved speed and range of search options whether they’re using their desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the features MileWise users have access to with MileWise for iPhone: 




Innovative search features enabled by QPX 

• Combo Fares: combine two one-way tickets for big potential savings 
• Recent Searches: quickly re-try searches to see if that mileage seat has opened up 
• Search Filters: full set of filters so users can find exactly what they’re looking for 

More innovative features for MileWise users 

• Track 500+ programs (including airlines, hotels, credit cards and many others) 
• Explore great places to go using individual points and rewards 
• Expiration Alerts: never lose hard-earned miles and points again 
• Receive Price Alerts 
• Activity notifications when status level or balance changes 

Sanjay Kothari, Co-founder, MileWise, said “To become the best one-stop travel search engine, we needed an amazing mobile offering. With ITA's help, we believe we were able to deliver that. And, our Android mobile and tablet versions will be released in the first quarter 2013.”

Congrats to MileWise for their successful launch. MileWise for iPhone is available for download at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/milewise/id548797388?mt=8.

To learn more about ITA by Google, visit www.itasoftware.com.

Posted by Asif Khan, Sales and Business Development Manager

(Cross-posted on the Google Inside Search blog)

Google aims to help people turn their intents into actions, lightning fast. For travelers, this means we’re helping to take the complexity out of planning a trip by making it fast and easy for users to find the information they need to plan their next journey. Whether you’re looking for information about flights, hotels, activities or destinations, we have tools to help you -- and they are easily accessible for people on the go. Some of our favorite new functionality is outlined below.

More information, better presentation 
This year, we’ve made some changes to the user interface of Flight Search, and added features that offer more information about amenities and fees; we did this to help users feel well-informed, and to help them quickly choose the best itinerary.

For instance, you can now quickly compare multiple destinations and multiple days simultaneously, using live prices, with our recently introduced experimental feature called Flight Explorer. Try it at www.google.com/flights/explorer.

    Flight Explorer experiment search results page 

You can also use a number of new features to tailor your flight shopping:

• More easily calculate the total cost of your trip by taking a look at the baggage fees displayed next to each flight option 
• Choose a flight offering in-air connectivity by viewing a new indicator noting flights that offer Wi-Fi 
• Consider a little more luxury in the sky by comparing the cost of flying business or first class instead of coach 
• Easily plan complex itineraries -- such as those including multiple stops, or trips that involve a flight into one city and a return trip from another -- without confusion, using our new, user-friendly interface 

Multi-city trip, Wi-Fi availability indicator, upgrade cost and checked baggage fees 

Going global 
In March, we made it possible for users to find flights to more than 500 destinations outside the US. Soon after, we enabled this capability for any international destination airport, for flights originating from the US or Canada. Globetrotters can try these features at www.google.com/flights, or just type your departure city and destination in the search box.

Results for international destination flight 

And late this year, we rolled out localized versions of Hotel Finder in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, UK and Ireland. Now, people in those areas can search for and view hotel options in their own language and currency.

Helping people make informed hotel choices 
 In 2012, we made it even easier to find and book the right hotel for you using Hotel Finder. We also added more content including Zagat reviews and amenities. Hotel Finder now shows the price and availability for a choice of room types.

Pricing information, reviews, hotel details on Hotel Finder 

Varying room types on Hotel Finder 

You can try these features, and others, at www.google.com/hotels.

Empowering road warriors, delivering better destination data 
In September, we made it easier for you to find the information needed to plan a trip, whether you’re searching via desktop, smartphone or tablet.

Soon after, updates to Google Now offered a number of ways for you to stay informed while on the go:

• Automatic flight status notifications 
• Updates on weather at your destination 
• Showcase of events happening nearby 
• Website suggestions to help you explore as you research things to do
• Electronic boarding pass cards for ease of travel

Google now travel cards

Finally, you can easily tap into the collective intelligence of the web to uncover a list of information relevant to your destination, using the Knowledge Graph carousel -- and hopefully, find inspiration.

Knowledge Graph carousel list of activities in Rome

Stay tuned for more. We think you’ll love what we have coming your way in 2013.

Posted by Jeremy Wertheimer, Vice President, Travel

We’re happy to announce that All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline and one of our first QPX™ customers in Asia, has signed a new multi-year agreement for continued use of ITA’s pricing and shopping engine.

ANA launched QPX in 2008, utilizing our advanced airfare shopping tools to provide international airfare search on www.ana.co.jp. ANA has since expanded their international search capabilities to incorporate calendar, flexible date shopping and multi-city. Most recently, ANA added slice-by-slice search capabilities which allows travelers to customize their itinerary by selecting departure and return options separately.


Headquartered in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, ANA operates service to 49 destinations in Japan and 31 international routes. They’ve been a great partner and we’re excited to continue supporting their growth and expansion into other international markets over the next several years.

To learn more about ITA Software, visit www.itasoftware.com.

Posted by Lewis Chang, Sr. Technical Account Manager

As one of our newest customers, MileWise recently launched our QPX™ pricing and shopping technology on milewise.com. MileWise presents users with real-time flight prices shown in cash, airline miles, and hotel and credit-card points -- on one screen. MileWise also tracks traveler reward program balances, status and expirations, combining that data with travel and redemption preferences, to recommend the best way to pay.

                  

Using QPX improves the speed and range of options for their users -- and limits results to only those that are available. QPX also enables MileWise to better deliver innovative features for their customers such as Price Alerts, Combo Prices and Explore.

• Price Alerts notify travelers when a “Saver” award or cheap cash fare becomes available for a desired trip. 
• Combo Prices let travelers easily mix and match different ways to pay for a flight. These prices can be cheaper and let travelers with less rewards still use them for travel. 
• Explore inspires travelers by showcasing awesome award prices and fantastic fares for dream destinations and popular places. 

                   

Another feature popular with MileWise users is the WisePrice index that ranks flights based on total price, miles earned (including bonuses) and personalized reward values.

Sanjay Kothari, Co-founder, MileWise, said “The choice for us became clear. To be a one-stop travel search engine, we need the best cash fare inventory, fast response times and powerful search capabilities. That meant partnering with ITA. We’re now able to provide more personalized and flexible searching capabilities and return the lowest prices for vastly more routes.”

We’re looking forward to working with MileWise as they continue to expand their offerings.

To learn more about ITA by Google, visit www.itasoftware.com.

Posted by Asif Khan, Sales and Business Development Manager

(Cross-posted on the Google Inside Search blog)

More and more travelers are using tablets to search for and book travel. In fact, 46% of all US tablet owners who search for travel, actually purchase via their tablet. We also know that people use their tablets differently than they use their desktop. That’s why we’ve optimized our Flight Search experience for those who prefer to search with a tablet, such as a Nexus 7 or an iPad.

Starting today, travelers can search for and book flights on any tablet device by going to http://www.google.com/flights/. With the touch of your finger, you can easily explore places to visit on the map and see prices updated in real-time for each destination.

              

If you’re flexible with your dates you can also use our lowest fares tool and scroll across days, weeks and months to find the cheapest dates to take your trip. Your results will be updated super-fast, even when you switch dates or destinations.

                 

We hope this makes planning your next trip easier and more enjoyable -- whether you’re using your desktop, laptop, mobile device or tablet. We look forward to your continued feedback on Flight Search.

Posted by Rani Manoharan, User Interface Designer, Travel

(Cross-posted on the Google Inside Search blog)

If you’re thinking about attending the 179th Oktoberfest, there’s still time. It runs September 22 -October 7 in Munich, Germany. Just in case you’re planning a trip, we’ve assembled some tips for how you can use Google tools like Flight Search, Hotel Finder, Maps and Transit to help you plan an amazing trip -- whether you’re using your desktop, laptop or on your Android device.

If you want to figure out the best beer tents to visit, this Google Map will be a great place to turn during the event (will be live 09/22/12). When the pin over the tent is green, the tent still has seating and is open. When the pin is red, the tent is closed because of overfilling.

My favorite tent is the Hippodrom, a smaller tent frequented by a younger crowd -- and recently discovered by celebrities. It offers beer -- of course -- but also has a sekt (sparkling wine) bar that is pretty stylish. You should plan on arriving early if you want to visit.

You can also see live pics from Oktoberfest by clicking on various webcams on the map. This capability is very useful in providing information to help you choose the tents you’re most interested in visiting.

You might also want to plan ahead and consider the crowds and traffic. With Google Maps for Android, you can take a look at live traffic to see if you want to drive -- or choose to just walk, bike or take transit.

If you want to see more of Germany, you can use Google Transit to reach other cities such as Hamburg or Frankfurt. This navigation tool includes information about Deutsche Bahn (DB) trains and recommends the best transit options, taking into account various factors such as duration and number of Umstiege (transfers/stops). The options are then shown on the map, along with time, train type and duration of the trip. This is especially handy because it’s possible to click through from the transit options page, to purchase your tickets on bahn.de without needing to reenter the dates!

And if you’re a non-Bavarian who doesn’t speak German, don’t worry. You can use Google Translate or the official Oktoberfest dictionary to communicate with the locals.


So now that your interest is piqued, you’ll probably want to plan a trip right away. You can do so by going to www.google.com and searching for [flights to Munich]. Your departure city will be automatically recognized; mine was New York City. As you change your dates, prices will instantly update.
             

I prefer nonstop flights, so I clicked on “Nonstop” to get a list of flight times available at the $1,073 USD price and then evaluated various attributes of the flights -- including the cost of checked bags for this ticket. Once I picked the flights that worked for me, I clicked the red “Book” button to make my booking via the airline’s website.
                

Finally, you can use Hotel Finder to find hotels near Oktoberfest in Munich. You can do this by going to www.google.com/hotelfinder and entering [Oktoberfest Munich, Germany], along with the dates you plan to be in town. You can use the reviews, images, ratings and pricing information to create a shortlist. Once I selected the hotel I was interested in, I used the red booking button which took me to www.booking.com to complete my reservation.
                

We hope you found these tips helpful. Whether you end up hitting the Wiesn tents this October, or visiting Germany at some point in the future, we hope to help you plan your trip and connect with travel suppliers with ease.

Posted by Noam Ben Haim, Senior Product Manager, Travel