Google Flights Adds 'Price Guarantee' for US Flight Bookings, to Offer Refunds if Ticket Prices Fall

Google Flights has been updated with a price guarantee feature that is designed to help users get the cheapest prices for flight tickets. The company will refund the difference in the cost of a booked ticket, if its price goes down at a later date. The feature is currently available as a pilot program in the US. It is only available for flights that Google is confident will not get cheaper before they take off.

According to details shared in Google's blog post announcing the new feature, Google Flights will offer a price guarantee programme that will offer refunds on booked tickets if the price gets cheaper before the flight takes off. It will monitor the price daily until departure and users will receive a refund of the difference in price via Google Pay.

It is worth noting that the offer is applicable only on selected flights denoted by a colourful price badge and the flight must be departing from the US. The guaranteed flight offer is applicable only when tickets are booked through Google Flights.

Sharing more details about the programme on its support page, Google notes that the maximum amount that a user can get is $500 (roughly Rs. 41100) per calendar year, whereas the price difference of the booked tickets must be more than $5 (roughly Rs. 410).

Users can take advantage of three open price-guaranteed bookings at any time. The guarantee only applies to one-way and round-trip flights departing from the US. Additionally, users must use a US billing address and US phone number on the Book on Google page, according to the firm.

Google states that users will receive the difference in price within 48 hours from when the flight will take off. Users will need to have Google Pay set up to receive the refund from the company.