How to Set Up Google Flight Alerts

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I'm planning a trip with a good friend! This will be our first non-family trip in a long while (thank you nursing babies...) and we're very excited!


I always love a good deal, especially when it comes to flights. It's really cool what you can do with the internet these days. Last May when my husband's side of the family went to Florida / Disneyworld, I got our 5 plane tickets for the price of 2! 


(There was one lap infant in here but STILL! A really good deal.) It was a lovely way to have more money for the actual trip, not just getting there. 
And don't forget the time we went to Paris for less than $240 per person! 

 That was amazing...
How did I do it? There are two ways. 


1. Pay for an email subscription
To find good flight deals, you can pay for a subscription to an email service like Scott's Cheap Flights. (That's how I got the Paris deal!)

There are tons of those out there — basically they forward you good deals. 


Con: You have to pay (but this is a small con since usually it's not that much and if you're for sure booking a flight within 12 months, you'll most likely save whatever it costs).
Pros: They do the filtering and searching for you! (i.e. SCF won't send deals with awful 9-hour-layovers , any flights with Spirit airlines, and stuff like that.)


2. Set up email alerts on Google flights yourself
All you do is tell Google Flights what type of trip you're looking for. Then click that you want to get alerts about it and then check your email for when the price goes up/down. . 

Con: You have to do the searching (not a terrible thing if you have some ideas of when and what month you'd like to travel).
Pros: It's monetarily free and only costs a bit of time investment upfront. 

So here is how I set up Google flight alerts!


First, I go to www.google.com/flights and enter my home airport:


Then I’ll select a location — either a city or a country. 


Then you can click on filters and refine the search as well. It’s also helpful to use the flexible dates option! 

Then you can toggle the track prices button (you need to be signed in to Google to do this) and it will email you when the prices change. 


I also like looking at the pricing grid and the pricing graph too. This helps me get a good idea of which times to avoid flying. 



Where are you going on your next trip?
Best of luck to you!!