Mountain View, California — Early this year, the search engine giant Google expanded its Flight Search option for domestic routes, reaping the fruit from its acquisition of ITA Software. Now users looking to book a flight from the U.S. to another country can do so with just a click, as the company last week announced that it has released an updated version of its Flight Search tool, which can now be used to find and compare flights to more than 500 airports outside of the U.S.
So far, it has only been available in the U.S., which means you can search only for flights that originated within the U.S., and not those that originated from other countries. Now, with this latest update that will be more helpful, users can find flights departing from the U.S. to destinations around the world, including Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Venice. It is also the latest sign of the company’s iterative approach to new products.
Courtesy Flight Search
“Since we originally introduced Flight Search last September, we have heard from many globetrotters eager to use the feature to search for destinations outside the U.S.,” wrote product manager Eric Zimmerman in a blog post Thursday.
“If you are in the U.S. and considering of hitting the slopes in the Swiss Alps or heading to Sydney for a getaway, you can now use Flight Search to find and book a flight quickly and easily,” Zimmerman, wrote in a blog post.
In fact, looking at the earlier version, users can access it in two ways. Using the Flight Search tool, users entering their flight details see a map, multiple flight options and buttons that let you tweak the results by date, price and flight duration.
Now, with the latest tool, using the company’s main search box, you can simply enter, say, “flights Seattle to London,” and the results will include several Google Flights listings, followed by links to FareCompare, Kayak, airline sites and others. Google is also working to extend its global coverage and plans to add more international destinations in the future.
{japopup type=”image” content=”images/stories/demo/2012/March/flight search 1-big.png” width=”700″ height=”380″ title=”image” }
{/japopup}
Click to enlarge…
Interestingly, “A quick click over each city on the map will showcase several alternatives available to you almost instantly — and click the chart next to the dates to show alternative dates so you can make the best choice for your trip,” says Zimmerman.
Another novel feature is, “Similarly, if you are looking to hop over to Europe for a weekend from New York City and are flexible with your departure and arrival airports, you can see the options for your gateway.” The tool can also be used to compare flights to a certain destination by date.
“If you think of it from a release perspective, the original might have been version 4,” said Ryan Williams, director of client services, travel for Compete.com. “This would be 4.1, not a jump to a 5.”
On the other hand, the major reason that has some in the industry worried is Google’s acquisition of ITA Software last year threatened travel-industry rivals like Kayak, which petitioned regulators to block the deal. The Department of Justice ultimately approved the acquisition, however.
“Anytime you search for a flight, they are instantly No. 1 and that pushes everyone else down,” said Ben Hammer, spokesman for FairSearch.org, a consortium of online travel providers, including Kayak, Expedia and Travelocity, that was originally formed to fight Google’s acquisition of ITA Software two years ago. (ITA runs the airfare-search technology for many FairSearch members.)
“More options and more transparency is always good for users,” Hammer told msnbc.com. “If users get to pick the winners and losers on the Internet, then they win. If Google picks the winners, Google always wins.”
Keen to improve, the search giant last month extended its Flight Search to mobile devices, and mentioned that this is a just first step, with the company ‘working hard on expanding our global coverage and adding more routes in the future. Our goal is to make booking travel as fast and enjoyable as possible’.