Google’s updating its flight and hotel booking feature with suggestions on whether itineraries are a deal. The company says it will start using machine learning to evaluate flight and hotel prices compared to past bookings to let consumers know if it’s best to book now or wait. Sites like Kayak or Skyscanner currently offer similar features.
Google now offers discounted tours and activities for bundling vacation packages
New to Google is also the ability to track hotel prices by email. Previously, Google only allowed you to opt into tracking flight prices. The service will also begin selling tour and activity tickets to round out a trip package, offering discounts for bundling flights, hotels, and activities together in one booking. To book, however, you’ll be taken to a third-party vendor like Expedia or Orbitz to complete the purchase. Google is not booking and confirming those tickets for you.
These price tracking and tour bundling features won’t seem new if you’ve already been using aggregator sites like the aforementioned services above, but Google hopes that offering consumers their trip options in one place means they won’t have to hunt around the web for the best deals on their vacations.
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