Google’s
New Travel Guarantee
The search engine’s got some new tools to help you plan, and will pay you back if it’s wrong
Google announced last week that it's introducing three new Search features to make it easier for users to research hotels, book their next plane ticket and discover things to do while on vacation. But most notably, the company is piloting a new “price guarantee” badge for flights.
According to Tech Crunch, if you see a flight with the badge, it means that Google believes that the price you're seeing won't get any lower. If you book with Google, the company will watch the price, and if it drops, you'll actually get the difference back. Makes clicking a whole lot safer. Anyone who watches fares knows that few things are more frustrating than booking a ticket, only to see the price go down later.
At the moment, Google is testing the new policy with select U.S. flights on only three airlines—Alaskan, Hawaiian and Spirit. In the long term, Google wants to roll out the new policy to include as many domestic and international airlines as possible, though there is no timeline on when more carriers will be on board. Inside Hook reports that refunds are automatically deposited into your Google Pay account (you will need to set one up for all this to work). But money from Google Pay can easily be transferred to any bank account.
The Best
Checked BagsFor longer travels or destinations where you really want to flex your wardrobe (or hope to return with some fresh loot), a checked bag is all but required. We threw everything we could at—and into—a range of suitcases suitable for checking. These are the top ones our editors recommend.