Google Flights 'Price Guarantee' Rolls Out, Offers Refund If Ticket Prices Drop: Here's How?

During the pilot programme, Google price guarantees are only available for 'Book on Google' flight itineraries that depart from the US.

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Google has introduced 'Price Guarantee' on flights as part of a pilot program on select booking made through the Google Flights. The new feature promises a refund to the travellers if they find a cheaper air ticket after booking a flight through Google. Moreover, Google has also introduced three new features in Search to make it easier for users to browse hotels, book flights and plan vacations, reports IANS. Google says they are confident about their algorithms for finding the lowest available price before the flight departs. Google further says that if the price of the flight drops, they will "make up the difference."

"We'll monitor the price every day until departure, and if it does go down, we'll send you back the difference via Google Pay," Google said in a blog post. "Now you can book with the confidence that you're not missing out on a great deal. During this pilot programme, price guarantees are only available for 'Book on Google' itineraries that depart from the US," it added.

How much money will you get?

As per Google, the Price guarantee program pays you the difference between the flight price when you book and the lowest ticket price. To get money back, the price difference must be greater than $5 USD and you can receive up to $500 back in a calendar year for up to 3 open Price guaranteed bookings at any one time. 

What are the conditions?

As per Google, these conditions are to be fulfilled in order to qualify for a refund, in case of a price drop:

1) Your country/region must be set to US and your currency must be in USD to see guaranteed flights

2) Price guarantee only applies to one-way and round-trip flights that depart from the United States

3) You must use a US billing address and US phone number on the Book on Google page

4) You must be signed in to your Google Account

5) Price guarantee is only available for flights for which Google is confident that the price won't drop. These flights have a colourful price badge when you pick your departing and returning flights.

6) You must set up the Google Pay app as a US user with a US mobile phone number.

How to book a Price Guarantee ticket?

Price guarantee only impacts you if the price of your flight drops after you book and before the first flight in your itinerary departs:

1) Beneath “Departing flights,” select a badged flight

2) Select the badged itinerary through checkout

3) Click the “Book on Google” link

4) On the Book on Google Page, check the box next to “Price Guarantee” to accept the Terms of Service

5) You receive a confirmation email when the flight is guaranteed.

How will you get the difference back?

Here are the terms Google has listed in order to get a refund from the tech giant:

1) You must download the Google Pay app and set it up within 90 days of the departure of the first flight in your itinerary to claim the difference back

2) It will be deposited into your money in Google Pay

3) If the price drops, Google will notify you after takeoff and pay you the difference back in Google Pay

4) It usually takes up to 48 hours for the money to be deposited into your account.