It’s almost exhilarating covering the reopening of the travel world. Many, things definitely changed during the pandemic, but for finding the best prices and filtering the best flights, Google Flights remains a key go-to. It’s now helpful in getting places, too.
With each day, countries once closed off to the world are turning on their “open” signs, and countries which were open, but with heavy restrictions; continue to shed them.
That’s the good news, but the tricky part is keeping up with it all. GSTP covers are many exciting country reopening stories as we can, but as protocols shift, things get tenuous to keep up with. If you hadn’t already noticed, Google Flights has a pretty cool little tool for simplifying the latest travel restrictions, right on the flights page.
Google Flights Travel Restrictions
You may have been so keen to find the best prices, or filter out unwanted flights that you looked right past it, but Google Flights has a helpful restriction tool. Even better, it’s right on the Google Flights interface.
When you enter a destination into the flight destination field on Google Flights, a little pop up box will appear, if there are any travel restrictions at the destination.
These pop ups offer a more generalized view than some of the more robust travel restriction tools, but they also do something few others do. They link you directly to the most relevant official resource on the matter, like a government or tourism body page.
This is a particularly handy feature, given how fast restrictions are changing, and that third party articles which were correct only a few days before may no longer be by the time you read them.
The only small, or rather big downside, is that even government websites aren’t always perfect and immediately up to date. They usually are though, so don’t panic.
For that reason, it’s always best to double check with all the other best restriction resources to ensure you’ve got all the boxes checked. Sometimes these things can be incredibly pedantic about test type, hours since test, type of vaccination proof, etc.
Countries Are Reopening And Fares Are Rising
Google Flights remains one of the best ways to search for flights, but with prices on the way up, it’s also a great way to keep track of trends too. It’s free to set price alerts for any itinerary, which offers email notifications when a price goes up or down.
The longer you track a route, the more sure you can be for when to strike, if a big sale comes along. Adding these new restriction tools help to instantly eliminate or clarify potential trip snags before its too late, too. And crucially, before you book!
With countries including Vietnam, New Zealand and much of Europe accelerating their travel reopening plans, the biggest question is now where to?
Leave a comment