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Google Unveils Flight Search
Google announced today the availability of Flight Search, the product of their acquisition of ITA Software last year. "Starting today, when you search for flight information on Google, for example 'flights from Chicago to Denver,' you will see a 'Flights' link in the left-hand panel. This link leads to our new Flight Search feature, and is offered in addition to the flight schedules which have been available since May." Google says they're continuing to develop the service, and added that the results are "not influenced by any paid relationships."
Cocaine is a hell of a drug
...is Kayak's Darth Vadar "NOOOOO!" scream.
---- Please be nice in case my Slashdot karma ~= my real life karma.
It's also not influenced by any results.
I just checked a 1-stop round trip I booked last week, and instead of the dozens of options that Expedia and Travelocity offered, this thing gave me bupkis.
It also tried to force my local airport into the From box, even when I had entered another. How can I fly from two airports two thousand miles apart?
Consider this a Google pre-Alpha release...
Because I'm getting sick of Jet Skiing across the Atlantic Ocean.
So Google is finally copying Bing's features?
I don't quite mind, if Google starts copying Wolfram Alpha we may get LCARS one day.
US only.
Google kills Flight Search and ten other apps
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
I know I'll get modded down for the but Microsoft's Bing search engine has been doing flight searches quite nicely for a time. Type in a flight query with dates and it will have a selection to choose matching flights at the top of your search results. You can even limit by take off or arrival times and it has a pretty good "price predictor" to tell you whether to buy now or wait (and what is the likelihood of the cost going down). They have good price history tools and charts too.
If you want to find a good price on a domestice flight, the price history is great to see what days the airlines "price pulse" that route.
the internet phht no one used that garbage, thank god google was there to whore out or personal information while jamming our machines with 85,000 flash ad's every single page.
I mean how did I ever live before, I remember a time when I could search for sinewave and it would not jam up my machine for a moment in javascript to suggest Six Flags.
Google you suck.
Sorry, locations outside the U.S. are currently not supported.
drat.
I suppose they will be eventually.
I just tried to do a quick check and it won't let me do a thing. I want to check for flights from Maui, HI, to San Francisco, CA. It won't let me change the origin. It insists that the origin must always be where it thinks I am. So that means I can't look up flights for a friend who is currently in Hawaii.
Whatever they paid for this abortion of a web service, it was too much.
-- Will program for bandwidth
FFS! use the original nd much powerful tool they are Glomming off of.
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
This place used to be a Lisp wizards hangout.
Will Google dump Lisp and use only Java? (ITA was Java + Lisp + whatnots)
Since Google has a phenomenal track record with scraping, I hope they can start including info for some of the budget airlines that aren't typically seen with sites like Kayak, Orbitz and Expedia.
Airlines like Southwest and Allegiant Air
I am very sorry, but this service currently serves only those living inside the U.S. of A.
Sorry, locations outside the U.S. are currently not supported.
No, it only serves people who want to travel from one part of the U.S. of A. to another part of the U.S. of A. There are people who live outside of the U.S. of A. who sometimes like to travel from one part to another. And shockingly there are people living inside the U.S. of A. who sometimes like to travel outside of it.
Maybe google releases an API so apps likeTravel Budget ( travelbudget.inevo.pt ) become a reality.
AI + flight prices = travelling much more
just use http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ from the beginning, do not fool with Googl's "improvements"
you can search from multiple local airports to multiple destination airports over a month's span for the lowest price.
World WIDE
You're lucky if locations *inside* the US are even supported. As of last year, my local airport was the 93rd busiest airport in the country in terms of enplanements, according to the FAA. Google is the only site I've ever seen with flight schedules that doesn't include my airport, which on average boards a little over 2,200 fare-paying passengers daily.
There are people who live outside of the U.S. of A. who sometimes like to travel from one part to another.
Terrorists.
And shockingly there are people living inside the U.S. of A. who sometimes like to travel outside of it.
Traitors.
How about "Grope Search"?
Google will email you to let you know when the good looking TSA agents are working, so you can opt for a pat-down.
Of course a new service has bugs. Really you will end up with Fat Wanda or the stinky guy who looks like Joe Pesci.
First flight I tried:
Sorry, locations outside the U.S. are currently not supported.
Almost pointless, as far as I'm concerned. I wonder why they would start this way? Obviously they'll do it eventually...
expandfairuse.org
I was looking for information on where a one-stop flight made its stopover, and typing the airline and flight number into Google yielded the information along with the actual times of the last time it ran. This is right up there with basic weather and unit conversion in terms of useful shortcuts they've provided.
I'm outside the US and haven't got the time to experiment right now. But from TFA (I know I know) and the screenshot, it just looks like pretty much everything else out there. I don't really see what they've done that's new, other than integrating with their search box.
Personally, I think I'm going to stick with Hipmunk for the moment unless Google can somehow get Ryanair, Easyjet and company in there. Hipmunk's chart-style presentation of the flight results really does work for me, even if it does occasionally trigger MS Project flashbacks. ;)
Your search – Toronto to Vancouver – did not match any results.
Sorry, locations outside the U.S. are currently not supported.
Add this to Google Music, Google Voice for Canadians.