Using Google Flights

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burnt

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Does anybody have any experience using google flights and a VPN and looking for pricing from another location, not sure how google flights handles this and I would be interested in any general or specific comments re using google flights "to find bargains". From what i have seen so far i like the option of be able to search by affiliation airline, eg Oneworld only or Star Alliance etc, they also have a function which tells you if it can be cheaper to purchase two one ways instead of a return (very clever), but I dont have access to a VPN and was wondering how that would play out?
 
burnt said:
Does anybody have any experience using google flights and a VPN and looking for pricing from another location, not sure how google flights handles this and I would be interested in any general or specific comments re using google flights "to find bargains". From what i have seen so far i like the option of be able to search by affiliation airline, eg Oneworld only or Star Alliance etc, they also have a function which tells you if it can be cheaper to purchase two one ways instead of a return (very clever), but I dont have access to a VPN and was wondering how that would play out?
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I suspect it won't make much difference to use a VPN. The fare pricing will usually be dependent (priced) on the point of departure. Will be interesting to see if there are any anomalies.
 
MEL_Traveller said:
I suspect it won't make much difference to use a VPN. The fare pricing will usually be dependent (priced) on the point of departure. Will be interesting to see if there are any anomalies.
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Yes I agree. VPN won't make any difference for Australian departures. Pricing is based on point of origin.
 
burnt said:
Does anybody have any experience using google flights and a VPN and looking for pricing from another location, not sure how google flights handles this and I would be interested in any general or specific comments re using google flights "to find bargains". From what i have seen so far i like the option of be able to search by affiliation airline, eg Oneworld only or Star Alliance etc, they also have a function which tells you if it can be cheaper to purchase two one ways instead of a return (very clever), but I dont have access to a VPN and was wondering how that would play out?
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If I am reading your post correctly - you can use MatrixITA to set the point of origin to be a city of your choice "Sales City" (to see whether it offers a different pricing). However, worth pointing out that you can't actually buy for MatrixITA - you need to look for an OTA/travel agent for that. And that might be hard to find one when you're actually purchasing fares ex-Australia.
 
Just searched ITA matrix and google flights for SCL-EZE, many results but does not pull up the SKY Airline option that is advertised locally in Chile for US$49 plus taxes
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[TD]¡Hoy último día!

¡Compra ahora y vuela en MAYO LOW COST!

Buenos Aires desde USD 49 + tasas.
Lima desde USD 59 + tasas.

Tarifas en promoción válidas para comprar hasta hoy viernes 1 de abril.
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Is there anyway to capture all of this sort of "stuff"
 
It looks like the airfares in that advertisement were available for sale 28/3/2016 until 01/04/2016 + the promo text also says 'buy before 1 April'. So I wouldn't expect those to show in googleflights, and a VPN won't get around that.
 
I used Google flights for the first time this week. Was searching specifically for KUL-SIN-SYD-BNE one-way on Qantas.

Zuji had the airfare but only offered one option with tight connections. Want to drop clubs off in SYD and then head to BNE. Expedia didn't have the connections I wanted and was a little more expensive, Webjet had some options but they get too expensive with their QF credit card surcharge and booking fees and booking guarantee fee. Have no idea what these mean but add ~$100 on to airfare.

Anyway Google flights took me to Expedia MY and I booked the exact flights I wanted at a good price.

Will definitely use Google flights again.
 
I'm looking at MEL-PRG-LHR-MEL and attempting to use ITA/google to check for cheaper tickets by using a different city of purchase. I've checked all three locations I'll be flying through, as well as the US and Italy (to check the price in Euro), but can't seem to save myself more than $60-$100. Has anyone had more success using ITA to save some money, and are there any particular cities/currencies I should check?
 
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aleksandrab said:
I'm looking at MEL-PRG-LHR-MEL and attempting to use ITA/google to check for cheaper tickets by using a different city of purchase. I've checked all three locations I'll be flying through, as well as the US and Italy (to check the price in Euro), but can't seem to save myself more than $60-$100. Has anyone had more success using ITA to save some money, and are there any particular cities/currencies I should check?
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Not sure exactly what you mean - but if you are departing from MEL, your fare will be priced in AUD at the applicable fare from MEL. This won't change by selecting a different city of purchase. You may find some variances, as you would between agents if you purchased the fare in Australia.
 
You could get your YQ dumped if you're lucky. However, it's almost impossible if Oz is the origin.
 
aleksandrab said:
ah okay - thanks. I was trying something along the lines of this article: Use a 'Fake' Location to Get Cheaper Plane Tickets

but I guess it may be a little misleading as all you're saving yourself is small variances in currency fluctuations.
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The example they give is correct and can work for things like domestic fares (sort of) and for special fares which local websites may offer.

An example is if you try and book American Airlines domestic fares using the AA Australian website - you'll generally find the prices are higher. This is because the .au site is limiting the number of fares available. Go to the AA .com (US site) and you'll see a much bigger range of fares and that includes ones that are often a lot cheaper.

Sometimes airlines have other special fares available for local sale using the local website address. But the key is the point of origin.

In your case you are looking to buy ex Australia, so the ex Australia fares will apply. Generally the cheapest ones will be available from Australian websites, barring any 'mistake' fares which an overseas on-line travel agent might have (which comes with all sorts of complications anyway).

(Another way to save money can be on simple round-trip fares with Low Cost Carriers... sometimes there's a premium booking the return journey from Australia, and the fare ex the destination country can be cheaper for the return. You then need to book two one-ways to take advantage of the lower fare. Examples of this include Jetstar... roundtrip MEL-BKK might be $300 each way, but splitting the fare you'll get $300 MEL-BKK but $250 BKK-MEL.)
 
I'm having trouble getting google flights to find the cheapest airfares. Recently searching KUL-ADL-xMEL-KUL. using MH/QF/EK or MH Google flights comes back with $2000 for a single itinerary. But MH want $900 for KUL-ADL, MEL-KUL with a Qantas connector at $138 that's $1000.
 
Not all fares are available via every GDS - I generally find neither google flights or ITA will show the cheapest fares for Qanta/Virgin Domestic.
 
serfty said:
Not all fares are available via every GDS - I generally find neither google flights or ITA will show the cheapest fares l.
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A current example are Jetstar flights - googleflights has has MEL-BKK at USD2000+ return. You can get this for just under AUD2000 return booking on the JQ website. Googleflights also failed to show the recent JQ sale prices to BKK of AUD599 each way. They still had them at USD1000 (each way).
 
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