Booking a holiday can be incredibly stressful, especially when airfare prices fluctuate wildly depending on the exact day you choose to fly. If you search for a rigid itinerary—such as flying to Paris on a specific Friday and returning the following Sunday—you are almost guaranteed to pay a premium.
However, if your travel plans are flexible, there is a hidden workflow that can save you hundreds of pounds. By learning how to find cheap flights using Google Flights Explore, you can instantly visualise the absolute lowest airfares across the entire globe, rather than restricting yourself to a single destination or rigid timeline.
What is Google Flights Explore?
Most flight search engines (like Skyscanner or Expedia) require you to input a strict departure city, destination, and set of dates before they will show you any prices. Google Flights Explore completely reverses this process.
Instead of demanding a destination, the Explore tool presents you with an interactive world map. You simply enter your departure airport, and the map populates with the cheapest possible flight prices to cities all over the world. It is the ultimate tool for spontaneous travellers or budget-conscious holidaymakers who know they want a break, but do not mind where they go.
How to Access the Explore Map
To begin your flexible search, follow these steps on your desktop or laptop computer (the interface is much easier to navigate on a larger screen than on a mobile device):
- Open your web browser and navigate to Google Flights.
- Look at the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen (if it is hidden, click the three horizontal lines in the top left corner).
- Click on Explore.
You will immediately be presented with a large map of your continent, dotted with price tags for various cities.
Configuring a Flexible Search
The true power of the Explore tool lies in its flexible date configurations. To find the absolute best deals, you need to remove the rigid date constraints.
- In the search bar at the top of the map, ensure your departure airport is correct (e.g., London Heathrow).
- Leave the Where to? box completely blank, or type in a broad region like “Europe” or “Asia”.
- Click on the Dates box.
- Instead of choosing specific calendar dates, click on the Flexible dates tab at the top of the pop-up window.
- You can now choose a general timeframe. For example, select All in the next 6 months.
- Select your desired trip length (e.g., 1 week).
- Click Done.
Analysing the Results
The interactive map will now update to show you the cheapest one-week flights available to every visible city over the next six months.
- Zoom and Pan: You can click and drag the map to explore different continents. As you zoom into a country, more regional airports and prices will appear.
- Use the Filters: On the left side of the screen, you can apply strict filters to weed out terrible flights. It is highly recommended to set the Stops filter to “Non-stop only” to avoid exhausting layovers.
- Price Limits: Use the Price slider to set a maximum budget (e.g., Under £150). The map will instantly hide any destinations that exceed your budget.
Booking Your Flight
Once you spot a price on the map that looks appealing, click on the city’s name. A sidebar will slide out on the left side of the screen.
This sidebar will reveal the exact dates that correspond to that ultra-low price. From there, you can click the “View flights” button to select your preferred airline and complete your booking directly with the carrier, completely bypassing third-party travel agents.
