Travel Blog
The latest news and notes from the Travel team
Feeling Lucky? Explore flights in fun, new ways with Google
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Just over a year ago, we launched an experimental feature called explore flights to give you a unique, price-focused way of exploring different destinations within a region. It's still available, but over the next few days we’ll be rolling out some of the most popular functionality right into
Flight Search
-- plus a few other surprises.
So, whether you know where you want to go or want to throw caution to the wind and visit some place completely new, we've got some fun, new ways to help you explore the world around you! See it in action.
If you’re looking for some inspiration, you can click on the map to enter a full-screen exploring experience. You can pan the entire world and see all of the different cities you can fly to, see photos of the top attractions for each city and see how the price changes based on holidays, day of the week or time of year.
If you’re feeling really adventurous, try the “I’m Feeling Lucky” feature. It’s kind of like a travel slot machine. Simply select the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button from within the expanded map and we’ll give you ideas of where to go. You can add price or time limits and press the button as many times as you want -- we’ll keep suggesting destinations you might like.
Additionally, whenever you type a region (e.g. “South America”) as your destination in Flight Search you’ll see cards for the most popular destinations within that region, and destinations personalized for you based on your past searches. We’ll also provide a map so you can see where these places are located -- as well as the lowest fare and duration to fly to each place.
As you start to plan your next vacation, try
google.com/flights
for yourself. We hope it makes your destination selection process more fun and informative.
Posted by Gus Prevas, Software Engineer, Travel Team
Google+ Stories and Movies: memories made easier
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
(Cross-posted on the
Google Official Blog
)
A suitcase full of dirty clothes. A sad-looking house plant. And 437 photos and videos on your phone, tablet and camera. This is the typically messy scene after a vacation. And although we can’t do your laundry (thanks but no thanks), or run your errands (well, maybe
a few
), we’d still like to help. Enter Google+ Stories, which can automatically weave your photos, videos and the places you visited into a beautiful travelogue.
No more sifting through photos for your best shots, racking your brain for the sights you saw, or letting your videos collect virtual dust. We’ll just gift you a story after you get home. This way you can relive your favorite moments, share them with others, and remember why you traveled in the first place.
Stories will be available this week on Android and the web, with iOS coming soon. In the meantime you can browse my story below (click to start), or explore a few others by paraglider
Tom de Dorlodot
, and DJ
Steve Aoki
.
When it’s less about travel, and more about today's events (like a birthday party, or baby’s first steps),
Google+ Movies
can produce a highlight reel of your photos and videos automatically—including effects, transitions and a soundtrack. Today we’re bringing Movies to Android, iOS and the web, so lots more people will receive these video vignettes.
A movie of my daughter’s first bike ride, created automatically by Google+
To get started with Stories and Movies, simply
back up
your photos and videos to Google+. And that’s it.
Auto Awesome
will get to work in the background, and you’ll get notified when a story or movie is ready.
In fact: if your photo library is already online, you may already have stories waiting for you. So look for the new app in
Google Play
, view the full list of improvements
on Google+
, and enjoy your walks down memory lane.
Posted by
+Anil Sabharwal
, Director of Product Management
Boston Googlers give back in 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
In the spirit of giving, we wanted to take a moment to reflect upon some of the
good deeds
our Boston Googlers have done over this past year.
Held a bone marrow registration drive with the
Gift of Life
Hosted a charity drive to benefit
Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts
Designated a week to
GoogleServe
where Boston Googlers joined 8,000 Googlers company-wide to do good in our local communities
Provided national grants to
MIT’s OEOP MITES program
, to the
Boston Museum of Science
and to
Citizen Schools
Collected non-perishables, and donated time and money to the
Greater Boston Food Bank
Worked with
Bikes not Bombs
to promote the use of bicycle technology as an alternative to war and environmental destruction
Worked with the
Charles River Conservancy
to help keep the Charles River clean
Fed our veterans at the
New England Center for Homeless Veterans
Educated kids on the math behind the Rubik’s Cube at the
Cambridge Science Festival
Sponsored the
MIT KBPS
, a music and engineering student organization that restores, documents and maintains the musical installation/sculpture at the Kendall T stop
Raised funds to help care for local Boston women and children at
Rosie’s Place
Delivered meals to the critically ill and homebound through the annual Thanksgiving
Pie in the Sky fundraising event
Donated time and talents to
Citizen Schools
Launched Age Engage where Boston Googlers trained Boston seniors on Internet search and email. Watch the
Age Engage Google Ireland video
to learn more about this program
While this represents only a small portion of the charitable efforts made by Googlers around the world, we wanted to acknowledge the kind hearts and minds of our Boston-based team! You can find out more about
Google giving in 2011
on the Official Google Blog.
Posted by Sarah McManus, HR Business Partner
Looking for somewhere to go on New Years Eve?
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Looking for something fun and different to do this New Years Eve? Thinking about heading out of town, but not sure where to go or if you can afford it? Consider using Google’s
Flight Search
feature to help you plan your domestic trip in the U.S. with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Just enter your departure city, preferred dates and set your price limit. For example, let’s say you’d like to depart from Denver on December 30, returning January 1, and want to spend less than $350. Enter this information and the map will automatically update to show you where you can go. Solid blue dots represent the places you can visit for under $350 on the dates you’ve specified. Clear dots represent possible destinations available from Denver that exceed your $350 price.
Our team is working hard to make features like this that are fast and easy. For more tips on other ways you can search for flight information, check out the Exploring travel options video below or visit our
Inside Search blog
.
Posted by Noam Ben Haim, Senior Product Manager, Travel
Now Google Maps makes it easier to find your way through the airport
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Many of us will travel hundreds of miles to visit family and friends this holiday season, and it’s likely we’ll find ourselves in an airport or two. We might even find ourselves stuck on a layover wondering where our gate is or trying to find our favorite coffee spot. The good news is
Google Maps 6.0 for Android
has a new feature that can help. Google Maps recently added floor plans and the ability to see where you are on the map when you’re indoors, for several U.S. airports, making it easier to find a gate or grab that cup of coffee.
For more information, watch this video and visit the
Lat Long blog
.
Posted by Scott Ciabattari, Strategic Partner Development Manager
Learn more about Flight Search with three quick tips
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
(Cross-posted on the
Google Inside Search blog
)
With the holiday season closely approaching, you might be looking to book flights to visit friends and family. With our
Flight Search
feature, you can plan your trip quickly and easily with just a few clicks of the mouse.
In response to interest from you, we’ve shot three short videos to share some of our favorite ways the Flight Search feature can enable you to explore travel options. For example, you may know you want to travel and have a set budget, but you’re not sure where to go. You can also easily see when to fly in order to get the best deal, and you can use a scatterplot to view the entire set of results to more easily compare all flight options at a glance.
Hope these tips help you spend less time worrying about booking your flight and more time preparing for the holidays.
Posted by Marcin Brodziak, Software Engineer, Flight Search
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