Google Travel is getting some changes, mostly related to the pandemic and traveling during the pandemic.
The pandemic has really affected the travel industry, and Google is trying to make it easier to book travel during this time. Showing some pandemic-related information for users, when they are booking.
Google travel will show “travel trends”
The new “travel” trends” that Google Travel is adding, will show what percentage of hotels have availability as well as how many flights are actually flying to that area. This data is going to be sourced from Google hotel and flight booking.
The trends will be joining the existing alerts about whether there’s currently a travel advisory for the destination.
It is also going to give you some pandemic-related information, like the COVID-19 case count in that area. And also whether the hotels will offer free cancellations. It will also show you if your vacation reservation is offering free refunds. And there’s an additional option to filter your searches exclusively by that criteria.
All of this information will appear when you are using Google Travel to find a hotel, flight or vacation rental. So there’s no need to go to another site, or download a new app to do this.
Making travel booking during the pandemic easier
Even though there is a pandemic going on right now, people are still traveling for their summer vacations. So Google is looking to make it easier to book this travel.
Not only can Google help you find cheap flights and hotels, but it can now help you find flights and hotels that can still be cancelled. As well as destinations that might not be hit as hard, as COVID-19 cases are concerned. Which is pretty important these days.
Google Travel has always been pretty helpful, and now it is becoming even more helpful, especially for those that are still looking to go somewhere this Summer, or even later this year. Particularly if you don’t want to end up going somewhere that has a lot of confirmed COVID-19 cases. As you could end up catching it and even bringing it home. Which is going to help spread the virus even more.
These additions to Google Travel should be rolling out in the coming days. Just “Google” your destination for flights or hotel rooms and you’ll be able to see these changes available. So you can see if the hotel you’re looking to book is offering free cancellations.