Google's New Search Engine for Flights Has Gone Live & Is Impressive

To the extent that there's been any really significant travel news these past two weeks, it's been the final emergence of Google's flight search engine, which you can access at www.google.com/flights . From this moment forward, all the usual flight-search names -- Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hipmunk, Momondo, DoHop -- will be directly challenged by a company with near-limitless resources and great determination to dominate the field. And savvy travelers will always want to compare the results appearing on other search engines with those shown by Google.

The best thing about Google's new search engine? Its speed. You insert an itinerary from Point A to Point B, and in a nano-second, up comes a score-or-so of various available flights with their prices. The most interesting aspect to Google's flights? It's the fact that Google doesn't search any of the other search engines, but simply goes direct to the flights and prices listed by the airlines. Noticing a flight that seems best for you, you then go directly to that airline to book it.

It's fairly obvious that Google's new service is in its introductory mode, and will be improved over time. For now, it only lists domestic flights and no international ones. And it doesn't seem to list as many flights as you'd find on the standard search engines. That said, the information is presented in a clear manner, and I for one find it a very comprehensible layout. It's going to be a real contender, and you should at least use it to check the results found on the other more familiar search engines.