Hacker News Reader

Comment by bluetidepro | Hacker News Reader

I've searched with Google Flights a few times, but they are consistently more expensive than the flights I find with other services (Hipmunk, specifically). Has anyone else noticed this before, too?

Does anyone know why the prices would be that much different? For the searches I've done, Google Flights is close to $150 more than what Hipmunk shows. Does Hipmunk maybe just have some sort of promo or lower price that Google Flights can't offer?

EDIT: This curiosity also relates to what "karakal" is asking in their comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12736433 - Like is this data just universal or do some services get better deals than others?

View on HN

My experience is completely different. I've been using Google flights for 2 years now, it always shows me the best price compared to cheapoair/hipmunk. Also I love the clean UI :)

Yeah, totally right, it could easily be subjective to what you're searching for and when/where. I could have just had bad luck with Google Flights vs what I saw on Hipmunk. Just wondering if anyone knows more about the structure/algorithm of it all and why it may be different so much per site. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've found some flights to be $100 more on Google Flights than if I went to the airline website itself and booked a flight straight from their website, so you aren't far out there.

Are you finding the same specific flights have different prices on the two services, or are you finding that Hipmunk is able to find flights that Google doesn't?

(Disclaimer: I work for Google, on an unrelated project.)

Good question. I haven't gone as far as seeing if a specific flight has a different price or not. It is, however, from the same airline that Hipmunk has a lower price for. I do know that. I'm not sure if it's the same specific flight or not, though. I can look into it more...

In general, I based my original comment on what Google Flights show as the "Best Price" vs what Hipmunk is showing as "Best Price." And there isn't any filters on either platform that would be quick to explain why the huge price difference.

Since you've said it many times this thread, I'm taking the bait: I believe you mean "disclosure".

I try to compare Kayak skyscanner and google flights every time I search for a flight. Mixed results, but anyway after finding a low price, go to the airline site to check.

Likewise, several searches for upcoming trips of mine on Google Flights result in significantly more expensive flights than on Hipmunk.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com