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Google Now Lets You Track Hotel Prices Just Like Flights

Hotels feel more expensive than ever, but Google just made it easier to find the best deal.
ByCaLea Johnson|
Get ready to ease your travel woes with these new features from Google.
Get ready to ease your travel woes with these new features from Google. | Klaus Vedfelt/GettyImages

Finding reasonably priced plane tickets is one of the most stressful parts of traveling. Savvy travelers may already know that Google Flights allows people to track flight prices in order to snag the best deal possible. Now, the tech company is expanding the feature to hotel searches and adding a few more travel upgrades in its latest update.

According to Lifehacker, anyone can take advantage of the new feature over at google.com/hotels. Similar to Google Flights, you can select a destination, a time frame for your trip, and the number of people coming along. You can also use the filter option to show hotels based on criteria like five-star ratings and free cancellation. If you see nothing that fits your budget in the initial search, you can elect to have email notifications sent to you as hotel prices change.

All you have to do is press the toggle next to “Track hotel prices” to receive tracking emails. In a statement, Google said hotel price tracking was released worldwide on mobile and desktop browsers at the end of March.

Google is also rolling out a new feature for travelers who plan their trips by taking tons of screenshots. The new “screenshot list” ability in Google Maps allows Gemini to locate the places mentioned in the image and add them to a list. You can even share the list with others so they’re up to date on your travel plans. The screenshot list feature rolled out last week on iOS in the U.S. and will arrive on Android soon.

The search engine’s AI Overviews has also been optimized for travel planning, and it will now suggest daily itineraries for activities and restaurants to visit during your trip. (Though considering the feature’s ongoing accuracy issues, you may want to double-check that any places it suggests are still open before planning your trip around them.)

Google Lens has long been a common tool for travelers. Now, in addition to using it to decipher foreign languages, you can use it to point your camera at landmarks and learn more about them. This feature is now available in English, and will eventually expand to languages like Japanese, Spanish, and Hindi in most countries with AI Overviews.

Other companies are using the power of AI to improve their services as well. For example, Instacart recently adopted two new features, Store View and Second Store Check, to enhance its inventory management.

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