For years, Google Flights has been a favourite tool for travellers wanting to quickly scan fares and spot the best options. But lately the Google Flights platform feels less like a trusted comparison site and more like a minefield of dodgy sites that lure with cheap fares, only to frustrate with cancellations, extra charges or poor support. The question now is whether Google can find a way to clean up its marketplace – or risk travellers heading elsewhere for good.
The issue is easy to spot. Run a search on almost any long-haul route and you’ll see obscure agencies like CheckNfly, Traveasy or Go2Trip popping up with fares that undercut airlines and mainstream OTAs by a few hundred pounds. Tempting at first glance, but these are names that crop up repeatedly in complaints: phantom tickets, sudden “fare increases,” and refunds that never arrive. And when problems occur, airlines often decline to help because the booking sits with the agent, not them.
The timing makes things worse. Google has just launched “Flight Deals,” an AI-powered search tool that promises to do the bargain-hunting for you. On paper it sounds useful: tell Google you want “a week in a foodie city this winter” and it will show cheap options instantly. In practice, by putting price at the centre of everything, the tool risks handing even more visibility to the very agencies travellers should avoid.
What makes this frustrating is that Google has the capability to fix it. Imagine a filter that lets you choose which OTAs you’re willing to see results from – or a simple reputational score beside each agent. Instead, Google treats them all as equal, leaving users to sort good from bad. That lack of transparency is what undermines the usefulness of the product.
For consumers, the stakes are high. Booking direct with an airline secures EU261/UK261 protections and easier refund processes. By contrast, many of these small OTAs operate in legal grey zones, adding layers of hassle if things go wrong. Yes, you can attempt chargebacks or lean on credit card protections, but those are last resorts, not conveniences. It also raises uncomfortable questions about whether local Trading Standards or the Advertising Standards Authority should intervene – if fares advertised on Google Flights are frequently unavailable at the price shown, are consumers effectively being misled by the way these agencies are presented?
Until Google acts, it’s hard to rely on the tool. Many of us have already started comparing flights on airline sites or rival search engines, because we simply don’t trust that the lowest fare shown in Google Flights is real or bookable without strings attached. The rise of Google Flights dodgy sites is not just an annoyance – it chips away at the very reason people used Google Flights in the first place: trust.
So perhaps the question isn’t whether Google should keep hosting these agencies, but whether it can strike a balance – a middle ground where users can filter out the bad actors without losing the speed and breadth of search. Until then, the product feels compromised, and travellers will continue to look elsewhere for results they can believe in.
What to know more about what these scam prices can look like? Read our article Think Twice Before Booking Flights With Random Online Travel Agents
Leave a Reply