After testing a new way to filter out basic economy fares in its powerful Google Flights search tool over the past year, Google has now rolled out the new feature to everybody.
Tuesday, Google confirmed its new basic economy filter is available to users globally for flight searches in the U.S., its territories, and Canada. The basic filter disappears if you search for non-Canadian international flights, however.
The filter can help you exclude those stingy fares that don't include carry-on bags and seat assignment (with the exception of Southwest fares … more on that later.)
Some users have been getting this pop-up showing off the new category of fares, too.
The filter is also newly available on the mobile version of Google Flights for all users. Once again, the filter only appears on domestic or Canadian flight searches and only in the results page.
In August, Google Flights announced the filter would begin to roll out, but we hadn't noticed widespread adoption until now. The change cements Google Flights as the #1 platform to search for and find flight deals.
While the filter works easily once you've located the fares you like, it still hasn't rolled out to all of Google Flights' features, including the popular and effective “Explore” map. Explore lets you use a map to find the lowest fares at various destinations for specific dates or broad timeframes like months or up to six months. Unfortunately, when you use Explore, Google Flights won't let you filter out basic economy as of yet. Hopefully, Google Flights can adjust this going forward.
For now, you still have to get to your final search results page to filter out basic economy fares.
Another downside to the new basic economy filter: It doesn't filter out Southwest's lowest “Basic” fares as of publication. Southwest's basic fares all appear in both categories – basic and main cabin.
Bottom Line
Google Flights has rolled out its new basic economy filter for users worldwide so long as they search for flights within the U.S. and Canada.
The long-awaited feature solidifies Google Flights as the world's top airfare search engine and should help travelers avoid peskier fares without carry-ons and seat selection.
