Google Flights has just been upgraded with a brand-new feature which could prevent one of the most common causes of stress for us passengers: delays.
The online flight booking service now comes equipped with Google’s AI and machine learning technology. It is able to look through historic flight data and then once it feels confident enough, it’ll actually let you know if it thinks a flight is about to be delayed.
“We still recommend getting to the airport with enough time to spare,” explain Anket Mathur and Grace Danciu from Google. “But hope this information can manage expectations and prevent surprises.”
The system isn’t perfect of course, and as Google itself admits it won’t actually list a predicted delay until it’s at least 80% certain.
In addition to predicting flights, the company has thrown in another incredibly useful feature regarding budget fairs.
While they can often be great value for money and perfect for those little week or weekend jaunts they can often come with a lot of fine print surrounding your luggage.
Well to cut through the noise Google’s started partnering with airlines to give a clear, simple explanation of what you can and can’t take with you on the flight.
Of course being an American company, this feature is first appearing on America, Delta and United flights but expect more global airlines to be added very soon.