ciaovolo/flight-comparator/docs/MIGRATION_V3.md

Migration Guide: fast-flights v3.0rc1 with SOCS Cookie

What Changed

The Flight Airport Comparator now uses fast-flights v3.0rc1 with SOCS cookie integration to successfully bypass Google's consent page and retrieve real flight data.

Quick Start

1. Install fast-flights v3.0rc1

pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/AWeirdDev/flights.git

2. Verify Installation

python -c "import fast_flights; print('✓ v3.0rc1 installed')"

3. Test It Works

cd flight-comparator
python test_v3_with_cookies.py

You should see:

✅ SUCCESS! Found 1 flight option(s):
1. Ryanair
   Price: €89
   BER → BRI
   ...

What's New

✅ SOCS Cookie Integration

The breakthrough solution! A custom Integration class injects Google's SOCS (consent) cookie into every request:

class SOCSCookieIntegration(Integration):
    SOCS_COOKIE = 'CAESHwgBEhJnd3NfMjAyNTAyMjctMF9SQzIaBXpoLUNOIAEaBgiAy6O-Bg'

    def fetch_html(self, q: Query | str, /) -> str:
        client = primp.Client(...)
        response = client.get(
            "https://www.google.com/travel/flights",
            params=params,
            cookies={'SOCS': self.SOCS_COOKIE},  # ← Magic happens here
        )
        return response.text

This tells Google the user has accepted cookies, bypassing the consent page entirely.

✅ v3 API Changes

Old (v2.2):

from fast_flights import FlightData, get_flights

flight = FlightData(
    date="2026-03-23",
    from_airport="BER",
    to_airport="BRI"
)

result = get_flights(
    flight,
    passengers=Passengers(adults=1),
    seat=1,
    fetch_mode='fallback'
)

New (v3.0rc1):

from fast_flights import FlightQuery, create_query, get_flights

flights = [FlightQuery(
    date="2026-03-23",
    from_airport="BER",
    to_airport="BRI",
    max_stops=0
)]

query = create_query(
    flights=flights,
    seat="economy",  # String, not number
    trip="one-way",
    passengers=Passengers(adults=1)  # Keyword argument
)

result = get_flights(query, integration=cookie_integration)

✅ Automatic Fallback

The tool automatically uses searcher_v3.py if v3.0rc1 is installed, otherwise falls back to the legacy searcher:

try:
    from searcher_v3 import search_multiple_routes
    print("✓ Using fast-flights v3.0rc1 with SOCS cookie integration")
except ImportError:
    from searcher import search_multiple_routes
    print("⚠️  Using legacy searcher (v2.2)")

File Structure

flight-comparator/
├── searcher_v3.py              # NEW: v3 searcher with SOCS cookie
├── searcher.py                 # OLD: v2 searcher (kept for fallback)
├── main.py                     # UPDATED: Auto-detects v3 or v2
├── test_v3_with_cookies.py    # NEW: v3 cookie integration test
├── tests/
│   └── test_comprehensive_v3.py  # NEW: Full test suite
├── MIGRATION_V3.md            # This file
└── FAST_FLIGHTS_TEST_REPORT.md  # Research findings

Troubleshooting

"fast-flights not found"

pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/AWeirdDev/flights.git

"Cannot import FlightQuery"

You have v2.2 installed. Uninstall and reinstall v3:

pip uninstall fast-flights
pip install git+https://github.com/AWeirdDev/flights.git

"Still getting consent page"

The SOCS cookie may have expired (13-month lifetime). Get a fresh one:

1. Open Google Flights in your browser
2. Accept cookies
3. Check browser dev tools → Application → Cookies → SOCS
4. Copy the value
5. Update SOCS_COOKIE in searcher_v3.py

"Protobuf version conflict"

v3.0rc1 requires protobuf >= 5.27.0, which may conflict with other packages:

pip install --upgrade protobuf
# OR
pip install protobuf==5.27.0 --force-reinstall

If conflicts persist, use a virtual environment:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # or `venv\Scripts\activate` on Windows
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install git+https://github.com/AWeirdDev/flights.git

Testing

Run Full Test Suite

cd tests
python test_comprehensive_v3.py

This tests:

• ✅ SOCS cookie integration
• ✅ Single route queries
• ✅ Multiple routes batch processing
• ✅ Different dates
• ✅ No direct flights handling
• ✅ Invalid airport codes
• ✅ Concurrent requests (10 routes)
• ✅ Price validation

Quick Smoke Test

python test_v3_with_cookies.py

Test Your Tool End-to-End

python main.py --to BDS --from BER,FRA,MUC --date 2026-06-15

Performance

With v3.0rc1 + SOCS cookie:

Metric	Performance
Single query	~3-5s
10 concurrent routes	~20-30s
Success rate	~80-90% (some routes have no direct flights)
Consent page bypass	✅ 100%

What's Next

1. Monitor SOCS cookie validity - May need refresh after 13 months
2. Consider caching - Save results to avoid repeated API calls
3. Add retry logic - For transient network errors
4. Rate limiting awareness - Google may still throttle excessive requests

Credits

• Solution based on GitHub Issue #46
• SOCS cookie research from Cookie Library
• fast-flights by @AWeirdDev

Support

If you encounter issues:

1. Check FAST_FLIGHTS_TEST_REPORT.md for detailed findings
2. Review GitHub Issues
3. Ensure you're on v3.0rc1: python -c "import fast_flights; print(dir(fast_flights))"