If you have ever traveled by plane, you know that tickets can be very expensive. You can always book through a travel website to find a good deal, but that can be time-consuming. You may also notice that the prices keep rising. If you are like many travelers, you end up jumping at the opportunity to pay for your overpriced flight before the fares rise again. However, there may be another reason you are having problems with rates. Those sites often track your location and provide you with prices based on where you are browsing from. In other words, your price can change based on your specific location. A VPN will help save you money when traveling.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 87 | |
| 3 |  | 9.2 | 95 | |
| 4 |  | 9.0 | 110 | |
| 5 |  | 8.8 | 73 | |
How do travel websites track your location?
There are several tools that comparison websites use to track you. They can use several to help get your location. That way, they know what to charge you. Let’s look at them now.
IP Address: The easiest way to track your location is to use your IP address. Your price is based on where you search from.
Tracking on Mobile Devices: If you look for a flight on your mobile device, you may not always be thinking of the GPS feature on your phone or tablet. It shows where you are at any given point. That also helps the company determine your location based on where you show up.
HTML5 code: HTML5 coding is another way websites can detect your location. If you use a personal computer, they can track you based on HTML information.
Wi-Fi: If you give websites permission to access your location, they can detect it by using your Wi-Fi.
Cookies: The use of tracking cookies are perhaps the most common and well-known ways to track users. They store your browsing history, so the sites can detect your location based on your search queries. You will want to clear your cookies when shopping for flights.
As you can see, there are a number of ways that travel websites can use to find out where you are. Some of the other pricing factors include the currency you will use and the point of sale. You can literally experience different pricing for the same flight, time, airline, destination, and travel date. That is where using a VPN will help you.
How do I save money when booking flights online?
- Browse from a country that is lower income – Though you may not think it matters, there is a difference in where you browse from. In the image below, we looked at the following flight as an example. This flight was found while using a US VPN Server.
Now, you see the same flight browsed from a server in India. Though it is shown in Indian Rupees, the flight works out to $544.70 at the time of this post. It is not much of a difference in this case, but you can clearly see there is a difference. The savings may vary, depending on the flight and the server you choose.
- Change your IP to the airline’s country of origin – Another method you can use is to change your IP to the airline’s home country. You will find this one similar to the results from the first one. Again, it may not save you a bundle, but everything helps.
- Clear your browser’s history – Just as we mentioned earlier, travel sites use tracking cookies to know what to charge you. By clearing your browsing history and cookies, you are able to reset the prices.
- Use Google Flights to search for prices and dates – As with many things, Google has a way to help the regular traveler. When you search Google Flights, it will help you identify the best days/times to save the most money.
- Mix and match your flights – You can use this technique to save more money. It involves changing airlines or airports and you could save a bit of money by taking advantage of this one.
- Choose the travel dates and times carefully – By this, we mean you can save money by flying and returning Monday – Thursday. Buying your tickets on Tuesday in the afternoon is ideal because the most number of discounted seats are available then. You might also try selecting an off-peak time. Try selecting a flight that departs between 5-7 am or booking a flight for after 8 PM.
Should I be concerned about these methods?
Don’t worry, using a VPN to save money on flights is legal and sometimes encouraged. Some of the sites quote different prices for customers in different geographic regions. That is why you should use a VPN to help you get the best discounts when traveling. Your savings could be significant.
Final thoughts
Above, you see some of the best ways to save money on flights with a VPN. It is not hard to see how these techniques can easily work. You simply need to test different regions by using your VPN subscription. We suggest you take a look at the above options for the best ways to save money on flights.