5 Ways to Buy Cheaper Airline Tickets With A VPN

By Ray Walsh

April 29, 2019   •   Fact checked by Dumb Little Man

cheap flights using vpn

Everyone wants to beat the system and get better value for money online. Sadly, for the most part, the system has the ability to snatch as much dollar out of your pocket as possible. The good news is that there are ways to play the game and get around those systems.

Here’s what you can do to buy cheap flights using VPN:

Clear your cookies

Every time you use your computer or mobile device to access websites like Expedia, American Airlines or Google Flights, those websites leave cookies on your devices. Those cookies let companies track you. That way, they can use information about you to compel you to purchase tickets.

One clever trick that vendors use to encourage consumers to buy tickets is to slightly increase the price of tickets by twenty or thirty dollars. This makes consumers panic-buy the ticket “before they go up again”.

Clearing your cookies and concealing your real IP address with a VPN will usually be enough to get you the original price.

Conceal your real IP address with a VPN

using vpn to getting cheap flights

A Virtual Private Network allows you to conceal your real IP address from airline ticket vendors. This, along with clearing your cookies, can ensure you aren’t served an inflated price.

Your IP address is an indicator of your spending power. In addition, it can be used to track you. This means that your purchasing history may be attached to your IP address. It could pump up the cost of tickets.

Pretend to be in the destination location with a VPN

In addition to concealing your real location, there are benefits to selecting specific locations with the VPN. Online ticket vendors quote different prices depending on where consumers live. This is due to their perceived spending power.

Consumers have previously reported that setting a VPN to purchase a ticket from the final destination can help to reduce the cost of a ticket.

Pretend to be in a foreign country

Perhaps the best method for buying cheaper tickets is to pretend to live in a foreign country like India. Some countries earn less which means that they are sometimes quoted less. Some reports suggest that the cost of a ticket depends on the local currency.

At the end of the day, there is no set method for getting cheaper tickets with a VPN. However, it is definitely worth shopping around a bit by trying out different locations.

Use private browsing mode

getting cheap flights using vpn

Private browsing mode is a great way to do research about possible travel locations without ending up with tons of cookies on your devices. The combination of a VPN and private browsing mode gives you the best opportunity of having a fresh slate when you are quoted a price.

Remember that airline companies and air ticket vendors want to sell you the most expensive ticket that you can afford. This means that if it knows your shopping habits or your capability to afford business-class tickets, it might quote you slightly more expensive prices across the board.

See Also: How to Set Up a VPN

Ray Walsh

Ray Walsh is a digital privacy expert with 4+ years experience testing and reviewing VPNs. He's been quoted in The Express, Barrons, the Scottish Herald, ThreatPost, CNET & many more. Ray is currently rated number 1 VPN authority and number 7 internet privacy authority by Agilience.com.

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