In the world that we live in there is little that is private anymore. And, unsurprisingly, the internet is one of the worst offenders when it comes to keeping tabs, literally, on what you are doing.
Take, for example, searching for flights. Have you ever noticed that the more you look at, or search for, a certain flight the more it seems to go up in price? This is no coincidence. Almost every website now uses cookies to track what you’re looking at, searching for and clicking on. This information is then used to tailor everything from the Google ads you’re shown to the way you interact with websites.
Airlines are able to see when you’ve been searching for flights and continue to raise the price in an effort to scare you into taking the leap and purchasing your fares.
The good news is there’s an easy way to stop this. Simply clear your cache, or browsing history each time before you search for flights. You can also open a ‘private window’ in your browser so your movements aren’t tracked, or switch between using your computer, phone or other device. Whichever you choose, the key is not to appear as though you’ve been looking at similar flights regularly, as this is when airlines know you’re seriously interested in booking.
This simple trick should ensure you always get shown the best fare, rather than an inflated price due to your search history.
One more trick? Research from Expedia’s 2015 study of air travel trends has shown that Tuesday is generally the best day to book an airfare, within 50 to 100 days prior to travel.
Still sceptical? I recently booked flights to Barcelona and used both these tricks to get the lowest fare. When I went back and searched on Tuesday I was thrilled I hadn’t booked the previous Friday!
Have you tried these tactics to get a lower airfare? Or do you have another trick to share? We’d love to hear your experience in the comments below.
