Tried booking flights with a VPN to a cheaper server and got a weird result

I heard people say to use a VPN set to India or something to get cheaper flights. Last week I tried it with a flight from Chicago to Lima. The price actually went up by like $70 when I switched to Mexico. Then I tried without VPN and it was back to normal. I don't get it. Does this still work for anyone, or is it just a myth now? Has anyone else had it backfire?

2 comments

2 Comments

ramirez.vera3d ago

...maybe the airlines finally figured out people are doing this and decided to mess with us. Last I checked, the whole VPN trick was already hit or miss five years ago, but now it sounds like they just flip a coin and charge you whatever they feel like. Mexico charging you more than your home server is just the algorithm playing a prank on you, plain and simple. What's funnier is you probably got that price because the system saw a Mexican IP and figured you could afford the gringo rate. The real hack these days is just clearing your cookies and booking on a Tuesday night, not trying to outsmart a computer that tracks your every click.

patricia323d ago

Geez, that's wild! I read a tech blog last week that said airlines now use your browser fingerprint and even your search history, so the VPN is basically useless unless you clear EVERYTHING first, and even then it's a gamble. Ramirez.vera is right though, they probably just saw a Mexican IP and assumed you were rich, so they jacked up the price for fun.