With sneaky tricks you can buy flights MUCH cheaper

There are few things more frustrating than waiting to book flights for a trip – only to check again the next day to see if the price has skyrocketed.

But tech experts have revealed a few simple tricks that can prevent this from happening.

They say that people browsing flights may inadvertently inflate their prices by repeatedly checking the airline’s website online – with their visits tracked by their computer’s Internet protocol (IP) address.

This can give the artificial impression of increasing demand, or show the airline that the browser is serious about booking the trip.

Cookies – online “crumbs” that show the websites a web browser has previously visited – are used by airlines to track repeat visitors, and can also be used to increase the price of a flight just for that person who repeatedly surfs.

They also have other ways to drive up prices. Some are common knowledge – airfares and travel costs in general – will always go up during popular times, such as school holidays.

But others are less obvious. Airlines can charge people living in wealthier countries higher fares, meaning people who can get around online ‘borders’ have a chance at a cheaper fare.

Here, DailyMail.com details some of the tricks travelers can use to try cheaper flights…

CLEAR COOKIES

The first trick is to delete your cookies. This only takes a few clicks and a quick online search will give you details on how to do it depending on whether you’re using Windows or a Mac.

Cookies act as digital breadcrumbs that show websites that you have visited them before.

In the case of airline websites, this can give the impression that there is more demand for a flight you have looked at.

Or it could simply be a signal to the airline that you are serious about booking the flight – and let them raise the price just for you, knowing that you will probably have to swallow the increase.

Removing them can help you avoid unexpected price increases by erasing this trail of breadcrumbs, which means you appear to be a new visitor to the website you’re visiting.

CLEAR BROWS HISTORY OR USE INCOGNITO MODE

These are two other simple tricks that can potentially result in cheaper flight prices.

Clearing browsing history has a similar effect to clearing cookies by clearing traces of demand.

Incognito or private mode can also be activated in your web browser, making it impossible for websites to track your activity in real time.

Using that makes it trickier to get back to something you previously browsed through, but fans would argue the potential savings are worth the inconvenience.

USE A VPN

This offers another possible route to flight savings.

As mentioned above, airlines can offer flights cheaper for people living in less affluent countries.

Using a VPN – virtual private network – can bypass the online ‘border’, making foreign websites realize you are ‘visiting’ them from abroad, before redirecting you back to the landing page for the country you are in.

VPNs can be downloaded online, with the most popular usually costing around $10-$15 per month.

This allows you to change your computer’s unique IP address, which allows websites to see where your computer is located.

Instead, you can select a foreign country from a drop-down list, and your computer will use an IP address from that country.

It gives websites you visit the impression that you actually live there, and you see an airline’s website as a resident of that country would.

VPNs can also encrypt your traffic so third parties can’t see what you do online, and you avoid customer profiling based on your actions and data.

You can also choose to have your server appear in a country of your choice, so you can see the price differences around the world and choose the best deal.