Can You Really Save Money By Booking Flights In Incognito Mode?
Some travelers swear that searching for flights on an incognito browser gets them better deals. Here's what we know about whether that really saves you money.
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Some travelers swear that searching for flights on an incognito browser gets them better deals. Here's what we know about whether that really saves you money.
Contrary to popular belief, a study has found that many widely known 'hacks' for finding cheaper airline tickets are actually ineffective. Tips such as purchasing tickets on a Tuesday, using incognito mode on browsers, or utilising virtual private networks (VPNs) to appear as if you live in another country, were found to have little impact on ticket prices.
A new paper co-authored by Olivia Natan of Berkeley Haas and published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics peers into the black box of airline pricing and finds some surprises. Buy your ticket on a Tuesday. Search in your browser’s incognito mode. Use a VPN to pretend you live in Suriname. “
<p>Researchers looked deeply into the structure and processes behind how prices are set at a major U.S. airline. The system they found, which is representative of airlines around the world, was strikingly at odds with what many economists would expect—and most consumers assume.</p>
If these four professors couldn't figure it out, you probably can't either.