In an age when traveling has become an integral part of our lives, finding cost-effective ways to book airline tickets is a priority. You may not have even realized that airline ticket costs are not the same for everyone. Or maybe you’ve already wondered why flight prices are constantly jumping and you see different offers for the same route every day. The fact is that just as you want to book the most convenient flight at the lowest price, airlines use algorithms to sell you tickets at the highest acceptable rate for you. The price is influenced by many factors, including the number of days before departure and your location at the moment of the search. In this article, we will show you how to use a free VPN to save money on flights.
Global Air Traffic Volume
The number of flights performed globally by the airline industry is constantly growing. The decline was recorded only due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Airports Council International (ACI), global passenger volume by the end of 2023 is expected to reach 8.6 billion passengers, which is 94.2% of the 2019 level. So we can confirm that the air transportation market has recovered from the pandemic, and a new record number of passengers is expected next year.
In this context, it is important to understand how airline pricing works to buy tickets for your next trip at the best rates.
How Airline Pricing Works
The price of each ticket should cover base fare, taxes, airport fees, and fuel surcharge. Additional options such as food, seat selections, and baggage are usually available but not mandatory on many flights. These components are clear, but unfortunately, they are not exclusively determining the price.
All airlines keep their pricing strategies in secret. However, there are many studies on this issue, and based on them, it is possible to identify the main factors that influence the price. Airlines try to fill each aircraft to capacity to ensure there are no empty seats, or lost potential revenue. A dynamic pricing strategy is used to achieve this goal. It means, that the price depends on the current demand for a flight, how many unprotected seats are left, the type of flight, and the time when you are booking.
But you don’t need to dive into the economics of air travel, you just want to know how to get the most affordable price. Follow our next tips and you can be sure to get the best deal.
Tips to Follow to Get the Lowest Fares
- Be a leisure traveler.
In the view of airlines, all travelers are basically divided into 2 groups: leisure and business travelers. Although both need airline tickets, their behavior is completely different. Leisure travelers are usually more flexible with dates and arrival/departure times and book tickets in advance, while business travelers often purchase flights spontaneously and need direct dates and times. Of course, this second group of travelers will spend more to suit their needs. That is why the closer to the departure date you book your ticket, the higher the prices will be. If you want to save money, act as a leisure traveler. This means that you should remain flexible, not be tied to a specific flight, and book your tickets in advance.
- Use a VPN to hide your location.
Using a VPN is the easiest way to save on flights. The fact is that different prices are set for tourists from different regions. Recently, there have been discussions on the Internet about this, but a simple experiment with the use of the VPN service confirms that this is true. Sellers understand that a traveler from a low-income country will not be able to pay the same price for a ticket as a business tourist from a highly developed country. But they do not want to lose either potential customer, so they will offer them different prices. Thus, by balancing ticket sales with different prices, airlines optimize their profits.
To save on flights start from free VPN download to your device. Then use this VPN to hide your IP and connect to the server from a third-world country, for example, Indonesia. To ensure that method works, you can start searching for tickets without the VPN, as you usually do. Find an appropriate flight and remember the price. Then connect to the VPN and choose one of the low-income countries available in a wide range in the Planet VPN free plan. Additionally open incognito in a separate browser window and start searching. When you find the same flight you will be surprised compearing prices. Your new available deal will be significantly cheaper. You can reduce the price even further by experimenting with other regions available in the VPN.
There are additional ways to get the best price with the VPN.
- Try to connect to the server that belongs to the departure or arrival country. Sometimes the policy of travel agencies is such that tourists from other countries overestimate the cost of flight tickets.
- Check what prices you will be offered if you connect to the airline’s country server.
- Travel providers often use algorithms to set higher prices in response to multiple visits to the website. For them, this means that you are interested in a particular destination or flight and are tracking prices, not just looking for interesting options, which means you are more likely to buy a ticket at a higher price. And again, Planet VPN will help you to avoid this.
Another benefit you can get from VPN usage is your traffic encryption. It means that your purchase will be safe and no one can steal your data during the transaction.
- Use less popular airports.
If your destination is a city with multiple airports make sure you tick “All airports” in your search. If you’re traveling for personal purposes and don’t care about the airport of arrival, this can save you a lot of money. Smaller airports usually have lower fees, which allows airlines to offer lower prices respectively. Of course, such airports are usually not the most convenient location or offer less comfort while waiting. But often the price difference can cover these inconveniences. Also, don’t overlook flights with late arrivals or early departures if you have enough time. Sometimes it can be more profitable to spend the night in an airport hotel than to pay for a flight at a more convenient time.
By following these three simple tips, you can significantly reduce your airfare. You can often find advice to buy tickets on a certain day of the week, but this is more like a lottery. Anyway, with the free VPN, you don’t have to worry that your visits to websites will be detected and the prices offered will increase. We recommend doing your research and checking prices for the same flight every day for a week. Just remember to use the VPN and an anonymous browser window. This way, you can determine the best day to buy on your own.
Enjoy your trips for a reasonable price.
