Do Airlines Track Your IP? Using VPNs for Cheaper Flights

Finding affordable flight prices online isn't easy. Using apps like Expedia can help you find a good deal, but are there any steps you can take on your own to find the best flight prices? Many users have wondered if changing their IP address by using a VPN can help them find less expensive flights. In this article, learn how to potentially get cheap flights from airlines by changing your tracked IP, using a VPN, clearing browser cookies, and more.

How do airlines price tickets?

Airlines typically price tickets by passenger demand. How many people want to get to a certain city? What planes travel that route? How many flights are booked already?

If there are fewer tickets available, it usually means higher prices. If the route is a popular one and passengers can easily get a spot on a flight, prices are lower.

These prices then fluctuate based on flight patterns and volume of travelers. They also vary due to other subjective factors, such as whether it's an international flight or a domestic flight.

Major holidays and popular travel days also play a factor. Airlines expect more travelers and know that those travelers will be willing to pay more to get where they need to go. Even if it's not a preplanned travel holiday, airlines can also typically determine if a weekend or week is going to be busier based on other ticket purchases. These predictions allow them to raise the prices.

However, many people also find that their IP address, cookies, use of a VPN, or even browser choice have impacted prices when shopping for flights. These aren't traditional pricing factors. But some evidence supports the idea that airlines track IPs. This means that you can get cheaper flights by using a VPN or clearing your cookies.

Do airlines change prices based on IP addresses?

There's no consensus on whether airlines can access personal server locations and use them to give lower-priced flight deals to certain people. Many travelers believe airlines are not tracking searches. However, others believe airlines track which websites you visit as well as your IP to adjust their prices accordingly.

An IP address is used to tell a website what city or country the person accessing their website is in. Some say that travel companies will set ticket prices based on users’ locations and adjust them. This forces customers to pay what they want you to pay. This means ticket price fluctuations are not because of a busy travel season, but rather because of the airlines’ attention to website users’ geographical position based on IP addresses.

Some say companies will increase flight prices in more wealthy nations like the United States or Western Europe. They assume that those nations will have the funds to support the inflation. In relatively poor countries, however, the prices would be deflated. This pricing tactic is often referred to as dynamic pricing or, simply, price discrimination.

The other side of the debate claims that most airline offers are not based on your IP address. If airlines do access users’ IP and server location information, they do so to understand where website users are, what language they speak, and what currency they use, not to influence prices based on your previously visited websites.

Ultimately, airline prices are impacted by dozens of outside factors. This means that a difference in prices from website to website is not certainly based off of users’ IP addresses. However, it is definitively based on ticket demand, closeness to the flight date, busy travel seasons and the airline’s pricing.  

Can I use a VPN for cheaper flights?

Like the last question, there is debate on the usefulness of a virtual private network when buying plane tickets.

The theory is that using a VPN will hide your IP address, leading airline companies’ search engines to believe you are in a location that you are not. As stated above, if the airline sees the user is in a wealthier location based on their IP address, they might increase their ticket prices and vice versa.

A VPN, or virtual private network, can make your IP address look like you are in a different geographic region. This means that if airline companies are indeed using IP addresses as a way to delegate flight prices, a VPN would hide the information airlines would need in order to utilize dynamic pricing strategies.

A VPN is perfectly legal to use in most countries and would prove a helpful tool during the ticket hunt if airlines are in fact tracking location and searches.

Using a VPN, or even simply using Incognito mode on your device, would hide your information from airline websites. If the tip is true, it would likely help save frequent flyers hundreds of dollars per year by denying airlines access to their search history.

If airlines do not track IP addresses and search histories, a VPN wouldn’t do much for your flight search. Taking extra online safety steps, such as employing a VPN, are never a bad thing online. But in this case, they wouldn’t save you much on flights. Concealing your IP address and location would not affect ticket pricing if airlines don't track IPs.

Do browser cookies increase flight prices?

Many argue that clearing cookies and using a VPN will provide those looking for tickets with the best shot at finding the cheapest flights. It blocks airline providers from accessing your IP address and browsing history, which forces them to give you unaltered rates.

Cookies contribute to the ticket search by storing website users’ search preferences in a data file created by the browser. Therefore, airlines can use your cookies to see if you have searched the same flight multiple times and on multiple sites. If you have, they can theoretically adjust their prices based on that information. Clearing your cookies erases all of your history stored in your web browser.

During the process of dynamic pricing, companies take into account a user’s IP address and their browsing history. By clearing your browser’s cookies, you limit the information ticket providers have on you. It follows the same principle as changing your IP so airlines cannot track it. This gives you with access to fair, and potentially less expensive, flights, giving you a fresh start to compare flight prices.

Clearing your cookies is a good step to take with regard to online security. However, there is still controversy on whether or not airline websites actually use previous searches to manipulate individual prices. Either way, it's worth clearing your cookies in case it does make a difference. Additionally, clearing your cookies helps your browser run faster in general.

General tips to get a cheaper flight

If saving money is a priority, there are other ways to get the cheapest fares. Research has shown that Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are the cheapest days of the week to fly. This is because they're the slowest travel days throughout the week.

Flight comparison sites are also a useful tool. Google Flights, Kayak and Expedia are among the most reputable. Simply input your desired travel dates, the airport you hope to fly out of, and your final destination.

The site then groups all flight listings together to make finding the cheapest option as easy as possible. You can then book a flight from their website or from the airline's website directly.

Whether or not airlines change prices based on IP addresses, browser cookies or VPN usage is still up for debate. However, changing your IP, using a VPN or Incognito Mode, or clearing your cookies are worth trying to see if you can find a better flight deal.