Brits are charged hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds more for the same hotel and car hire bookings using UK websites compared to the price quoted for overseas customers. Here’s how to beat the algorithms.
A two-week stay over summer at the Ayodya Resort in Bali for two adults booked on the UK Agoda.com site set Brits back £1,774.
However, booking exactly the same deal via the Indonesian Agoda.com site came to £1,314 – that’s £461 (26%) cheaper, after currencies were exchanged.
Over to Greece, where two adults and two children staying at the Iberostar Selection Creta Marine in July paid £5,355 via the UK-based website of Hotels.com. However, using the Greek site resulted in the same stay costing £4,612. That’s a price difference of £743, saving the same family 14%.
In another example, cybersecurity company NordVPN found that two adults and two children staying at the Novotel Paris Center Gare Montparnasse in June would pay £1,237 going via the UK Booking.com site. But after switching to the French version, the same stay costs £1,077 – a £160 saving (13%).
How and why do prices change?
Holiday firms sell the same products – holidays, flights, car hire, boat trips and theme park tickets – but charge different amounts, based on the country you live in and where you log in.
But there is a way to trick websites into thinking you’re somewhere else, to help you tap in to cheaper prices for locals.
NordVPN researchers were able to manipulate the algorithms by using virtual private networks (VPNs) to make it appear to websites that they weren’t based in the UK.
This is because a VPN disguises your IP address (and, in turn, your geographical location), as well as improving privacy and security. It creates an encrypted tunnel for your data, protecting your internet connection and your online identity, including allowing you to use public WiFi spots safely. You select the country of your choice, and NordVPN ensures that’s where websites think you’re logging in from.
That enables website surfers to see different content – and most importantly, prices – displayed to overseas customers.
There are both hardware and software VPNs. With NordVPN, you can get the VPN service via the app or you can download an extension to Google Chrome for a monthly or annual fee.
A VPN is different to clicking ‘incognito’ mode in Google Chrome, for example, as incognito allows you to surf the internet without saving your browser history, cookies and other site data. However, incognito doesn’t hide the all-important IP address.
‘Not all customers are treated equally’
Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, said: “Millions of us have got used to hunting for a vacation and booking our holiday car hire online, but not all customers are treated equally when it comes to the price.
“Online tracking used by travel websites means that they can tell what holiday we’re looking for before we do, while algorithms can adjust holiday prices to the spending power of different countries.
“Never assume you’re getting the same deal as everyone else. Your location, the number of times you visit a website, and how your search fits in with the school holiday schedule can all influence the price you’re offered.”
Briedis added that the best way to “fight back” is to shop around with the same provider using a VPN to see if you can find hidden savings offered to customers overseas.
“As our research shows, it could save you thousands of pounds on a trip. Once you’ve found your perfect hotel, run the site through a local VPN to the country you are visiting and do a side-by-side comparison. You can use an online currency exchange to help in your search.”
