How to save money when buying plane tickets, renting cars and more!

I like to write about all sorts of subjects, and as some of you might know, I have been writing quite a lot about Internet security, VPN services, and in my last article, I also wrote about securing your crypto so that they will not go wasted if you should suddenly die.

But, today I would like to deal with something else, and that is how to save money when you buy plane tickets, when you do car rentals, and similar things. I am not a professor of this myself, but I know that it works, and it can at least be experimented with.

Prices differ depending on several things...

Have you ever seen the statistics of a website? It isn't just counting the number of visitors coming to read the different articles. It stores so much more information. In fact, it checks what kind of platform you are using, it will check the resolution of your screen, the browser you use, your location, which page you arrived from, how much time you spend on the website, and so much more. Do you know why this is interesting? Because, many companies take advantage of this information to give you what they believe will be the perfect deal.

As I booked a plane ticket recently...

Recently, I wanted to book a plane ticket with WizzAir for a family member. I was almost done with the booking when I discovered that they suddenly added an administration fee of 10 Euro by the end of the booking. It came out of nowhere, and it annoyed me. I later discovered that the fee doesn't exist if you do the booking using the WizzAir application. Great, I thought - 10 Euro saved!

As I mentioned this to a friend, he told me that airlines and other companies deal with this is much more detailed ways than just this. I have read about it before as well, and these are some of the things that we discussed.

A booking might be more expensive if you do it from an Apple device - Source: Pixabay

Your location, operating system, and resolution matters

A person from Switzerland who sees an airline ticket costing 40 Euro might feel like it is cheap. However, a person from Albania might feel very differently. That is why companies run with different prices, depending on the location of the customer. Yes, they treat their customers differently.

But, it isn't just based on your location. In fact, they can even check the resolution of your screen, and your operating system. If you check the website from a big screen with a high resolution, you are probably richer than someone using an old screen with 800x600 resolution. And, if you have an Apple device, then you are most likely richer than one who is not using Apple. After all, Apple is an expensive brand, and this is useful information to the companies selling tickets.

How to take advantage of this information?

It is important to know that not all companies do like this, but you will not lose much trying to take advantage of it before your next booking.

• You can change your IP address using a VPN.
  Try to do your booking for a poorer country, it might influence the price straight away. But, make sure to use a new private window in which all cookies are deleted. If not, the browser might remember your whereabouts and who you are, and you will still see the old prices. Mostly any VPN will do, but you can read more about different VPN services right here.
• Use an old computer or an old phone (or change the resolution on the one you use now).
  Once again, I cannot guarantee that it will work, but you can try to do the booking from an older device, or to change the resolution of the device you are currently using. Once again, use a new private window in your browser to make sure that it only visits the website with no cookies stored.
• Search the Internet for information.
  People love to brag about how they save money on bookings and more. If you want to fly with Lufthansa, or book a rental car with AVIS, search the Internet for information and look for people who have shared their store on how they got it cheaper. You might be in luck and find out exactly how others have had success using strategies such as this one.

These are just some pieces of advice from me. I hope you have found them to be useful. Have you ever thought about this? Have you used any of these tricks to get cheaper tickets, rental cars, or maybe a hotel room somewhere? I would love to hear about your experience!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

This is an original article written by me for Project Hope!