Flight myths you need to know about before you book

Summer might be right around the corner but that hasn’t stopped most of us from getting a dose of wanderlust and spending hours on the web browsing through flight prices.

Whether you’re on the hunt for a snow-filled Christmas or you’re craving some beach time in the heat, everybody is after the best deal possible.

Many seasoned jetsetters claim they know all the hacks to get ahead of the game – like booking at a certain time of year, only using one comparison website or tricking your computer into thinking you’re in a different country.

But how many of these really work?

According to a piece by This Is Money on the Daily Mail many of these so-called ‘booking tips’ are actually myths and won’t end up saving you as much as you hoped.

Here’s some of the biggest ones:

Clearing your browser can get you cheaper flights

Ever thought you found the perfect flight for a cheap price only to find it had jumped up in cost by the time you got around to booking?

It’s a common issue that many people put down to their browser’s cookies.

However according to a study by Cheapflightsfinder.com, where 60 flights were searched with both cookies enabled and disabled, this isn’t the case at all.

“The only downside is you may see adverts for the search engine on other sites as your digital footprint shows you have been looking for particular flights on a particular site,” Cheapflightsfinder.com’s chief executive Shahab Siddiqu said.

Comparison websites will give you the best results

It seems like the perfect tool – a website which will scour the entire internet for you while you sit back and have a cup of tea.

However, despite many comparison sites claiming to search the web and report back on the best offers, it’s easy for them to miss out on special offers, have them listed out of order or end up with different results to other websites.

What this means is that using just one comparison site isn’t enough.

A study of 60 different flight routes by Cheapflightsfinder.com found that while the same flight is likely to come up as the cheapest across different websites, the actual price varies.

In the study, Skyscanner came out on top by offering the cheapest flight 40 percent of the time in comparison to other websites.

You can trick your computer by changing your location

Some people think that tricking websites into thinking they’re surfing the web from a different country will get them cheaper deals.

It’s based on the theory that companies charge slightly different prices depending on where you are booking from (determined by your computers IP address).

This detection can be blocked by using a VPN, (virtual private network) however when it was tested, the cost savings weren’t always that significant, so it’s up to you if you want to try.

“It’s true that different countries offer different pricing, however, consumers should check the terms and conditions of each site to make sure their transaction is valid,” Shahab said.

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