The Covid-19 pandemic caused the whole world to go into lockdown in 2020. With international and local travel being canceled, many people were required to remain in their homes for long periods.
While Covid is still around, the world has adapted and moved on. The travel industry has opened up again and you can now travel just about anywhere in the world. Flights are being scheduled and hotels are opening their doors again. After all, we can’t stop the industry from operating or it could face a total collapse.
Businesses in this industry have lost massive amounts of money though. With flights being grounded for several months at a time, it was nearly impossible for airlines to break even, never mind making a profit. On top of that, the oil prices have skyrocketed leading to a huge spike in fuel costs. As a result, we’re seeing outrageous prices for flights as these companies try their best to recover.
What if someone told you that there’s a way that you can get a discount on your flights though? Airlines and “cheap ticket” websites discriminate against users based on their location, but use a VPN to hide your IP address and buy the same flight tickets for cheaper. We’re going to show you how.
IMAGE: UNSPLASH
What Is A VPN?
Before we talk about using a VPN to get cheaper flights, let’s first discuss what a VPN is and how it works. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network as it’s otherwise known, is a cybersecurity tool first and foremost. While this doesn’t necessarily help us get cheaper flights, a VPN does have another feature that will, and we’ll cover that shortly.
As a cybersecurity tool, a VPN will encrypt your internet connection, which will mask what you’re doing on your device. This means that no one can see what you’re doing while you’re using your device — not even your internet service provider or the government will be able to keep track of your internet traffic or browsing history. In other words, a VPN will give you better privacy and security.
The feature we’re after though is the ability to change your virtual location to anywhere in the world. By using a VPN you will be connecting to a secure global server in another country. Once you’re connected to this server, your real IP address will be hidden, and your device will adopt the IP address of the server you are connected to. An IP address is a unique string of numbers that is used to identify your device on the internet, and one of its primary roles is to pinpoint your physical location.
For example, if you’re in the United States, you can activate your VPN and connect to a global server in Australia. You will now be able to browse the internet as if you were physically located in Australia, and you’ll even see Australian ads show up on your browser.
Why Does A VPN Help You Get Cheaper Flights?
So how does this feature help us to get cheaper flights for our upcoming holiday? Wherever you are booking your flights, whether it’s directly from the airline’s website or from a third-party website that finds the cheapest available options, they will be using your location to manipulate the prices in their favor.
Websites can change the prices of their flights depending on your location as they can often make more money, or make more sales by doing so. If you are visiting the website from a foreign country, especially a first-world country with a strong currency, such as the United States, the prices will automatically be higher. The websites understand that customers visiting the site from these countries are more likely to book their flights with their stronger currency, and if they’re going on holiday they are more likely to spend more money.
On the other hand, if you’re visiting the website from a different country that has a weaker currency, the website may give you some cheaper flights as this could help them to generate sales. The websites can’t charge the same price as they do for visitors from “richer” countries since they are less likely to make the sale.
By using your VPN you can hop from country to country virtually and see where you can find the cheapest possible flights. Oftentimes you can find the cheapest flights by connecting to a global server in the country that you are visiting. You can even do the same when it comes to accommodation since most websites will charge less for locals who book the accommodation. Tourists often don’t have many options, so the websites can get away with charging them more money and still making sales.
Other Benefits Of Travelling With A VPN
When it comes to traveling a VPN can bring you many more benefits than just finding cheaper flights. All the more reason to get one of these ultimate digital traveling tools installed on your device as soon as possible!
A VPN will keep your devices protected from cybercriminals when you’re using public WiFI hotspots. This is especially important when you’re abroad as these are often the only access you’ll have to WiFi, and most of the time these are unsecured networks, so you’ll be at risk of DDoS attacks if your network is not encrypted by a VPN.
Using a VPN will allow you to bypass internet censorship as well. If you’re traveling to one of the many countries around the world that employs internet censorship then you’ll need to get a VPN installed on your device before you travel. By connecting to a secure global server you will be able to bypass any blocked websites that you encounter. The same also goes for geographical blocking if you’re trying to get access to your favorite streaming services or websites that are only available in specific regions.
It’s important that you only use premium VPNs on your device. Free VPNs might seem more convenient, but they do come with some key drawbacks such as slower connection speeds, fewer global servers to choose from, and daily bandwidth limits.
Here’s a quick tip: click on the link at the beginning of this article to take a look at some of the best VPNs on the market.
IMAGE: UNSPLASH
If you are interested in even more lifestyle-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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