For years, travellers have been told that changing their virtual location with a VPN can unlock cheaper flights, with countless online guides recommending connecting to servers in different countries before booking.
To put the theory to the test, our researchers at Planet VPN tested identical flight searches across VPN servers in the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and India, comparing prices for the same routes and flights over repeated searches.
And the results showed… Absolutely no meaningful difference in prices dependent on IP location…
In fact, price variations on flight comparison sites and airlines’ websites drifted less than 0.9% when changing with a VPN – a negligible difference which can be put down to a myriad of factors, not just location.
So what has changed?
The VPN flight hack is not entirely without basis. Airlines and travel providers have historically operated different pricing structures across international markets, with fares, currencies, promotions and availability varying between countries. In the early days of online travel booking, a user’s IP address could therefore have greater influence over which market or offers they were shown. In one case, a traveller who masked her location as Brazil using a VPN found flights to Rio for around $1,000 less than when searching from the US; it was a saving of more than 50%, which included airline options that hadn’t appeared in the original search at all.
However, the way flights are sold online has since become more sophisticated. Airlines, booking platforms and travel aggregators can take a much wider range of information into account when determining prices and availability, including point of sale, currency, payment method, fare inventory and market eligibility.
While international price differences can still exist, testing suggests an IP address alone won’t unlock them. Many booking platforms can detect VPN and proxy connections, so simply appearing to browse from another country doesn’t guarantee access to that market’s pricing.
But what about the best ‘time’ to book?
Even the day of the week and time of day do not amount to much anymore. Google’s analysis of 4,000 markets found Tuesday fares just 1.3% cheaper on average, a margin too small to plan around.
So what influences flight price fluctuations?
Our findings showed that the price fluctuations travellers see when repeatedly searching for flights are more likely to reflect the realities of modern airline pricing, rather than the location of the person searching. Airlines often sell seats through online travel agencies like Booking.com, which use their own pricing and membership deals. This, coupled with airline systems that adjust prices in real time depending on demand, means changing your IP address is unlikely to unlock a secret cheaper fare.
Yet, this doesn’t mean VPNs are useless for travellers; the tool still plays an important role in protecting data, accessing platforms abroad and helping to avoid increasingly sophisticated summer travel scams.
Does incognito mode work?
Incognito mode is another popular theory. Still, while private browsing stops your browser from holding onto certain local data, it has no effect on the pricing systems airlines actually use. Consumer Reports study of 372 paired searches found that incognito mode resulted in identical prices 88% of the time. It only delivered a cheaper fare in 7% of searches and was more expensive in 5%. Private browsing won’t guarantee a lower fare.
Even if somehow possible, HappyFares’ 2026 review of airline conditions highlights the risk of buying a ticket from a different country and server. Under Etihad’s terms, a ticket sold in one country to a passenger who lives or pays in another can, in theory, be cancelled, reissued at a higher fare, downgraded, or even refused at the gate. The review interprets the contract language, showing how airlines can enforce point‑of‑sale rules when booking and payment details don’t line up.
So is there any point in getting a VPN at all when it comes to travelling?
While a VPN won’t find you a cheaper flight, it can still earn its keep as a travel essential when abroad. With the rise of AI tools, summer travel scams are now at the fingertips of anyone who owns a computer. A VPN helps guard against these attacks, so you can get through security and onto the beach without worrying about dodgy Wi-Fi, scam sites or fabricated QR codes.
Protection while using public wifi
Scams like “evil twin” networks, which are fake Wi-Fi hotspots designed to look identical to the real thing, are controlled by criminals instead of airports or hotels. A fraudster was recently jailed for setting up a fake network in an Australian airport, directing holidaymakers to phishing sites before accessing their passwords and private photos. Airport, hotel and café Wi-Fi networks are convenient, but travellers often connect to networks under criminal control.
To stay safe, a VPN can encrypt your connection, making it difficult for others on the network to intercept your data. The tool can also mask your IP address, providing more privacy when browsing, checking emails or using apps abroad. Once the VPN is active, data travels inside a tunnel, protecting it from people on the same network. Hackers and even internet service providers can only see scrambled traffic, not any personal information.
Also, it’s safer to assume everyone on that network shares the same digital space. Turning off automatic connections to open networks prevents a device from joining fraudulent hotspots in the background. Turning off file and printer sharing on laptops also makes the device harder to discover or access.
Access to sites blocked abroad
When travelling to countries like India, where social platforms like TikTok are blocked, a VPN can help you access the apps and sites you use at home. By routing your traffic through a server in another country, a VPN can bypass these national blocks and let you check messaging apps, social feeds and news sites that would otherwise be unavailable.
This extends to voice and video calls too; apps like WhatsApp are restricted in the UAE, where video and voice calling on the platform is blocked. Here, a VPN can be the difference between staying in touch with friends and family or going quiet while away.
Also, if you’re hoping to keep watching your home Netflix library while abroad, a VPN can help you access it. It also works the other way: by connecting to a server in a different country, viewers can unlock films and shows in foreign libraries that aren’t available back home.
Travellers who question deals that seem too good to be true and networks that are too convenient will be far better protected when travelling. The important thing is to use a VPN for the right reasons. While it won’t magically unlock cheaper flights, a VPN is still worth having for staying safer and more private online, and for accessing the tools and platforms you use at home.
