WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — CBS12 News is bringing you travel hacks with one simple goal: to save you money.
How you shop for flights matters.
A google search reveals there is little to no consensus among travel websites and other media outlets when it comes to web cookies and airline prices. Some say clearing the cookies before shopping online is helpful, but others contend it makes no difference at all.
Cookies are those small bits of of data created by a web server while a user is browsing a website and stored on the user’s computer. The airlines and other sites often make you accept cookies, which means they’re saving and remembering what flights you’re looking for.
Looking for clarity on this, CBS12 News I-Team chief investigator Mike Magnoli interviewed travel expert and former airline flight attendant Bobby Laurie.
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“So it’s just best to get into one of those incognito modes or clear your cookies and your history before you go in to do these airline searches to make sure you’re getting the best price available,” Laurie said.
The travel expert also said the type of phone matters.
“Its true. If you have two devices in your house, if you’ve got someone with an iPhone or an Apple and someone with an Android or windows device, and you go on to an airline’s website and you search for pricing, you will end up with two different prices on each device. It doesn’t happen with every single airline, but there are some out there where you will encounter the situation,” he said.
For cheaper flights, Laurie advised travelers to use Android or Windows devices.
“Apple devices are widely regarded as more expensive. Therefore, they are insinuating that you can spend a little bit more money, so those prices are higher,” the former flight attendant said.
Laurie has a warning: If you’re checking back on the airlines website multiple times a day, hoping for the price to have dropped, even without cookies, the airlines know how many views a flight is getting. The more in demand the flight appears to be the more the price will increase.
The expert recommends setting up google flight alerts to simplify the process.
“When I search for airline tickets, I use a flight aggregator. I personally use Google Flights. Google Flights will show you all the different airlines straight from the airlines websites, and it shows you what the pricing is, how many connections there are and then you click through to purchase with the airline,” Laurie said.