Travel companies charge British holidaymakers hundreds of pounds more than overseas customers, research commissioned by NordVPN has shown. Flights, car hire, accommodation, ferries, and even theme parks cost less if you book them from outside of the UK. Let’s dig deeper into this study – and look at how you can book a cheaper holiday with a VPN.
Researchers used a VPN (a virtual private network) to make it look like they were searching for holidays from outside of the UK.
Using a VPN hides your IP address for more privacy and security. You can hide your virtual location to gain more internet freedom by connecting to a server in your chosen country.
For this study, researchers connected to servers in countries like Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Spain, making it look like they were browsing from there.
By doing so, they discovered that booking specific trips, activities, and cruises from the UK costs significantly more than making the same purchase from other markets. Let’s look at their findings in more detail.
Researchers uncovered savings worth more than £1,156 (17.6%) at Disneyland Paris, £454 (28.4%) at MSC Cruises, and almost £293 (15.7%) on hotel stays at Booking.com. They also identified significantly lower prices at Tui, Center Parcs, Hertz, Sixt, and Hotels.com.
Let’s look at a few of these opportunities to save in more detail:
The prices vary by country for many reasons, some of which are:
Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, says, “Never assume you’re seeing the same price as everyone else. Companies use all kinds of complex algorithms to cater to the purchasing power of different countries. They will routinely show different prices on different website domains, and it can even differ depending on where you’re visiting from.”
There’s no need to overpay for a holiday abroad. Using a VPN can save you a lot of money – and it’s easy to get started.
Make sure you choose a reliable VPN provider that takes your privacy and security seriously. Though looking for a free option may be tempting, it’s best to stay clear of free VPNs. Here’s how to save on holiday bookings with a VPN:
Even though this process might take a little longer than you’re used to, you’re likely to find some great deals to make it worthwhile. This method will work for finding cheaper flights, hotels, car rentals, and even general online shopping.
Yes, it is. Using a VPN protects your privacy and enhances your online security. It’s perfectly acceptable for users to buy tickets and book holidays while connected to a VPN server.
The research was commissioned by NordVPN and conducted by an external agency between August 24 and September 6, 2022. Researchers conducted simultaneous searches for identical products sold by the same vendor using different country servers. The searches were conducted between August 24 and September 6, 2022.