USE A VPN TO GET BETTER PRICES FOR VACATION OR ???
Geo-Pricing Gone Wild
You’d be shocked how many companies change prices based on where you appear to be. Hotels, car rentals, even subscriptions and online shopping sites are using your IP address (your digital location) to tweak what they charge you.
This practice is so common, the FTC published a report this year warning about companies’ “surveillance pricing.” This means they use your precise location and personal data to set individualized prices.
A study by Nord tested this exact scenario. It found a one-week car rental in Italy was 11.43% cheaper when booked from an Italian IP address ($541) compared to a U.S. one ($611).
An investigation by SFGATE found booking sites showed “substantially higher” prices to San Franciscans. For one Manhattan hotel on Expedia, Bay Area users were quoted $829/night while people from Phoenix and Kansas City saw a price of $318/night for the exact room
A YouTube Premium subscription can cost $13.99/month in the U.S. but under $2/month when purchased from an IP address in India.
It’s not just your location. It’s your device type, cookies, currency settings and even your browsing history. These companies are watching and adjusting accordingly.
Don’t get ripped off
Now, don’t get sneaky. Always follow the terms of the site and the region you’re booking from.
The next time you are buying something big like a trip, try this. Turn on your VPN. Search from a few different locations, especially in the country you’re traveling to. Compare prices. You might be shocked.
Anna was. And that $600 savings? It paid for her Amalfi Coast tour.
One last thing
Before you go shopping around the world, please don’t use a free VPN. Most are based in China, and they make their money by logging, tracking and stealing your data. The whole point of a VPN is privacy, right? So if you’re using a shady one, you’re trading one set of spies for another.
