Six secrets of cheap travel went viral on TikTok: how to save money and not to fall into a trap

There is a misconception in society that traveling is always very expensive and that you have to pay a fortune for tickets abroad. Sometimes travel agencies and airfare search tools offer quite inexpensive options indeed. However, there are a lot of life hacks that help you save a lot on traveling and buy a ticket to anywhere in the world for a reasonable price.

Thus, one of the TikTok users published a video called "Six Secrets of Travel" in her profile. The video went viral. It has already been viewed by about 15 million people, rewarding the information with a million likes and thousands of comments. However, not all the advice from an experienced traveler turned out to be accurate. They were analyzed in detail by a representative of the British travel application Jack's Flight Club Katie McClure for the online edition of Insider.

Airfare is cheaper on certain days is partly true

A tip on TikTok stated that airfare is cheaper on Tuesdays at midnight, as well as Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Katie McClure commented, "There is some truth to this, but it's not universal. It's usually cheaper to fly on Tuesdays and Thursdays than weekends as these are usually peak times for travel and people don't want to take a lot of time off work. Saturday to Tuesday tickets are likely to be cheaper than Friday to Monday. The demand is higher on these days as people are more likely to fly somewhere on the weekend."

Not to book tickets on weekends is a lie

The blogger advised not to book tickets on weekends. However, a representative of the travel app assures that this recommendation is not justified. According to McClure, airlines now offer even lower prices on weekends, although previously it worked the other way around.

Airlines can charge higher prices based on search history is a lie

The blogger also recommended always using incognito mode and clearing cache and cookies when buying airline tickets on the app. Airlines allegedly charge higher fees for search history.

It turns out there's a long-standing theory that websites raise the price of airfare if you frequently review your search history to increase the sense of urgency and encourage you to buy. McClure acknowledged that this may have been true in the past, but today it's more of an irrelevant myth.

"Airlines don't charge extra based on search history. If you've been looking for a certain fare and the next time it goes up in price, it's likely because the airline has sold all available tickets at that price.... Clearing cookies will not affect the prices you see on the site," Kathy McClure clarified.

Saving money by using a VPN is partly true

The fourth tip in the TikTok video is to use a VPN from a cheaper country. It will save a lot of money. Try India."

A virtual private network, or VPN, uses encryption to hide personal data and increase online privacy. It can also be used to access blocked or censored sites and change your location. According to McClure, there is some truth, "but you don't really need a VPN to see the price difference." The expert said, "If you have a card that allows you to make payments in another currency without huge fees, it's definitely worth taking the extra time to check and take this advice."

McClure suggests changing the region and currency in the tool you use to search for airfare to see prices from online travel agencies based in different countries.

Using a price aggregator and setting your destination to "anywhere" can help you find cheaper airfare is true

The blogger states, "use Skyscanner or Kayak and select 'anywhere' in your destination to find flights for under $100."

McClure wholeheartedly agreed with this advice. She noted that such flights often come with "unpleasant connections" or that they will be associated with "your least favorite budget airline." Instead, the specialist recommended using Google Flights Explore. While this program allows you to follow similar steps, its key difference is that it allows you to more fine-tune your search to your preferences and filter it by price, number of stops, dates, length of trip and even airlines.

Some airlines giving discounts to students is true

The viral video reported that it's worth checking for student discounts on the StudentUniverse website. This can help you save up to 50% of your money when buying airline tickets.

"It's a little known fact, but many airlines do offer student discounts. Of course, this advice only works if you are really a student," commented McClure.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL wrote how to get the best hotel room without extra charges. Not many people know about this. All the details are in our material.

Only verified information from us in Telegram-channel Obozrevatel, Threads and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!