Travel Hack - Works for Me

[Route246]

This may have already been mentioned here. If so, I apologize and please ignore.

Quick start simple answer: Clear your cookies and browser cache before search for travel deals. BTW, clearing your browser cache and cookies will automatically log you off so DO NOT login and do any searches with this method.

I'm not a traveler type but when I do I try to optimize price paid, especially for lodging.

We all have our own favorite search sites and online agencies, I get that. Here is a hack that I've used multiple times and it seems to work for hotels.

My consolidator of choice is Trivago. No special reason, they just seem to consolidate agency sites that I prefer (hotels, agoda, booking, etc.). When I'm searching for a room, usually many months in advance I keep a bookmark and search daily or as often as possible.

One thing I learned is to clear all of my cookies and browsing history for the Trivago and affiliated sites. Chrome makes this easy in settings, not sure about other browsers. What I have found is you sometimes (not always) get cheaper quotes "coming off the street" vs coming from a browser session where they know a lot about you. There must be an enticement attribute in their search AI or something. You will be logged off when you do this so that is OK, do not login when doing searches.

I've done experiments with search before and after clearing cookies and the results and prices are usually better and never worse. I have found that incognito mode doesn't make a difference, the main thing is cookies and browsing history.

Everyone is mentioning how expensive travel fares and lodging costs are. There are two reasons in my opinion. First is obvious, the dollar is strong, the economy is strong and people, especially young people are feeling positive about the economy in spite of all of the doomsday clickbait out there. Second is that pricing mechanisms are using very sophisticated AI these days, there is a huge B2B (business to business) sector out there using AI to optimize for the consumer surplus (area under the supply/demand curve where pricing can be increased without penalty to profits) so this is what we are seeing. It is just a classic optimization problem and AI and all of the VC money pouring into it now has enabled this to happen. It is effectively an arms race between us (with the $$ to spend) and the industry (trying to gather up as much of our $$ as possible). Don't fret, just be more vigilant and be aware this is happening.

What I have found is that it is OK to login just before paying or confirming your itinerary. At that point the price will not change. If you login before that the price can and almost always changes as that "teaser" rate you are getting is lower and they will do everything to give you the rate "you deserve" rather than the rate you earned.

The other thing that I have found is that Agoda frequently has the best prices but Trivago does not consolidate Agoda prices in my search if I don't clear cookies. Sometimes when I do clear cookies Avago shows up. As best I can tell is that Avago has limits in Trivago not to show a quote if a user is making multiple inquiries or something. It is all an AI black box these days so nobody is going to tell you how it really works.

Bonus: In Chrome I use this to get to my site cookies: chrome://settings/content/all

 

[Gremlin]

Interesting. I’m going to try this out. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Jerry1]

Rather than clearing cookies and logging off everything, I have a separate browser for times like these. I use Safari (Mac) most of the time but when I want to do a clean search or whatever, I use Chrome. That way if I clear all the history/cookies in Chrome, it doesn’t mess with my daily surfing.

 

[Route246]

Rather than clearing cookies and logging off everything, I have a separate browser for times like these. I use Safari (Mac) most of the time but when I want to do a clean search or whatever, I use Chrome. That way if I clear all the history/cookies in Chrome, it doesn’t mess with my daily surfing.

Yes, clearing everything is painful. Chrome has the feature (with search) to clear only specific domains. You may have missed my link:

chrome://settings/content/all

This one allows you to selectively clear cookies and cache by domain and all cookies for stuff you want to keep are not touched.

 

[Route246]

Interesting. I’m going to try this out. Thanks for sharing!

Once I need to plan the next overseas trip I start checking frequently (with a Chrome bookmark tab) every time I bring up Chrome and have a few spare minutes. Tab groups can now be saved in Chrome and will show up on all of your instances of Chrome which is hugely convenient. One of the tabs is the chrome://settings/content/all URL and that one allows me to selectively kill everything related to Trivago, Agoda, Booking, Hotels, etc. before I run the search query. As I said, Agoda is limited but the Trivago search might be looking at my Agoda cookies and not giving me those prices due to being an existing query in the past.

Depending on how the AI feels some days are not very useful but occasionally, just occasionally the AI will give you an outlier rate on a room I've been watching for weeks or months and that's when I lock it in. The AI is not perfect and sometimes I have gotten an outlier rate. Rare but it happens.

 

[Jerry1]

Yes, clearing everything is painful. Chrome has the feature (with search) to clear only specific domains. You may have missed my link:

chrome://settings/content/all

This one allows you to selectively clear cookies and cache by domain and all cookies for stuff you want to keep are not touched.

I saw that but that requires work. I’m retired

 

[Aerides]

You lost me at Trivago. I never book through 3rd party sites. I prefer to book directly and get my membership discounts and perks. I'm not sure I see differences coming in cookie-free vs. returning when I do that. (in fact I know I haven't so far).

 

[Route246]

You lost me at Trivago. I never book through 3rd party sites. I prefer to book directly and get my membership discounts and perks. I'm not sure I see differences coming in cookie-free vs. returning when I do that. (in fact I know I haven't so far).

Understood. I'm that way with domestic travel. I use Hilton, Bonvoy and Best Western for perks domestically. I use the Trivago/et.al. method to make sure I'm getting the best rate and not an AI-generated rate. I have found a much cheaper rate on Agoda for Hilton, called Hilton reservations directly and they matched it. They know what's going on if you come in with a rate that falls beneath their floor. I just told them that Agoda is showing $230 and their lowest rate is showing $300 they will usually match it. I've never been told to use Agoda or other agency if I make that phone call. I have been asked to send a screenshot, which I've done successfully, though.

 

[njhowie]

Understood. I'm that way with domestic travel. I use Hilton, Bonvoy and Best Western for perks domestically. I use the Trivago/et.al. method to make sure I'm getting the best rate and not an AI-generated rate. I have found a much cheaper rate on Agoda for Hilton, called Hilton reservations directly and they matched it. They know what's going on if you come in with a rate that falls beneath their floor. I just told them that Agoda is showing $230 and their lowest rate is showing $300 they will usually match it. I've never been told to use Agoda or other agency if I make that phone call. I have been asked to send a screenshot, which I've done successfully, though.

I'll take the cash savings over the perks. Not even an hour ago I reserved a car for our September Orlando trip. Most of the rates for the week are $450 to $550 from the name brand companies. Prepaying through Autoslash got me $340 with Avis, with free cancellation within 48 hours of the pickup time. Booking the same car directly with Priceline would be $541. Cheapest from Hertz right now is $640. I've used Autoslash almost exclusively over the past 5 years. Between now and September, I'll price check and rebook if/as the prices fall.

For hotels, I've used their Hotelslash, which they introduced earlier last year and likewise had extremely good experiences getting better rates. The interface is pretty raw when the rates come back, so you do have to carefully read all the rate details and restrictions.

It's worth trying both of these to get a feel for how they work and the kinds of savings they offer.

When trying a new site, I am hesitant, so it's good to have feedback from others who have actually used a site/service and can confirm they've reserved and everything worked out well.

 

[sengsational]

When you clear cookies (or use your alternate browser that has delete cookies on exit), you're still coming from the same IP address. Not sure they get that sophisticated, but they could. So you can go one step farther in order to check a site's "pricing honesty": come at it from another country and another IP address.



If you have a VPN, you can arrive on the Internet from a selected country and many times will see a different price. Well, you'll need to run the price through a currency rate calculator to see.


Even if you don't have a VPN, you can use TOR Browser (a version of Firefox, but runs through TOR) and get really anonymous prices.

 

[Route246]

Thanks. I have VPN(s) and I never thought about moving my IP address, even domestically, if not internationally. I also have a TOR browser on Tails Linux but I consider that to be extreme and the UI is a bit clunky and slow, but it is worth a try.

I like the term, "pricing honesty" and will start using that because it is truly descriptive of how AI is being used against the consumer these days.

When you clear cookies (or use your alternate browser that has delete cookies on exit), you're still coming from the same IP address. Not sure they get that sophisticated, but they could. So you can go one step farther in order to check a site's "pricing honesty": come at it from another country and another IP address.



If you have a VPN, you can arrive on the Internet from a selected country and many times will see a different price. Well, you'll need to run the price through a currency rate calculator to see.


Even if you don't have a VPN, you can use TOR Browser (a version of Firefox, but runs through TOR) and get really anonymous prices.

 

[audreyh1]

I don’t clear any cookies etc. I have not run into problems. I used to occasionally check via a private browser window but didn’t see problems.

I generally use Google Flights for airfares. I’m logged in across all my devices. I use their flight price tracking.

I haven’t seen prices mysteriously jump after a short period unless time was short and demand was high and resources getting snapped up.

I always check car rentals closer to dates. Price often drops. I use Costco travel site for domestic car rentals.

 

[sengsational]

^ I think you're pretty safe on Google Flights, Kayak, and such. My recent experience with TAP Air Portugal was after I searched a few times on their site directly, it was showing an increased price for the flight I thought might be best. I went back to Google Flights (in another tab) and it showed the original, cheaper price. So I closed the tab for Air Portugal (leaving cookies), then clicked "show deal" on the cheaper price, and when it came up on the TAP site, it was the higher price. BUSTED!

 

[DrRoy]

I use Bing as a secondary browser.

 

[Aerides]

I always check car rentals closer to dates. Price often drops. I use Costco travel site for domestic car rentals.

Same with hotels. I will book and rebook and rebook right up to the point of cancellation, as the rates often drop in the days before arrival.

 

[simple girl]

Would it work to just use an incognito window? From my understanding, the cookies are stored in a temporary folder and then the folder is deleted after you close the incognito window.

 

[simple girl]

Same with hotels. I will book and rebook and rebook right up to the point of cancellation, as the rates often drop in the days before arrival.

Oh that's great to know. I knew that about car rentals (via autoslash, which has saved us tons of money), but hadn't tried it with hotels.

I am going to have to try the hotelslash program again. The last time I tried it I wasn't impressed with the results.

 

[thod]

Really good information and I will try some of it next time I am booking.

But I want to clarify the term you are using.
Much of what you describe as AI (Artificial Intelligence) is most likely not.

In programming, the logic/rules are usually referred to as an algorithm. Algorithms have been around almost forever. They pre-date programming even. Solving math problems is often just executing an algorithm. (Think long division or something like that.)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something different. In theory it has no pre-programmed algorithms. (but I am sure there might be some in practice to bootstrap or direct things a little.) The idea is that lots of data is fed into it and the AI builds its own associations and relationships. I am sure it is alot more complicated than that, but I hope you get the idea.

The hotel sites are just following an algorithm (i.e. return visitor = higher prices, etc).

 

[audreyh1]

Same with hotels. I will book and rebook and rebook right up to the point of cancellation, as the rates often drop in the days before arrival.

I haven’t had this luck with hotels. My experience is that they get booked up and availability shrinks and prices rise as we approach the arrival date.

One reason I booked my Europe trip way earlier than I usually do is that I find the hotels we prefer get booked up quickly.

 

[Fermion]

Would it work to just use an incognito window? From my understanding, the cookies are stored in a temporary folder and then the folder is deleted after you close the incognito window.

I am pretty sure this does work.

 

[sengsational]

Oh that's great to know. I knew that about car rentals (via autoslash, which has saved us tons of money), but hadn't tried it with hotels.

I had never heard of autoslash, but started looking right now. It appears their definition of "scour the internet" is got to PriceLine (only) to find the best price. Better than manually doing it yourself, I guess, but I found the idea of me sharing the confirmation number a bit unsettling...aren't you giving them everything they need to cancel or change your reservation without your knowledge or consent?

 

[Lsbcal]

I haven’t had this luck with hotels. My experience is that they get booked up and availability shrinks and prices rise as we approach the arrival date.

One reason I booked my Europe trip way earlier than I usually do is that I find the hotels we prefer get booked up quickly.

My experience too.

 

[walkinwood]

I had never heard of autoslash, but started looking right now. It appears their definition of "scour the internet" is got to PriceLine (only) to find the best price. Better than manually doing it yourself, I guess, but I found the idea of me sharing the confirmation number a bit unsettling...aren't you giving them everything they need to cancel or change your reservation without your knowledge or consent?

+1 for Autoslash. I usually book rental cars with Costco & then enter the information into Autoslash to track.



They send you an email when there's a better rate and it is up to you to go to that site & get the new rate - and of course, cancel your original reservation.



I've been using them for years now and have never had them abuse the data I've shared.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I'm mostly loyal to Marriott brands because I have lifetime status that usually gets me upgrades and other extra perks. But I understand that is not the case for most people. But Marriott (and probably other major brands) will almost always give a better price to members than any consolidator. You might have to call though.

 

[Route246]

Really good information and I will try some of it next time I am booking.

But I want to clarify the term you are using.
Much of what you describe as AI (Artificial Intelligence) is most likely not.

In programming, the logic/rules are usually referred to as an algorithm. Algorithms have been around almost forever. They pre-date programming even. Solving math problems is often just executing an algorithm. (Think long division or something like that.)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something different. In theory it has no pre-programmed algorithms. (but I am sure there might be some in practice to bootstrap or direct things a little.) The idea is that lots of data is fed into it and the AI builds its own associations and relationships. I am sure it is alot more complicated than that, but I hope you get the idea.

The hotel sites are just following an algorithm (i.e. return visitor = higher prices, etc).

I'm characterizing these travel agent websites as using reactive AI, not a sophisticated LLM or self-aware neural network, more like a primitive neural network in the form of a noSQL DB coupled an inference engine making decisions on what to offer you based on what it has learned/trained and knows about you. The first iterations of this prior to very fast parallel threading GPGPU H/W was like BI (business intelligence) but BI has gotten a lot more sophisticated these days and dynamic pricing models are in place to counteract web consolidator sites. Prior to BI there was fuzzy logic and then neuro-fuzzy logic. These are all AI as they try to emulate human reasoning based on inference. It is an arms race.

If you expose cookies and login you are providing the inference engine more information about your preferences, history and tendencies. If, for instance, in the past you showed a propensity to not be price sensitive based on your search and purchase history it might infer that you're willing to pay higher prices. On the other hand if it knows you are very price-sensitive and never pay premium prices in the past it will infer that your scrutiny and patience level is higher and it may decide that it is counter-productive to offer higher prices which might drive you away from the site.

With all of the data that is being collected these days by Google, FB, Instagram, Visa, M/C, grocery stores, et. al. it is only a matter of time before access to those neural network helper engines is going to be integrated into the AI that every E-Commerce website is developing now.