How to Get Cheaper Hotel Rates in 4 Easy Steps

The holidays are just around the corner, which could only mean one thing… vacations. If you’re looking to book a hotel for the holidays but don’t want to overpay, I’ve got your back! Here’s how you can use a VPN to get yourself cheaper hotel rates!

How to Get Cheaper Hotel Rates with a VPN

Cheaper Hotel Rates with a VPN – Live Example

To test out the below process, I decided to compare the prices of a 7-night stay in Strand Palace Hotel (London) from Paris and L.A.

When I tried to book the stay from Paris, I got the following rates:

Hotel Reservation from Paris

Using a VPN, I connected to a server in L.A., cleared my browsing data and cookies, opened an Incognito tab and used the same variables to book the hotel. Here’s the price I got:

Hotel Reservation from Los Angeles

Two different markets, two different prices. $34 might not seem like a lot, but over a 7-day stay you end up saving $240.

Now, the process might not be that simple for everyone. You will need to test out a few servers to find the best pricing option.

How Can a VPN Get You Cheaper Hotel Rates?

What a lot of people don’t seem to know is that hotels (and flights) cater their prices to different markets. As unfair as this may seem, it makes sense when you consider how different countries have drastically different economies.

That means that someone looking to book a Hotel from the US will most probably have to pay more than someone booking from Thailand.

This is why a VPN can help you save a lot of money and get you cheaper hotel rates.

Let me explain.

A VPN, short for Virtual Private Network, has 2 main functions: (1) encrypting your data and (2) re-routing your traffic through its own secure server.

The second functionality also happens to change your public IP address. When your traffic gets re-routed, your public IP address ends up changing to match the location of the server you connected to.

So, how can a VPN get you cheaper hotel rates? It spoofs your IP and makes it seem like you exist in a different market entirely.

How to Use a VPN to get Cheaper Hotel Rates

Before we get into using a VPN to get cheaper hotel prices, let’s cover how to get a VPN subscription first:

1. Sign up with a VPN provider. You can check out this list of best VPNs for 2018 to find your ideal VPN match. If you want the quick answer, our experts suggest using ExpressVPN.
2. Download the VPN app that matches the device you want to use. Most VPN providers will offer an app for Android, Windows, iOS, and MacOS devices.
3. Launch the app, sign in, and select the server you want to connect to.
4. Go to whatismyip.network and make sure that you got yourself a new IP.

Now, you got yourself a VPN. How can you use it to get cheaper hotel rates? Follow these steps:

1. Clear all browsing data and cookies off of your browser.
2. Connect to a server of your choice.
3. Use an incognito/Private tab.
4. Be patient. This isn’t an exact science, and you might have to test out a couple of different servers before you find an ideal hotel rate.

Easy, right?

Remember to start the whole process over every time you try out a new server. Refreshing a page simply won’t cut it.

Why You Need to Clear Your Cookies and Browsing History

The last time I tried to help a friend get cheaper hotel rates for her vacation, she kept telling me that nothing was working. When I dug a little deeper, it turned out that she had underestimated the importance of erasing her browsing history and cookies.

See, hotel rates will definitely change based on the market you’re supposedly in. That being said, there are a few more things that come into play.

Comparison sites can track your location and browsing habits through cookies. If you’ve spent some time looking up hotel rates before you decided to use a VPN, those cookies will not magically disappear. Even if your public IP is showing that you’re accessing the site from a low-income country, the cookies will tell the website that you’ve visited from another location.

So in order to make sure that you don’t tip off the comparison/booking website, it’s very important to clear your browsing history and your cookies.

This process will not work if you don’t.

Get Cheaper Hotel Rates with a VPN – Final Thoughts

There you have it, how to use a VPN to get yourself cheaper hotel rates. Once you do get to the hotel, remember to use a VPN while connecting to the free Hotel WiFi to stay safe at all times, since they’re actually pretty dangerous. You can read our article on the best VPNs for Hotels here.