Why does nobody talk about how much flight prices change just by switching browsers?

I was booking a trip from Chicago to Denver last Wednesday and found a roundtrip ticket for $180 on Chrome. I got distracted and came back an hour later on Firefox and the same flight was $230. I thought I was going crazy so I cleared my cookies and checked again on Chrome. Price dropped back to $185. I tested it three more times back and forth and it kept happening. Found a thread on a deal forum where people said airlines track your search history through browser data. It blew my mind that something as simple as using a different browser can save you $50. Has anyone else noticed this or did I just get lucky with the timing?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordancoleman1mo ago

Private browsers don't actually hide your search history from airlines, they just don't save it locally on your device so websites still see your IP and other data. The price drops you saw were probably just normal timing fluctuations, not browser tracking.

aaron6771mo ago

Yeah I ran into this exact same thing last month when I was booking a flight to Austin. I had it open on Safari for a few days and the price went from $210 to $290. Then I opened a private window on Chrome and it showed $205 again. I did the same test three times and it kept happening so it was definitely real. What I do now is use a separate browser like Brave or just clear all my cookies and search history before I even look at flights. Also I always check the price on my phone on a different wifi network if I can. The whole thing feels pretty shady but the airlines totally track your browsing data and adjust prices based on it. You just gotta be smart about hiding your search history.