There's a VPN travel hack doing the rounds again -- mostly thanks to a viral X post. Supposedly, if you set your VPN to a cheaper country, flights and hotel prices become cheaper.
So I tried it. Properly.
I used a VPN to switch my location to Brazil, Vietnam, Taipei and India. I used three of the best VPN providers -- ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Proton VPN -- and made sure I wasn't logged into any accounts. Every search was in a fresh Incognito tab, and I verified that the websites I visited, including Google Flights and Skyscanner, correctly detected my spoofed location and showed the appropriate local currency.
My results might surprise you: I didn't actually see meaningfully cheaper flights, although it did work better on another front.
Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
How I tried to find cheaper flights with a VPN
Over several sessions, I searched across multiple routes. These included LHR to NYC, MAN to HKG, HKG to AMS, SFO to LAX. I mixed domestic and international, short-haul and long.
In most cases, prices were within $1 of each other. The biggest saving I saw was on a flight from San Francisco to Japan, which was $63 (about 7%) cheaper when using a VPN set to Brazil. Sometimes, oddly enough, the VPN version was more expensive than just booking from home.
The biggest saving I saw when browsing flights with a VPN was $63 -- a far cry from the huge savings this hack promises. Connor Jewiss/CNET
But never, not once, did I see anything close to the big savings that people online swear by. No jackpot fares, no hidden bargains, no half-price fares hiding behind virtual borders.
... continue reading