This has definitely happened to you. You're planning a trip to Paris. On a Tuesday night, you go to a flight search engine, plug in the dates and see a friendly ticket at €50. "Not bad", you think, "I'll just talk to my partner tomorrow and we'll buy".
Wednesday rolls around. You go back to the same site, plug in the same dates and... the flight is at €120! Your brain short-circuits. Are you going crazy? Did half of Portugal decide overnight to go to Paris?
No. The truth is the airlines and the search sites are spying on you. And they use that information against you. But relax, Martin is going to teach you how to fight back and buy tickets at the fair price.
1. The Myth (or Truth?) About Incognito Mode 🕵️♂️
When you search for a flight several times, the sites store cookies in your browser. They figure out: "Look, this guy really wants to go to Paris on those dates. Let's bump up the price gradually to create panic and force him to buy now!". It's the famous FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) effect.
The Trick: The first rule of the cheap-flights club is to never search with your normal browser. Always open a window in Incognito Mode (or Private Browsing) and, ideally, clear the cache and cookies before buying. If the price had mysteriously gone up, there's a good chance it'll drop back to the original value.
2. The Tuesday Rule (Forget the Weekend) 📅
The airlines know your habits. They know that most people plan their holidays and buy tickets at the weekend (Friday night, Saturday and Sunday). So prices on those days are, as a rule, higher.
The Trick: The best day to buy a flight is Tuesday or Wednesday early morning. That's when airlines usually launch their weekly promotions and adjust prices to compete with each other.
3. The VPN Trick (Ninja Level) 🥷
This one's for the pros. Flight prices vary depending on the country you're buying from. The algorithm assumes that, if you're buying from Portugal (or from Switzerland, or the US), you have a certain level of purchasing power.
The Trick: Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to disguise your location. If you want to go to Brazil, try connecting the VPN to a server in Brazil or Argentina and search for the same flight. Often, the site will show you the price in the local currency, with fares aimed at the domestic market, which can be significantly cheaper than the price charged to Europeans.
Saved €100 on the Flight? Don't Waste It at the Airport! 🚗
Congratulations, you're officially a flight-search master! You used incognito mode, bought on a Tuesday and saved a solid €100 on the ticket.
But now comes the final test. Are you going to grab those €100 you saved and toss them in the bin paying absurd dynamic-pricing fares for dawn Ubers? Or are you going to leave your car at the "official" airport car park and pay a fortune just to have it sitting there?
No way! Smart saving doesn't end at the plane ticket.
Hop in your car, drive to airport Departures in total comfort, and book Multipark Valet Parking. It's much cheaper than you think, especially for multi-day stays.
You hand us the keys at the terminal door and we keep your vehicle in a fenced, hyper-secure facility. When you come back from your low-cost holiday, your car is waiting for you.
Travel cheap, park smart. Run a quote and book your Valet Parking on the Multipark website and spend the money you saved on beers and dinners at your destination!
