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Travel Sites Exposed: Inflated Prices for Americans

by Tim Stevens on October 3, 2007 at 02:22 PM



When planning a trip to Australia, you probably use a travel site like Expedia.com to compare prices with different airlines, confident that you're getting the lowest fares. However, the cheapest fares for flying to Australia aren't at Expedia.com -- they're actually at Expedia.com.au, the site's Aussie version. This practice is detailed in an article in the 'New York Times' discussing the ways travel sites change pricing for locals vs. foreigners.

For example, a flight from Melbourne to Sidney was priced at $350 through Expedia.com (the American website). That same flight through Expedia.com.au (the Australian version) was less than $190, a savings of nearly half. Whether you're booking flights, hotels, or car rentals, the policy is the same: locals get lower prices.

You might think this is a simple way to save some cash when traveling to foreign lands. Unfortunately, it's not so easy. According to the article, many travel sites require local addresses or at least credit cards issued within the country that the sites are designed to support. Try to book your rental car in the U.K. with an American credit card and you might be told to "Piss off, wanker" (in more polite terms, of course). There are work-arounds, like having friendly locals book your flights and car for you, that you can try. If you don't have friends in far away places, however, these low prices may be nothing more than a tease.

From bookofjoe

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Tags: Airfare, Expedia

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