Will clearing your search history make flight prices cheaper? Experts reveal the surprising truth

Ever stepped away from your computer partway through booking a flight only to find the price has skyrocketed when you return? Coincidence? Or is the internet playing tricks on you?Some travelers swear by “hacks” to avoid increases like clearing cookies, going incognito, or switching devices.These price-savvy travelers believe that airlines and travel sites track your activity and raise prices based on your interest.

But is this just paranoia, or is there some truth to the theory? While it’s a popular theory among travelers, there’s no solid proof that repeatedly searching for a flight triggers a price hike.According to industry experts, those rising fares have less to do with websites spying on your activity and more with the basics of supply and demand.

The odds are that there will likely be fewer available seats every time you check out the flight information.Flights fluctuate in price constantly — but it’s market trends, not your browsing history, that are usually to blame.“There is a common misconception that repeated search behavior will lead to not just a different, but higher outcome,” Going’s travel expert Katy Nastro said.

Nastro added that these so-called hacks to guarantee a lower price are just internet hearsay.“There is no credible data source that suggests repeated searching is tracked and therefore manipulated to higher pricing,” she concluded.Nastro and her team run thousands of flight searches weekly, and have even tested out the different theories, but did not see any changes.

She summed up the price fluctuations as simply “seeing the market move in real time.” Airlines, she explained, have “fare buckets,” or a certain number of seats they want to sell for a specific price at a certain moment.When those sell out, the price will seemingly increase.

Nastro also noted that airlines use dynamic algorithms that reevaluate costs in real time; so if something occurs at your destination, the price of fuel jumps, or a big ...