You’ve probably heard the advice: clear your cookies, switch browsers and search for flights in incognito mode to stop airlines from raising prices.
Travel experts say there’s no credible evidence that repeated searches cause airlines or booking sites to increase the fare you’re shown.
So why can the price change between searches?
1. Airfares Change in Real Time
Airlines use dynamic pricing systems that constantly respond to demand, seat availability, booking trends and competitor prices. A fare can change even while you’re watching it.
2. Fare Buckets Can Sell Out
Airlines typically make a limited number of seats available at different price levels. Once the cheaper inventory disappears, the next available fare can be higher.
That can make it look like the airline noticed your search when the inventory simply changed.
3. Cached Information Can Cause Confusion
Switching browsers or clearing cookies can sometimes change what your browser displays because cached information is different. But that doesn’t mean the airline’s underlying fare changed because of your search history.
4. Incognito Doesn’t Change the Price
The experts cited by Travel + Leisure say private browsing, search history and switching devices don’t determine the airfare displayed by Google Flights.
In other words, opening a private window isn’t a reliable flight-deal strategy.
5. Alerts Beat Constantly Searching
Instead of repeatedly checking the same route, use flight price alerts to track changes. This lets you monitor the market without spending your time refreshing the same search.
Airfare can move because of inventory, demand and other market factors—not necessarily because you’ve looked at the flight too many times.
The smarter take: Don’t waste time clearing cookies before every flight search. Track the route, set a price alert and be ready to book when the fare you want appears.