Don't book your next hotel stay on your computer - here's why
Now that we're living in a time where buying eggs feels like a luxury, saving money wherever possible is as important as ever.
Despite rising costs, however, Aussies are reluctant to cut back on travel, valuing holidays as something worth saving for.
That just means we have to travel smarter. One way to do that? Avoid booking your hotels on your computer.
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There's one simple way to save money on hotel bookings. Getty
The thought of booking your accommodation on your phone rather than on your desktop or laptop may seem counter intuitive - there's even a meme about how Millennials only use computers for purchasing big-ticket items.
But using your phone, when booking hotels at least, can save you money.
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After being tipped off by a travel expert from Which? on TikTok , 9Travel did some investigating.
Booking a four-night stay at a Melbourne apartment on Booking.com, we were quoted $754. The same room for the same dates on the Booking.com app was just $692.
Booking on our phone gave us a cheaper option. Getty / Nine
Meanwhile, a 10-night stay in Perth was almost $200 cheaper for most hotels when booking through the app.
The same discounts can be found on other booking sites, like Expedia.
Many travel sites offer exclusive deals for people who book on their mobile site or app, to help promote their digital products.
If you're planning a trip to Europe, the savings can be even higher.
The Which? TikTok showed a traveller booking an apartment in Amsterdam for £270 ($560) cheaper on mobile than on her computer.
"I would never book a hotel on a computer without checking the price on a mobile phone first," she said.
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Clearing your browser history is a popular 'hack' for saving on travel costs. Getty
Another 'hack' you may have heard of for securing cheap travel is to clear your search history before making any purchases.
There's a persistent myth that ticket prices change if you clear your cookies, switch browsers, and search in incognito mode.
However, it's exactly that: a myth.
"While it's a widely held belief that flight prices go up the more you search for a route, there's no hard evidence that browsing history or repeated searches alone directly cause price increases," Dollar Flight Club founder Jesse Neugarten told Travel + Leisure.
If you can, book on a Sunday. Getty
When to book flights to save the most money
According to Expedia's 2025 Air Hacks report Sunday is the Expedia's 2025 Air Hacks report.
According to the booking site, travellers can save up to 20 per cent on flight prices by doing their purchasing on a Sunday.
January is also considered the cheapest month to travel, according to the report, with September dubbed the most expensive.
