How to Book Hotels Cheap With a VPN in 2023 (+ More Tips)

Hotel booking sites use your location to determine the price they show you based on your IP address. You can end up paying higher prices for the same hotel than someone in another country, depending on the value of that currency. Sometimes just visiting the same booking site more than once on the same internet connection will up the price.

A VPN is a useful tool that switches your virtual location to a country with lower hotel prices. I used a VPN to save money on a hotel in Las Vegas, but it works for any location, too. I tested VPN locations in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Czech Republic and got some really great deals from my location in the UK. When I switched to an IP address in Thailand, I saved $79 on a 1-night stay at a hotel in Vegas.

Using a few different VPNs, I was able to save 5–24% using the above-mentioned server locations. If you don't want to worry about choosing a VPN, I highly recommend ExpressVPN. It has IPs for 94 countries, so you have a lot of options to find cheap hotel deals in different locations. It's also backed by a legit money-back guarantee, so you can try ExpressVPN risk-free. If you’re not satisfied, you can get a full refund within 30 days.

Save Money on Hotels with ExpressVPN

9 Ways to Save Money on Hotels in 2023

Here’s a rundown of the savings I got using different methods:

1. Use a VPN to Change Your Location

Since booking sites detect your location based on your IP address and show you prices specific to the value of your currency (and many other factors), a VPN is a simple way to get better hotel prices. It allows you to temporarily change your IP address to one in a country of your choice. Any VPN should do the trick, but my top recommendation for browsing hotel prices is ExpressVPN because it's so simple to use.

I tested this by connecting to a range of servers across the globe. First, I cleared my cookies and cache in my browser settings and then connected to a server in Mexico. Unfortunately, I didn’t see a change in prices while trying servers across South America.

So, I changed my IP address to one in Thailand, and the price decreased by around 5%. Then, I changed Booking.com’s currency to match the server I was connected to, and saw a much bigger price drop. When I searched for a 1-night stay in a 4-star hotel in Las Vegas without a VPN, I was quoted $330. However, by connecting the VPN in Thailand, I saw the same room on the same night for 24% less.

It took less than 5 minutes to get a savings of 24% using a VPN

At the same time as the VPN changes your IP, it's also encrypting your personal data and traffic to ensure travel websites can’t use it to further alter prices based on your browsing activity. Sometimes sites will up the prices if you visit the same booking a few times to encourage you to book before the price goes up even more. It's always a good idea to use an Incognito window or to clear your cache and cookies whenever you connect to a new VPN IP.

Choosing a VPN with a vast server network is also important. That way, you have access to IP addresses all over the world and endless possibilities to get the best prices.

Save Money on Hotels With ExpressVPN

2. Book Your Flights and Hotels Together

Booking flights and hotels together during my tests was always cheaper than booking them separately. The only downside is that using this method means you’re usually shown hotels near the airport, which might not always be ideal. However, the savings can be substantial if that’s not a big deal for you.

I tried to find the cheapest price for a holiday to Sydney from New York. Using Expedia to book flights and hotels together, I was quoted a price of $3,429 for 2 people to stay at the Shangri-La Hotel. However, to book the same hotel and flights for the same dates separately, the price was $4,321. That’s a huge difference of $892, or around 20%.

3. Check Hotel Chains’ Websites

Even though you can get good deals on popular booking sites like Booking.com or Hotels.com, hotel chains' websites often offer lower prices. By booking directly with hotels, like Hyatt or Hilton, the prices were often lower. On average, rooms were around 5% cheaper on the Hilton’s website than the same hotel on Booking.com.

Also, you may be able to negotiate a discounted price for more extensive stays (a week or longer) if you talk directly with the sales department. You'll usually find a phone number for the hotel on its website and can ask to talk to the sales department. This can be hit or miss, but it's worth a try.

4. Take Advantage of Flash Sales

Flash sales can give you amazing discounts on hotels. Since they’re only on for a limited time, you need to be in the know. The best way to get flash deals is by downloading booking sites’ mobile apps and subscribing to email lists to get notified first.

Websites like HotelCoupons.com offer great coupons that give you discounts on hotels across Canada and the US. I found a 20% discount on the Best Western Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, which saved me $25.

5. Clear Your Browsing History

Hotel booking sites use cookies, plus your IP or GPS location to determine the price they show you. This is called dynamic pricing. Reading browser cookies allows the site to remember details like the dates you're looking for, the hotels you've looked at, and other details that indicate a definitive (if eventual) purchase. That's another reason why the prices increase.

Cookies can collect information such as your age, job status, income level, too. The travel website’s algorithms use all of this information to give you a quote. Plus, Google also uses a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID information) from your WLAN access point to get your location and tailors your hotel deals accordingly.

Therefore, by clearing your browsing history and cookies, hotel booking sites can’t use this information to hike prices. All you need to do is navigate to your browser’s “History” settings and select “Clear browsing data.” You need to do this regularly while you are researching hotels. Another trick is to use incognito mode since all this data is deleted when you close the browser.

When I tested this, it usually didn’t change the price, but I saw about a 5% drop in the price when I was looking at hotels in Berlin. While it’s not a huge discount, it’s a simple step and a good one to take in conjunction with using a VPN, for example, to get the best possible price.

6. Look For Last-Minute Deals

If you’re flexible with dates and looking to get away soon, you can get savings on great hotels if you book last minute. Websites like LastMinute.com and LoveHolidays.com are good places to find exclusive deals on hotels. I searched for a hotel in Malta for one week next month, and I was offered a 22% discount on a luxury 5-star hotel on LastMinute.com.

You can also sometimes luck out on RoomerTravel.com — this site allows people to list their non-refundable rooms if they're unable to make their trip. Since they're happy to get anything back at that point, you can usually get a great discount.

7. Try Your Luck at Auction Sites

Auction sites let you place bids on hotel rooms, so you could pay less than the standard rate. An example is TravelAuctions, which offers bidding on Australia-based accommodations. However, since they’re competitive by nature, you can end up spend more than what you would pay on a travel comparison site.

It’s also worth trying out a site like Priceline.com, which allows you to name your price and it will present deals close to your bid. I found discounts on lots of hotels near Disneyland, CA. For example, a 1-night stay at Hilton Anaheim was only $175, compared to $230 on Booking.com for the same night.

Another tip that can save you money on these sites is to prepay for your room. Some booking sites give you the option to pay for part or all of your stay. These prepaid rates are usually lower than those paid at the time of your stay.  The only problem is that sometimes this limits your flexibility — for instance, you may not get refunded if you need to cancel your reservation. But it's a good option if you're set on your travel plans.

8. Take Advantage of Fringe Benefits

It’s also worth looking at the added benefits offered by many hotels. For example, some hotels offer complimentary breakfast, lunch, parking, and the use of a spa or gym, which doesn't save you money, but adds more value for the price you end up paying.

I found 2 similarly priced hotels in Dublin, but one included breakfast and parking in the price. These costs add up when you’re on a trip, so you should try to make the most of what you get.

9. Join Hotel Loyalty Programs

You can also take advantage of the loyalty programs many hotel chains offer if you’re happy to stay there again. These programs often offer members discounted use of facilities, perks, or discounts on future stays.

Simply keep in mind that achieving significant discounts on stays might require patience and numerous visits to that specific hotel chain.

Save Money with ExpressVPN

Best VPNs to Save Money on Hotels in 2023

1. ExpressVPN — Top Choice for Saving Money on Hotels With a Global Network and Fast Speeds

The combination of speeds and global coverage is what makes ExpressVPN ideal for finding cheap hotel prices.

It was easy to access hotel deals since it offers a broad distribution of servers worldwide and only takes a second to connect. Without a VPN, a 1-night stay at this 4-star hotel in Milan was $334. However, when I connected to ExpressVPN’s Czech server, it was only $255. So, the same hotel and same night was 24% cheaper while using ExpressVPN — which is the biggest discount I found.

I also saved money on various hotels using ExpessVPN’s Nepalese and Algerian servers

It also has the fastest speeds of any VPN I’ve tested, letting you quickly navigate between travel sites. Connecting to servers in countries far away from your actual location can sometimes make browsing online so slow, it's not doable. While testing ExpressVPN, I used a lot of different long-distance server locations with multiple tabs open to make easy hotel price comparisons. Unlike some other slower VPNs, my connection was as fast and stable as it is without a VPN connected at all.

The only negative is that ExpressVPN is not the cheapest VPN, with prices starting from $6.67/month. However, it regularly offers great deals, and I even saved 49% on my subscription using its current discount. It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try out ExpressVPN risk-free. If you’re not satisfied, you can easily get a refund by contacting its 24/7 live chat.

Useful Features

• Browser extensions. ExpressVPN has extensions for Firefox and Chrome for a convenient way to connect to any location from its list, straight from your browser window.
• 8 simultaneous device connections. ExpressVPN lets you use it on several devices at one time, so you don’t need to log in and out if you’re browsing on different devices. This let me compare hotel prices between my laptop, tablet, and iPhone.

Save Money on Hotels with ExpressVPN

2. CyberGhost — Ad and Tracker Blocker Prevents Popups on Hotel Booking Sites

CyberGhost’s Block Content feature filters out annoying ads that often come up on hotel comparison sites.. Booking and Expedia are usually full of pop-ups, which slow down page loading times. Although, with Block Content enabled, my search results came back faster, reducing my browsing time. It also blocks trackers, so your data won’t be stored and used to quote you higher hotel prices.

With servers in 91 countries, you have plenty of locations to browse for hotel deals. I tested 3 of its servers in Mumbai, Algeria, and Thailand to find discounts. Without a VPN, a 1-night stay at this 4-star hotel in Paris was $220. However, while connected to its Mumbai server, it was only $198.

CyberGhost let me save 10% off my hotel stay on a trip to New York

The only downside to CyberGhost is that its short-term plan is quite expensive and only comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. However, its long-term plans are pretty affordable, starting at only $2.19/month, and come with a longer refund period of 45 days.

Useful Features

• 7 simultaneous device connections. You can try different servers on different devices to easily compare hotel prices.
• Favorites. CyberGhost has a dedicated tab for your “favorite” servers, or those you use most often. I used this feature to save the server locations that gave me the cheapest hotel prices, like Thailand and Vietnam.

Save Money on Hotels with CyberGhost

3. Private Internet Access — Unlimited Simultaneous Connections to Browse Hotel Stays on All Your Devices

With unlimited connections, Private Internet Access (PIA) makes it easy to compare hotel prices. I tested this out by connecting my laptop, Android tablet, iPhone, and iPad to different global locations — it didn’t affect browsing quality. It was quicker to make comparisons this way, rather than repeatedly switching servers on the same device.

PIA has a massive network of 29,650 servers in 84 countries. I tested servers in Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Vietnam and researched hotels on a few different booking sites. Without a VPN, a 1-night stay at the YOTEL in London costs $225. But connected to PIA’s Vietnam server, it was only $190 — a 16% discount.

I also got good deals with PIA’s Kazakhstan and Greece servers

PIA isn’t as user-friendly as ExpressVPN or CyberGhost — its many customizable options can be overwhelming if you’re new to VPNs. However, the app comes pre-configured, so all you need to do is connect to a server to search hotel deals.

Its plans are all backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free.

Useful Features

• MACE. MACE is PIA’s built-in ad and tracker blocker. With this enabled, I browsed multiple comparison sites like Expedia and Trivago without annoying pop-ups.
• Fast speeds. My speeds with PIA weren’t as fast as ExpressVPN, but my maximum speed drop was only 42%. Although this is on the higher side, it didn’t affect my browsing too much since I have a fast baseline connection.

Save Money on Hotels with PIA

FAQs on Saving Money on Hotels

Can I get cheaper prices when booking hotels with a VPN?

Yes, using a VPN when booking hotels can give you cheaper prices. By masking your IP address and encrypting your internet connection, a VPN can bypass location-based pricing strategies used by some hotel booking websites.

A VPN lets you route your traffic through one of its global servers, making it appear as though you’re accessing the booking website from that location. This helps you access deals and discounts that may be available to residents of that area.

Keep in mind, the price of a hotel room depends on various factors like demand, season, and available promotions. So, while a VPN can sometimes help you find lower prices, it’s not a guaranteed method, and may take some trial and error.

What's the best way to save money on my hotel stay when traveling?

I found the biggest discounts on hotels by using a VPN to change my virtual location. VPNs conceal your real IP address and encrypt your data, so travel websites can’t use your location or personal data to charge you a higher price.

Plus, by switching your IP address to a country where hotel prices are lower, you can access the prices available there. For example, I was able to save up to 24% by switching my IP address to the Czech Republic, Thailand, and Vietnam using a VPN.

Searching for combined hotel and flight deals gave me almost as much savings as using a VPN. I found a $892 discount on a flight and hotel booking, traveling from New York to Sydney.

What is the best site to save money on hotels with?

The sites with the best deals I found are on last-minute and auction bookings sites. I saved 23% on a stay at the Hilton Anaheim on one auction site. Bear in mind these sites are hit or miss — last-minute booking sites are only good for spur-of-the-moment trips, while auction sites can sometimes end up offering prices even more than the original.

The bottom line is that finding the best hotel deals online can take a little bit of trial and error. I got even better deals using a VPN to change my virtual location to shop in other markets that offer better prices. So I could just use regular price comparison sites like Expedia, booking.com, and Trivago, but with better prices.

Is using a VPN to save money on hotels legal?

Yes, using a VPN to save money on hotels is legal in most countries. Although, there are a few countries where general VPN use is illegal or heaviliy restricted. For example, in China, you are only permitted to use government-approved VPNs. Fortunately, they don’t tend to go after individuals who use VPNs — instead, they go after the VPN technology by blocking VPN connections. Nevertheless, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the most recent local laws surrounding VPN use wherever you are.

Hotel comparison sites don’t mind where you are or what price you’re getting; they’re just happy you’re booking through them.

Start Saving Money on Hotels

Hotels can eat up a large portion of your budget for your vacation, so getting any discount is great. Since booking sites are not so keen on offering discounts on highly-sought after hotel rooms, you need to get creative when trying to save money. Out of all the options I found, I saved the most by using a VPN.

I tested various booking sites while connected to different VPNs and ExpressVPN proved to be the best overall. Its vast server network helps you find discounts in different countries, and its fast speeds allow you to switch between booking sites quickly. It’s backed by a money-back guarantee, so you can try ExpressVPN risk-free. If you’re not satisfied, you can get a full refund within those 30 days.

To summarize, the best VPNs to save money on hotels are…