5 biggest myths about booking airfares debunked

Flight fares can eat up a bulk of your travel budget, so travellers are usually on the look out for tips to get cheaper prices.

There are many hacks and tips online to score cheaper flights, but just how many are verified or have some truth to it?

Research travel site Hopper.com delved into well-known travel price hacks and fished out the ones which are best ignored.

Ever heard that clearing the cache on your computer can help you find cheaper tickets? It is believed that deleting the cookies which track your movement online prevents travel sites from knowing when you come back for a second look and jacking up prices as a result.

Hopper.com said this tactic is is just another cookie conspiracy theory.

They reported that industry experts have conducted research into this and found no concrete evidence that clearing the cache helps at all.

If you see a price increase in the airfare over time, it could be due to other reasons such as departure dates or sale periods.

Another popular tactic some travellers use to save on flights is to buy two one-way fares instead of a round-trip ticket.

Hopper.com said this method can save a couple of dollars each way, but unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Buying two one-way tickets is more suitable if the traveller is unsure about the return date or is on an open-ended trip.

Find out which are the five biggest myths when buying flight tickets in the gallery below.

wjeanne@sph.com.sg