travel

Do proxies or VPNs actually get cheaper flights? We tested the location-switching myth against the evidence: what the data shows, when point-of-sale pricing is real, and what proxies are actually for.

Free proxies for Agoda, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for an Agoda page, none returned listings. Why free fails on Agoda's Asian markets and JavaScript shell, and when the job needs paid residential.

Free proxies for Booking.com, measured: 60 live free proxies asked for one search page, zero returned real results. Why free fails here, what it is still good for, and when the job needs paid residential.

Free proxies for Delta, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for delta.com, 14 reached it and none were challenged, but the fares are not on the page a proxy fetches. Why free still does not work for Delta.

Free proxies for Expedia, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for an Expedia search page, none returned real content. Why free fails on Expedia, what it is still good for, and when the job needs paid residential.

Free proxies for Google Flights, measured: 60 live free proxies asked for the page, only 8 loaded the shell, and the shell has no fares without JavaScript. Why free fails, what it is good for, and when to pay.

Free proxies for Hilton, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for a Hilton search, none returned a page and 20 were challenged. Why free fails on Hilton's member rates and defenses, and when to go paid.

Free proxies for Hotels.com, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for a Hotels.com search, none returned content. Why free fails on its member rates and Expedia backend, and when to go paid.

Free proxies for Kayak, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for a Kayak search, exactly one reached it and 18 were challenged. Why Kayak bans proxies hard, and when the job needs paid residential.

Free proxies for Marriott, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for a Marriott search, none got through and 24 were challenged, the most of any travel site we tested. Why free fails, and when to go paid.

Free proxies for Skyscanner, measured: 60 live free proxies asked for a search page, 1 loaded, 9 hit a human-verification wall, 50 failed. Why free fails against Skyscanner's bot management, and when the job needs paid residential.

Free proxies for Trivago, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for a Trivago page, 20 reached it, the best result of any travel site we tested. Why Trivago is the exception, and why it still is not enough.

Free proxies for United Airlines, measured: 120 fresh free proxies asked for united.com, not one completed the request. The starkest result of our travel test, and why United needs paid residential.

A measured study: 120 fresh free proxies against 12 travel booking sites (OTAs, metasearch, airlines, hotel chains). How many reached each, why zero got real OTA or hotel-chain content, and what it means.

How to scrape flight prices: why airline and OTA sites are hard, why point-of-sale pricing forces an in-market exit, how to handle Akamai and JavaScript, and the residential proxy setup that holds.

How to scrape hotel prices: why the rate depends on the guest's country, login and device, how to read Country Rates and member rates, and the residential proxy setup that reads each market's price.

Proxies for Accor: how one ALL account spans luxury to economy across 5,600 hotels, why the brand tier and the market both move the price, and which residential setup reads each market's Accor rate.

Proxies for Agoda: why the price depends on the visitor's country, app and login, why a plain request returns a 200 with no listings, how Agoda flags datacenter traffic, and which residential setup reads Asian markets.

Proxies for Air France: how AF-KLM group fares are filed by point of sale, why Flying Blue and currency vary by market, how the site is defended, and which residential setup reads it per country.

Proxies for airline fare intelligence: why a carrier or agency reading competitor fares from one location sees the wrong prices, how point-of-sale and dynamic pricing shape the job, and what to ask a fare-data vendor.

Proxies for Alaska Airlines: why Mileage Plan award space is a high-value read, how the Hawaiian integration widens the network, how the site is defended, and which residential setup reads it.

Proxies for American Airlines: how the NDC distribution fight pulled fares off the GDS and pushed them to aa.com, why Akamai guards the fare search, and which residential setup reads AA fares per market.

Proxies for Amtrak: how Amtrak now prices tickets dynamically like an airline, why fare buckets sell out and push prices up near departure, and which residential setup reads Amtrak fares on a schedule.

Proxies for Avis: how country of residence and AWD discount codes both move the price, how Avis Budget Group prices across markets, and which residential setup reads each market's Avis rate.