A recent study by cybersecurity firm NordVPN has revealed Australians are being charged significantly more for hotel stays and car hire than overseas customers.

The most significant price difference was found when booking a car through the Europcar website, where using the Mexican website resulted in an AU$511 saving for two weeks of car hire in Cancun – meaning that Australian users are paying 127% more.

The researchers used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to find savings from travel sites including Hotels.com, Hertz.com, and Booking.com in countries like Italy, Thailand, and Indonesia. The research was commissioned by NordVPN and conducted by an external company between 8-14 April 2024. This is the second consecutive year carrying out the vacation pricing research, and Australians are still being shown different prices to people elsewhere in the world.

NordVPN is a global VPN service provider, used by millions of internet users worldwide. Its Chief Technology Officer, Marijus Briedis, said the research shows thousands could be saved by local travellers on a trip.

“Millions of us have got used to hunting for a vacation and booking our holiday car hire online, but not all customers are treated equally when it comes to the price," he commented. "Online tracking used by travel websites means that they can tell what holiday we’re looking for before we do, while algorithms can adjust holiday prices to the spending power of different countries. Never assume you’re getting the same deal as everyone else. Your location, the number of times you visit a website, and how your search fits in with the school holiday schedule, can all influence the price you’re offered."

Nordvpn positioned private VPNs as the best way to fight back is to shop around with the same provider.

"As our research shows, it could save you thousands of dollars on a trip. Once you’ve found your perfect hotel, run the site through a local VPN to the country you are visiting and do a side-by-side comparison. You can use an online currency exchange to help in your search," Briedis said.