How travelers are being charged up to THREE times more for vacations booked through US websites

Travelers booking vacations through US websites are being charged up to three times more than overseas customers for exactly the same trips, new research shows.

Sites such as Hotels.com and car rental firm Hertz are among the companies that appear to be billing US customers thousands of dollars more for deals.

In one staggering example, a 14-night stay at an all-inclusive luxury hotel for a family-of-four was $57,415 more expensive when booked on the American homepage of Hotels.com than a local version.

The research was undertaken by cybersecurity company NordVPN which manipulated the location of their computers on their browsers using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Websites can track a number of details about their viewers including where they are located.

Research by NordVPN found trips booked through US computers were thousands of dollars more expensive than when overseas customers booked the same deal 

To avoid this, users can download VPN which allows them to change the location of their browser and pretend they are anywhere else in the world.

Researchers did so and then compared the different prices of luxury breaks, hotel stays, car hires and theme parks when the VPN was set to America and when it was in a different country.

They found that Americans were often being vastly overcharged compared to locals in the areas where they were vacationing. 

For example, a booking on Hotels.com for an all-inclusive 14-night luxury stay in Los Cabos, Mexico, for a family-of-four charged a US user $84, 929. 

However the same booking made by a computer with its VPN set to Mexico saw the price slashed to $27, 514. 

Similarly car hire firm Hertz charged researchers $348.87 for a 7-day lease from Cancun airport in Mexico.

But the local price was less than half this, at $135.28. 

A 10-day car hire booking in London made through Budget via comparison website Expedia resulted in a cost of $2,157.32 from a US website.

Travel booking websites have long come under fire for appearing to 'track' their customers and increasing their prices once they know they are interested

But when the VPN was switched to England the price was slashed to $1,166. 

Researchers also found that Disneyland Paris offered a 3-night stay in June at the Hotel New York for $3,524 for a family of four — a saving of 10% ($409) compared to the US site. 

The study was commissioned by NordVPN and conducted by an external company between February 24th and March 13th.

Marijus Briedis, Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, said: '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 visits you pay to a website, and how your search fits in with the school holiday schedule, can all influence the price you’re offered.'

Booking websites have long come under fire for appearing to 'track' their customers and increasing their prices once they know they are interested.

It led to a surge in travelers booking flights and vacations while on 'incognito' mode so a website could not pick up the identity or location of the customer. 

However recently experts have insisted that putting your computer on 'incognito' mode to save money is a myth.   

Google Flights product manager James Byers recently told The Washington Post that browsing history and private searches do not impact fares. 

He said prices just naturally change 'second by second' and any changes customers see when booking as normal before changing to incognito is merely a coincidence.

'For example, there could be billions of potential ticket combinations for trips between Los Angeles and London when you factor in variables like connecting flights and the different prices available from different booking sites,' he added.

Dailymail.com reached out to all Hotels.com, Hertz, Budget, Mas and Avis for comment.