Flight comparison tools and price alerts have become second nature. However, the actual hierarchy of fares has changed since airlines have redirected their best discounts to their direct channels. To find the best online travel deals, it is now necessary to combine levers that most consumer guides do not articulate together: member fares, bank cashback, and geographical arbitrage of departure points.
Airline Member Fares: Invisible Prices on Comparators
Since 2023-2024, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and IAG (Iberia, British Airways) reserve “members only” fares accessible after logging into a free customer account. These discounts do not appear on Skyscanner, Kayak, or Google Flights.
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Signing up for these “light” loyalty programs requires no commitment or prior accumulation of miles. Simply create an account on the airline’s website to unlock fare grids different from those displayed publicly.
We recommend creating an account with each airline serving your usual airports, then systematically comparing the connected price with the price displayed on a comparator. The difference often justifies booking directly. A detailed guide to these methods is available on the Bart Magazine website, which lists several complementary strategies to optimize each booking.
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This strategy of channeling sales to direct channels follows an industrial logic: airlines reduce commissions paid to OTAs (online travel agencies) and regain customer relationships. For travelers, this means that the comparator no longer systematically displays the best price.
Travel Cashback and Online Banks: The Real Price After Refund
The rise of cashback programs from French online banks (Boursorama via “The Corner,” Revolut Rewards, Hello Bank!, Fortuneo, N26) is changing the hierarchy of travel offers. These programs refund a few percent on bookings made through Booking, Hotels.com, Lastminute, or Expedia.
The usual reflex is to look for a promo code. Cashback works differently: the discount is automatically applied via a partner link or an affiliated payment card, and the refund appears on the bank statement.
- Boursorama “The Corner” offers occasional deals with identified travel partners (Booking, Hotels.com), which can be activated from the customer area before booking.
- Revolut Rewards operates on a similar model with discounts on hotel and flight booking platforms, combinable with displayed promotional rates.
- Fortuneo and Hello Bank! include less visible cashback programs, often limited to certain periods, but applicable to expenses categorized as “travel.”
Calculating the real price of a booking must therefore include cashback. A slightly more expensive hotel on Booking may end up being cheaper than a direct offer without cashback. Comparing prices without considering cashback skews the arbitration.
Geographical Price Arbitrage for Flights with a VPN
Flight prices vary depending on the country from which the search is conducted. This geolocalized pricing is documented: the same Paris-Bangkok flight may display a different fare depending on whether the request comes from a French, Thai, or Brazilian IP.
A VPN allows you to simulate a connection from another country and access these alternative fare grids. We observe that the discrepancies are sometimes significant on long-haul flights and negligible on intra-European routes.
Concrete Limitations of This Method
Paying from a simulated country can cause issues at the time of payment. If the credit card is issued in France and the site detects an IP in Brazil, some platforms block the transaction or adjust the price at the time of payment.
Additionally, the billing currency changes with geolocation. The conversion fees applied by the bank may absorb the savings made. Check your card’s exchange conditions before finalizing.
Secondary Hubs and Multi-Segment Flights: Lowering Flight Budget
Departing from a secondary hub (Brussels-Charleroi, Basel-Mulhouse, Geneva) instead of Paris-CDG or Orly allows access to the fare grids of low-cost airlines operating from these airports. The cost of the outbound journey (train, carpooling) to the secondary airport must be included in the total budget.
Multi-segment flights, booked separately on two different airlines, can also reduce the overall fare. A Paris-Madrid followed by Madrid-Bogota purchased in two separate tickets can sometimes be significantly cheaper than a direct flight or a connection sold as a single itinerary.
The Risks of Multi-Segment
In case of a delay on the first flight, the airline of the second flight has no obligation to reroute you. Allowing for a gap of at least six hours between the two segments limits this risk. Cancellation insurance covering each ticket separately should also be considered.
The most effective approach combines all these levers: checking the member fare directly, comparing with the price displayed on a comparator while adding bank cashback, testing an alternative geolocation for long-haul flights, and arbitrating the departure point between the main hub and secondary airport. This layering of filters takes more time than a simple search, but it reflects the current reality of the online travel offer market.