'People swear it happens' - Warning as airlines are accused of 'creepy' practice

Irish people have been advised of an online theory that airline websites use a "creepy cookie" practice to hike prices when you show an interest in a particular flight online.

The online theory was discussed on Brendan O'Connor's RTE Radio One show at the weekend where stand-in host Dearbhail McDonald was chatting consumer affairs journalist Conor Pope.

The Irish Times expert was discussing how to get the best value while booking flights, including avoiding weekend dates during the summer and other peak seasons. He also touched on the "creepy cookie" theory which has been discussed by millions of people online.

"Millions of people swear it happens," Conor said as he explained the alleged techy trick. He said: "The theory goes: every time you visit an airline website, it deposits a cookies, which is just a tiny line of computer code on your computer to tell them that you've been there. 

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"If you go and look up a flight to Paris, then you think 'I'll leave it, but then you come back 24 hours later, the website's cookies know that you've been there and jack up the price."

While admitting he's never seen it happen and that the airlines "swear blind" they don't employ this practice, Conor did offer people a simple piece of advice to avoid it if it is true.

"If you're concerned about it, the simplest thing to do is to go onto your browser, clear your cookies, before you visit an airline website a second times and you might get it cheaper, though it's never worked for me," he said.