Hard drive pricing in the UK is so high that a person flew to the US to buy them instead, saving money despite flight and hotel costs — HDD deal seeker saved more than $2,000 by taking a trip

Source: Tom’s Hardware

Image credit: Western Digital

Reddit user flies to the U.S. to buy 28 TB HDDs

A Redditor on r/DataHoarder (u/cgtechuk) noticed that 28 TB hard‑drive prices in the U.K. kept rising, while U.S. prices remained much lower. After New Year’s, they booked a flight and a hotel in New York and bought ten Seagate IronWolf Pro 28 TB drives—five from Best Buy and five from B&H Photo—to stay within each retailer’s purchase limit.

Decided to fly to the US to buy some hard drives (r/DataHoarder)

Price comparison

Difference: ~$370 per drive → ~$3,700 for ten drives.

Travel costs vs. savings

• Round‑trip flight London ↔ JFK: < $700
• Four‑night budget hotel near JFK: ≈ $700
• Pocket money & incidentals: ≈ $300

Total travel expense: ≈ $1,700.
Even after these costs, the Redditor saved around $2,000. They also redeemed points for the flight and hotel, increasing the net savings.

Verifying the drives

To avoid scams, the user:

1. Recorded serial numbers when picking up the drives from Best Buy and B&H.
2. Tested each drive in the hotel using SeaTools, CrystalDiskInfo, and file‑copy checks.
3. Packed all ten drives (with foam inserts) in a carry‑on, while placing the original packaging in checked luggage for warranty purposes.

Market context

• Hard‑drive prices have surged by 46 % since Q3 2023 (Tom’s Hardware analysis).
• Western Digital reports its 2026 production capacity is already sold out (source).
• AI workloads drive demand for high‑capacity, low‑cost storage. HDDs remain essential for “nearline” storage in hyperscale data centers, especially as SSDs can be up to 16× more expensive for the same capacity (Tom’s Hardware).

This increased demand pushes prices higher for both consumers and enterprises, prompting creative solutions like the cross‑Atlantic hard‑drive hunt.