Booking air tickets is getting trickier
Dec 8, 2014, 7:32 pm
#16
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Orbits admits that it shows pricier hotels to Mac users. Wouldn't airlines tend to manipulate pricing in the same sort of way?
The analogy that article gives is wrong, as it's implying they charged different prices for the same thing. A better analogy is a well-dressed business man and a poorly dressed uni student walking into a car dealership - do you the salesman is going to show them both to the same cars first?
Dec 8, 2014, 8:27 pm
#17
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That's not how this works... You can't claim something happens then insist that others prove you wrong instead of you backing up your own claim. How on Earth am I meant to possibly prove a negative? Sit in front of you with 1000 computers and try and buy every item in the Amazon catalogue multiple times?
I wasn't asking anyone to prove a negative. Several people said that the airlines don't adjust the pricing. I simply asked them to site how they know this doesn't happen.
Dec 9, 2014, 3:57 am
#18
Join Date: May 2011
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@callum9999 log into Amazon, put something in you cart, go to a different computer/phone/tablet with a different IP address and you could see a different price for the same item. It doesn't happen every time but it does happen.
I wasn't asking anyone to prove a negative. Several people said that the airlines don't adjust the pricing. I simply asked them to site how they know this doesn't happen.
I wasn't asking anyone to prove a negative. Several people said that the airlines don't adjust the pricing. I simply asked them to site how they know this doesn't happen.
It's rather like God (without wanting to turn this into a religion thread!). It could theoretically exist, but it's not something I'm going to believe without evidence. Same principle with this. Airlines theoretically could do so, but I'm not going to listen to assumptions and flawed logic by a load of strangers on the internet!
Dec 9, 2014, 7:16 am
#19
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Dec 9, 2014, 7:38 am
#20
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As a software developer that has worked in all kinds of industry (currently and a major online retailer) developing both back-end and front-end applications, I can tell you - it will be overly complicated and make no sense to do what you describe, period!
Dec 9, 2014, 8:05 am
#21
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Well obviously you can never know that something as complex doesn't happen, but to the best of my knowledge, not one single person has ever managed to demonstrate it. Ever.
It's rather like God (without wanting to turn this into a religion thread!). It could theoretically exist, but it's not something I'm going to believe without evidence. Same principle with this. Airlines theoretically could do so, but I'm not going to listen to assumptions and flawed logic by a load of strangers on the internet!
It's rather like God (without wanting to turn this into a religion thread!). It could theoretically exist, but it's not something I'm going to believe without evidence. Same principle with this. Airlines theoretically could do so, but I'm not going to listen to assumptions and flawed logic by a load of strangers on the internet!
Dec 9, 2014, 11:06 am
#22
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Whether they do per-user pricing (either based on location, browser, or browsing history) is not something I would rule out, but it's also not something I've ever seen proven that they do, other than what's caused by their rapidly changing prices.
Dec 9, 2014, 11:10 am
#23
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As for the price aspect, in many countries offering differing prices to different customers in a general market (& online selling is a general market by definition) is illegal. Try that in the EU and the airline'd be facing fines so fast they wouldn't know what had happened.
Dec 9, 2014, 11:12 am
#24
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Does that mean that prices are so dynamic that different customers can be offered different prices for the exact same routing, simply based on the search history of one customer over the other?
Dec 9, 2014, 11:21 am
#25
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If I log into my AA account and search for one of the trips I take regularly, the cheaper options are lower in the results that are presented to me compared to doing the same search without logging in and done via a VPN & fresh browser. Same fares are there, but on the logged in account they are showing me the higher priced ones that are closer to previous flight timings & costs that I've taken in the past on the first screen.
Personally, I don't see why anyone would be surprised, let alone upset, that it happens.
Dec 9, 2014, 11:28 am
#26
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Alright, here's what we can do. Go out there and search the same flight, days, etc on regular browsing mode for a bit. Take a screenshot. At the same time go directly and search for that exact flight in incognito mode. There is no difference from many tests done.
Dec 11, 2014, 3:54 am
#27
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Dec 11, 2014, 10:27 am
#29
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Be sure to ask everyone else in the world to stop buying tickets while you do - otherwise their actions will impact your results.
Ohh.. and also make sure the airlines revenue management department is at lunch, otherwise they might make changes that also impact your results.
Ohh.. and also make sure the airlines revenue management department is at lunch, otherwise they might make changes that also impact your results.