Originally Posted by
IAH-OIL-TRASH
…OP is correct in pointing out that first segment should say “Economy”. “Careless” is probably more accurate than “bait and switch” or “deceitful”. I think Priceline knows what ill will such a practice would generate for what they hope are long-term customers.
Originally Posted by
ezefllying
Based on what I've read here, it seems like Priceline/United has a bad customer interface that provides false information. I don't think it's intentional; it sounds more like the people who drafted the text don't understand enough about ticketing (or their own system) to appreciate that they got it wrong.
I would label this as a classic example of UX dark patterns.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern
A company the size of priceline will extensively use a/b testing - the problem being that a company whose business is as a 3rd party reseller benefits from a/b testing deceptive UX/UI sales practices.
Most people will realize Priceline is at fault (the entity they need to deal with, or will soon be told to call them) and may not use them again. But more likely, will only remember for their once a year trip (next year) that they could get everything bundled and it was probably their fault for not being an expert buyer and digging into the unintuitive UI and buy from them again. Plus they save a couple of bucks, instead of buying direct and putting it together themselves.
Dark pattern wins because they work, and large companies have the money to figure out the best way to be hostile to their users without losing them. Its a surprisingly wide-spread, disgusting, yet highly effective online business UX/UI design practice. And it is very much intentional.