24left

I'm saving this post for future reference.

jaysona

It most definitely is fraud, that still doesn't change the fact that there are people committing fraud every day. Plus, who here doesn't already know that Quebecers are masters of fraud?

SparseFlyer

Master's of Fraud, Specialization in Website Voodoo Pricing
University of Québec à Montréal

rankourabu

ok i see.
This is what I meant:

1. Buy up lower buckets.
2. Go to corporate OPM booking tool that makes one buy lowest fare, lowest fare now expensive
3. Refund lower buckets
4. Fly on high fare (at the time, it was lowest available after all) - accumulate RDMs/EQDs based on 'spend'

Bartolo

I am inclined to think browsing does ratchet up the fares. I was checking flights on Friday and the flight went up by just over $100 within seconds (went in/out of the result to check another date). Used a different browser a short while later and pulled up the original fare. I know that someone else could have been perusing or purchasing the same flight but that didn't seem to be the case.

This is not the first time I've experienced this on AC website.

D582

If the flight is G1 for example when you first search, it can easily go to G0, and then back to G1 again in a short period of time.

A travel agent in a GDS will take a seat from inventory to price an itinerary, so inventory can disappear for a short while.

Also, AC's revenue management system is much more dynamic and will make more adjustments to inventory more often.

TravelingNomads

I tested it with Dan Dooley's car rental in Ireland. You can do it yourself. Do 5-6 identical searches in a row within a minute or two and see the price increase. We saw it increase up to $150 after trying to intentionally run it up to test our theory. Wait 3-4 hours and it'll be back down to the original price. Changing VPN's for them did not change it. It was simply due to the number of searches for that date.

I also had something similar, but different happen with Expedia and Amoma when I changed VPN locations within less than a couple of minutes. It's not about being paranoid, some sites just use these types of algorithms to make a few more $.

SparseFlyer

algorithnings though.

1. Travel agencies may have a "discretion" on their pricing. Like a mortgage broker. So they may do that. But I really don't think AC does this. For them, it's posted price and nothing else (unless someone was able to call AC and ask them far a discount, in which case I'd love to know about it).

2. AC may have an algorithn that tries to predict demand (though if we think AC IT is .......) they would have to change inventory levels as I doubt they can just change the price (you can see how the fare for your ticket was built of you pull up your ticket on your favourite middle eastern airline). But assuming they do manage inventory dynamically (and I'm sure they do), I doubt they do it at that micro of a level. Moreover, pinging AC for fares on the same routing from a bunch of different location and identities has probably a bigger effect (if at all) than doing so from the same address over and over.

​​​​​​My best educated guess is that they probably have a department that tries to estimate demand based on web activity and other factors, and they manually (with some automation) adjust inventory levels based on their forecasts. Everything else is noise and voodoo.

If we still had AC execs on the board, this would've been solved by now. But I'm sure they are lurking in the shadows and laughing at us reading this thread.


Edit: sorry about the 1,000,000 auto correct spelling mistakes.

The smallest state

Great post OP. I have often thought about this. While I have seen the adverts to "Discover Norway" after googling "Oslo vacation" I also have seen the downside.

Two views

- as a consumer I have looked at prices, then went back, and they were raised. I could never find the original (lower) price and it ticked me off.

- as a business owner, I get it. If I owned AC (or anyone else) I would do the same thing.

jaysona

This thread is about the AC website and not Bob's, Joe's or Dan's car rental website.

While there maybe anecdotal evidence that cookies, browser type and computer being used do have an effect on prices shown om various websites, that does not appear to be the case for AC.

I usually have multiple browsers open on two or three computers when looking for certain flights (typing to optimize routings/time) and the prices are always the same across all platforms and browsers.

Argonaut1000

This is the craziest thread. The fares available are based on the inventory available. Inventory can change in a second. If there's a difference in price, then it is solely because the inventory has changed for that instant.

TravelingNomads

I stated in my comment that this didn't apply to airfare, but only to the idea of whether cookies, VPN, etc applied, so back off already. I'm just trying to help people save money.

jaysona

Wow, you're in a bit of snit aren't you? I was just trying to keep this thread on topic for the AC forum - per FT rules. There are other forums for general travel savings.....so, maybe ummm..... you should back-off a little....

TravelingNomads

Umm... Maybe just understand kindness and not be quite so unkind with your comments? My comments were specific and factual. Having multiple browsers open doesn't accomplish anything. I didn't insult you, but that is not an effective way to determine travel costs. I was trying to be helpful with specific facts that can be replicated.

Ber2dca

It's perhaps a possibility with a smaller business and I wouldn't entirely rule it out, but the impact of a few searches on your end with a large business such as Air Canada or Expedia would be negligible.

I have some experience with yield management in a travel business and there are algorithms but at least in terms of what I've seen these are based on sales already made, capacity, prior experience and marketing goals (none of which are earth-shattering revelations). Basing an algorithms on searches would seem like a very risky practice, especially if you allowed a fairly small number of searches affect your pricing. Remember that as a hotel or airline, I don't necessarily want to be the most expensive option out there either. If I up my prices after a few searches, then the predictable outcome is that many customers will simply book with a competitor.

I have also done a lot of fare searching in my time. I'm a 'free agent' who books paid J with whomever offers the best package of convenient itinerary, price and product. As a result I always put in a lot of effort to find the best deals and I can honestly say I have never observed this phenomenon even as I repeatedly searched the same dates again and again over the course of weeks. I've seen price changes, sure, but both ways and over more extended time frames.