Does your browsing history determine price?
Jun 14, 2017, 5:51 am
#61
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Poland
Posts: 869
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.
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.
Last edited by TravelingNomads; Jun 14, 2017 at 6:02 am
Jun 14, 2017, 9:51 am
#62
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: sqrt(-united states of apologist)
Programs: *$ Green
Posts: 5,403
I agree with you. As previously stated, the # of searches was with a small company. The Expedia comment had to do with VPN country location. It could just be a currency conversion issue or it could have to do with them trying to incentivize certain locations. I'm not sure which of the above is the case or something else, but I agree that repeated searches only applies to smaller companies.
Jun 14, 2017, 10:07 pm
#64
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,836
Sign out of SkyMiles. Go back to Google Flights. Original (lower) price still there. Click to DL website, price is higher. Use different device. Price lower. Sign in to SkyMiles, price jumps.
Finally booked it at the original, lower price by just not signing in to SkyMiles.
I don't know whether or not AC is as nefarious and doubt that their IT department could implement it properly, but it's certainly possible.