Differential online pricing?
 

Has anyone else got the suspicion that BA is using differential online pricing?

I've come across a couple of situations recently which makes me suspicious, the most recent one being a colleague travelling with me, checking in at pretty much the same time as me, was offered an online proactive upgrade for a flight when I wasn't offered one (both travelling on the same fare bucket). I was able to click on the 'upgrade with cash' link, which offered me a price double to that offered to my colleague.

I think the proactive upgrades are a different system and a fixed price - you will have seen a fare-bucket based upgrade which is (almost all of the time) more expensive. If they are only looking for a few upgrades on a flight, it makes sense to me not to offer a lot at the same time.

I spoke tonight to the chap at BA in charge of pricing and he explained how this could have happened without there being any discriminatory / differential pricing. So I'm withdrawing the suggestion that anything improper may have happened.

Well, now you've piqued our interest. How can it (different prices) happen without differential pricing?

If the POU is designed to clear space in the lower cabin whilst giving BA some revenue then I imagine they offer it to a random selection of EC members, perhaps those with a card ending in an odd number or those who are born with the moon in aquarius. The fact that you were born on the wrong day meant you did not get the offer and the upgrade my ticket charge was the price differential between the 2 classes of ticket.

With the POU being described as a special offer, do they have to offer it to everyone? Wouldn't be special then would it?

I would like to point out that my background is in Sales & Engineering, I am therefore probably not best placed to comment on the precise ins and outs, just my 2p.... :D

So it is discriminatory, then. :p

^ But it might also be random.....