Why is the price different on Firefox than on Chrome (london airline)
Nov 13, 2016, 2:50 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 142
Why is the price different on Firefox than on Chrome (london airline)
I'm looking at a london airline's website, I look on both browers, I see the prices £10 more on the same website but on a different browser.
I keep selecting the next date for both keeping everything the same and it still acts like that.
I keep selecting the next date for both keeping everything the same and it still acts like that.
Nov 13, 2016, 5:39 pm
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
You're most likely thinking of the outrage where Mac users were shown higher priced properties by default. But they weren't shown higher rates for the same property.
Nov 20, 2016, 1:05 am
#8
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: HEL
Programs: No more status, free agent now
Posts: 163
Maybe the Emirates Air Line in London (notice space in name), a cable car across the Thames river? No FF miles from that, I think...
Back to the topic:
There have been many examples over the years where the browser or cookies or being logged in or not have had an effect on prices. Also the country where you are accessing the site from (where your IP address is) can have an effect.
Also some sites have had different prices depending on where you come from: If you arrive e.g. using a link from certain cheap deals websites, they show those cheaper prices, which they don't show if you just go to the main site directly.
I guess it's all market segmenting i.e. trying to offer things to each person at the highest price they are willing to pay.
I have a few times cleared my cookies for a OTA website, logged out, or just gone to an "cheap deals" site and click thru there to a main OTA site, and gotten a better deal.
It is bit unclear if the "hourly wage" i.e. saving per time spent was high enough to worry about all that, though. The "pay more to spend of your less time" is the main market segmentation method, though.
When booking, I usually check a few different web sites, including ITA matrix and and the airline's own website, just to make sure the price I'm seeing is reasonable and not out of the norm.
Hmmm, Maybe FT is in this category, too: if I can save $100 after spending a few hours on FT, would I have been better off spending time on something else and paying more? (Nah, I just think of this all as a hobby and don't count the hours).
There are a lot of interesting blogs, articles and podcasts on this topic, search with "opportunity cost" and "market segmentation" and "yield management", if you are interested (or want to spend even more time ;-) I have found learning about these things very interesting, though, and useful for work.
Back to the topic:
There have been many examples over the years where the browser or cookies or being logged in or not have had an effect on prices. Also the country where you are accessing the site from (where your IP address is) can have an effect.
Also some sites have had different prices depending on where you come from: If you arrive e.g. using a link from certain cheap deals websites, they show those cheaper prices, which they don't show if you just go to the main site directly.
I guess it's all market segmenting i.e. trying to offer things to each person at the highest price they are willing to pay.
I have a few times cleared my cookies for a OTA website, logged out, or just gone to an "cheap deals" site and click thru there to a main OTA site, and gotten a better deal.
It is bit unclear if the "hourly wage" i.e. saving per time spent was high enough to worry about all that, though. The "pay more to spend of your less time" is the main market segmentation method, though.
When booking, I usually check a few different web sites, including ITA matrix and and the airline's own website, just to make sure the price I'm seeing is reasonable and not out of the norm.
Hmmm, Maybe FT is in this category, too: if I can save $100 after spending a few hours on FT, would I have been better off spending time on something else and paying more? (Nah, I just think of this all as a hobby and don't count the hours).
There are a lot of interesting blogs, articles and podcasts on this topic, search with "opportunity cost" and "market segmentation" and "yield management", if you are interested (or want to spend even more time ;-) I have found learning about these things very interesting, though, and useful for work.