Do Travel Sites Charge More If You Tell Them You're Rich?
from the clever-pricing dept
One thing that really irritates savvy shoppers is when they discover that somebody else got a better deal than them. This is likely to occur on airplanes, as airline-pricing algorithms tend to be opaque and highly variable. That's given rise to new sites which try to anticipate when the airlines will offer various prices. One consequence of this so-called price discrimination is that companies are likely to pursue personal information on its shoppers so as to anticipate the highest price a given shopper is likely to pay for an item. But while customers are understandably miffed when companies harvest their personal data, is there anything wrong with less invasive forms of price discrimination? One traveler discovered that an online comparison engine listed different prices for the same hotels depending on how the search was conducted. If the searcher wanted results listed from highest to lowest (presumably an indication of their wealth and their desire to stay on top-rate hotels) the listings for a given hotel turned out higher. People may not like this, but that's not necessarily the right response. Variable pricing allows the price-insensitive to subsidize the price-sensitive shoppers that put in the effort to find a good deal. Of course it's a catch-22, by exposing these methods, companies are likely to change them.
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hmm... that's just...
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Re: hmm... that's just...
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travel savings on ultimate search engine.
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Re: travel savings on ultimate search engine.
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Re: Re: travel savings on ultimate search engine.
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cheat everyone whenever you can and cheat the stupid even more.
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This is a return to haggling
this process, just two people making a deal.
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Coca-Cola tested vending machines in 2000 that raised the price of a Coke on hotter days...
Grocery loyalty programs are also a good example... If you are silling to sacrifice your privacy (shopping patterns), you can pay less than your neighbor. And if you buy Coca-Cola every week without fail... don't be surprised if your neighbor (a Pepsi fan) gets Coke coupons in the mail and you don't.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/68/pricing.html
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Different rack rates
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Re: Different rack rates
This could be true, but if you look at the actual site, you'll notice that the lower prices aren't even available if you click on the sort by higher price. In other words, it doesn't even give you the option of looking at the cheaper prices.
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re:Different rack rates
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Apply same model to customer service
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Re: Apply same model to customer service
Giving preferential treatment to people who've already given you money is ethical, and a good business practice -- charging prospective customers more based on their percieved ability to pay is, IMHO, unethical, borderline illegal.
It just makes sense to give better service to customers who have given you more business -- but if my bank charged me higher fees than somebody who had less on deposit because they felt I could afford them, I wouldn't stand for that.
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Re: Re: Apply same model to customer service
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personally, i like taking trains.
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Its working so well
Customer: "Yes, we would like to purchase your service at the price you quoted"
Me: "I'm sorry, that price is no longer available"
Customer: "You quoted me the price five minutes ago"
Me: "Yes, that was the old pricing. At this time, the cost of the service has gone up 50%"
Customer: "F*ck you"
Me: "That's what I was hoping to do to you. Oh, by the way, that last quote is no longer available. It has gone up again. You better purchase now... Hello, hmm, we seem to have gotten disconnected"
***
Any business model where the customer is treated like a stooge, should be put out of business by the would-be customer.
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Comparison shopping
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Great work
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