So we took a family vacation recently and we had to drive halfway across America and what creeped me the fuck out was how we were getting such different prices on different phones while looking at the same hotel room on Priceline. For example I would look for a hotel in Chicago and find a room for a $180, then my cousin is also looking for a room on his phone and I look over and the same hotel room is $50-$70 cheaper. This kept on happening in every city we went to, like there was such a huge fluctuation between the prices one person would get on their phone and what someone else was getting. We noticed that the people with higher end Samsung phones were getting a much lower rate than those with cheaper phones. Have you ever experienced such price discrimination and is there really anyway to protect yourself from it? And do you think it’s ethical for companies to charge different rates for the same product? Should there be some legislation to protect consumers from this seeing as how AI is just going to make it easier for companies to price gouge consumers to the max.
Travel companies have been doing this shit for years. The most egregious is that Apple users tend to get shown higher prices overall but it’s been around in many forms for a long time. They call it “Dynamic Pricing”
I remember Amazon being called out for doing this a few years back (like the early to mid 2010s if I’m recalling correctly). Theirs was particularly ridiculous because you could be on their site logged in, and in an incognito tab logged out, and be seeing different prices reported on the same product pages.
Always shop around for prices in incognito mode.
I believe airlines do something similar and I agree it feels very scammy. They will do almost anything to and get someone to pay the maximum they are willing to pay for the same product. I imagine they do this the same way major tech companies like Google provide targeted ads and that is extensive data harvesting and of building a profile around you.
You can possibly protect yourself by using VPNs when making online purchases.
There is a theory that travel websites use trackers and other information readily available about your device and browser to advertise different prices to different people. A lot of VPN companies use this in their marketing actually— showing different prices for the same airline tickets depending on which VPN server you’re connected to in the world.
I haven’t done much research on this personally, but you may be able to see it in action by opening the same site in a normal and an incognito window and searching for a flight/hotel. Or trying the aforementioned VPN trick. There however doesn’t seem to be any specific rhyme or reason for it, and no one can say that XYZ browser connected to ABC server will get you the cheapest prices. There are just way too many variables in play and these kinds of algorithms the websites use are all well-guarded secrets.
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You’re right- theory probably wasn’t the best word. It is known that companies do this but it’s impossible to concretely say how and in what circumstances prices change.
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So many things are variable or negotiable, like cars, insurance, car rentals, furniture, mattresses, and houses. I feel like most people get the standard deal but they throw a few people a bone maybe to get good reviews or because the rep likes them.
I think sometimes Karens get a good deal by throwing a fit but you can also just ask, “That’s more that I was wanting to spend, can you do $x?” Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Feels like I’ve heard of this happening before. Curious what others chime in about it. I haven’t experienced it myself but I don’t travel much these days.
I priced airbnbs in Oaxaca then hopped on to a VPN exiting in Brazil and got better prices. Then the next time I tried that I didn’t get different pricing.
I remember the days when airbnbs were a cheaper option to hotels, now their service fees have just ruined the site.
I think new amateur speculators have driven up prices too. Honestly I don’t fault Mexicans for charging Americans more. It just made me decide I don’t need to be a gentrifier. I can stay in the US.
