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I now buy flights direct from airlines because of the dirty tricks of resellers. They've been terrible at sorting out missed connections (please get a paper doc

I now buy flights direct from airlines because of the dirty tricks of resellers. They've been terrible at sorting out missed connections (please get a paper document in person from the middle-of-nowhere stopover airport to prove it was their fault, and not going to refund legs on a 2nd airline at all) and do dirty tricks like not actually booking your ticket when you pay but waiting till they expect to get it for a lower price, which might mean not getting it at all. I know airlines overbook too but it's one less reason for an already stressful trip to go wrong. Custom pricing feels like buying from a shopkeeper with no price stickers. You expect to get charged according to what he judges you can afford. It removes the value of being able to rely on all the other customers to collectively decide if the price is fair or not. That means every customer has to individually evaluate every price which is a massive waste of effort.

username223 9y ago
> Custom pricing feels like buying from a shopkeeper with no price stickers. This is one of the best things about living in the developed world: most things are bought without haggling. All of your most stressful and miserable transactions -- buying a car, booking a flight, tipping a server -- lack a fixed, public price. Dynamic pricing based on digital surveillance is a huge step backward.
fjsolwmv 9y ago
It's funny that you think the airlines don't do dirty tricks. What reseller doesn't buy tickets when you book? They get paid when you buy, why would they refuse to buy?
- mijamo 9y ago
  As said, they want to buy when the price is the cheapest. Sometimes if you book a long time in advancr (eg 6 months) they will wait a few months before buying the ticket because their statistics say the ticket is cheapest 2 months before the flight. Occasionally it can mean they don't manage to book before the flight is full. Not all companies do that though, but many of the cheapest/shadiest do.

username223 9y ago

> Custom pricing feels like buying from a shopkeeper with no price stickers. This is one of the best things about living in the developed world: most things are bought without haggling. All of your most stressful and miserable transactions -- buying a car, booking a flight, tipping a server -- lack a fixed, public price. Dynamic pricing based on digital surveillance is a huge step backward.

fjsolwmv 9y ago

It's funny that you think the airlines don't do dirty tricks. What reseller doesn't buy tickets when you book? They get paid when you buy, why would they refuse to buy?

mijamo 9y ago
As said, they want to buy when the price is the cheapest. Sometimes if you book a long time in advancr (eg 6 months) they will wait a few months before buying the ticket because their statistics say the ticket is cheapest 2 months before the flight. Occasionally it can mean they don't manage to book before the flight is full. Not all companies do that though, but many of the cheapest/shadiest do.