4 ms·

How are airlines transparent about it?

by cco 7mo ago

MikeTheGreat 7mo ago
I thought that prices changed for everyone, but they changed over time. Book a flight 6 months before? You get a good price. Book a flight day-of? Hope you've got money in the bank! (I'm not the OP but I'm guessing this is what they're talking about?)
- npinsker 7mo ago
  That's still person-invariant though. This gives the impression that they could potentially be tailoring prices based on what they feel each individual person will pay. Plenty of digital services have the ability to do this, but don't. Honestly, I think the primary reason is that it's extremely offensive; it feels like saying "we're charging you more, for no reason, other than that we think you'll pay it".
  - bombcar 7mo ago
    The best example of dynamic pricing I know of is college tuition; if you have infinite money you just pay the price, otherwise you get "student aid" (after taking out as many loans as you can bear) which effectively means you are paying a reduced price compared to the full-ride student.
  - chii 7mo ago
    Oh absolutely. Price discrimination is hated by all customers. The trick airlines use is to make the price discrimination transparent in a way that a customer feels is "acceptable" - time variance, seat variance and addons etc. It adds the same level of price discrimination, but because it's not directed _at the person_, the customer begrudgingly accept it.
fgonzag 7mo ago
Have you ever noticed that the tickets for a nearly empty flight is a lot cheaper than a nearly full one? Thats dynamic pricing. The price changes according dynamically according to demand.
- akudha 7mo ago
  I understand your point, but there are only X number of seats in an airplane, airline seats are physical products. Why should the same be applicable to a digital product? I mean, it is their property so they are free to charge whatever they want (just like the users are free to leave) but it feels way more intrusive to track users' reading habits and tailor pricing to each user than saying "only 2 seats are left but 5 people are interested, so we're jacking up the price"
  - fgonzag 7mo ago
    It absolutely is a different and more insidious type of dynamic pricing. First, you can use the airline's strategy to your advantage by planning early. It doesn't feel as unfair because everyone gets the same terms and the system is transparent and equal WaPos daynamic pricing is simply maximizing value capture, without any way of a consumer benefitting. It's 100% lose-lose for the consumer. You always pay the maximum you are willing to pay. No discounts! I was just answering OPs question about how airlines were transparent about their system and decided to answer it factually.
    - chii 7mo ago
      while it might feel like a discount, buying airline tickets upfront is not a "true" discount in the traditional sense, because the money is prepaid, and is worth it to the airline to receive guaranteed income from a seat early. A true discount is one where the margins of the product is shrunk to reduce the price.

How are airlines transparent about it?

by cco 7mo ago

How are airlines transparent about it?

I thought that prices changed for everyone, but they changed over time. Book a flight 6 months before? You get a good price. Book a flight day-of? Hope you've got money in the bank! (I'm not the OP but I'm guessing this is what they're talking about?)

npinsker 7mo ago
That's still person-invariant though. This gives the impression that they could potentially be tailoring prices based on what they feel each individual person will pay. Plenty of digital services have the ability to do this, but don't. Honestly, I think the primary reason is that it's extremely offensive; it feels like saying "we're charging you more, for no reason, other than that we think you'll pay it".
- bombcar 7mo ago
  The best example of dynamic pricing I know of is college tuition; if you have infinite money you just pay the price, otherwise you get "student aid" (after taking out as many loans as you can bear) which effectively means you are paying a reduced price compared to the full-ride student.
- chii 7mo ago
  Oh absolutely. Price discrimination is hated by all customers. The trick airlines use is to make the price discrimination transparent in a way that a customer feels is "acceptable" - time variance, seat variance and addons etc. It adds the same level of price discrimination, but because it's not directed _at the person_, the customer begrudgingly accept it.

fgonzag 7mo ago

Have you ever noticed that the tickets for a nearly empty flight is a lot cheaper than a nearly full one? Thats dynamic pricing. The price changes according dynamically according to demand.

akudha 7mo ago
I understand your point, but there are only X number of seats in an airplane, airline seats are physical products. Why should the same be applicable to a digital product? I mean, it is their property so they are free to charge whatever they want (just like the users are free to leave) but it feels way more intrusive to track users' reading habits and tailor pricing to each user than saying "only 2 seats are left but 5 people are interested, so we're jacking up the price"
- fgonzag 7mo ago
  It absolutely is a different and more insidious type of dynamic pricing. First, you can use the airline's strategy to your advantage by planning early. It doesn't feel as unfair because everyone gets the same terms and the system is transparent and equal WaPos daynamic pricing is simply maximizing value capture, without any way of a consumer benefitting. It's 100% lose-lose for the consumer. You always pay the maximum you are willing to pay. No discounts! I was just answering OPs question about how airlines were transparent about their system and decided to answer it factually.
  - chii 7mo ago
    while it might feel like a discount, buying airline tickets upfront is not a "true" discount in the traditional sense, because the money is prepaid, and is worth it to the airline to receive guaranteed income from a seat early. A true discount is one where the margins of the product is shrunk to reduce the price.