It often takes looking at the bigger travel picture to see where it is. It'll show you the cheapest locations, in the cheapest month, from your departing location. Skyscanner and other flight comparison sites allow you to search for "Everywhere" using the Cheapest Month option. If you cannot travel at any time (which is the reality for most of us!), try and remain flexible with your destination. If you can travel at any time, you can work your way through the cheapest dates for your destination. Be Flexible to Find Cheap Flight Dealsįlexibility is key to finding a cheap flight deal. Note: I had to use Google's ATX Matrix for the ExpressVPN Hong Kong server as Google Flights are unavailable in Hong Kong-it returns the same prices though.Ģ. Check out the difference in price between Skyscanner, Momondo, and Google Flights using the scenarios. Tokyo Narita to San Francisco InternationalĪll departing on September 11th and all returning on September 18th, using the exact same flights for each flight price check site.Miami International to Paris Charles de Gaulle.I ran the same price comparisons using a fresh Lubuntu Linux installation, with a completely new browser. Here are a few examples of price differences I found using ExpressVPN, with the locations and the differences. MakeUseOf readers can grab an exclusive 49% discount for ExpressVPN using this link to change your IP address as to appear from one of 94 countries. If the airlines use dynamic profiling, you can fight back by using a VPN to change your location. Still, there are a few handy tricks you can use to knock a few dollars from your airfare. The report led to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling the situation "a sad state of affairs that might just violate consumer protections." The reality is that the backend of such a system will never see the light of day, lest it exposes shady and discriminatory practices.Ĭonsumer Reports, formerly the Consumers Union, states in a report from 2018 that "Despite the notion that algorithms are neutral and objective arbiters, algorithms can exacerbate bias or have unexpected discriminatory effects."Įarlier, in October 2016, a Consumer Reports study across nine of the top travel search sites cited "42 pairs of different prices on separate browsers for the same sites retrieved simultaneously." One of the biggest issues dynamic pricing presents is the tracking and grading of individual customers, which will undoubtedly lead to flight fare discrimination toward any number of potential customers.Īny system that gauges a customer's suitability for a specific price should remain open for analysis. There are more than a few people voicing concerns regarding dynamic fare pricing. Airlines Do Use Dynamic Pricing and User Profilingįor all the airlines like to deny how they use cookies against potential customers, there are some strong indications otherwise.ĭynamic Flight Pricing Leads to Price Discrimination Prices appear to change within minutes, much to the chagrin of consumers on the hunt for insanely cheap flights. It doesn't always feel like that, though. "What people see when they shop multiple times, and prices are changing is a reflection of inventory changes, data caching techniques and the fact that prices generally get more expensive closer to the departure date, even within a day."Īirfarewatchdog flight analyst Ricky Radka also confirms that "What happens to make people think the airlines are tracking the search, is that the closer it gets to the departure date, the more people look-which is when airfare will increase." "If the airlines were to raise prices because of browser cookies (targeted individually), there would be air travel whistle-blowers and senators running to microphones for legislation to prevent it," says FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney.
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