New method for purchasing flights set to be based on your wealth
Airlines are already able to use online data to vary the prices of a flight based on when a passenger books and how many searches they have done.
Now, companies could customise their flight prices even more through a model called “dynamic pricing”, reported The Sun.
Dynamic pricing is used when an airline gleans personal information through internet cookies and customer account details to find out how much they earn, how old they are and the likelihood that they are taking a business trip.
Airlines could even give a more expensive fare to customers who they think are richer, while those earning less could be given unique offers to entice them to book.
John McBride, director of product management for PROs, a software provider for airlines such as Emirates and Lufthansa, said several airlines are now implementing this model.
“A handful of large carriers [will] move toward dynamic pricing [in 2018],” he told Travel Weekly.
It is unconfirmed whether any Australian airlines will use this system.
The Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO) is used by British Airways and KLM as a guide to price their fares, reported The Telegraph.
In 2015, ATPCO wrote a report on dynamic pricing, predicting that airlines would be price based on “who is asking”.
Passengers may soon find that a search engine is offering a more expensive fare if it thinks you have a high-paying job.
However, as it is early days for dynamic pricing, many are questioning if the system is legal or if it actually falls into discrimination.
Richard Taylor from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority told the Telegraph, “If a passenger believes this pricing model is discriminatory in some way, or breaches EU law, they would need to challenge it in a court of law.
“A legal ruling would then ensue and be the basis for any follow-up enforcement action.
“Passengers need to be made fully aware of what they are getting for their money.”
Lufthansa told Sun Online Travel, “The Lufthansa Group takes data protection very seriously. Our fares are not calculated based on personal customer data.”
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