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Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

online.wsj.com

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Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#81

Post by masklinn »

mratzloff wrote: post #71

It wouldn't surprise me. I've suspected for years that they do differential pricing, but I got confirmation a few days ago. I just bought tickets to Las Vegas on Friday. I got through the checkout process (choosing a flight and a hotel) and then they said there was a "problem" and kicked me back to the beginning of the process. I went through it again, choosing the exact same flights (with the same number of seats av…

That's a very different issue than the one outlined in TFA though: TFA talks about presenting different (more expensive) options by default after noting a trend that those were the options usually selected by users of the target platform.

Not about tacking on extra charges on the same product.

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#82

Post by GoodIntentions »

citricsquid wrote: post #56
abruzzi wrote: post #44

Inevitably, this will make people like me (Mac user that considers $50 a night overpriced) book through other sites. Does orbitz think I only price through them? Most people I know price at least a half dozen locations before deciding, so as long as everyone doesn't jack prices for Mac users, Mac user's business will naturally migrate to whomever doesn't try to screw us.

If they believe Mac users are happy to pay higher prices they most likely also believe Mac users are less prone to shopping around.

I bet they are right too.

I think mac users have demonstrated they are for the most part willing to pay more for something they perceive as offering a better experience. You can't make that choice if you're some broke dude surfing from a 400 dollar *nix box, so I think it is given that average mac users are less price sensitive - the more cash you have, the more your time is valued imho.

FWIW, posting this from a slackware box with my mac cooling in the next room. So by all means, show me the cheap stuff first :)

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#83

Post by ernesth »

binarycrusader wrote: post #72
benmanns wrote: post #62

Another curious statistic: according to the sales numbers on http://www.humblebundle.com/ , Linux users on average pay more ($12.50) for the choose-your-price bundle than Mac ($9.99) or Windows ($7.98) users.

But you left out the counter-balance: far more revenue is generated from Mac and Windows users in total. So while Linux users are willing to pay more, there's far less of them willing to pay at all.

Far more revenue is generated from Windows. Mac is a very distant second. The camembert says something like For each 6$ from windows users, there are 2$ from mac users and 1$ from linux users...

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#84

Post by bigiain »

rwolf wrote: post #77
bigiain wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We knew that _downward_ differential pricing worked (in terms of increasing conversions) - a popup saying "Hi, you're a return visitor to our website, we can discount this room rate 10% if you book today) always increased conversions. We sure as hell _experimented_ to see if the decrease in conversions by bumping margins (and hence prices) up was worthwhile in terms of total profit. I'd happily make an argument that…

Your phrasing here suggests that you work for orbitz or a similar company. Is that accurate?

Same field, but not since 2008. I was doing this in early 2001.

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#85

Post by unfasten »

aresant wrote: post #37

Another interesting one is when Capital One showed different rates by browser types by using a demographic study of wealth based on browser via http://www.conversionvoodoo.com/blog/2010/11/do-different-we...

The Capital One example actually turned out to just be normal split testing, not based on the visitor's browser.

HN discussion thread about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1861037

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#86

Post by bmunro »

w1ntermute wrote: post #59

Screenshots for those of us stuck behind the paywall: http://imgur.com/a/VtNRf

Paste the article title ("On Orbitz, Mac Users Steered to Pricier Hotels") into Google.

The Wall Street Journal article should be the first result. Click on it.

You should be able to see the whole article. The WSJ appear to give you the full text when the referrer is google.

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#87

Post by dave1010uk »

vishaldpatel wrote: post #9

Does this means that Linux users get the best deals? Or maybe it's Windows users with cracked copies of Windows.

When the Humble Indie Bundles are on sale (where consumers can pay what they want), the stats showed the average Linux user paid more than Mac or Windows users.

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#88

Post by dave1010uk »

jlcx wrote: post #66
benmanns wrote: post #62

Another curious statistic: according to the sales numbers on http://www.humblebundle.com/ , Linux users on average pay more ($12.50) for the choose-your-price bundle than Mac ($9.99) or Windows ($7.98) users.

I would guess that this is either related to user enthusiasm for more professionally developed games (explaining why Windows users aren't as excited), or a desire to support the creation of cool stuff and be part of a community around it.

Additionally (ceteris parabus) a Linux user would be richer as they have not spent money on an OS (except the odd RHEL user). However I doubt this makes a statistical difference.

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#89

Post by raverbashing »

mitchty wrote: post #73
MichaelApproved wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much easier to use an user agent switcher plugin while in incognito mode.

True, but user agent switching won't get around someone testing for browser features and ignoring the agent string.

please explain how would you go about detecting linux/windows/mac without agent string (with the exception of detecting Safari/Konqueror/IE)

Screen size? Fonts?

Re: Orbitz shows costlier hotel options to Mac users

#90

Post by suprgeek »

It is important to read the article carefully:

WRONG - Mac users see higher prices for same hotels than Windows users

RIGHT - Mac users are sometimes also shown hotels that are costlier than their windows users

"...so the online travel agency is starting to show them different, and sometimes costlier, travel options than Windows visitors see."

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