Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Delta’s new AI-powered pricing strategy

blog.getjetback.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 74 posts

Re: Delta’s new AI-powered pricing strategy

#31

Post by nradov »

yodon wrote: post #4

As someone who always checks both Uber and Lyft, and always keeps both apps open during the ride so the loser knows I went with the cheaper alternative[0], I'm guessing I won't be flying Delta anymore. [0]no proof, but presumably one or both of their analytics teams have figured out this signal, given its prevalence in the population

For better or worse I think Delta will be happy to lose you as a customer. They are not a low-cost carrier, and their current business strategy is focused on charging higher fares for slightly better service than the competitors. As far as they're concerned, price-sensitive consumers who are looking for the cheapest fare can go fly on Frontier or whatever.

Re: Delta’s new AI-powered pricing strategy

#34

Post by MITSardine »

ivanovm wrote: post #25

the funny part about the backlash is that the travel budgets are likely somewhat pareto distributed and under the not-personalized pricing strategy it is the little guy who is probably overpaying for plane tickets, not the corporations and the wealthy individuals

It's not usually up to businesses to compensate wealth inequality by adapting prices to customers.

I personally find this appalling, not because of the prospect of paying more or less, but because of the arbitrariness and opacity of it all. I'm not too excited for a future where we'll have to spoof various browser identities and try different times of day and VPNs to book plane tickets...

At the extreme, some people could find themselves stuck or in very difficult situations because of this kind of practice. Oh, your parent is on their deathbed? Shouldn't have said that to a friend on Messenger or WhatsApp.

And I don't understand what could possibly justify personalized pricing (towards consumers, not businesses) of non-personalized goods and services being legal in the first place.

Re: Delta’s new AI-powered pricing strategy

#35

Post by chollida1 »

jawns wrote: post #2

The Civil Rights Act requires companies not to discriminate against legally protected classes. That includes both disparate treatment and disparate impact. I can't see how "personalized pricing" would remain unchallenged, given those hurdles, if it truly means pricing fares based on individual characteristics. It's totally fine to have loyalty programs that reward people who fly Delta frequently with better rates. Bu…

Interesting thought.

What specific protected class is "harmed" by personalized pricing?

And how would you prove that the model discriminated against them based on a protected element?

Re: Delta’s new AI-powered pricing strategy

#37

Post by righthand »

chollida1 wrote: post #35
jawns wrote: post #2

The Civil Rights Act requires companies not to discriminate against legally protected classes. That includes both disparate treatment and disparate impact. I can't see how "personalized pricing" would remain unchallenged, given those hurdles, if it truly means pricing fares based on individual characteristics. It's totally fine to have loyalty programs that reward people who fly Delta frequently with better rates. Bu…

Interesting thought. What specific protected class is "harmed" by personalized pricing? And how would you prove that the model discriminated against them based on a protected element?

All of them as they’re being used to compete and discriminate against each other.

Re: Delta’s new AI-powered pricing strategy

#38

Post by scarface_74 »

jawns wrote: post #2

The Civil Rights Act requires companies not to discriminate against legally protected classes. That includes both disparate treatment and disparate impact. I can't see how "personalized pricing" would remain unchallenged, given those hurdles, if it truly means pricing fares based on individual characteristics. It's totally fine to have loyalty programs that reward people who fly Delta frequently with better rates. Bu…

You’re assuming that we have a functional government that doesn’t turn a blind eye to discrimination.

Re: Delta’s new AI-powered pricing strategy

#40

Post by SilverElfin »

jawns wrote: post #2

The Civil Rights Act requires companies not to discriminate against legally protected classes. That includes both disparate treatment and disparate impact. I can't see how "personalized pricing" would remain unchallenged, given those hurdles, if it truly means pricing fares based on individual characteristics. It's totally fine to have loyalty programs that reward people who fly Delta frequently with better rates. Bu…

How can anyone allege discrimination when all you have is an AI telling you the price you get? It’s not open source and you don’t get to see data across all races or sexes or whatever to spot a pattern.

I think we just need new regulations and laws. Maybe make income or wealth a protected trait you cannot discriminate on. Or require transparency and reporting on algorithmic pricing. Or higher taxes for businesses that use these tactics.

But that’s years away, if ever. I bet all airlines will do this. I’ll just fly even less

Post reply on HN