Give Us Your Personal Data Or Pay Full Fare 342
ebh writes "Noted in an AP story about how fees make it difficult to compare air travel costs, is how the airline industry is moving toward tailoring offer packages (and presumably, fares) for individuals based on their personal information. Worse, 'The airline association said consumers who choose not to supply personal information would still be able to see fares and purchase tickets, though consumer advocates said those fares would probably be at the "rack rate" — the travel industry's term for full price, before any discounts.'"
so... (Score:5, Interesting)
We've established the nature of the relationship, we're now just haggling over the cost...
Or, principles are expensive...
How many data mining tokens er loyalty cards are in your wallet?
Re:Illegal cartel (Score:2, Interesting)
Amazon do personal pricing. They won't give you a price for some things unless you login. Then they give you a price that is the maximum they think you will pay. Other people see lower prices.
I seem to remember a huge stink being made over this something like 10 years ago... I think the price varied over which type of browser (mac/osx) was being used to view the page.
Amazon recanted, apologized. Are they back to this again?
Anyone have any suggestions for behavior that might get you on the "show the cheapest price" list? And with the airlines, same question.
Warm and fuzzy (Score:5, Interesting)
Airlines also have been cracking down on websites that help travelers manage their frequent flier accounts. The sites use travelers' frequent flier passwords to obtain balances and mileage expiration dates, and then display the information in a way that makes it easier for travelers to figure out when it makes more sense to buy a ticket or to use miles.
There is not even a quote from airlines about "making it safer for passengers" or "providing the best service". I guess there is simply no way to spin this as a good thing for customers. A rare event indeed.
I don't now (Score:4, Interesting)
Well of course having detected I was being ripped off I stopped using Amazon. Most people won't be able to see alternate prices for an item, so they'll never know the reason they were required to log-in was to be offered an inflated price compared to others.
I think the same is true of this airline scam. HOWEVER, the main difference here, is the airlines via it's association are showing clear signs of cooperation on this, which is a strong indicator of cartel activity.
It's not like one of them has just decided to go alone on this, it's that their airline association is declaring this.
That has CARTEL written all over it.
Re:In Australia this has been handled legislativel (Score:3, Interesting)
They never said real personal information.... (Score:5, Interesting)
So I am a 7'2" 120 pound jewish black man with a medical condition that makes me look like I am a short fat balding white guy that eats bacon.
Re:What worries me (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The rich can afford privacy, while poor get scr (Score:5, Interesting)
The rich can ride in private jets, while the poor (if they can afford to fly at all) have to put up with flying coach and submitting to invasive security theater and now to having to give up personal information because they can't afford the rates charged for not revealing that information (rates which the rich can easily afford).
You know, there's a huge business opportunity here for someone with some resources and the balls to upset the airline industry and the government.
How about a website that acts sort of like a travel/booking site and an auction site, sort of like a cross between Amazon, Orbitz, and Ebay, only the "goods" up for auction will be air-charter services. Get these small and medium charter services competing for bookings. The more that bid on a flight, the lower the price, as a charter service can charge less per passenger if they can be reasonably sure of packed flights. The more that use the service, the lower the prices for everyone.
Once businesses start using it, the game would be all but over except for the death-spasms for the current airline industry (and the TSA...hard to justify spending billions for agents to sit cooling their heels in increasingly-empty commercial terminals).
Eventually, unless government stepped in to prevent individuals from organizing together to book private flights (which would be a bugger in the details to try to prevent), the charter services would grow until they replaced the old airlines.
If the airlines and government can't or won't make air travel reasonable in price, service quality, or "junk-groping", then treat the airlines and government like censorship on the 'net, and route around the greedy, pompous, megalomaniacal, corrupt bastards.
If they won't fix the air travel industry, build a new air travel industry the way that people on the 'net are funding and creating all sorts of other things from open source software projects.to business startups.
Although it's likely the government would step in to somehow halt any such movement towards grass-roots air travel, maybe forcing it to have to do so would at least bring the topic "above the fold", to use an old newspaper term, and the popular public pressure generated would have some mitigating effect on the horrible state of commercial air travel in the US.
Or, everybody can bitch and moan on internet forums and blogs and do the same things they've been doing, and fighting the fight on their terms. That's worked well so far.
Strat
You have to wonder at some point (Score:4, Interesting)
What the value of everyone knowing what you buy actually is. If the supermarket and the airline and everyone else knows I own a dog and drive an old Camry I'm not sure what anyone thinks the spam/value-add of all of that is. As it is, most people already throw away most junk mail and junk email unopened. And since the airlines themselves never actually give discounts, just complex fee-add schemes, it's not as if they're going to successfully market to people based on that. It's not as if they're going to take an 'extra' trip to Florida this year because your quadruple platinum diamond intergalactic admiral club membership is going to waive that $25 checked bag fee. I just don't see it. I think the airlines were sold a bill of goods by marketing consultants and now they're going to create complex expensive systems that, as always, don't do anything to keep them out of bankruptcy like they do every 3 or 4 years.
Re:The rich can afford privacy, while poor get scr (Score:4, Interesting)
What, you'd dare to go against giant corporations and the government? Are you a progressive? A c-c-c-communist!?
No, I'm a capitalist. What we have now is not capitalism. It's what's been called "crony-Capitalism", otherwise known as soft Fascism. The Progressives and communists are the ones in power in Washington, D.C. currently, and largely have been to a grater or lesser extent for decades and in both major political parties and the labor unions.
As to whether or not I'd "dare", the point is moot, as I don't have the resources to even dream of attempting something like that.
Unless, of course, you're actually Bill Gates and want to fund such a project. (Hey Bill, it *would* be a nice "in your face!" payback for all that "monopoly" stuff the government threw at you! Just sayin'. :-) )
Strat
Re:Verify your telephone number (Score:4, Interesting)
You get the discount and a fake account gets the credit.
I had stopped shopping at our local chain for a while and when I moved and lived next to one I'm back. My old phone number is now registered to someone else but its still active. So they can get the extra points for my purchases, I get the discount prices and the chain gets data that is skewed. I call that a win-win.