... a bit less personalization couldn't hurt.
Do airline-ticket sales web sites identify buyers as "first timers"
and give them heavy discounts on tickets, discounts which seem to disappear the
next time those same people return to make another purchase?
It may be an apocryphal story, but it's one that I'm quite willing to believe.
Snopes has no mention of it, though perhaps
it shouldn't, since it's not exactly urban-legend type material.
I'm not sure where I first encountered this claim, but I'm even willing to state
that I'm pretty sure it happened to me as well. For some reason, the first time
I looked for airline tickets online I found excellent prices, but have since been
unable to get similar good prices. Of course this may be a false perception, but
it really shouldn't be difficult for a website to identify my computer and remember
that I've previously purchased tickets, and because I've been identified in this
way to put me on a different purchasing track than a newbie. What's more, I can
well understand why a company might do this.
If any readers can confirm, or invalidate, this story, please
let me know.
Go to: Just for you, or
Go to: Taking it personally.