I use Skyscanner. It's more or less impossible for sites to track search requests done through comparison engines. That said if you ping enough requests on the same search, some algorithm might consider this an influx in demand and the price may start creeping up.
Sometimes I search for flights, then plan the rest of my holiday then come back two weeks later and book the flights to find the price has gone up by a matter of a few quid.
Of course the problem with using something like Skyscanner is that budget airlines will be filtered to the top as the cheapest but unlike the pricier airlines their fees won't be inclusive of all the charges you will probably need to pay ("Would you like a seat sir? Are you taking a bag? Would you like oxygen during the flight? Would you be willing to pay extra to guarantee a member of the crew will not physically assault you? That'll be £120 extra. Per flight.").
I'm going to be travelling around Asia a bit in April so have been trawling the usual sites (Kayak, SkyScanner etc) for the past month to find the right flights and I haven't seen them jump up in price because I've used the site and same search parameters multiple times. Not an expert, just my experience.
I should probably add, it's all metadata, there's no personal information, the system builds a profile of likes and dislikes based on search history. It's impressive and rather scary how good it is.
Hmmm. So my IP address is not personal data?
Correct.
An IP address in isolation is not personal data because it is focused on a computer and not an individual.
Always, always delete your cookies and history if you're browsing for prices on anything. It's been going on for years, I first discovered it with budget airlines, the more I looked on the same site the more the price went up.
It's also most like going into a shop and telling the vendor how much you're prepared to pay for something.
Trainline do it. A few years ago for Huddersfield away they wanted £75 or something to come back from Manchester. I deleted my cookies and it went down to £20.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
Trainline do it. A few years ago for Huddersfield away they wanted £75 or something to come back from Manchester. I deleted my cookies and it went down to £20.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
This is a classic example of why the government need to get involved with train ticket pricing. You need a lot of understanding of how the system works in order not to get ripped off. That shouldn't be the case. It should be easy, transparent and consistent. The price we pay for train travel in this country is already a national scandal without the myriad of train franchises exploiting the lack of regulation.
A) always open / click on a few sights so they can see you are shopping around and stick something in your basket for a couple of days, the seller then gets jumpy and starts emailing you discounts as you have not actually bought.
Probably rubbish, haven't tried it but maybe worth trying?
Really good shout with that one.
It's a fairly common metric to measure on a lot of e-commerce sites, referred to as "basket abandonment". A lot of the platforms that these sites are built on now allow you to trigger certain actions when the basket has been abandoned for x days.
A decent example is Vistaprint, who do business cards and branded business stationary. If you go through the process to buy customised stationary, and leave your basket for a few days, you generally tend to get an email offering you x% off.
Trainline do it. A few years ago for Huddersfield away they wanted £75 or something to come back from Manchester. I deleted my cookies and it went down to £20.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
This is a classic example of why the government need to get involved with train ticket pricing. You need a lot of understanding of how the system works in order not to get ripped off. That shouldn't be the case. It should be easy, transparent and consistent. The price we pay for train travel in this country is already a national scandal without the myriad of train franchises exploiting the lack of regulation.
Agree 100%. I travelled back from Liege to Prague by train last month. The pricing was in direct relation to the distance travelled (what a novel idea) and did not change at all in the two weeks I planned the trip and went back to check. Furthermore Deutsche Bahn offered a first class upgrade for just €10, all the way from Liege to Dresden. It was great overtaking all the corporate warriors on the autobahn in their Mercs while doing 296 Km/hour.
The DB website always shows you the cheap option (specific train only) and the flexible price,, and that's basically it. No tricks.
I just fear some smartass consultants may say to DB "hey, have you seen how the Brits make big money on this..."
Trainline do it. A few years ago for Huddersfield away they wanted £75 or something to come back from Manchester. I deleted my cookies and it went down to £20.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
This is a classic example of why the government need to get involved with train ticket pricing. You need a lot of understanding of how the system works in order not to get ripped off. That shouldn't be the case. It should be easy, transparent and consistent. The price we pay for train travel in this country is already a national scandal without the myriad of train franchises exploiting the lack of regulation.
Agree 100%. I travelled back from Liege to Prague by train last month. The pricing was in direct relation to the distance travelled (what a novel idea) and did not change at all in the two weeks I planned the trip and went back to check. Furthermore Deutsche Bahn offered a first class upgrade for just €10, all the way from Liege to Dresden. It was great overtaking all the corporate warriors on the autobahn in their Mercs while doing 296 Km/hour.
The DB website always shows you the cheap option (specific train only) and the flexible price,, and that's basically it. No tricks.
I just fear some smartass consultants may say to DB "hey, have you seen how the Brits make big money on this..."
Yes but DB are wholly owned by the Federal Republic of Germany!
Remember the days when we had a publicly owned rail network? Ticketing was a whole lot simpler then.
Trainline do it. A few years ago for Huddersfield away they wanted £75 or something to come back from Manchester. I deleted my cookies and it went down to £20.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
This is a classic example of why the government need to get involved with train ticket pricing. You need a lot of understanding of how the system works in order not to get ripped off. That shouldn't be the case. It should be easy, transparent and consistent. The price we pay for train travel in this country is already a national scandal without the myriad of train franchises exploiting the lack of regulation.
I understand what you are saying but train fares are already fully regulated by the government!
The regulations specify the fare chargeable for any journey but permit train companies to offer lower fares if they wish.
Unfortunately "getting ripped off" means paying the price the government thinks the companies should charge for the ticket!
Trainline do it. A few years ago for Huddersfield away they wanted £75 or something to come back from Manchester. I deleted my cookies and it went down to £20.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
This is a classic example of why the government need to get involved with train ticket pricing. You need a lot of understanding of how the system works in order not to get ripped off. That shouldn't be the case. It should be easy, transparent and consistent. The price we pay for train travel in this country is already a national scandal without the myriad of train franchises exploiting the lack of regulation.
Agree 100%. I travelled back from Liege to Prague by train last month. The pricing was in direct relation to the distance travelled (what a novel idea) and did not change at all in the two weeks I planned the trip and went back to check. Furthermore Deutsche Bahn offered a first class upgrade for just €10, all the way from Liege to Dresden. It was great overtaking all the corporate warriors on the autobahn in their Mercs while doing 296 Km/hour.
The DB website always shows you the cheap option (specific train only) and the flexible price,, and that's basically it. No tricks.
I just fear some smartass consultants may say to DB "hey, have you seen how the Brits make big money on this..."
Yes but DB are wholly owned by the Federal Republic of Germany!
Remember the days when we had a publicly owned rail network? Ticketing was a whole lot simpler then.
Well quite. Although to be fair there is some competition on their network now. But to get back in topic I think the Germans generally resist too much of the kind of devious stuff we are talking about here. I dont think you get messed around too much on Germanwings or Air Berlin ( beyond book early for best prices) but I have not used either for a while.
Trainline do it. A few years ago for Huddersfield away they wanted £75 or something to come back from Manchester. I deleted my cookies and it went down to £20.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
This is a classic example of why the government need to get involved with train ticket pricing. You need a lot of understanding of how the system works in order not to get ripped off. That shouldn't be the case. It should be easy, transparent and consistent. The price we pay for train travel in this country is already a national scandal without the myriad of train franchises exploiting the lack of regulation.
I understand what you are saying but train fares are already fully regulated by the government!
The regulations specify the fare chargeable for any journey but permit train companies to offer lower fares if they wish.
Unfortunately "getting ripped off" means paying the price the government thinks the companies should charge for the ticket!
The reason Governments have to regulate fairs is because they also have to subsidise rail companies. Increasing fairs is an attempt to decrease subsidies. Basically whatever way you look at it the rail companies benefit from tax payers money for their share holders.
A) always open / click on a few sights so they can see you are shopping around and stick something in your basket for a couple of days, the seller then gets jumpy and starts emailing you discounts as you have not actually bought.
Probably rubbish, haven't tried it but maybe worth trying?
As @Alwaysneil has brought this to my attention I cannot believe posters are still falling foul of the capital B closed bracket. We must end this madness
On another note, with a thread title like this I am amazed to get 2 pages in and yet to see a comment from Dave Mehmet
A) always open / click on a few sights so they can see you are shopping around and stick something in your basket for a couple of days, the seller then gets jumpy and starts emailing you discounts as you have not actually bought.
Probably rubbish, haven't tried it but maybe worth trying?
As @Alwaysneil has brought this to my attention I cannot believe posters are still falling foul of the capital B closed bracket. We must end this madness
On another note, with a thread title like this I am amazed to get 2 pages in and yet to see a comment from Dave Mehmet
lol, I was just thing the same cabbs, I would like to see what offers he gets inticed with
I should probably add, it's all metadata, there's no personal information, the system builds a profile of likes and dislikes based on search history. It's impressive and rather scary how good it is.
Hmmm. So my IP address is not personal data?
Your IP address belongs to your provider, as it just a number to locate your router, much like a phone number, the difference being it is not permanent linked to you as an individual. The real risk surrounding an IP address is if you have a static IP, one that never changes, but you will have had to specifically request this. It is used for security cam and burglar alarms mostly and is often used as a way to hack in to a network ironically.
If you are every worried about your IP, then simply power down your router for ten seconds and then turn it on again, your IP address will change.
She reckons (and I have read this elsewhere) that - especially airline/travel websites - will start to jack up their prices if they recognise you as a previous visitor.
So I wondered what the more techie Lifers advise about how to get round this tactic. The three options seem to be:
- delete cookies - use private/incognito browsing option - if you have a VPN, switch "countries"
Is it all about your IP address? do all three options above disguise your IP address?
and if you log in your loyalty club membership number does that blow your cover?
Anyone had first hand experience of prices rising before their wondering eyes? Or getting lower prices after doing one of the above and going back to get a quote?
bastards! (them, not you :-) )
Cheers @PragueAddick I had suspicions about this but was not sure. Recently I had to book a flight to Jakarta for a business trip next April. Once I decided to go ahead and book, the prices on first BA and then Qatar Air suddenly increased. Obviously this may have been a coincidence but your link suggests otherwise.
I booked instead with Emirates as their price remained the same.
I often travel with Thomson (TUI), and look at their sites about a week before actually wanting to book a holiday. When I go back on the site, normally about 6 to 8 weeks before I want to go, it is quite often cheaper than originally. As I am retired, I always pick off-peak times. Just about to leave for a 5 star hotel in Agadir for £320.
I always get annoyed when I do a google search for spark plugs for instance and then I get e-mails about spark plugs. It feels an intrusion to me.
As for trains! A train journey should have a price - a fair price and it shouldn't go up or down. Train travel is a service - thei scountry just doesn't get it. The amount of money that is wasted because people are late because of disrupted journies they have paid a fortune for is ridiculous! It should be cheaper to take the train rather than drive somewhere but it isn't!
I tell you what I did realise the other day. Adding gmail on my new phone means that any google search I do at work on my laptop that is also hooked up to google drive and gmail (mainly lead sourcing), shows up on my search history on my phone and vice versa.
Thank fuck I use yahoo on my phone for the other stuff
She reckons (and I have read this elsewhere) that - especially airline/travel websites - will start to jack up their prices if they recognise you as a previous visitor.
So I wondered what the more techie Lifers advise about how to get round this tactic. The three options seem to be:
- delete cookies - use private/incognito browsing option - if you have a VPN, switch "countries"
Is it all about your IP address? do all three options above disguise your IP address?
and if you log in your loyalty club membership number does that blow your cover?
Anyone had first hand experience of prices rising before their wondering eyes? Or getting lower prices after doing one of the above and going back to get a quote?
bastards! (them, not you :-) )
Without getting into tech, and from a UK airline point of view, this simply doesn't happen. Fare classes rise as seats are sold, therefore if you are looking at a flight price and then go back later, it's because seats have sold and you will now be looking at a new fare class. It has nothing to do with the fact that you have looked before. Prices may also come down if aircraft load factors are behind forecast. It's a great conspiracy story, but in the UK and specifically in regard to airlines, it doesn't happen.
I tell you what I did realise the other day. Adding gmail on my new phone means that any google search I do at work on my laptop that is also hooked up to google drive and gmail (mainly lead sourcing), shows up on my search history on my phone and vice versa.
Thank fuck I use yahoo on my phone for the other stuff
Reminds me of an incident shortly after a thread on CharltonLife was made about plans for a "Blowjob Coffee shop" in Paddington. I googled it to make sure it wasn't some form of prank or hoax...
The next day I pull a colleague over to show him something, and when I typed "b" in to the Chrome search box it conveniently remembered my search from the night before, and suggested "Blowjob Coffee Shop London".
She reckons (and I have read this elsewhere) that - especially airline/travel websites - will start to jack up their prices if they recognise you as a previous visitor.
So I wondered what the more techie Lifers advise about how to get round this tactic. The three options seem to be:
- delete cookies - use private/incognito browsing option - if you have a VPN, switch "countries"
Is it all about your IP address? do all three options above disguise your IP address?
and if you log in your loyalty club membership number does that blow your cover?
Anyone had first hand experience of prices rising before their wondering eyes? Or getting lower prices after doing one of the above and going back to get a quote?
bastards! (them, not you :-) )
Without getting into tech, and from a UK airline point of view, this simply doesn't happen. Fare classes rise as seats are sold, therefore if you are looking at a flight price and then go back later, it's because seats have sold and you will now be looking at a new fare class. It has nothing to do with the fact that you have looked before. Prices may also come down if aircraft load factors are behind forecast. It's a great conspiracy story, but in the UK and specifically in regard to airlines, it doesn't happen.
Well there's a ballsy answer.
What do people think? Noting that Sporadic refers specifically to UK airlines, does anyone have evidence to the contrary?.
I must say that my experience with BA (the airline I use most) matches his description. Quite often the fares come up on their website with the warning "only X seats left at this price".
Comments
Sometimes I search for flights, then plan the rest of my holiday then come back two weeks later and book the flights to find the price has gone up by a matter of a few quid.
Of course the problem with using something like Skyscanner is that budget airlines will be filtered to the top as the cheapest but unlike the pricier airlines their fees won't be inclusive of all the charges you will probably need to pay ("Would you like a seat sir? Are you taking a bag? Would you like oxygen during the flight? Would you be willing to pay extra to guarantee a member of the crew will not physically assault you? That'll be £120 extra. Per flight.").
An IP address in isolation is not personal data because it is focused on a computer and not an individual.
It's also most like going into a shop and telling the vendor how much you're prepared to pay for something.
When booking flights as well it’s always worth deleting cookies etc once you’ve done your research.
It's a fairly common metric to measure on a lot of e-commerce sites, referred to as "basket abandonment". A lot of the platforms that these sites are built on now allow you to trigger certain actions when the basket has been abandoned for x days.
A decent example is Vistaprint, who do business cards and branded business stationary. If you go through the process to buy customised stationary, and leave your basket for a few days, you generally tend to get an email offering you x% off.
The DB website always shows you the cheap option (specific train only) and the flexible price,, and that's basically it. No tricks.
I just fear some smartass consultants may say to DB "hey, have you seen how the Brits make big money on this..."
Remember the days when we had a publicly owned rail network? Ticketing was a whole lot simpler then.
The regulations specify the fare chargeable for any journey but permit train companies to offer lower fares if they wish.
Unfortunately "getting ripped off" means paying the price the government thinks the companies should charge for the ticket!
On another note, with a thread title like this I am amazed to get 2 pages in and yet to see a comment from Dave Mehmet
Your IP address belongs to your provider, as it just a number to locate your router, much like a phone number, the difference being it is not permanent linked to you as an individual. The real risk surrounding an IP address is if you have a static IP, one that never changes, but you will have had to specifically request this. It is used for security cam and burglar alarms mostly and is often used as a way to hack in to a network ironically.
If you are every worried about your IP, then simply power down your router for ten seconds and then turn it on again, your IP address will change.
I booked instead with Emirates as their price remained the same.
As for trains! A train journey should have a price - a fair price and it shouldn't go up or down. Train travel is a service - thei scountry just doesn't get it. The amount of money that is wasted because people are late because of disrupted journies they have paid a fortune for is ridiculous! It should be cheaper to take the train rather than drive somewhere but it isn't!
Thank fuck I use yahoo on my phone for the other stuff
The next day I pull a colleague over to show him something, and when I typed "b" in to the Chrome search box it conveniently remembered my search from the night before, and suggested "Blowjob Coffee Shop London".
Cheers Google.
Cheers CharltonLife.
What do people think? Noting that Sporadic refers specifically to UK airlines, does anyone have evidence to the contrary?.
I must say that my experience with BA (the airline I use most) matches his description. Quite often the fares come up on their website with the warning "only X seats left at this price".