Do airline websites keep track of you?

Old May 15th, 2006, 06:53 AM
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Do airline websites keep track of you?

Hi,

I have to buy some airline tickets to some unpopular smaller cities this summer for personal events. No mercy. Of course I'm experiencing sticker shock with everyone else with fuel costs as they are.

I was wondering if anyone knows if airlines/websites keep track of how often you search and change results on that basis?

I've started dumping cookies and temporary internet files as an experiment before access the websites. I think I read something about the topic before but didn't pay too much attention because if the fares get too crazy to certain cities I just go somewhere else.

I'm sort of stuck with these cities and dates right now. No choice.

Any advice?

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Old May 15th, 2006, 06:59 AM
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In addition to airline search databases I was wondering if orbitz, expedia, travelocity keep track of your searches too.
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Old May 15th, 2006, 07:49 AM
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I'm curious as well.
 
Old May 15th, 2006, 08:33 AM
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I'm not sure exactly what you are getting at. Have you just been searching or have you locked into a flight and haven't paid for it yet and you want to shop around more? I have made several internet flight transactions. One time I locked in dates but also got on a waiting list for a specific departure which was better. I didn't get it and cancelled the flight.

As for the web sites keeping track of your searches I would say that all large web sites keep track of everything. Dumping cookies and temp internet files will make no difference except that it makes it harder for yourself making you have to re-enter personal info. They already have your info on their storage computers anyway.

It sounds like you feel you are "cheating" someone or going back on a promise. I really don't think they care.
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Old May 15th, 2006, 08:44 AM
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Say that you are looking for a ticket from Anywhere USA to Bupkus USA... You do a search on an airlines website or Orbitz like place and you get fare/schedule results but don't buy a ticket.

A few hours later you go back and the travel website gives you different results based upon the fact they they know you are interested in that particular intinerary because they have retained a record of your search.

First, is that done?

If you dump cookies/temporary files and don't sign into the site they should not be able to identify you. Of course using a different computer would guarantee no bias.

I thought I had read an article about it but didn't pay much attention at the time. I was just curious if anyone has heard of something like that.
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Old May 15th, 2006, 09:01 AM
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It looks like this was discussed at Fodors before.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34705222

I searched before I posted my first post but just found this discussion. I think it answers my question.

The answer is, maybe, who knows?
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Old May 16th, 2006, 07:38 AM
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Kakalena, fares change on a minute by minute basis many times and I doubt it has anything to do with doing a prior search.
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Old May 16th, 2006, 09:30 AM
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Its certainly possible, and there is no law against advertising different prices to different customers based on this type of `interest profile' information.

They can give discounts to your `club membership' customers, for example, or raise the price if they think they could get more.

(They couldn't do it based on race or age, though.)

The data could be kept in the cookie file, or on a user data base indexed by your account/login id, if you have one. Go ahead and dump your cookies. It couldn't hurt.

Bottom line: The world is going to heck in a handbasket.

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Old May 16th, 2006, 09:31 AM
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And the cost fo flying into certain cities has a smuch to do with the amount, if any, of competition in that particular market as it does with the cost of fuel.

I suspect if you were an airline stockholder you might look at it a bit differently.
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Old May 16th, 2006, 11:27 AM
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Sure, websites keep track of how many "hits" they get, and change the availability depending on it.

I don't know how "personal" they get, I doubt they want to know how many times Faina clicked on a flight to NY, but they need to know how many times people click on that same flight, and how many actually paid for it.
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Old May 16th, 2006, 12:20 PM
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They keep track of you in some way which is a mystery to this computer-ignorant user. If I search for a fare between 2 cities, say Boston and Savannah, I am guaranteed to get messages and pop-ups saying things like "Still looking for a fare to Savannah". It is creepy and further convinces me that my computer screen can see me if I sit in front of it in my jammies and pay bills.
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Old May 17th, 2006, 05:54 AM
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Todays lesson: cookies.

Your browser keeps a cookie file on your computer. Each cookie in the file is a line of text, labelled with a partucular url (like expedia.com), and some information that the company (expedia) would like to keep about what your your browser has been doing on their site.

When your browser visits expedia, expedia has access to all the expedia-tagged cookies (but not the cookies from other sites). It can also `set' new cookies into your cookie file.

Cookies are necessary for things like, keeping track of what you have `placed in your cart' so they know how much to charge you. This is also how your browser remembers your login id and password for some sites.

But cookies can be used for darker purposes, like choosing a price that is tuned to your browsing history; or creeping you out with highly specific ads.

Especially pernicious are `third party cookies' by which, say, expedia and other companies contract their advertising out to double-click, and double-click combines cookie information from several sites to build a profile of your purchase habits that they then sell.

You can set your browser to not accept cookies, but then you won't be able to buy anything on the internet. You have other options, like not accepting third-party cookies, setting expiration dates, and such.You can also make it a habit to empty out your cookie file once a month or so, so old information doesn't hang around.

On Firefox, you would go to Edit Preferences and look at the Privacy options.
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Old May 17th, 2006, 06:40 AM
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capxxx,
good info.
I was amazed that my TA whom I contacted after trying many online airfare sites knew not only which sites I had contacted but what those fares were. I'm only assuming that b/c her co. has an airline department that they must have some kind of agreement with the various airlines to share info.
I now try to dump my cookies a bit more often.
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Old May 18th, 2006, 05:22 AM
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cybor,

If I understand you, you searched fares online and afterwards your travel agent could tell you where you'd searched.

Is that correct? If so, I may stop searching airfares on my home computer.

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Old May 18th, 2006, 07:17 AM
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kakalena,
Yes, although I do think if you clean the cookies after these searches, no one will be able to attach your info.
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Old May 18th, 2006, 07:30 AM
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I think it's safe to assume that some do keep track - I don't typically log in to Expedia when I do a search there and I regularly dump my cookies, yet whenever I do a search and don't book something, I still end up with e-mails from Expedia offering help with my upcoming trip to ____ that I never booked or reserved or even searched for while logged in. Must be IP addresses or something that they keep track of, although I thought ours shifts for security reasons.

As you know, small unpopular cities always seem to be the most expensive. I've had experiences where the ticket prices change (go up the more I look, then go back down to where I started when I start searching at home or somewhere else) - don't know technical reasons for this, just know I've had it happen. So I think there is some merit to your suspicions.
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Old May 18th, 2006, 07:47 AM
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Since I have pretty extensive experience in travel technology and work for a travel technology company, let me add this...
ALL Airlines and online agencies track every entry made, not always by the user but in an aggregate sense.
This information is used to analyze habits, needs and revenue strategy.
So yes EVERYTHING you do is always tracked but possibly not at the user level.
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Old May 18th, 2006, 11:34 AM
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Thanks for asking this - I had no idea it might be a possibility. The way I search some airfares, my cost is going to be $1,000, lol.

TxTravel - do you think prices are also adjusted accordingly, per user?
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Old May 18th, 2006, 05:42 PM
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No. We drive the technology behind many online sites and I can tell you that this is not happening. And I have not heard of anyone developing such logic.
There are also many bots out there that produce tons of hits.
Airline pricing is a combination of supply and demand, competition and lift out of the given city.
The only known example of what you are asking is with hotels.
MANY hotels that offer government per diem rates used to restrict the response to the gov rates only, if requested. Why? Because in many smaller cities the per diem is higher than the prevailing rates.
But rates have gone up so much in the last year or so that this is not happening so much.
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