Airlines are well known to price flights awkwardly in response to the market. They often price connecting flights lower than direct flights, even if that direct flight is part of the connecting itinerary. It is alleged that they use client data (generic such as time of day or specific such as device/location) to reprice their flights, but I think the limitations of the GDS¹ prevent this from happening.

What companies want to do is sell their product at the maximum price each client is willing to pay. This is already done in some ways by intentionally segmenting the market, such as by having multiple cabins on trains and planes, despite them all providing fundamentally the same service (transportation from point A to point B). More data from each client helps them target the cost of their product to each client and maximize their revenue.

I wouldn’t be surprised if user data is used more in the future to price products, especially as AI is getting more and more capable.

[1] https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/what-is-gds

Yup. The new EU Omnibus directive requires companies to say when they’re doing this now, at least.

https://www.leidenlawblog.nl/articles/personalised-pricing-is-happening-heres-what-you-need-to-know