Interesting tip when using online travel reservations

[soonerhunt]

This my first post but our family of 5 are planning a trip to WDW Dec 2007 (our first one) so I've been reading the board for a month every day and can't believe the wealth of Info here.
Anyway I was on one of the forums and there was a discussion about rental car companies changing rates. When I remembered a sidebar I read in a Newsweek or Time a couple months ago that mentioned something about the speculation that travel companies were actually increasing rates if you had been to other travel sites. The way they were doing this was thru the cookies your browser sets for individual sites
(cookies are bits of info the computer stores on your browser that allow web pages to be remembered and loaded quicker So if you went to and this is example ( no specific sites were mentioned in the article ) Delta to check rates then went to United. The United site would realize that you have been shopping around thru the cookies on the browser and not release discounted prices to you.

I have no idea how valid this is but it might worth your time to delete the cookies and delete the Internet cache when shopping for deals with any travel sites

 

[paults]

WELCOME THE THE DISBOARDS

 

[MickeyCrazed]

Thanks for the tip and welcome to the DIS Boards!

 

[vellamint]

I agree with this completely.....if I am searching around for rates on cars (or hotels sometimes) it seems that if I do not book something right away...when I go back to it, it is always more expensive.

But if I go back the next day after doing computer maintenance - the prices are back down again!!

 

[seashoreCM]

It's a no-win situation. If you clear the cookies, then you have to re-enter user ID's and passwords if you wre used to having the computer sign you on automatically. Also time zones may change to the website default (U.S. Pacific for eBay) and old threads displayed on forums such as this may change to one day's worth or one week's worth or whatever was that website's default.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[martinp13]

I would think it would be the other way around: if you had visited Delta's site, then United would be smart to offer you a good fare. If they don't, you'll go back to Delta!

That's a very serious breach of protocol they're suggesting. Sites are only supposed to look at their own cookies, not cookies created by other sites. As much as I don't like em, the ACLU should jump all over that.

 

[soonerhunt]

Here is the article I read. Like I said it was a sidebar and more speculation than anything

Newsweek

Jan. 30, 2006 issue - You've cleaned out the fridge; now it's time to get last year's cookies. We're talking, of course, about your computer. Its cookies—tags that Web sites stick in your browser to track where you've been and when you return—may also be used to punish you for comparison shopping on travel sites. That's hard to prove, but it's a common complaint of online airline-ticket buyers who say they sometimes price an itinerary, shop around and then find the price jacked up when they return to the first site and repeat their search. Sometimes the prices really do change. But you can discourage sites from selectively raising prices on repeat visitors by using more than one browser or computer when you shop, or just killing those cookies. To delete them, use your browser's security or privacy tools. Oh, sure, you'll have to sign back in to your favorite sites when you return, but it's a nice fresh start for a new year of Net shopping.

 

[soonerhunt]

Sorry I'm not allowed to post links because I have so few posts. You can google it with the phrase

newsweek travel site cookies

It will be the first hit on google

 

[VacationDad]

Personally, I think prices in the travel industry are so volatile that they could change before your eyes just like this. Like the other poster said, what would it benefit them to jack up a price if they knew you were shopping around? If it were my business, I would give you the highest price if I knew you weren't comparing prices.