The Future of Airfare: Personalized or Predatory?
By: Leigh-Ann Burroughs, Global Travel Advisory Lead
Airline pricing has always been complicated. Fares change based on demand, availability, timing, route, and booking class. But this article raises a newer concern: the possibility of airlines using personal data and online behavior to influence pricing. This is often referred to as surveillance pricing.
The concern is that airlines could eventually use information such as your search history, loyalty activity, location, past purchases, or travel habits to determine how urgently you need a flight and how much you may be willing to pay. There is no clear evidence that this is a widespread airline practice today. Most fares are still driven by traditional revenue management and seat availability. However, as airlines adopt more advanced artificial intelligence, retailing technology, and personalized offers, the possibility deserves attention. For corporate travel programs, this could create real challenges.
Travel managers may have a harder time understanding why one traveler sees a different fare than another. It may also become more difficult to determine whether a price difference is based on availability, negotiated discounts, booking behavior, or personal data. Personalization can improve the booking experience, but there needs to be a clear line between providing relevant options and using traveler data to maximize what someone will pay. As airline retailing continues to evolve, transparency, privacy, and traveler trust will be just as important as convenience and personalization.
Lyndon Group helps organizations navigate these evolving challenges by evaluating corporate travel programs, strengthening sourcing and policy strategies, improving transparency, and ensuring travel technology and supplier relationships support both the business and the traveler.