Delta Air Lines launched a pilot program that uses AI to determine how much you personally will pay for a ticket, as opposed to offering static prices to all customers. The personalized pricing is currently in effect for 3% of fares, but the company aims to increase that to 20% by the end of the year.
The personalized pricing is accomplished through a partnership with Fetcherr, a six-year-old Israeli company that also counts Azul, WestJet, Virgin Atlantic, and VivaAerobus as clients. Fetcherr plans on establishing itself in the airline industry, and then moving on towards hospitality, car rentals, cruises, and other industries. If the company has it their way, the pricing on the digital menu at Chick-fil-A will dynamically change as you approach the counter!
Delta says that the pilot program has been “amazingly favorable,” but privacy advocates fear that it will lead to price gouging and lack of fairness and transparency.
Critics of the program, like Sen. Ruben Gallego, call the practice “predatory pricing,” however Delta argues that its per-passenger fares are based solely on trip-related factors and comply with federal law.
A Delta spokesperson told Fortune:
“[Delta] has zero tolerance for discrimination. Our fares are publicly filed and based solely on trip-related factors like advance purchase and cabin class, and we maintain strict safeguards to ensure compliance with federal law.”
So how does one get off the “idiot who will pay anything” registry? Imagine if you're a hard working guy who travels regularly for work on your company's dime. On those trips you're more concerned about schedule than pricing. However then you go to book a vacation for your family that you pay for out-of-pocket, and now you're given personalized pricing that's reflective of all your previous high-priced company travel?
Airlines have already been guilty of artificially inflating prices due to false scarcity based on your browsing history, but up until now shoppers have been able to clear cookies and use a VPN to reset prices. However in the future, Delta and other airlines will likely require customers to be logged in to browse ticket prices, which will make avoiding their predatory pricing next to impossible.