Has anyone ever seen any hard evidence for the incognito/cookies price differences other than cursory anecdotal evidence? I've only ever seen "I fly a lot and everyone who flies a lot knows this is true" reasoning for this phenomenon. Has anyone ever seen/done an actual experimental study on whether or not this is a real thing?
I'm not necessarily doubting that this is a thing, I've just never seen hard evidence.
I fly a lot, and spends weeks and weeks watching prices (and not see them change). And I used to work for online travel agencies. No, this is not true. Every person who claims it is true says "I watched the prices, and waited, then when I bought the ticket it was more expensive." Completely ignoring the fact that ticket prices generally rise as you approach the time of the flight. I've seen no evidence that the person would have paid less if they used incognito mode. I've also never seen a different (well higher price) if I signed in.
Maybe you could pay some mechanical turks to do it and take screenshots for you? I've personally seen Marriott charge me more when I'm logged in, and took and posted screenshots at the time, so I really have no doubts myself. The only hard evidence you'll find are screenshots like that, but the only statistical valid numbers would be surveys people could just lie in, so I don't think you have much choice beyond a paid survey at this point for your requirements.
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Has anyone ever seen any hard evidence for the incognito/cookies price differences other than cursory anecdotal evidence? I've only ever seen "I fly a lot and everyone who flies a lot knows this is true" reasoning for this phenomenon. Has anyone ever seen/done an actual experimental study on whether or not this is a real thing?
I'm not necessarily doubting that this is a thing, I've just never seen hard evidence.
I fly a lot, and spends weeks and weeks watching prices (and not see them change). And I used to work for online travel agencies. No, this is not true. Every person who claims it is true says "I watched the prices, and waited, then when I bought the ticket it was more expensive." Completely ignoring the fact that ticket prices generally rise as you approach the time of the flight. I've seen no evidence that the person would have paid less if they used incognito mode. I've also never seen a different (well higher price) if I signed in.
Maybe you could pay some mechanical turks to do it and take screenshots for you? I've personally seen Marriott charge me more when I'm logged in, and took and posted screenshots at the time, so I really have no doubts myself. The only hard evidence you'll find are screenshots like that, but the only statistical valid numbers would be surveys people could just lie in, so I don't think you have much choice beyond a paid survey at this point for your requirements.