You know all the tricks. Search for flights on a Tuesday solely. Switch your VPN to a completely different nation. Open incognito mode and clear your browser.
Apparently, so does JetBlue.
In a since deleted tweet, the firm told a customer who tagged the firm over a $230 improve in simply someday to clear their “cache and cookies.”
“I love flying @JetBlue but a $230 increase on a ticket after one day is crazy,” wrote the consumer on X. “I’m just trying to make it to a funeral.”
In response, the firm told the consumer, who goes by Nugg, to “try clearing your cache and cookies or booking with an incognito window. We’re sorry for your loss.”
The consumer’s put up acquired a little over 100,000 views earlier than JetBlue deleted it, however of the two feedback, one is lacking (the deleted JetBlue response) and the different was, conveniently, a screenshot of JetBlue’s response by one other consumer who told Nugg “this post will be removed soon. Take a screenshot of it if you think you’ll need it.”
In a assertion to Fortune, the firm mentioned it doesn’t decide fares by way of private searching data.
“The reply from our JetBlue crewmember on social media was incorrect, and we apologize for the error. JetBlue fares on JetBlue.com and our mobile app are not determined by cached data or other personal information,” the firm assertion learn.
“Pricing is based on real-time availability and is managed through our reservation system. Fares can change at any moment as seats are purchased or as inventory is adjusted based on demand, and are not guaranteed until a purchase is completed,” the assertion continued.
JetBlue is hardly the first airline to fall into the limelight for probably altering its costs primarily based on a consumer’s browser historical past.
The Federal Trade Commission has studied surveillance pricing strategies since 2024, and located retailers usually used folks’s private data to set individualized pricing data. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said he “directed staff to start examining” if new disclosure guidelines are wanted by corporations throughout a Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month.
It may not make a large distinction
Experts say opting out of cookies actually doesn’t make a distinction.
“Opting out of cookies doesn’t make you anonymous online,” mentioned Kate Quinlan, a senior editor at All About Cookies, an informational web site about on-line security. “True privacy requires browser-level tools like VPNs and ad blockers, which block a wider range of trackers that follow you across the web beyond just cookies.”
According to a California audit final month which analyzed open community site visitors throughout greater than 7,600 standard web sites scanned from California, over half (55%) of websites set promoting cookies even after customers explicitly rejected them. More than three-quarters (78%) of consent banners failed to implement the consumer’s alternative in any respect, whereas Google ignored 86% of opt-out requests.
However, when it comes to airline fares, Quinlan told Fortune that it might assist after all.
“Clearing your cookies before searching for flights is still worth doing. Websites can use your browsing history to adjust what prices you see, and wiping that data resets what they think they know about you, making it more likely a lower fare will show up if one exists. Just keep in mind that flight prices also shift constantly based on demand and timing, so there’s no guarantee a clean browser alone will land you a deal.”
There are already two states with legal guidelines on the books about this. Maryland is ready to turn out to be the first state to ban surveillance pricing in retail grocery shops after the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act handed via the legislature final week. Then, California proposed a invoice that might prohibit retailers from setting personalized costs primarily based on personally identifiable data. Similar laws has been introduced in New York, New Jersey, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
