Twitter is buzzing this morning about a Wall Street Journal report that online travel agency Orbitz is intentionally steering Mac users toward pricier hotel options.
A Mac search for a hotel in Miami Beach for two nights in July displayed costlier boutique hotels on the first page of results, such as Sagamore, the Art Hotel and the Boulan South Beach, that weren’t displayed on the PC’s first page. Among hotels appearing in both searches, some pricier options (such as the $212 Eden Roc Renaissance and the $397 Fontainebleau) were listed higher on the Mac. Overall, hotels on the first page of the Mac search were about 11% more expensive than they were on the PC.
Is it a savvy business practice or a move that will drive customers away?
Message from @orbitz #orbitz to all Mac users: "you are idiots and we hold you in contempt." http://t.co/3wMqDYCI
— Rich Orman (@RichOrman) June 26, 2012
https://twitter.com/lalhs/status/217604798013374464
And they are admitting that they are doing it #balls RT @TabithaHale: Hi, @Orbitz. This is BS. http://t.co/sdxNnB81
— Fingers Malloy (@FingersMalloy) June 26, 2012
Orbitz thinks since I have a Mac I don't want to stay at the "pay by hour" type of hotels.
— Travis Alan Autery (@TravisAutery) June 26, 2012
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TMI, buddy. TMI.
https://twitter.com/fsa2105/status/217606719050747904
CNET News points out Orbitz’s biggest mistake.
From an analytics perspective, targeting by operating system and pricing accordingly may not be such a bad idea. The bonehead move of the century is Orbitz yapping about it. Orbitz did note that pricing by OS is just an experiment.
Rest assured that Mac users will refrain from using Orbitz en masse now.
Will Mac users look elsewhere for their travel needs? Yep, looks that way.
@nprnews ridiculous! Spread the news to apple users to boycott Orbitz.
— Tanyabo (@TanyaBotten) June 26, 2012
https://twitter.com/DouglasMGriffin/status/217558707129696256
Boycott #Orbitz ! Let others see that this not a great strategy.
— Mark C. Simpson (@MSimpson63) June 26, 2012
https://twitter.com/Milmore/status/217606991395307520
Sure, Mac users could sort by price to see the best deals, but forcing them to take that extra step may be one step too far.
Some non-Mac users are amused.
Having a good LOL at the news that Orbitz sometimes steers Mac users to more expensive hotel rooms.
— Seoul Train ??? (@BlasianSays) June 26, 2012
Why is it surprising the Orbitz charges Mac users 30% more? They already paid 50% more for their computer. #zing #ohsnap
— Kevan MacGee (@kevanmacgee) June 26, 2012
And what about Linux users?
https://twitter.com/onepointzero/status/217605090725474305
Heh. But they’re probably managing just fine without Orbitz.
@thespider @reese305 everyone knows linux users don't use orbitz – they hack the hotels reservations for free stays
— Justin T. Esgar (@justinesgar) June 26, 2012
For what it’s worth:
I searched Orbitz using a Mac Mini and it booked me into one of those Japanese hotels where you sleep in a big drawer.
— Lain Hughes (@pumpkinshirt) June 26, 2012
If you visit Orbitz from a Windows 95 machine, it limits your search to spider holes and dirigibles.
— David McCreath (@mccreath) June 26, 2012
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