"A firm can attempt to sell the same item to different people at different prices... The next time you are on an airplane, try this experiment: Ask the person next to you how much he or she paid for the ticket. It's probably not what you paid; it may not even be close" (Wheelan 18). This passage struck me as shocking and very interesting.
I had no idea that airline companies use price discrimination to intentionally make the greatest profit possible. Business travelers, who are willing to pay a great price to get an urgent flight, are purposely charged more than a pleasure traveler, who needs to stay within a budget and has the option not to travel if prices exceed their limit. This is why it is much cheaper for buyers to book a flight weeks before than minutes before; the people who buy their tickets at the last minute are assumed to be the ones who are willing to pay anything for that crucial last-minute flight. As Wheelan states, "You are sitting on the same plane, traveling to the same destination, eating the same peanuts- yet the prices you and your row mate paid for your tickets may not even have the same number of digits" (Wheelan 18).
Air travel is a business in which price discrimination is very present, but it also arises in on-line shopping, human versus canine products, and even grocery stores. I was not aware of this discrimination or the economic rational behind it, but I find it very intriguing.
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