A statement by a JetBlue employee on social media has the internet up in arms. There’s only one problem… it wasn’t actually accurate!
In this post:
Did JetBlue raise price by $230 for a flight to a funeral?
On April 18, 2026, an X user wrote the following:
I love flying @JetBlue but a $230 increase on a ticket after one day is crazy I’m just trying to make it to a funeral
Airfare fluctuates all the time, so while that fare increase sucks, you wouldn’t think much of this. Well, except for the detail of how JetBlue responded to this customer:
Try clearing your cache and cookies or booking with an incognito window. We’re sorry for your loss.
That’s quite a claim from the airline, and the post has now been viewed roughly 1.5 million times, and a countless number of politicians have chimed in, claiming they’re going to investigate this. For example, Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego took this completely out of context, writing the following:
Is Jet Blue openly admitting to raising someone’s price hundreds of dollars because they know they have to go to a funeral? Grief shouldn’t come with surge pricing.
We need to pass my bill to make surveillance pricing illegal.
Even if one were to believe that the airline was engaging in any sort of price discrimination based on the traveler’s location or browser, it’s absurd to suggest that JetBlue raised the price specifically because the passenger was going to a funeral, as if airlines ask you during the booking process what the exact purpose of your trip was.
What’s really going on with this claim from a JetBlue employee?
I imagine the employee responding on JetBlue’s behalf meant well, but I have no clue what they were thinking. Airlines simply don’t use this kind of data to determine pricing. Airlines have all kinds of ways they do price discriminate (like whether you’re traveling one-way or roundtrip, if you’re traveling with companions, etc.), but airlines absolutely don’t charge different fares based on these kinds of details. This was a fare increase, plain and simple.
Of course one would hope that you can take an official airline representative at face value, but humans make mistakes. The reality is that this was a simple mistake, and there’s no conspiracy theory or cover-up here. The fare went up because airfare pricing is complicated, and any of a number of factors could’ve driven that (like the last seat in a cheaper fare bucket selling out).
JetBlue has also confirmed this in a statement, writing that fares “are not determined by cached data or other personal information.” So while it was definitely bad that the employee made the mistake in what they communicated, that’s the extent of the scandal here. It’s almost if the JetBlue employee searched online about how to unlock lower fares, found that conspiracy theory, and then passed it on.
Of course that won’t stop people from trying to use this for their narrative. For example, a MarketWatch story quotes a progressive think tank executive director, who said the following:
“JetBlue accidentally tweeted their cold-blooded confession: They are using customers’ search history against them to drive up price. While JetBlue is now claiming the post was an ‘error,’ their only mistake was pulling back the curtain on their own deceptive pricing practices.”
Believe what you’d like, but nope. Their only error was… making the error in the formation they shared. Period.
Bottom line
A passenger traveling to a funeral took to social media to share frustration about the cost of a JetBlue ticket increasing considerably overnight. That’s not much of a story, except for the fact that JetBlue responded on social media, essentially suggesting the airline was using surveillance pricing, and that booking incognito or in a different browser would unlock a lower fare.
I can confidently say this was an error, and that the airline doesn’t engage in these kinds of tactics. But of course that’s now causing a lot of people to attack the airline.
What do you make of this JetBlue social media controversy?
I can't log-in to my Delta account anymore when I'm in incognito browser mode. Maybe it's a glitch in their new log-in page, I don't know. But when I go to a log-in page on a regular browser, I get right in. Hmmm.
Just tried it (Chrome browser). Identical issue for me (no login in incognito mode., yes in regular).
I wish these politicians would spend just as much effort in getting the Epstein files released.
I agree that JetBlue doesn’t know about the funeral or how desperate the traveler is to book that flight. But they can tell it was searched repeatedly and perhaps use that info to raise the fare. That’s not complicated technology. My question: did clearing the cache and the cookies actually bring the price down? I don’t see an answer to that anywhere.
I don't believe there is dynamic pricing spikes based on frequency of searches. While I'm not going to say because I'm an expert but sort of. I have done very very extensive testing using vpns, region obfuscation and automated repeating searches and have done so with multiple browser types. There is never a change in price.
I will say that one of my daily robotic task is to watch transcon jetblue Xmas flights. There was...
I don't believe there is dynamic pricing spikes based on frequency of searches. While I'm not going to say because I'm an expert but sort of. I have done very very extensive testing using vpns, region obfuscation and automated repeating searches and have done so with multiple browser types. There is never a change in price.
I will say that one of my daily robotic task is to watch transcon jetblue Xmas flights. There was very little fluctuations for all of March and part of April and then all of a sudden there was a big price spike for all routes between approximately 12 routes I was monitoring. But that's not surprising given that this happened after fuel prices spiked but was spiked higher than the big 3 airlines. However, that lasted about 4 days before most of the route prices dropped again but not to the price level of March. Still not unusual. They do this every year for the last several. So I think in this case it's more conspiracy than factual.
@Mark - Cleaning cache/cookies couldn't have helped because prices aren't personalised. Anyone with access to GDS or even tools like Expertflyer can easily see that prices are the same for everyone (assuming the same search).
Whether airlines raise prices based on general public's searches I don't know but they most definitely don't raise them specifically for you based on your searches.
Unrelated to the article, but Ben could you make a post describing your travel gear? What carry on/personal item do you use, what and how you pack in it, essentials you carry with you, how you use and store your stuff in business class seats in flight, etc. Curious to hear your professional input on this and hear other frequent travelers as well, as I am currently window shopping for travel gear. Thank you!
Just like everything else in modern progressive Western economics, productive net-contributors will subsidize net-consumers.
Just like how working joe/jane will get a jaywalking ticket while the deranged tweaking psycho is given a wide berth.
You absolutely know they'll be bragging about this as an ESG measure behind closed doors
Gallego may have inartfully articulated the issue, but the underlying concern is legitimate. JetBlue almost certainly didn't know about the funeral. But the system doesn't need to know why you're searching. It just needs to know you're going to keep searching until you buy. Delta's Fetcherr AI pricing engine is live right now, modeling individual booking behavior, device type, and estimated willingness to pay. That capability exists. Legislation addressing it before it becomes universal is...
Gallego may have inartfully articulated the issue, but the underlying concern is legitimate. JetBlue almost certainly didn't know about the funeral. But the system doesn't need to know why you're searching. It just needs to know you're going to keep searching until you buy. Delta's Fetcherr AI pricing engine is live right now, modeling individual booking behavior, device type, and estimated willingness to pay. That capability exists. Legislation addressing it before it becomes universal is not an overreaction. There has always been information asymmetry between providers and individual purchasers - but surveillance pricing as practiced by the likes of Delta/Fetcherr is a qualitative transformation that systematically all but eliminates the negotiating position of the individual purchaser.
The longer question is whether this is even good for airlines. Travelers who notice they are being profiled book less, but the more significant response will likely be market-driven: AI agents probing pricing across devices, locations, and identities to find the floor price for any given seat. Airlines will respond by trying to detect and block such tools, creating an arms race that serves neither side. The historical pattern when corporations gain a significant technological advantage over individuals is that it eventually gets arbitraged away by competing technology, regulation, or both. The only question is how much extraction occurs in the interim.
Unfortunate response by the rep. I don't believe SP is being used by airlines. I have no doubt that they would use it if they could get away with it. I also believe they couldn't use it without it being discovered. That in itself, might prevent the use. Heck, there's a free-market solution here. A business (say big CPA firm) will certify you don't use it for a fee. And, of course, the threat a...
Unfortunate response by the rep. I don't believe SP is being used by airlines. I have no doubt that they would use it if they could get away with it. I also believe they couldn't use it without it being discovered. That in itself, might prevent the use. Heck, there's a free-market solution here. A business (say big CPA firm) will certify you don't use it for a fee. And, of course, the threat a government response might be an overreaction might also dim prospects it will be used. Trust businesses or politicians? Heck no. Trust market forces? Hell, yes.
It's B6. B6 is outright evil. Therefore they did it.
Regardless of this story, Surveillance Pricing is here and will be refined and become the norm in a handful of years. 100% guaranteed.
Doesn't have to be. We outlaw and enforce against other bad practices. It's a choice to allow it.
Bet.
100% guarantee it will not. At minimum, states will ban it if it occurs.
i think Ruben's post wasn't worded perfectly, but i also think you are mis-understanding his point.
read it as "have to travel for a horrible reason? jet blue is going to squeeze you!"
and, survellience pricing is very real... you're remiss to think otherwise.
Not saying JetBlue is correct/incorrect, but a lot of industries make their money when things are done out of necessity for horrible reasons. You're never going to a have a cheap tragedy
it is not real in the airline context. you can get a subscription to expertflyer and look up exactly what the filed fares are for a given route on a given date across each fare bucket/fare basis code. that's always the price you'll see when you search a particular itinerary on the jetblue website, no matter how many times you run the search, unless and until the fare sells out.
Hey , we all know they are gouging us whenever they can . No surprises here .
This myth has been spreading around for well over a decade despite being complete BS (yes, NDS allows it but no airline uses it in practice - I think DL tried briefly and it failed spectacularly), it's in fact my favourite example of how misinformation spreads on the internet irrespective of how little foundation it has in reality.
Yes and no. In this instance I am very certain it is not true. I posted a comment above on how I have tested this.
However, this is true in other things. There is a big box store out there that charges me nearly 50%more for a specific bottle of olive oil than the same thing my sibling pays in their city. I can repeat that result. I also know how to use that to...
Yes and no. In this instance I am very certain it is not true. I posted a comment above on how I have tested this.
However, this is true in other things. There is a big box store out there that charges me nearly 50%more for a specific bottle of olive oil than the same thing my sibling pays in their city. I can repeat that result. I also know how to use that to my advantage and punish them for it. Surprisingly, I think they're on to me because they put a fix in place. But seeing how they rely on lame 3rd rate developers in always one step ahead of them
Every. Single. Day. This comment section has an absolute conniption over Trump calling him every name in the book and spewing hatred. Today, Lucky posts a tweet from a sitting senator who is embroiled in his own sexual misconduct investigation and it's crickets. And don't @ me about Trump did this, Trump did that, you're MAGA trash or whatever. Trump did whatever he did and so did this guy. Let's play it consistantly.
A sitting Senator's inability keep his dick in his pants has zero impact on almost everyone on Planet Earth. Every fuggin' day Trump makes all our lives harder and that's why we call him out every day.
@9C - A lot of people may not even know who that senator is - especially non-US readers of this blog. Everyone, in the entire world, knows who Trump is,
You're MAGA trash. You'll get yours when we get the White House back in '28.
Look I'm gonna be honest here - I don't care that it isn't true at present. I think Gallego's point is that such pricing models are technically possible, so legislation is a good way to prevent surveillance pricing. He's right! Even if it isn't happening actively in this instance, these ideas are under active consideration in huge swaths of corporate America, so that is what Gallego is responding to.
He also wants to be President,...
Look I'm gonna be honest here - I don't care that it isn't true at present. I think Gallego's point is that such pricing models are technically possible, so legislation is a good way to prevent surveillance pricing. He's right! Even if it isn't happening actively in this instance, these ideas are under active consideration in huge swaths of corporate America, so that is what Gallego is responding to.
He also wants to be President, so these kinds of consumer friendly law proposals are a very easy way to raise a national profile.
If they are changing prices based on cookies it should be possible to replicate to prove it?
Its certainly possible that like what seems to be a lot of airline cs, they dont actually know whats going on and are giving incorrect information based on what theyve read on the internet.
What seems to be more common tho, certainly amongst some se asian airlines is to increase the prices based on when ppl actually search...
If they are changing prices based on cookies it should be possible to replicate to prove it?
Its certainly possible that like what seems to be a lot of airline cs, they dont actually know whats going on and are giving incorrect information based on what theyve read on the internet.
What seems to be more common tho, certainly amongst some se asian airlines is to increase the prices based on when ppl actually search for flights. The price goes up and then usually comes back down the next day - but this isnt based on local cookies, as the higher price shows on all devices and ota sites. Maybe jetblue were doing that.
I passed this tip to your inbox early Sunday morning btw.
It's happening (even if they and other corporations deny it), unless and until we actually, meaningfully protect consumers from such deceptive, manipulative tactics.
In 196 days, we can vote for better representatives, some of whom may actually do so; otherwise, we'll keep enshitifying into full-blown corporate feudalism.
This is similar to the “book on a Tuesday” advice some may give.
That, at least, has a historical, statistical basis in reality. (Even if it was never an absolute, and has been out of date for a couple of decades.)
HTF would Jetblue know someone is going to a funeral? Since deregulation airlines have generally always charged more for close in purchase of tickets. A funeral would be one reason. People don't plan their date of death four months in advance.
More personalized pricing is coming in some form, specifically if you're a FF and have a history with the airline. The algo will know your "pain point" and price the fare accordingly. You will...
HTF would Jetblue know someone is going to a funeral? Since deregulation airlines have generally always charged more for close in purchase of tickets. A funeral would be one reason. People don't plan their date of death four months in advance.
More personalized pricing is coming in some form, specifically if you're a FF and have a history with the airline. The algo will know your "pain point" and price the fare accordingly. You will also see it more with individuals like me that if don't buy premium outright purchase the upsell. That's even easier to determine one's breaking point.
George, don't be naive. We click 'accept' for all Terms of Service without diligently reviewing all 1,000 pages of fine-print. These are adhesion contracts anyway (we cannot meaningfully negotiate anything; take-it-or-leave-it, and most cannot afford to 'leave it' as it would be impractical.) So, we give Google/Yahoo/Microsoft/Apple/Samsung, etc. everything already. They know. That's how.
IATA's entire NDC (New Distribution Capability) is based upon customised product offerings for each customer, which is just another name for the same concept. Static distribution systems like today's GDS are a patchwork of legacy systems layered on each other and tied together with shoestrings - they have to evolve and for better or worse, customised product offerings are the way of the future.
NDC is the infrastructure that makes individualized pricing possible, but this isn't speculative anymore. Delta's Fetcherr AI pricing engine is live now, Virgin Atlantic and WestJet run the same system, and documented cases exist of hotels quoting the same room $500 higher based on zip code rather than demand. New York just passed legislation requiring algorithmic pricing disclosure, and laws don't get written for hypothetical practices. The GDS firewall travel agents relied on is eroding...
NDC is the infrastructure that makes individualized pricing possible, but this isn't speculative anymore. Delta's Fetcherr AI pricing engine is live now, Virgin Atlantic and WestJet run the same system, and documented cases exist of hotels quoting the same room $500 higher based on zip code rather than demand. New York just passed legislation requiring algorithmic pricing disclosure, and laws don't get written for hypothetical practices. The GDS firewall travel agents relied on is eroding as NDC expands into the agent channel. This is the present, not the future.
Individuals can fight back partially: use a VPN routed through a lower-income location, search in incognito mode without logging into loyalty accounts, and add membership numbers only after booking. Device switching from Apple to Android has documented benefits for hotel and OTA pricing but is less confirmed for airline base fares. No single countermeasure is complete, but combining them raises the cost of profiling you accurately. For now.
Oh, Sean...All those acronyms make me horny too...IATA. NDC. GDS.
Current laws allow airlines to price down for individual offers, but not up.
Could you elaborate on that. I've never heard of this.
Lmao. Nice gaslighting. You must work for one of those economic cartel lobby groups.
Oh is that the key to their unrealistic over the top profitability?
Yeah, usually deceiving others can be like a temporary 'cheat code' ...but also usually we don't allow those games to be played in a civilized society with rules and laws actually enforced...
The "clear your cookies" thing never made any sense to me.
Let's assume airlines are tracking interest from searches: clearing your cookies would make it look like multiple people are interested in the route. Surely that would make price-gouging more attractive than the route being searched multiple times by a single user?
No, it's because you are registering lots of views for that route/product and the algorithm notices how keen you are and "could" raise the price just for you. I haven't seen it myself. My wife says it happens when she's trying to buy cosmetics...... #roll eyes
Lololol I hope your wife isn't reading this cos someone will sleep in the living room tonight
@UncleRonnie - But even that doesn't make sense. If I keep searching for something, it means that the existing offers aren't acceptable for me so actually lowering the price makes more sense. Usually when I search for a price and then it goes up by the time I finish the purchase, the most likely outcome is that I won't finish the purchase.
You may want to be more nuanced here. The airline likely has no way of knowing about the purpose of your trip (such as a funeral) though they do use public data for events to help predict demand and therefore pricing. However, as revenue management technology gets more sophisticated, servailance pricing becomes more real - identifying interest by what you're looking at, and how many times you're looking at it and using that information with...
You may want to be more nuanced here. The airline likely has no way of knowing about the purpose of your trip (such as a funeral) though they do use public data for events to help predict demand and therefore pricing. However, as revenue management technology gets more sophisticated, servailance pricing becomes more real - identifying interest by what you're looking at, and how many times you're looking at it and using that information with real time pricing to adjust the offer to the customer. We've already seen basic versions of this - OTAs modifying pricing based on iOS/Mac access vs Android/PC access. AI, Data brokers with more and more data to sell, cookies, and other methods of identifying customers, intent and price elasticity means that personalized pricing will become a day to day reality.