Orbitz Charges Mac Users More for Hotel Rooms

The Mac Tax 2.0: Higher Prices for Mac Users on Orbitz

Flight- and hotel search site Orbitz charges you more if you use a Mac, it turns out. The Wall Street Journal found that Mac users were quoted $20-$30 more per night on hotel queries, compared to their PC-using counterparts.

Orbitz confirmed that it is using user-agent info to segment its visitors, and quoting higher hotel rates to Mac users, who, as a group, have demonstrated a willingness to pay more for hotel rooms in the past.

Photos

Orbitz Overcharges Mac Users for Hotel Rooms

see larger image

uploaded by Jordan Yerman

We all know about "the Mac tax", in which we're charged double for arguably under-powered hardware (they're shinier, lower-maintenance, and safer than PCs), but this is just getting silly. That Mac owners tend to have higher incomes is irrelevant. If you got a 20% raise at work today, should your local coffee shop start charging you and extra buck because of that?

Obviously, I recommend that Mac users avoid Orbitz for booking hotel rooms. Duh. Try Priceline, Expedia, or a good ol' fashioned travel agent.

Orbitz described its move as an experiment. Hey, Orbitz, I think I may have a reasonable guess as to how your little experiment is going to turn out.

Note that Hipmunk uses the Orbitz engine, which sucks, since Hipmunk has such a brilliant user interface.

[I'm a Mac user. Believe me, I'm not filing this story from the f&cking Hamptons.]