Dynamic pricing is about to impact the cost of your holiday travel

If you have ever been unlucky enough to catch an Uber at a peak time then you will know all about dynamic pricing.

It is an algorithm whereby prices rise at busy times, but reduce when demand for services is lower.

Get ready for dynamic pricing at tourist attractions. And be ready to pay more at busy times.

Tourists wanting to visit the Empire State Building’s observation decks in New York City could soon be experiencing the joys of dynamic pricing.

It could cost more than $US100 per person to ascend to the observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors.

The Empire State Realty Trust will implement dynamic pricing with prices to be determined by overall demand. Which they will determine, news portal Travel Mole reports. l

Tickets are currently priced from $79 for an adult, up to $96 for high-demand sunset viewing.

CEO Tony Malkin unveiled the surge pricing policy, saying: “We expect continued growth in 2025. We are still below overall 2019 levels of volume and have room for upside as visitation levels improve.”

Upside means you will pay more.   

The building already has fluid pricing based on the time of day although using a pricing algorithm could see prices surge during high demand periods.

The new policy would algorithmically “monetize high-demand times through the day", Malkin said.

Uber launches more luxury experiences on the water

Rideshare operative and food deliverer Uber is expanding its operations with new offerings of luxe boat services at some of Europe’s top holiday destinations.

Uber Boat is, for instance, launching its service on the party island of Ibiza with Uber Yacht to debut in August.

Uber users will be able to pre-book a private yacht for day use on the Uber app, Travel Mole reports.

The Uber Yacht vessel will depart from Ibiza Town Marina daily at 12pm.

The Sunseeker yacht is available for groups of up to eight people, and priced at €200 per head

Each yacht cruise lasts eight hours with a dedicated skipper, Champagne and snacks.

It will be available to pre-book via Uber Reserve from July 26 with a minimum of 24 hours notice.

Uber is also launching an innovative ‘Limo Boat’ on-demand service to get visitors around Venice. It will costs €120 per trip for up to six people and is bookable on demand.

Uber Boat in Greece will expand from Mykonos to Athens, Corfu and Santorini, also bookable on the Uber app while in Paris this summer a River Seine cruise by an all-electric boat is available on the app.

It comprises a private Champagne cruise tour passing iconic monuments like the Notre Dame, The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.

Data from summer 2023, shows demand from international customers for Uber mobility services increased by up to 55% in places like Greece and Spain.

More than 6.5 million international visitors used the Uber app in Europe’s top destinations last summer.

Anabel Diaz, vice-president EMEA Mobility at Uber, said: “This summer we are adding a series of bucket-list-worthy nautical experiences to the Uber app in some of Europe’s hottest destinations.”

Availability of Uber Yacht, Uber Cruise, and all other Uber Boat trips will be limited and subject to weather conditions.

Is Uber failing the test of time?

UPDATED with Uber quotes

Remember when everyone thought Uber was a great idea?

It doesn't seem so long ago, does it?

A cheaper option to black cabs, driven by people trying to make an extra buck on the side, with fares that seemed fair.

Until they didn't.

Apps that would deliver a driver to you in minutes? 

Until they didn't.   

And then some of the drivers turned out to be just as obnoxious as some of the black cab drivers.

Whose navigation skills were severely limited, and who followed their SatNav regardless.

Oh and how fares surged at peak times, sometimes making Uber much more expensive than black cabs.

And the difficulty in tracking down an Uber driver if you had an issue.  

I am no lover of the cab industry - in London I used to have a regular mini cab driver I used (hello Maurice!) rather than standard cabs.

I was never taken in by the Uber hype.

You have to wonder what the Uber fans have to say about yesterday's debacle in Sydney, where the train system went out and The New Daily reported an Uber trip that was normally about $39 surged to $500.

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott slammed Uber for trying to profit from an unfortunate situation.

“I’m absolutely disgusted that Uber have decided to take advantage of an unfortunate situation in Sydney,” he said.

“I have had consistent reassurances from Uber this wouldn’t occur.”

Uber’s website says that there are times when customer demand outweighs the number of drivers they have logged on at that time, with an increase in price helping “ensure that those who need a ride can get one”.

Uber did, to its credit, offer refunds to those it had gouged. And its very slick PR team quickly sent GOTR a statement, which is repeated below.

"In the past we have been alerted by Transport for NSW when there were Sydney-wide transport issues, however, in this instance we were not informed of the complete outage on the NSW train network until well after it began," a spokesman said. 

"As soon as our team became aware of the train disruption, we immediately lowered and capped surge to still incentivise driver-partners who were helping Sydneysiders get home, while making rides more affordable for those stranded.

"Surge pricing happens in real time when demand for rides exceeds the number of driver-partners online and works to attract more drivers to the area. In this case, we proactively reduced and capped that surge and communicated with driver-partners to let them know about the increased rider demand and encourage them to come online and help provide a ride to those who needed one. This approach was communicated to Transport for NSW and the Minister’s office.

"Any rider that was charged an additional amount above that surge cap, for the full duration of the outage, will be auto refunded within the next 48 hours.”