Mac users might want to think about hitting up a PC the next time they plan on booking a hotel, in light of this report by the Wall Street Journal's Dana Mattioli.
"Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has found that people who use Apple Inc.'s Mac computers spend as much as 30 percent more a night on hotels, so the online travel agency is starting to show them different— and sometimes costlier—travel options than Windows visitors see," Mattioli writes.
The online travel booking site says when they trolled data on Mac and PC user spending habits, a significant trend emerged:
Mac users were 40 percent more likely to book hotels with ratings above 4 stars and spend $20 to $30 more per night for hotel stays.
None of the sites' competitors have decided to milk this trend the way Orbitz has–or at least they weren't willing to tell the WSJ so, anyway––but it's not the first time analysts have taken a closer look at what makes Mac and PC users tick.
A recent study by IT research firm Forrester found that the typical Mac user is considered what it calls "power laptop" users. They work more than 40 hours per week and rake in about 44 percent more income than PCers ($98,560 vs. $74,452).
"Most of the Macs today are being freewheeled into the office by executives, top sales reps, and other workaholics," Forrester noted, which explains why they might be able to afford a little extra legroom in their hotel suite.
And given the fact that Mac users have been found to be a lot better educated than PC users (blame the folks at Hunch.com for that revelation), chances are they'll do the smart thing and surf Orbitz with caution.
CNet's Larry Dignan put it best:
"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."
Take a look at the test-run the WSJ performed to gauge just how different Orbitz hotel search results for Mac and PC users are:
DON'T MISS: This German woman has been living without money for 16 years >
Please follow Your Money on Twitter and Facebook.