Tinder users over 30 to pay twice as much for U.S. premium service

Tinder has finally launched its much-hyped premium app, Tinder Plus.

Equipped with everything from unlimited liking to international search capabilities, the new paid version of Tinder’s service will bring enhanced tools for online dating, hook-up seeking and funny-profile cruising to users in the U.S. for just $9.99 per month.

Unless those users happen to be over the age of 30 — in which case they’ll be paying twice as much to use Tinder Plus.

Don’t fire off an angry email just yet though; Tinder’s 30-and-over price surge applies only to users in the U.S.

In Europe, the app’s cost skyrockets roughly 400 per cent when users are only 28.

While Tinder has yet to announce how much its new service will cost when launched in Canada, the L.A. Times reports that users in some developing countries will only pay about $2.99 US per month.

The age-based pricing scale for users in the U.S. and Europe was developed based on tests (conducted by Tinder) that revealed younger people aren’t willing to pay as much for premium mobile dating services.

"Lots of products offer differentiated price tiers by age, like Spotify does for students, for example," said Tinder’s vice-president of corporate communications, Rosette Pambakian, to Mashable. "Tinder is no different; during our testing we’ve learned, not surprisingly, that younger users are just as excited about Tinder Plus, but are more budget constrained, and need a lower price to pull the trigger."

Tech Crunch shared a different take on the pricing structure in a Tuesday article called new Tinder charges whatever it wants:  "It’s Uber’s Surge pricing model applied to romantic endeavours."

And just like Uber’s oft-slammed surge pricing practices, many are ticked off about how much older (if 29 can be considered "older?") users are being charged for Tinder Plus.

"[This is] actual, literal, blatant ageism, right? There's no 'more material' argument here. Same exact service, completely different price just for being older," wrote Marci Robin for the Daily Dot on Wednesday.

"I cannot think of a justifiable reason to charge people who aren't 20-something twice as much," she continued. "Is it a jab at people who are ‘still single’ in their 30s? Do they think we're more desperate and, therefore, willing to spend more money?"

"In trying to appeal to youth, Tinder is alienating the only people who might be willing to pay for it," wrote Mic's Ellie Krupnick. "The payment model is ostensibly about cutting poorly paid millennials a break … but more likely, it's about sending the message that Tinder is for the young and the hip, with a 'keep out' sign for older folks."

Many on Twitter appear to agree.

Some may be irked about the new service’s pay structure, but plenty of other Tinder users (more than half of whom fall into the 18-24 demographic as of September 2014) simply seem excited about the idea of undoing accidental "left swipes."  

"If you accidentally swiped left on someone you want to get to know, they're no longer lost in the Tindersphere forever," reads Tinder’s blog post about the new features. "Now you can get him/her back with the touch of a button." 

The post also explains the premium app’s "Passport" feature, which lets singles search for dates in cities all over the world — regardless of where they’re swiping from.