Those of who who are fellow "refugees" from the bmi forum may remember my Diamond Club earnings calculator. As a newbie to A3, I took a look at the earning tables and noticed things are generally a little more complicated than they were in BD - different minimum mileages depending on fare basis, a wide variety of multipliers, and so on. I like being able to price up a trip pretty quickly in terms of what I'm going to earn, so, I figured it'd be handy to create a nice calculator for Miles&Bonus. And here it is:
(You may have noticed, by the way, that I've named this the "Star Alliance" calculator. My intention is to expand it to some other programmes, but this will take a little time. Turkish will probably be next, for entirely selfish reasons!)
You can enter your flights, pick your airline, enter your fare code, and the calculator will work out what you should earn, taking into account any restrictions, minimum mileages, class of service bonuses, and so on. It may not be perfect - in fact, it probably isn't. If you do notice any issues, please let me know!
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 19,555
I assume that this doesn't work for codeshare flights, so that you must know into what fare class on the operating carrier the fare class of your ticket maps.
Programs: AY+ Platinum, A3*G, OK Gold/E+, TK Elite, QR Silver, FB Gold
Posts: 1,485
Quote:
Originally Posted by orudge
Hello all,
... I like being able to price up a trip pretty quickly in terms of what I'm going to earn, so, I figured it'd be handy to create a nice calculator for Miles&Bonus. And here it is:
Since you opened up for suggestions, I shamelessly write these comments & suggestions
1. Some drop-dows issues:
Drop-downs are not so efficient for power users. I'd rather type "LH" to get Lufthansa than "LU". Putting the IATA codes first in the option-tag may solve the problem, but may look ugly.
Also, typing "LU" and tab in the airline drop-down gives lufthansa, and also refreshes the fare basis drop-down. Good. But after that refresh, no field is marked as active anymore, and the only way getting back to fare basis input, is to use the mouse.
Perhaps you could offer an alternative user interface streamlined for quick entering (using only text-boxes that accepts IATA codes from keyboard and with "tab" to move to next field).
When the user have tabbed to end of row, just automatically insert a new row. If user hits enter (or another designated key) do the calc.
2. I like that you are adding other *-programs too, and TK is a good candidate. If and when you find yourself adding even more programs, I suggest you add another view if the results - a benchmark view. Same input method (add all your segments) but output is instead a table with how many miles may be earned in each program. This will be very useful for people with more than one program.
I assume that this doesn't work for codeshare flights, so that you must know into what fare class on the operating carrier the fare class of your ticket maps.
I'm afraid not, you will indeed need to know the operating carrier's fare class. There was a topic in the bmi forum a while ago that started trying to map fare classes, but it never got very far, particularly as I think it can vary even on a route to route basis with some carriers!
Quote:
Originally Posted by intuition
1. Some drop-dows issues:
Drop-downs are not so efficient for power users. I'd rather type "LH" to get Lufthansa than "LU". Putting the IATA codes first in the option-tag may solve the problem, but may look ugly.
I could perhaps swap those around, or maybe even make it an option. I'll have a play around and see what works best.
Quote:
Also, typing "LU" and tab in the airline drop-down gives lufthansa, and also refreshes the fare basis drop-down. Good. But after that refresh, no field is marked as active anymore, and the only way getting back to fare basis input, is to use the mouse.
What browser are you using? At least with my tests in Firefox, Chrome and IE, I can't reproduce this. It may depend on the speed of your connection though, if perhaps the tab move happens before the list refreshes. I could add some code to forcibly set the focus to the new list, but I'd rather do anything that might cause confusion or weird UI behaviour.
Quote:
Perhaps you could offer an alternative user interface streamlined for quick entering (using only text-boxes that accepts IATA codes from keyboard and with "tab" to move to next field).
When the user have tabbed to end of row, just automatically insert a new row. If user hits enter (or another designated key) do the calc.
That would certainly be possible; I'll add it to my todo list.
Quote:
2. I like that you are adding other *-programs too, and TK is a good candidate. If and when you find yourself adding even more programs, I suggest you add another view if the results - a benchmark view. Same input method (add all your segments) but output is instead a table with how many miles may be earned in each program. This will be very useful for people with more than one program.
That seems like a good idea indeed, and I will also add that to the list.
Programs: AY+ Platinum, A3*G, OK Gold/E+, TK Elite, QR Silver, FB Gold
Posts: 1,485
Quote:
Originally Posted by orudge
...
What browser are you using? At least with my tests in Firefox, Chrome and IE, I can't reproduce this. It may depend on the speed of your connection though, if perhaps the tab move happens before the list refreshes. I could add some code to forcibly set the focus to the new list, but I'd rather do anything that might cause confusion or weird UI behaviour.
...
Safari 5.1.7
It happens only if I actually change the drop-down, and if I do it with text-input. If I type "LU" when the drop-down already is lufthansa, then tab moves to next field as expected.
If I use arrow keys to select from the drop-down, then I must use enter to select that value. With that enter, the focus is still on airline drop down, and the next tab will move normally to fare basis.
(Connection speed should not be an issue, I'm on fibre.)
There is no apparent way (except by looking at the URL) to note which FF program has been selected and if your click has been taken into account. I know that at the moment, this is a minor problem, as there is only one choice, but you may want to think about it when adding TK.
The heading below the list of calculators changes to show "Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus Calculator". I can try to make it more obvious when there are more programmes to choose from.
A few people have e-mailed to tell me that my calculator has been incorrect with regards to some earnings values - I'm afraid I hadn't kept on top of updating it. However, it should now be up-to-date, and easier for me to keep up-to-date on a regular basis. If you do notice anything wrong, please let me know.
A few people have e-mailed to tell me that my calculator has been incorrect with regards to some earnings values - I'm afraid I hadn't kept on top of updating it. However, it should now be up-to-date, and easier for me to keep up-to-date on a regular basis. If you do notice anything wrong, please let me know.
Good work. Found an error:
AC booking classes N, G, P, E, A, T, L, K have a minimum of 250, not 500 as the calculator states.
You should also probably include a disclaimer stating that you are not responsible for any errors.
Wait until someone used your calculator and thought they would get A3*G and then realized that they only got credited for half the miles.
__________________ The views and opinions expressed above are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of, and should not be attributed to, hydrogen.
I see you also implemented changes that are coming in future.
Example I am flying with Turkish Airlines in J next weekend which earns 150% miles until 28.5 and 100% afterward as the J changes to K. Your calculator is already in that 28.5 onward mode.
This is pretty close so not a big problem but are there similar changes that you already made but which are not yet in effect? Something bit further in future?
I took whatever the latest data was from the Aegean site, some of which may well have been future-dated (although I think the only thing was that Turkish change).
It may not be perfect - in fact, it probably isn't. If you do notice any issues, please let me know!
