Travel Tools - Announcing a new Star Alliance reward availability lookup tool!

Hi everyone,

So since I felt there weren't ENOUGH *A reward availability sites out there, I went and wrote one - and where else to announce it but on FT :) I actually started the same thread on MilesBuzz, but I think that was the wrong place for it - allthough the mods didn't move it (and the thread died anyway), so I am re-trying here.

It's completely free - for now, anyway, and it basically allows you to search Aeroplan (anonymously) and ANA (with registration/input of your ANA credentials) availability in a HTML5-compatible (i.e. it'll work on your iPhone/iPad/Android/whatever device, in addition to your PC - Chrome-optimised!) layout.

The URL is http://flisea.com. Once again - you don't NEED to register, but you MUST if you want to use a) ANA, or b) scheduled watchlist function (!) - it'll let you schedule a search and run once daily to try to find whatever segment it is you're trying to get your paws on.

Thanks, and please feel free to suggest new features, find bugs, and other stuff like that. It's a work in progress.

-pN

Hi everyone,

So since I felt there weren't ENOUGH *A reward availability sites out there, I went and wrote one - and where else to announce it but on FT :) I actually started the same thread on MilesBuzz, but I think that was the wrong place for it - allthough the mods didn't move it (and the thread died anyway), so I am re-trying here.

It's completely free - for now, anyway, and it basically allows you to search Aeroplan (anonymously) and ANA (with registration/input of your ANA credentials) availability in a HTML5-compatible (i.e. it'll work on your iPhone/iPad/Android/whatever device, in addition to your PC - Chrome-optimised!) layout.

The URL is http://flisea.com. Once again - you don't NEED to register, but you MUST if you want to use a) ANA, or b) scheduled watchlist function (!) - it'll let you schedule a search and run once daily to try to find whatever segment it is you're trying to get your paws on.

Thanks, and please feel free to suggest new features, find bugs, and other stuff like that. It's a work in progress.

-pN

Just took a quick look - nice design! Did a few searches - will take closer look when I have a bit of time.

Nice work Pseudo Nim.

ZH

Just took a quick look - nice design! Did a few searches - will take closer look when I have a bit of time.

Nice work Pseudo Nim.

ZH

Thanks for the positive feedback - let me know if any weirdness crops up.

Thanks for the effort.

When I load your site in Firefox, I don't get a place to input the return date which prompts an error upon search.

Thanks for the effort.

When I load your site in Firefox, I don't get a place to input the return date which prompts an error upon search.

Thanks for the comment! Could you PM me the exact error that you get? I used to have a return functionality, but I have removed it as the point of the tool is to search for segments, so return date should not be relevant and you should no longer see that error.

had a dummy search for LHR-FRA 25FEB.
It's showing First class availability for the business class.

had a dummy search for LHR-FRA 25FEB.
It's showing First class availability for the business class.

What do you mean? Just tried it, if I select only "First", I get no hits. If I select only "Business", I get a few flights. Not sure I understand?

Moving this thread to the Star Alliance forum. Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
TravelBuzz co-moderator

Moving this thread to the Star Alliance forum. Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
TravelBuzz co-moderator

No problem, I was just following where the other threads of similar nature ended up. :) Thanks!

Moving this thread to the Star Alliance forum. Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
TravelBuzz co-moderator

I don't know if I did something wrong but I tried registering so I could use my ANA number.

I never got a confirmation email and the website was constantly processing my registration.

Let me know if I need to PM any personal info.

I don't know if I did something wrong but I tried registering so I could use my ANA number.

I never got a confirmation email and the website was constantly processing my registration.

Let me know if I need to PM any personal info.

Please PM me the username you used, and I'll see what's up.

Pseudo Nim, this is amazing, thank you.

Pseudo Nim, this is amazing, thank you.

I agree , a very nice tool, well designed too.
Thank you kindly for your effort.
Just wondering if I will receive an email if there is a find on a saved search or do I just keep logging on to the site?
Any possibility of adding in a connecting city for a two segment itinerary as on the Ana search engine?

Pseudo Nim, this is amazing, thank you.

I agree , a very nice tool, well designed too.
Thank you kindly for your effort.
Just wondering if I will receive an email if there is a find on a saved search or do I just keep logging on to the site?

Thanks for the positive feedback. Send me bugs if you find them. Had some downtime a few hours ago btw, sorry about that.

And Paiteaw: yep you'll receive an email. That's the beauty of the feature. :)

What time zone is the scheduled search based ?
Do you have any idea what time ANA updates ?

What time zone is the scheduled search based ?
Do you have any idea what time ANA updates ?

Schedule is EST-based. Not sure when ANA updates; I would *figure* it's during the day in Japan, though. Btw, the scheduled search uses Aeroplan, not ANA (at least for now). Might add that as a premium feature, not sure.

Great tool, good job, thanks!

Great tool, good job, thanks!

Thanks.

Btw, it looks like registration is broken in IE8. If you are using that browser, either try using another one, or perhaps "Compatibility Mode" - see if that helps.

Also ANA +/- 1/2 day is broken at the moment, working on a fix.

Good Job and Thanks!
Is there a possibility to include TATL routing from USA to SE Asia?

Good Job and Thanks!
Is there a possibility to include TATL routing from USA to SE Asia?

Unfortunately, that would be hard without embarking on a wholesale rewrite of the tool to source published routings à la KVS and superimposing them on availabilities. Doable? Totally. But since it's a hobby first and foremost, time is unlikely to allow :)

Woohoo! Multi-day searching on ANA is now fixed. :D

Would it be difficult put a drop down menu box for selecting the month instead of having to click through to reach the distant months ?

Would it be difficult put a drop down menu box for selecting the month instead of having to click through to reach the distant months ?

It's actually fairly easy. The only problem is that so far I tried a few different calendars, and someone complained about every and each one of them :) So I'm not sure. If there is consensus, I can change it to any of the ones on the http://dev.jtsage.com/jQM-DateBox/ page - up on the right, under "Mode Demos". Currently, if you access the page with a mobile device, you get a different calendar, a more finger-suitable one.

Pseudo Nim, thank you very much for your post

Pseudo Nim,
Thanks for your reply. My previous post is merely a suggestion.
Your program is quite useful & most elegant in it's simplicity. Keep up the good work, and thanks again.

Pseudo Nim,
Thanks for your reply. My previous post is merely a suggestion.
Your program is quite useful & most elegant in it's simplicity. Keep up the good work, and thanks again.

All suggestions are appreciated :) I am actually considering putting this as an option on the settings page - everyone can have their own calendar! hehe.

Welp, for what it's worth, I'm embarking on the premium featureset that I'll want to charge a few bucks for. What's available right now won't change - so if you like it as is, go ahead and keep using it. But I'll add a few premium features that some people may appreciate. For now, only three, but sorta important ones:

- hourly search frequency (instead of once a day)
- can choose whether to use Aeroplan or ANA for scheduled searches (or both, really) - since results do differ sometimes.
- increased number of watchlist items

More to come as I think of them. For now I don't have any method of actually paying for a membership (I kind of focussed on getting features up instead of a way for paying for them - I got my priorities straight :) ) but if you want this membership, I figure it should be around 9.95 a month - seems competitive with the other offers out there - please msg me and we'll sort something out.

Nice work! Also looks great on an iPad!

Nice work! Also looks great on an iPad!

It was initially designed for iPhone / iPad (since I wanted it for myself on the go) so I do my best to maintain compatibility :)

Pseudo Nim - many thanks for creating this - really nice job! I am having some difficulty though - for example, I tried looking at availability for Jan., 2013 for LAX-AKL or for LAX-RAR - nothing came up (used both Aero and ANA). Then, I went on CO.com, and did find the Sunday flights from LAX-RAR (but again, not with your tool) -- am I missing doing something?

Pseudo Nim - many thanks for creating this - really nice job! I am having some difficulty though - for example, I tried looking at availability for Jan., 2013 for LAX-AKL or for LAX-RAR - nothing came up (used both Aero and ANA). Then, I went on CO.com, and did find the Sunday flights from LAX-RAR (but again, not with your tool) -- am I missing doing something?

Interesting. It's *possible* CO shows different availability, but should still match at least one of AE/ANA. Could you PM me your searches? I'll check. Thanks!

Actually, I did now find flights for this April (various choices), but couldn't find anything for next January (or even this November) -- does the tool perhaps not pick up on seats out that far or something?

Actually, I did now find flights for this April (various choices), but couldn't find anything for next January (or even this November) -- does the tool perhaps not pick up on seats out that far or something?

Very curious. I will check. I think ANA publishes at around 330 days (or even 300) but pretty sure Aeroplan is at 350... Hm.

A very basic question- I see the flights, but how do I know if there is availability?

A very basic question- I see the flights, but how do I know if there is availability?

If you perform a search, and you get results back, that means there's availability on the segments that are shown for the dates/class/num of people you selected :)

This seems a really excellent site!! Very easy to use and intuitive (I haven't tried to actually get tickets, but fun to play around). Works well with Firefox.

Sounds great Pseudo Nim. Site seems to be down now - can't access. Hopefully just a glitch in the matrix.

Sounds great Pseudo Nim. Site seems to be down now - can't access. Hopefully just a glitch in the matrix.

Yep, experiencing some downtime at the moment - working with the service provider to restore... thinking of moving to EC2. Sigh.

Thanks so much for this. Thanks to you we now have our Disneyland trip booked! I had been on the phone for days to a Singapore Airlines person trying to find available dates and he ended up not calling me back so had given up hope on this trip till I found your tool and found the dates myself...called up and all booked!

Thanks so much for this. Thanks to you we now have our Disneyland trip booked! I had been on the phone for days to a Singapore Airlines person trying to find available dates and he ended up not calling me back so had given up hope on this trip till I found your tool and found the dates myself...called up and all booked!

Awesome. I'm glad it worked out for you :)

It is nicely designed! I am going to do some mock tests tonight.

This is terrific!! Extremely user-friendly and much easier to read than the airlines websites, at least those I use.

I've been using just the AP search because I don't have an ANA account. Do you think I would get better availability if I took the time to set up an ANA account? Thanks!

This is terrific!! Extremely user-friendly and much easier to read than the airlines websites, at least those I use.

I've been using just the AP search because I don't have an ANA account. Do you think I would get better availability if I took the time to set up an ANA account? Thanks!

Nah, not likely. You would get alternate routing results, but it's a bit unlikely (slough nothing is impossible, I suppose) that you'd see a seat with ANA and be able to get Aeroplan to give it to you. I *have* seen flights on, for instance, LH show F availability on ANA and only J/Y on AP, but I doubt AP can give you that seat anyway.

Then again... The ANA account IS free :)

Thanks Pseudo Nim.

is there any way you can search only for multisector flights.

I.E UA 888.

Is there a tool that would show days a paticular flight is avaiable? like if i wanted to see if UA 888 had award seat from PEK-LAX via SFO

something like that.

Thanks Pseudo Nim.

is there any way you can search only for multisector flights.

I.E UA 888.

Is there a tool that would show days a paticular flight is avaiable? like if i wanted to see if UA 888 had award seat from PEK-LAX via SFO

something like that.

Hmm. Unfortunately, that's a tough one. Basically you're asking to do a search by published routing, I'm assuming - unfortunately, that isn't supported for now. I am *thinking* of writing it (to look for LAX-SYD routing on SQ, for instance) but it's a bit low priority since it's hard, and the site's a hobby that doesn't even make beer money. Maybe sometime. :)

Hi Pseudo Nim,
Thanks for sharing your hobby project with FT community^

Right now there seems to be a bug when you manually enter a watchlist item
After clicking save you get a blank screen (in firefox)

And a suggestion for limiting searches by being able to specify departure time range. For non-direct flights, you sometimes get a lot of possibilities. And even for direct flights on dense routes like LHR-JFK.

But a great tool, especially the watchlist feature:D

Cheers
NJviking

Thanks for the feedback :) Time limiting is an interesting thought - I'll consider it. Could you PM me what you're inputting in the watchlist that you get a blank screen? I've been playing with it lately and it's been ok... could be just me tho.

The Community Director has asked that this thread be move to the new Travel Tools forum. Please continue posting there.


Markie - Mod, *A

Pseudo Nim, any thoughts of adding Skyteam searches? Not sure how complex that would be - just a thought.

BTW - tool is very nice... made it very easy for me to find 4 business seats for a trip next year :) ^

ZH.

The Community Director has asked that this thread be move to the new Travel Tools forum. Please continue posting there.


Markie - Mod, *A

Aaaaand another move, here we go :) Thanks Markie.

Pseudo Nim, any thoughts of adding Skyteam searches? Not sure how complex that would be - just a thought.

BTW - tool is very nice... made it very easy for me to find 4 business seats for a trip next year :) ^

ZH.

Hehe, thanks. Skyteam is quite doable, as is CO. The only real limitation is.... well.... I don't really redeem through Skyteam, and nobody pays for the site, so it's pretty much limited by time and effort. :)

Speaking of - if anyone wants to pay for a premium membership, PM me - you get more watchlist searches, can watch for point differences (like last December's crazy promo), and you help me buy tasty overpriced airport food when I am in Air Canada's MLL lounges (since, well, they HAVE NONE! grrrr)

Great idea, but I was unable to register...and also, at the moment, there's no place to enter a 'return' date of travel

Thank you

Great idea, but I was unable to register...and also, at the moment, there's no place to enter a 'return' date of travel

PM me what happened when you tried to register. Btw - site doesn't seem to work with IE (any version) - investigating still.

Lack of return date is by design. I used to have one, but then realised - there isn't much point, as I'm not competing with the relative simplicity of one-click solutions offered by Aeroplan.com and others - my goal is to provide segment-by-segment search functionality, and few of the people needing it will even use the return date field - requiring an extra input with little added benefit.

Sorry. . . maybe this is a stupid question, but what is the green dollar sign next to some of the flight segments signify?

Sorry. . . maybe this is a stupid question, but what is the green dollar sign next to some of the flight segments signify?

Ahh - it means segments for which you would have to pay YQ fees. Based on the latest list released by Aeroplan.

Btw, totally off topic, but NICE North Korea pics. How did you get there? Tourism or business/government of some sort?

Ahh - it means segments for which you would have to pay YQ fees. Based on the latest list released by Aeroplan.

Btw, totally off topic, but NICE North Korea pics. How did you get there? Tourism or business/government of some sort?

Thanks. . . and thanks. I went on a tour arranged through Koryo tours from Beijing (much to the surprise of many, it is legal for Americans to go on tours into North Korea. . . Cuba, no. . . but North Korea, yes).

Thanks. . . and thanks. I went on a tour arranged through Koryo tours from Beijing (much to the surprise of many, it is legal for Americans to go on tours into North Korea. . . Cuba, no. . . but North Korea, yes).

Wow, that IS surprising, indeed. Congrats - that's an awesome trip for sure. :)

I've got to get in on that before the regime changes (but then again...... who knows when that'll be). On my list of things to do in life, the Concorde was retired before I could get on it, so hoping that I don't miss this one :)

Thanks for your hard work.

Salut Pseudo Nim,

Nice search tool! I'm slowly getting familiar with it.

Would it be possible to select more than four pax? Or is there some limitation (aside from availability!) preventing this?

Cheers,

Whitey

Salut Pseudo Nim,

Nice search tool! I'm slowly getting familiar with it.

Would it be possible to select more than four pax? Or is there some limitation (aside from availability!) preventing this?

Cheers,

Whitey

Yep, it's totally possible. I can change it. The only issue is I don't think I have EVER seen more than 4 seats released anywhere, anytime - hence the logic behind it. But I will raise the dropdown to 8, it won't make the searches slower or anything, just less likely to find seats :)

Yep, it's totally possible. I can change it. The only issue is I don't think I have EVER seen more than 4 seats released anywhere, anytime - hence the logic behind it. But I will raise the dropdown to 8, it won't make the searches slower or anything, just less likely to find seats :)

Wow, 8! Now you're really going to get my hopes up... I actually only need 5, but I have yet to see (and look for) anything more than 5... on the same routing, that is :). I just saw 5 YUL-FRA-LHR-YUL for this June. Not priority rewards, but $640/pax in fees :eek:.

The best I've had so far was 3 J to FCO on LX in late June a couple of years back.

Thanks!

W.

Wow, 8! Now you're really going to get my hopes up... I actually only need 5, but I have yet to see (and look for) anything more than 5... on the same routing, that is :). I just saw 5 YUL-FRA-LHR-YUL for this June. Not priority rewards, but $640/pax in fees :eek:.

The best I've had so far was 3 J to FCO on LX in late June a couple of years back.

Thanks!

W.

No worries :) I haven't actually tested with the data source providers to see whether 8 is even a valid maximum, but enh. I figure nobody will actually go that high. Changed, enjoy :)

Looks lıke I put the wrong ınfo for my ANA account, how do I change thıs?

Looks lıke I put the wrong ınfo for my ANA account, how do I change thıs?

Mmm. An "edit your settings" page is long overdue indeed :) I'll put one up today.

Eagerly waiting...

This is a fantastic tool. Thanks alot. Just FYI, one of the bugs I find is when searching for a flight that has a +1 day, the connecting flight shows the old day.

EG: I searched IAD - ADD. The second segment should be Dec 26, not Dec 25.

IAD - FRA
Flight: UA916
Equipment:
Depart: Dec 25 17:15
Arrive: Dec 26 07:10+1
Class: Business

FRA - ADD
Flight: LH598
Equipment:
Depart: Dec 25 10:15
Arrive: Dec 25 20:50
Class: Business

Ok... a few updates!

- the LONG, LONG overdue page for changing your password (and recovering a forgotten one) is now up.
- I have reduced the watchlist functionality to one flight. Reason is, the backend data provider has changed their system in such a way that only personal logins work now, and I certainly don't want the login I use to get banned if everyone has a dozen watchlists. I think this should be fine, and more will be available in a premium version - please PM me if you want to be a premium member, we'll sort out a fair deal.

This is a fantastic tool. Thanks alot. Just FYI, one of the bugs I find is when searching for a flight that has a +1 day, the connecting flight shows the old day.

EG: I searched IAD - ADD. The second segment should be Dec 26, not Dec 25.

IAD - FRA
Flight: UA916
Equipment:
Depart: Dec 25 17:15
Arrive: Dec 26 07:10+1
Class: Business

FRA - ADD
Flight: LH598
Equipment:
Depart: Dec 25 10:15
Arrive: Dec 25 20:50
Class: Business

Thanks for the feedback! I actually am not able to replicate this - maybe you can PM me with some flights where you see this and I'll see what's up (the above itinerary is not available anymore, I guess, so I can't see it). Other flights on this itinerary but with LH, rather than ET on the last leg, seem to display fine.

Great tool!... I signed up but I might have entered the wrong ANA credentials as the search does not work. how do I update my profile

LifeMiles searching now added. Note that multi-day searching doesn't work yet, and only one class of service can be searched at a time on LifeMiles (i.e. you can't search for economy, business AND first in one search).

I really like it , thanks for all the effort .

Thanks Pseudo.

Searched Lifemiles, worked good. Doesn't it start showing airport code as you start typing.

Thanks for your effort.

Dracs

This is a nice tool. It would be good to be able to order results by duration.

Thanks Pseudo.

Searched Lifemiles, worked good. Doesn't it start showing airport code as you start typing.

Thanks for your effort.

Dracs

Thanks! That is actually a fairly easy feature to add, but I figured since everyone just types in 3-letter codes, I would just use that. But you're probably right - I should add that functionality.

This is a nice tool. It would be good to be able to order results by duration.

Good idea. I will look into that. The only real issue is some providers do not give me a duration (like ANA) - I have to "guess" it... so some stuff will always be off. But better than nothing, right? :)

Thanks. . . and thanks. I went on a tour arranged through Koryo tours from Beijing (much to the surprise of many, it is legal for Americans to go on tours into North Korea. . . Cuba, no. . . but North Korea, yes).

Not to wander too far OT but just in case anybody reads the above and thinks Cuba is off-limits, that's no longer the case. Just has to be with specified travel agencies, e.g., OAT Travel, and include a "cultural" element.

I went in the mid-70's on official business when the Russians were there in force. It's a bit like Myanmar, untouched by the tourist hordes for half a century. Time travel!!