WillyNily
Aug 11, 06, 6:47 pm
OK folks...
What I've found is that a good majority of the time, Fare Metric's Route expander (http://www.faremetrics.com/) does not work.
When all else fails, pen, paper and a guide (elsewhere here) for manually expanding routes using the routing rules would seem fail proof.
Here are the rules:
1) You get to choose one FROM, one TO, and optionally one VIA from the OR's.
2) When you see a slash ("/") that means you get to choose exactly one of the cities that are slashed together (that's why MSP-DFW fails)
3) You can exclude connection points that exist in the routing - eg. if it says AAA-BBB-CCC, you can go AAA-CCC (provided there isn't some other explicit rule like "All flights from AAA to CCC must be via BBB").
4) You need the carrier to fly direct between the points on your route - e.g. a lot of SFO routes will say something like SFO-UA-SJC/OAK-ORD. But there are no direct flights from SFO to SJC or OAK so they are useless to you.
5) There of course needs to be inventory in the appropriate bucket for the fare.
6) When you notice a loophole in a routing, you should not post about it as it risks the loophole being closed. e.g. if you find out that MIA-BOS-FLL-SEA-SAN-PDX is a valid routing (Im rather sure it's not), don't give it any unwanted attention as the airline lurkers may decide to "fix" it (much the way cats and dogs are "fixed" by the vet. Feel free to make vague references and to PM your friends and tell folks at do's just don't make it easy for someone to cut and paste your post into an email to the fare desk.
However, I get the feeling that either I'm flaming stupid or the above guide needs some touch up. Additionally, what I haven't seen is too many real life good examples in application.
So.. I've established this thread for folks to paste some routing rules along with possible routes (the goal here is to construct the longest, most complex routes known to mankind!)
Rules of engagement:
To prevent concerns under rule #6 above, please do a search and replace on ALL airports and replace them with AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EEE, FFF, etc.
Let the fun begin!
What I've found is that a good majority of the time, Fare Metric's Route expander (http://www.faremetrics.com/) does not work.
When all else fails, pen, paper and a guide (elsewhere here) for manually expanding routes using the routing rules would seem fail proof.
Here are the rules:
1) You get to choose one FROM, one TO, and optionally one VIA from the OR's.
2) When you see a slash ("/") that means you get to choose exactly one of the cities that are slashed together (that's why MSP-DFW fails)
3) You can exclude connection points that exist in the routing - eg. if it says AAA-BBB-CCC, you can go AAA-CCC (provided there isn't some other explicit rule like "All flights from AAA to CCC must be via BBB").
4) You need the carrier to fly direct between the points on your route - e.g. a lot of SFO routes will say something like SFO-UA-SJC/OAK-ORD. But there are no direct flights from SFO to SJC or OAK so they are useless to you.
5) There of course needs to be inventory in the appropriate bucket for the fare.
6) When you notice a loophole in a routing, you should not post about it as it risks the loophole being closed. e.g. if you find out that MIA-BOS-FLL-SEA-SAN-PDX is a valid routing (Im rather sure it's not), don't give it any unwanted attention as the airline lurkers may decide to "fix" it (much the way cats and dogs are "fixed" by the vet. Feel free to make vague references and to PM your friends and tell folks at do's just don't make it easy for someone to cut and paste your post into an email to the fare desk.
However, I get the feeling that either I'm flaming stupid or the above guide needs some touch up. Additionally, what I haven't seen is too many real life good examples in application.
So.. I've established this thread for folks to paste some routing rules along with possible routes (the goal here is to construct the longest, most complex routes known to mankind!)
Rules of engagement:
To prevent concerns under rule #6 above, please do a search and replace on ALL airports and replace them with AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EEE, FFF, etc.
Let the fun begin!