I think that this is a key question for a lot of people. I used Gary's service and couldn't be happier, however I did wonder what tools he used to find the great options he found. I didn't care enough to ask directly, because I'll likely never have the time to learn them all, and ponying up $250 for his service (or Lucky/Ben's or whomever's) is of real value to me.

But as far as educating others, yeah, knowing which of the tools our experts use (e.g., expertflyer? ITA? KVS?) would probably be quite helpful to those who are inclined to do it all themselves.