Originally Posted by
Flying Yazata
Yeah, that was my gripe as well with them, back when I used KVS for the first time for one year. At least it sounds like scraping, if you need to create FFP accounts.
I've understood they'd be good for finding awards, but not sure I want to create n+1 FFP accounts for that. As for AA redemptions, the availability has gone quite a lot for the discounted redemptions, which partners can book, so not sure KVS will be any better for hunting those.
It is not a huge deal to sign up for free accounts for a few FF programs and those I believe are only used to get award availability for that program and possibly pull up enhanced seat maps for elites. You can get a lot of use out of KVS by having one FF account per alliance, so three minimum for the three major alliances (Star, OneWorld, SkyTeam), and I am sure you already have at least one of those accounts. If you want to check more programs you can sign up for free FF accounts for those programs. You sign up once and you forget about it. No big deal. The only annoying one is M&M (one of the 4 *A methods) since it now requires you to have a small amount of miles in its account for you to do M&M searches, but there are 3 other *A methods so it's not a deal breaker.
I don't believe non-alliance methods require an account (don't need one for AS, VS, EY).
The fare rules are not pulled from FF accounts so I do not believe you need an FF account for those (check the KVS FAQ, it may have more info). If you have specific concerns not addressed in the KVS FAQ you can PM or email KVS.
If you are not getting the info you need out of EF then it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to sign up for the 2 month KVS so you can try it out. Then you can go annual if you find it useful.
You are right about AA awards. KVS does not provide info on non standard AA award levels (no way to look for AA web special awards). It does get information directly from DL and AF (free FF account required) so it will list enhanced DL and AF award availability.