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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 12:58 pm
  #27  
camachinist
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Programs: AA 'kettle', Marriott Gold, ICH Gld, Hertz 5*
Posts: 5,255
Are there any other tools that do support this [award/upgrade data] on United?
Seatcounter does, but it just packages .bomb data in a more convenient format. Short of an Apollo access subscription, I don't know of any other relatively inexpensive sources, but would be happy to find out

I like EF mainly for the ability to store canned itins/seat maps/fare information/flight stats, in addition to easy access to fare rules (though formatting could be better) and routings. At the 1P level now (for 08), I'm on the fence for next year (just renewed EF through 10/08). We'll see.

Big continuing negative for me is lack of accurate data on E+ seat maps (on EF). If they were able to access that data (UA is restricting access AFAIK) and award/upgrade data, I'd gladly renew even as a lower level flyer.

As mentioned, ITA is a good tool for ferreting out specific fares once one learns how to code for it. I've also noticed a lot more speed/functionality errors in the last year as more and more people use the tool and assume they are limiting speed/accesses more (since it's "free"). My usual progression is farecompare, then expertflyer, then ITA, then .bomb, if I'm just looking for mileage run deals, whether in economy or premium cabins. I don't travel on business, so specific dates are irrelevant to me. YMMV

Pat
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