Old May 18, 2015, 2:32 am
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Earn Your Wings - Fourth Edition

Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:12 pm
  #16  
 
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If only they did announce it! I don't have an email as of yet from AC.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:17 pm
  #17  
 
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So. If I hack into canadiancow's computer, purchase all the same tickets as him, then do 1 extra segment, I win the game?
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:18 pm
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by canadiancow
Wait... the badges listed are the same as v3. I hope they change, since I gave away the winning itinerary for that :\
You might've given away the winning itinerary, but someone still needs to be crazy enough to fly it

If there are any semi-sane ways to earn wings for this, I'm in.

Also, bookings must be made between now and May 30th. What were the booking dates for last year's EYW? I recall I counted a SYD-LHR return trip towards my total in November, and I don't think I booked it more than a 4-5 weeks in advance.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:23 pm
  #19  
alc
 
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Originally Posted by SearsTower
If only they did announce it! I don't have an email as of yet from AC.
my email just came in at 6:22pm.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:23 pm
  #20  
 
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OK, email just arrived - guess it is now official. How hard is it to send in the morning?
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:25 pm
  #21  
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Originally Posted by alc
my email just came in at 6:22pm.

Exactly, 6:22:05 PM ET

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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:25 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by SearsTower
If only they did announce it! I don't have an email as of yet from AC.
Same.

Edit: Still no email

Originally Posted by SparseFlyer
So. If I hack into canadiancow's computer, purchase all the same tickets as him, then do 1 extra segment, I win the game?
I was only 2nd last time

Originally Posted by kraftdinner_
You might've given away the winning itinerary, but someone still needs to be crazy enough to fly it

If there are any semi-sane ways to earn wings for this, I'm in.

Also, bookings must be made between now and May 30th. What were the booking dates for last year's EYW? I recall I counted a SYD-LHR return trip towards my total in November, and I don't think I booked it more than a 4-5 weeks in advance.
Yeah, but last time, I don't think anyone else even came close to such a time-optimized* itinerary to dominate the leaderboard. That work has now been published if the badges are the same.

In v3, The booking window and flying window had the same start date, but the booking window ended a month or so before the flying window ended, same as v4. This allowed me to publish my route before the contest ended, without fear of poachers booking cow+1

*It is very important to note that my itinerary was optimized to earn the most badges possible in a 9 day period (weekend + week + weekend). It was not optimized for cost. And it was not trying to fit in any "real" trips. The entire itinerary was booked just for the contest. If you have to fly weekly anyway, there are likely some very different things you can do that will take significantly less money and (extra) time than what I did.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:36 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by canadiancow
*It is very important to note that my itinerary was optimized to earn the most badges possible in a 9 day period (weekend + week + weekend). It was not optimized for cost. And it was not trying to fit in any "real" trips. The entire itinerary was booked just for the contest. If you have to fly weekly anyway, there are likely some very different things you can do that will take significantly less money and (extra) time than what I did.
If you coded the whole thing, why don't you just add a price aggregator and add a constraint for $/badge?
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:39 pm
  #24  
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Originally Posted by SparseFlyer
If you coded the whole thing, why don't you just add a price aggregator and add a constraint for $/badge?
Do you know how hard it is to price out a 60 segment itinerary?

You can only price out a limited number of segments at once, and you have to know where to split it.

The best option I found was an ITA QPX pricing API that cost something like $0.001 per query. I'd need to spend about $30,000 to run my algorithm with that

Also, from Twitter:
You'll find several new badges and cities in this version, as well as badges from the previous edition!
Anyone want to save me time and tell me what changed?
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:43 pm
  #25  
 
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Looks identical to V3.
I could just replicate my V3 itineraries. Very tempting.
Only drawback the travel period is summer. I am not keen on travelling in summer. In summer I like travel on TTC only.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:45 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by canadiancow
Edit: Still no email
Got the first one 45 minutes ago at my work email. Got my second email in my personal email about 15 minutes ago. so it's coming.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:45 pm
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by canadiancow
Do you know how hard it is to price out a 60 segment itinerary?

You can only price out a limited number of segments at once, and you have to know where to split it.

The best option I found was an ITA QPX pricing API that cost something like $0.001 per query. I'd need to spend about $30,000 to run my algorithm with that
But wait, is this because your algorithm queries the system on every loop iteration?

Because you could just build a reference table once, then have the algorithm feed from the table.

Also, which server do you use to run it? Or was it relatively "light" to run?
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:55 pm
  #28  
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Palace Badge: 2 of 4 instead of 2 of 3 (added VCE)
Emperor Badge: 2 of 4 instead of 2 of 3 (added KIX)
Maple Leaf Lounge Badge: Removed
Scenic Drive Badge: 2 of 4 instead of 2 of 3 (added YYJ)
Happy Hour Badge: 2 of MEX,GIG,GRU,EZE,PTY instead of 2 of MEX,KIN,MBJ,BGI
Canal Badge: 2 of 5 instead of 2 of 4 (added AMS)
Pacific Badge: 2 of 5 instead of 2 of 4 (added KIX)
Citrus Badge: 2 of 4 instead of 2 of 5 (removed RSW)
Theatre Badge: 2 of 5 instead of 3 of 5
Air Canada rouge Badge: 2 of 9 instead of 2 of 8 (added KIX)
Civilization Badge: Added
Palm Badge: Added
Rising Sun Badge: Added
Mileage Run Badge: Removed

Cities:
Added: YSB,YYJ,HNL,OGG,AMS,IST,TLV,KIX,PTY,GIG
Removed: RSW,BGI,KIN,MBJ

And there are two mystery badges.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:57 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by SparseFlyer
But wait, is this because your algorithm queries the system on every loop iteration?

Because you could just build a reference table once, then have the algorithm feed from the table.

Also, which server do you use to run it? Or was it relatively "light" to run?
It doesn't query anything ever, so I'm not sure what you mean.

What would the "reference table" be?

How much does YYZ-YWG cost? How much does YYZ-YWG-YQR cost? Are they related? Is it the same cost on May 10th as May 11th? Is it the same cost on the morning of May 10th as the evening of May 10th?

There's no server. It runs on my desktop/laptop/whatever in like 15 minutes.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 4:59 pm
  #30  
alc
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
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spend last 3 hours working on different routes for any 3 days run. But can't get anything good. But thought to share a itinerary that I consider pretty good if anyone can fit it in to their EYW run:

May 5 -- YQT - YWG - YQR - YEG - YYC - YVR - LAX -- $217

that $36.17 per segment and should get 6200 wings
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