Jul 19, 2021, 9:34 pm
Last edit by: Adam Smith
SADLY, AS OF OCTOBER 5, THIS TOOL HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN INDEFINITELY AND LIKELY PERMANENTLY, AS DESCRIBED IN THIS POST.
Other cowtools remain available at cowtool.com
ACCESS RULES ARE CLEARLY DESCRIBED BELOW. READ THEM. DO NOT POST OR PM ADAM SMITH ABOUT ACCESS, OR YOU WILL BE BANNED FROM EVER GETTING ACCESS TO THE TOOL.
[PSA from forum moderator Adam Smith: since it doesn't seem obvious to everyone, please note that the cowtool was created by cowtool. He has invested hundreds of hours in creating this very useful tool and making it available to the FT community. I, Adam Smith, have had nothing to do with creation of the cowtool. I can do nothing to get you access to the cowtool. Please do not ask me to give you access - I can't and won't, and will suggest that you be blocked from the tool for this waste of time, and lack of appreciation for cowtool's efforts, as described in more detail in this post. Also note that, other than this section and a clearly indicated moderator note below, the author of this wiki, writing in first person, is canadiancow, on behalf of [cowtool].
Please do not PM other Flyertalk users to try and gain access to cowtool, for the same reasons Adam's laid out above. - YOWgary
https://acrewardsearcher.cowtool.com/
Due to abuse, you must now first register (see https://www.cowtool.com, and read the rest of this wiki) and sign in to use it. All access is logged (not what you're searching, but the complexity of the searches, and the number of searches). Abusers will be throttled or terminated. Continued abuse will lead to a more involved registration process, up to and including personal vetting by cowtool.
Access to this cowtool for new users is temporarily disabled due to anticipated ("I'm going to make a big blog post") publicity and actual increases in usage. This is not free for me, and I am concerned what will happen if all the US major blogs pick it up.
If anyone "new" needs an account here, as long as you have 25 posts and your account is at least 3 months old, please register for a cowtool account, and then PM me (please include your email address) and I'll set you up with reward search access.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO INCLUDE ANYTHING IN THE PM OTHER THAN YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. The PM interface shows me your posts and join date. A lot of people have explicitly included that information. It's unnecessary. I also don't need a paragraph of text, whether it's a please to bend the rules, or immense thanks. My life is immensely easier if the subject is "cowtool access" and the message is "[email protected]". I don't read the messages anyway.
However, I will read your posts, so don't spam FT with crap please. If you have a genuine interest in travel, points, and so on, it really isn't hard to make 25 contributive posts to FlyerTalk and be eligible for access. If you do not meet this threshold, I am not making an exception for you. Not because you live in SFO like me, not because you're really excited, and not because of any personal issues. In fact, if you PM me without meeting the requirements, you will be blocked from ever getting access. Moderator note: the rules for access are very clear. Please don't post in this thread, or anywhere else, asking how you can get access, offering to pay for access, or asking for the access rules to be changed. Those posts will be deleted.
I do not process PMs instantly. My goal is at least once per week, so it may take a few days.
Additionally, any Prince of Travel Platinum members may contact canadiancow over POT Discord for access.
Alerts
Basic price alerts were currently in available to all registered users. They have been turned off due to high load, until the system can be re-written to accommodate them.
Full search/availability alerts are in early alpha.
Each account is limited to 4 alerts* for now.
A price alert is set on a specific itinerary that includes AC metal (this may be expanded as we begin to see EK dynamic pricing). The general idea is that you making a booking at price X, set an alert, and then if the price drops, you'll get an email, and can rebook the itinerary at a lower price and cancel the old, more expensive, booking. This really only works well if you're SE or booked a fare with no cancellation fee. All results with AC flights will show a "Price alert" link on the right. Clicking this will add one. You can view all your alerts in the alerts section, where you can delete them, or select two one-way alerts to merge into a round-trip alert, which will determine the current round-trip price and reset the alert level (since round-trip pricing is not the sum of the two one-ways).
If you have at least 2500 FT posts and would like access to the price alert beta, send me a PM including the email you used to sign up for cowtool. There are currently no exceptions on the post count restriction. I am trying to slowly roll this out, and need an easy way to expand access, ideally to people who have contributed to FT a lot.
* Due to the fact that a round-trip alert requires making and then merging two alerts, the technical limit is 5, but I'm advertising it as 4.
Having Trouble? Hold "shift" and click the refresh button.
Feature Requests:
Bugs:
Other cowtools remain available at cowtool.com
https://acrewardsearcher.cowtool.com/
Due to abuse, you must now first register (see https://www.cowtool.com, and read the rest of this wiki) and sign in to use it. All access is logged (not what you're searching, but the complexity of the searches, and the number of searches). Abusers will be throttled or terminated. Continued abuse will lead to a more involved registration process, up to and including personal vetting by cowtool.
Access to this cowtool for new users is temporarily disabled due to anticipated ("I'm going to make a big blog post") publicity and actual increases in usage. This is not free for me, and I am concerned what will happen if all the US major blogs pick it up.
If anyone "new" needs an account here, as long as you have 25 posts and your account is at least 3 months old, please register for a cowtool account, and then PM me (please include your email address) and I'll set you up with reward search access.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO INCLUDE ANYTHING IN THE PM OTHER THAN YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. The PM interface shows me your posts and join date. A lot of people have explicitly included that information. It's unnecessary. I also don't need a paragraph of text, whether it's a please to bend the rules, or immense thanks. My life is immensely easier if the subject is "cowtool access" and the message is "[email protected]". I don't read the messages anyway.
However, I will read your posts, so don't spam FT with crap please. If you have a genuine interest in travel, points, and so on, it really isn't hard to make 25 contributive posts to FlyerTalk and be eligible for access. If you do not meet this threshold, I am not making an exception for you. Not because you live in SFO like me, not because you're really excited, and not because of any personal issues. In fact, if you PM me without meeting the requirements, you will be blocked from ever getting access. Moderator note: the rules for access are very clear. Please don't post in this thread, or anywhere else, asking how you can get access, offering to pay for access, or asking for the access rules to be changed. Those posts will be deleted.
I do not process PMs instantly. My goal is at least once per week, so it may take a few days.
Additionally, any Prince of Travel Platinum members may contact canadiancow over POT Discord for access.
Alerts
Basic price alerts were currently in available to all registered users. They have been turned off due to high load, until the system can be re-written to accommodate them.
Full search/availability alerts are in early alpha.
Each account is limited to 4 alerts* for now.
A price alert is set on a specific itinerary that includes AC metal (this may be expanded as we begin to see EK dynamic pricing). The general idea is that you making a booking at price X, set an alert, and then if the price drops, you'll get an email, and can rebook the itinerary at a lower price and cancel the old, more expensive, booking. This really only works well if you're SE or booked a fare with no cancellation fee. All results with AC flights will show a "Price alert" link on the right. Clicking this will add one. You can view all your alerts in the alerts section, where you can delete them, or select two one-way alerts to merge into a round-trip alert, which will determine the current round-trip price and reset the alert level (since round-trip pricing is not the sum of the two one-ways).
If you have at least 2500 FT posts and would like access to the price alert beta, send me a PM including the email you used to sign up for cowtool. There are currently no exceptions on the post count restriction. I am trying to slowly roll this out, and need an easy way to expand access, ideally to people who have contributed to FT a lot.
* Due to the fact that a round-trip alert requires making and then merging two alerts, the technical limit is 5, but I'm advertising it as 4.
Having Trouble? Hold "shift" and click the refresh button.
Feature Requests:
Allowing alerting by brandFinish and release alerts"Copy into round-trip alert" instead of "merge into" in case you want bothOption to launch AC.com in new tab should be saved to your accountShow more information about stops, such as the timeSave filters to profileHistorical pricesColored background gradiated by %age of mixed cabin. Solid green if 100%, fading to white as percentage drops...Option to enable a priority reward discountLie-flat filter (maybe with lie-flat % filter as well?) - Unsure if this data is easily accessible+/- 1 or 2 days dropdown if entering a single value for date at top, grayed out if entering more than one date or rangeCities/Aircraft/Airlines should allow an OR condition in addition to the default/current AND
Annoying error dialog pops up far too regularly related to JS/Cognito crap
[SHUT DOWN] Unofficial Advanced AC Reward Search Tool (cowtool)
May 5, 2023, 5:02 pm
#1021
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,397
They've publicly stated why they don't. Some (many?) of their partner inventory systems can't handle it.
May 5, 2023, 5:47 pm
#1022
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: AA EXP.
Posts: 1,325
crossing fingers that this isnt over .
May 5, 2023, 6:22 pm
#1023
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,427
May 5, 2023, 10:47 pm
#1024
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,397
The lack of service on my flight means I'm pretty damn sober (only had one drink). And sober cow is productive cow.
I just did a 24 credit search, and there were no errors.
Enjoy
I just did a 24 credit search, and there were no errors.
Enjoy
May 5, 2023, 11:00 pm
#1025
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 25
No errors logged on searches that were coming up with random errors over the past week (and completely stopped working today.)
Nice!
Nice!
May 6, 2023, 11:00 am
#1026
Join Date: Apr 2023
Posts: 11
Searching for random stopover options
Hi,
A year I stomped upon some deals that had crazy stop durations as 17-20 hours, and then worked my way thru AC website to see that actually it's possible to select a stopover instead and that made my low price trip interesting.
I had a flight from HKG to FRA and stopover ended being in Singapore. And for young travelers this could be a good way of saving money and exploring new places.
Is it technically possible to have an option that selects flights from A to B with random stopovers with filter by price, or it's possible for now having it only as an option to actually introduce the stopover manually and check individually each time ?
A year I stomped upon some deals that had crazy stop durations as 17-20 hours, and then worked my way thru AC website to see that actually it's possible to select a stopover instead and that made my low price trip interesting.
I had a flight from HKG to FRA and stopover ended being in Singapore. And for young travelers this could be a good way of saving money and exploring new places.
Is it technically possible to have an option that selects flights from A to B with random stopovers with filter by price, or it's possible for now having it only as an option to actually introduce the stopover manually and check individually each time ?
May 6, 2023, 4:24 pm
#1027
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,242
May 6, 2023, 5:58 pm
#1028
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,803
I'm not sure whether this would be useful to enough people to make it worth building, but @canadiancow any thoughts on adding a date to the earliest departure and latest arrival criteria?
For instance, let's say I was in ARN, and interested in finding options to get to AMS in time to connect to an already booked flight. I might be okay getting in the night before that other flight, or I might be okay getting in the same day as my flight. So let's say my other flight was out of AMS at 2PM on May 11th, I might want to specify that I want to depart no earlier than 10AM on May 10th, and arrive no later than 11AM on May 11th. The existing filters require iterating between various combos to figure out what fits. If I just filter for things leaving after 10AM, it will show me things I like for the 10th, but I'm going to exclude anything leaving the morning of the 11th. On the flip side, if I specify nothing arriving later than 11AM, it will give me early morning departures on the 10th that I don't want.
I'm not sure how complicated this would be to build, but I do a lot of searches like this, so I'd certainly appreciate it.
For instance, let's say I was in ARN, and interested in finding options to get to AMS in time to connect to an already booked flight. I might be okay getting in the night before that other flight, or I might be okay getting in the same day as my flight. So let's say my other flight was out of AMS at 2PM on May 11th, I might want to specify that I want to depart no earlier than 10AM on May 10th, and arrive no later than 11AM on May 11th. The existing filters require iterating between various combos to figure out what fits. If I just filter for things leaving after 10AM, it will show me things I like for the 10th, but I'm going to exclude anything leaving the morning of the 11th. On the flip side, if I specify nothing arriving later than 11AM, it will give me early morning departures on the 10th that I don't want.
I'm not sure how complicated this would be to build, but I do a lot of searches like this, so I'd certainly appreciate it.
May 6, 2023, 6:24 pm
#1029
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,397
Didn't read most of your post, but that's on my roadmap. I want it too.
May 8, 2023, 2:12 pm
#1030
Join Date: May 2017
Location: YEG, SFO, VCA, JR JY-13
Programs: hahaha
Posts: 923
Business Lowest (EL)
Premium Economy Lowest (EL)
but it should be PL right?
on the plus side, i found a good EL fare from Delhi due to this typo, but i still need to find some P'x' (it's PL right?? omg the cabins are sold out then) to get back
Last edited by asovse1; May 8, 2023 at 2:16 pm Reason: i meant dallas not delhi
May 8, 2023, 2:27 pm
#1031
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,397
lol i use this cowtool to avoid memorizing the fare suffixes because i got my rites after the tango era
but it should be PL right?
on the plus side, i found a good EL fare from Delhi due to this typo, but i still need to find some P'x' (it's PL right?? omg the cabins are sold out then) to get back
but it should be PL right?
on the plus side, i found a good EL fare from Delhi due to this typo, but i still need to find some P'x' (it's PL right?? omg the cabins are sold out then) to get back
May 10, 2023, 3:51 am
#1032
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
This is new on the top (no more promo pitch for the physical event, instead it's replaced by below
Nice, we can help out now
It uses Stripe to take Credit card payments (no PayPal option?)
Another feature request - is it easy to add a filter for Connection hours?
I know we have the TOTAL duration one now
Maximum duration in hours
but sometimes I want say connection duration < 5 hours, or some cases > 3 hours (say transferring via USA or I want a LONG stopover intentionally)
1-stop is easy. I know it gets trickier once we get into 2-stop or 3-stop, but it's better to have the filter, than not IMO
Nice, we can help out now
It uses Stripe to take Credit card payments (no PayPal option?)
cowtool is meant to be a free service, but if you find it helpful, you can pay what you want.
cowtool is a set of free services. However, there are costs associated with its development and hosting. As such, cowtool has a "pay what you want" pricing model, where the default is $0.
If you choose to pay for cowtool, you will not be granted access to any tools, features, or betas, that you do not otherwise have access to. This is just to help support the time and cost involved in developing and running cowtool. Nothing extra will be provided in exchange for any payment.
For accounting purposes, any payments will be tracked based on your signed-in cowtool account when you click a link below, so please do not share the links. However, you can still contribute without signing in.
cowtool is a set of free services. However, there are costs associated with its development and hosting. As such, cowtool has a "pay what you want" pricing model, where the default is $0.
If you choose to pay for cowtool, you will not be granted access to any tools, features, or betas, that you do not otherwise have access to. This is just to help support the time and cost involved in developing and running cowtool. Nothing extra will be provided in exchange for any payment.
For accounting purposes, any payments will be tracked based on your signed-in cowtool account when you click a link below, so please do not share the links. However, you can still contribute without signing in.
Another feature request - is it easy to add a filter for Connection hours?
I know we have the TOTAL duration one now
Maximum duration in hours
but sometimes I want say connection duration < 5 hours, or some cases > 3 hours (say transferring via USA or I want a LONG stopover intentionally)
1-stop is easy. I know it gets trickier once we get into 2-stop or 3-stop, but it's better to have the filter, than not IMO
Last edited by Adam Smith; May 10, 2023 at 9:18 am Reason: Merge consecutive posts by same user
May 10, 2023, 8:55 am
#1033
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,397
Another feature request - is it easy to add a filter for Connection hours?
I know we have the TOTAL duration one now
Maximum duration in hours
but sometimes I want say connection duration < 5 hours, or some cases > 3 hours (say transferring via USA or I want a LONG stopover intentionally)
1-stop is easy. I know it gets trickier once we get into 2-stop or 3-stop, but it's better to have the filter, than not IMO
I know we have the TOTAL duration one now
Maximum duration in hours
but sometimes I want say connection duration < 5 hours, or some cases > 3 hours (say transferring via USA or I want a LONG stopover intentionally)
1-stop is easy. I know it gets trickier once we get into 2-stop or 3-stop, but it's better to have the filter, than not IMO
May 10, 2023, 10:18 am
#1034
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC SEMM / HH Diamond
Posts: 3,177
A design thought as you add more & more filters ...
A table might help with a couple of the entry fields. FT won't let me post sample HTML here (grrrr) so excuse the image sample, but you get the idea:
A table might help with a couple of the entry fields. FT won't let me post sample HTML here (grrrr) so excuse the image sample, but you get the idea:
May 10, 2023, 10:24 am
#1035
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,397
What about the dynamic checkboxes? I don't want to have to type in 10 airlines I don't want to fly proactively for every search. I like being able to see the options, and "oh, there are some UA results, let me exclude those with a single click".