Originally Posted by tkey75 (Post 14990630)

Short answer is, no.

As to the award calendar, a detailed explanation was given as to its brokenness; please correct me if I recall the explanation incorrectly:

It is acknowledged there is an IT issue within the search results.

When a search is initiated, the calendar produces results encompassing all results, including all result possibilities. This may produce dates with low mileage possibilities being highlighted in green on the calendar.

When the search is further refined (meaning you selected the green 'low' mileage levels on the dates of your choice), there's an algorithm in place that filters the results down the the 40 most preferable routing possibilities, which then creates the possibility to exclude the aforementioned low level routes, resulting in the next lowest level being mid-tier. This is the effect you attribute to the award calendar being "broken", while in reality, it is working exactly as programmed.

Currently, and to the chagrin of many a Flyertalker in the room as the presentation happened, the current IT plan is to fix the issue so DL.com no longer offers the results of showing the low possibilities found, but instead pre-filters results so it only shows the "preferred" routings that it thinks travelers would want, effectively only showing mid and higher levels in the calendar, unless within the top 40 results is included a more preferred routing, as defined by whatever algorithm it is defines a preferred routing (this was not specified in the presentation).

In effect, a low tier award may exist, but you'll never see it unless you are able to trick the system into finding it through a multi-city routing search, or a phone call. So, basically, no difference will be between when the fix happens and what we have now.

Originally Posted by Winkdaddy (Post 14991701)

We that sounds disappointing! Why would Delta think we would rather see "preferred routings" at higher mileage and not see where the lower mileage awards are?

Originally Posted by Gargoyle (Post 14990276)

Great session today with the DL execs. They all studied our questions in advance. There was a lot to cover, we probably got about half the questions addressed (and that was with a non stop session).

Originally Posted by jimrpa (Post 14994575)

Are there any recordings or transcripts of these sessions? I'm pretty sure you and the others aren't professional stenographers :) It would be nice to see the actual questions and the answers from Delta to avoid any confusion or "interpretation" errors.

Originally Posted by Winkdaddy (Post 14991701)

We that sounds disappointing! Why would Delta think we would rather see "preferred routings" at higher mileage and not see where the lower mileage awards are?

Originally Posted by mnredfox (Post 14994396)

Hmmm, I could take one guess. But I'll wait too.

To me, wouldn't you think DL should listen to what customers want, which is lower miles vs preferred routings?

Originally Posted by tkey75 (Post 14995537)

I don't think there is any recording, but after re-reading my post, I believe it is accurate, as far as that topic is concerned. Again, anyone else there should feel free to correct me.

Originally Posted by jimrpa (Post 14995673)

Sorry, I apologize if I insinuated that your notes were in any way incomplete or inaccurate. It's nice to hear the words straight from the speaker sometimes, to get a better sense of what is being communicated.

Originally Posted by jimrpa (Post 14994575)

Are there any recordings or transcripts of these sessions? I'm pretty sure you and the others aren't professional stenographers :) It would be nice to see the actual questions and the answers from Delta to avoid any confusion or "interpretation" errors.

Originally Posted by tkey75 (Post 14995537)

As we were told, Delta's algorithm thinks a customer would want the most direct routing possible and in the results only includes the 40 most direct routings. If the saver award exists beyond the first 40, it will not be displayed in the results. It is an acknowledged IT issue and will be fixed very soon (can't recall exact timeframe, but very soon), but not in the manner that we as Flyertalkers would want it to be - see above.

There are further out plans to completely rebuild the search engine which will provide far more search options, so those saver awards we at this time do not get to see will be fully searchable. We were shown screenshots of the test platform. They were not final renditions, but very close. I feel the majority of people will be pleased with the results of the complete rebuild.

Originally Posted by tkey75 (Post 14995537)

There are further out plans to completely rebuild the search engine which will provide far more search options, so those saver awards we at this time do not get to see will be fully searchable.

Originally Posted by pbd456 (Post 14995565)

in some way, the current way is more desirable for FTers because if we see green, it means there is some possible route to get there. For FTers, we are more likely to find it.

Originally Posted by FlyingUnderTheRadar (Post 14997334)

I would really like to hear why such sorting can not be made available under the current system.

Originally Posted by tkey75 (Post 14990630)

Currently, and to the chagrin of many a Flyertalker in the room as the presentation happened, the current IT plan is to fix the issue so DL.com no longer offers the results of showing the low possibilities found, but instead pre-filters results so it only shows the "preferred" routings that it thinks travelers would want, effectively only showing mid and higher levels in the calendar, unless within the top 40 results is included a more preferred routing, as defined by whatever algorithm it is defines a preferred routing (this was not specified in the presentation).

Originally Posted by mnredfox (Post 14997638)

Ok, so I was an CS major in college so I know you can't just cut and paste code, I get it. But why not take something like the old NWA award engine and use it?

Originally Posted by Watchful (Post 14998238)

As others have noted - why in the world would this be considered an improvement.