Jan 21, 2015, 10:55 am
Last edit by: hillrider
Here are some more hidden features of the ITA software.
The extensions to the itasoftware routing language are accessed by postpending commands after a '/'. There's a wide set of commands available, but there's no description of them available on the ITA web site. Unfortunately, each command applies only to one part of the trip, so they must usually be entered in each box.
EXCLUDE SPECIFIC AIRLINES
Command is "-airlines XX ..."
Ex: prohibit jetBlue or Delta
from: BOS ::/ -airlines B6 DL
to: LAX ::/ -airlines B6 DL
LIMIT TO SPECIFIC AIRLINES
Command is "airlines XX ..."
Ex: consider only jetBlue or Delta
from: BOS ::/ airlines B6 DL
to: LAX ::/ airlines B6 DL
LIMIT TO A SINGLE ALLIANCE
Command is "alliance star-alliance|oneworld|skyteam"
Ex: oneworld carriers only
from: BOS ::/ alliance oneworld
to: LAX ::/ alliance oneworld
EXCLUDE CODESHARES
Command is "-codeshare"
Ex: prohibit jetBlue or Delta
from: BOS ::/ -codeshare
to: LAX ::/ -codeshare
LIMIT DURATION OF ITINERARY, IN MINUTES
Command is "maxdur XXX"
Ex: no more than 5hrs for each part of trip
from: BOS ::/ maxdur 300
to: LAX ::/ maxdur 300
EXCLUDE OVERNIGHT STOPS, AIRPORT CHANGES, REDEYES, PROPELLER PLANES, TRAINS, HELICOPTERS, ANY KIND OF SURFACE TRAVEL
Commands are "-overnight", "-change", "-redeye", "-prop", "-train", "-helicopter", "-surface"
Ex: no overnight stops, no airport changes, no redeyes, no propeller planes
from: BOS ::/ -overnight, -change, -redeye, -prop
to: LAX ::/ -overnight, -change, -redeye, -prop
SET MINIMUM OR MAXIMUM TIME FOR CONNECTIONS, IN MINUTES
Commands are "minconnect XX", "maxconnect XX"
Ex: no less than one hour, no more than two hour connections
from: BOS ::/ minconnect 60, maxconnect 120
to: LAX ::/ minconnect 60, maxconnect 120
EXTRA CONNECTION TIME
Command is "padconnect XX"
Ex: require at least 20 minutes more than airline specified minimum connection time
from: BOS ::/ padconnect 20
to: LAX ::/ padconnect 20
PUTTING LOTS OF THINGS TOGETHER
Separate with commas.
Ex:
from: BOS :: UA UA / f bc=l|bc=y, -redeye, -prop
to: LAX :: UA+ / f ua.bos+lax.yup, padconnect 20, -overnight
The extensions to the itasoftware routing language are accessed by postpending commands after a '/'. There's a wide set of commands available, but there's no description of them available on the ITA web site. Unfortunately, each command applies only to one part of the trip, so they must usually be entered in each box.
EXCLUDE SPECIFIC AIRLINES
Command is "-airlines XX ..."
Ex: prohibit jetBlue or Delta
from: BOS ::/ -airlines B6 DL
to: LAX ::/ -airlines B6 DL
LIMIT TO SPECIFIC AIRLINES
Command is "airlines XX ..."
Ex: consider only jetBlue or Delta
from: BOS ::/ airlines B6 DL
to: LAX ::/ airlines B6 DL
LIMIT TO A SINGLE ALLIANCE
Command is "alliance star-alliance|oneworld|skyteam"
Ex: oneworld carriers only
from: BOS ::/ alliance oneworld
to: LAX ::/ alliance oneworld
EXCLUDE CODESHARES
Command is "-codeshare"
Ex: prohibit jetBlue or Delta
from: BOS ::/ -codeshare
to: LAX ::/ -codeshare
LIMIT DURATION OF ITINERARY, IN MINUTES
Command is "maxdur XXX"
Ex: no more than 5hrs for each part of trip
from: BOS ::/ maxdur 300
to: LAX ::/ maxdur 300
EXCLUDE OVERNIGHT STOPS, AIRPORT CHANGES, REDEYES, PROPELLER PLANES, TRAINS, HELICOPTERS, ANY KIND OF SURFACE TRAVEL
Commands are "-overnight", "-change", "-redeye", "-prop", "-train", "-helicopter", "-surface"
Ex: no overnight stops, no airport changes, no redeyes, no propeller planes
from: BOS ::/ -overnight, -change, -redeye, -prop
to: LAX ::/ -overnight, -change, -redeye, -prop
SET MINIMUM OR MAXIMUM TIME FOR CONNECTIONS, IN MINUTES
Commands are "minconnect XX", "maxconnect XX"
Ex: no less than one hour, no more than two hour connections
from: BOS ::/ minconnect 60, maxconnect 120
to: LAX ::/ minconnect 60, maxconnect 120
EXTRA CONNECTION TIME
Command is "padconnect XX"
Ex: require at least 20 minutes more than airline specified minimum connection time
from: BOS ::/ padconnect 20
to: LAX ::/ padconnect 20
PUTTING LOTS OF THINGS TOGETHER
Separate with commas.
Ex:
from: BOS :: UA UA / f bc=l|bc=y, -redeye, -prop
to: LAX :: UA+ / f ua.bos+lax.yup, padconnect 20, -overnight
TIP: More hidden features of ITA
May 21, 2013, 12:36 pm
#272
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: M&M
Posts: 992
Is it possible to make this work with reverse open jaws? If I put the brackets one way ITA throws me an error, the other way it does nothing.
eg: NYC,MCO:: > NYC
LHR:: MCO <
which seems to be the logical way putting them does nothing while any other combinations just throw a "there was a problem handling your request" error.
eg: NYC,MCO:: > NYC
LHR:: MCO <
which seems to be the logical way putting them does nothing while any other combinations just throw a "there was a problem handling your request" error.
May 22, 2013, 4:19 am
#273
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 42
Is it possible to make this work with reverse open jaws? If I put the brackets one way ITA throws me an error, the other way it does nothing.
eg: NYC,MCO:: > NYC
LHR:: MCO <
which seems to be the logical way putting them does nothing while any other combinations just throw a "there was a problem handling your request" error.
eg: NYC,MCO:: > NYC
LHR:: MCO <
which seems to be the logical way putting them does nothing while any other combinations just throw a "there was a problem handling your request" error.
May 22, 2013, 5:20 am
#274
Company Representative - ITA Software
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 362
Is it possible to make this work with reverse open jaws? If I put the brackets one way ITA throws me an error, the other way it does nothing.
eg: NYC,MCO:: > NYC
LHR:: MCO <
which seems to be the logical way putting them does nothing while any other combinations just throw a "there was a problem handling your request" error.
eg: NYC,MCO:: > NYC
LHR:: MCO <
which seems to be the logical way putting them does nothing while any other combinations just throw a "there was a problem handling your request" error.
NYC,MCO:: > NYC f+
LHR:: f+ MCO <
instead.
May 22, 2013, 6:46 am
#275
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: M&M
Posts: 992
Awesome, thank you! Strange that ITA assumes non-stops by default and even more strange that I never tried it with specifying any carrier...
Also thank you for fixing most of the issues I mentioned a while back (not being able to submit 3 letter airport codes in the to/from field, etc); there are still some annoying quirks around but overall Matrix 2 got much better.
The most annoying (for me
) of the outstanding issues is the to/from autocorrect. When I type in an airport code in one go and tab away it's ok but if I need like half a second to think about a letter it has enough time to pull a list and use the first element on that when tabbing away. As an example: typing SXF and tabbing away will autocorrect to Berlin - but pause for a moment after typing in the first letter, like S--XF, tab away and you get San Francisco. One very simple solution for this is not to autocorrect when the To/From field gets a blur event if it has exactly 3 characters?
Speaking of advanced routing: I understand the need for selecting the whole input for From/To but could you please switch it off for routing codes? I, for one, need to change a letter or number here or there much more often than not and I'm pretty sure anyone using the routing codes field (as opposed to entering their carriers/connections in the To/From fields with "::") can deal with their text not being selected on focus.
And while we're at Berlin, would it be possible to set BER back to Berlin Metropolitan instead of Brandenburg please? Not like it's going to open anytime soon...
Also a somewhat related issue (still!) is the nearby airports link. Could you please "tabindex" it to the bottom of the list along with reverse route and remove routing codes so we can have a "From-tab-Routingcode-tab-To-tab-Routingcode-tab-Month/SpecificDate-tab-Calendar" route on the page?
When switching between whole month and specified dates, would it be possible to keep the date already entered? This is a very minor but extremely annoying thing.
The currency and sales city doesn't behave like the to/from fields, eg using USD for currency or BOS for sales city is not accepted as valid entries without waiting for the autocorrect to do it's job (or picking one item from the list).
There also seems to be an issue with the routing codes getting stuck when you select a previous query on the top. If only the current query used advanced routing then it will stuck (eg current one is "LHR:: BA+" and previous is "BOS" then it will be "BOS:: BA+"), and even more strange if both queries used routing codes then ITA will concat them. Eg "LHR:: BA+ /F BA..M-" currently and "BOS:: UA ~DEN UA" previously will become "BOS:: UA ~DEN UA /F BA..M-" when selecting the BOS search.
And is it possible to use a fare specification with other advanced codes, eg "/F BA..M-" and "/MAXCONNECT 4:00" together? Everything I tried so far have failed.
Also thank you for fixing most of the issues I mentioned a while back (not being able to submit 3 letter airport codes in the to/from field, etc); there are still some annoying quirks around but overall Matrix 2 got much better.
The most annoying (for me
) of the outstanding issues is the to/from autocorrect. When I type in an airport code in one go and tab away it's ok but if I need like half a second to think about a letter it has enough time to pull a list and use the first element on that when tabbing away. As an example: typing SXF and tabbing away will autocorrect to Berlin - but pause for a moment after typing in the first letter, like S--XF, tab away and you get San Francisco. One very simple solution for this is not to autocorrect when the To/From field gets a blur event if it has exactly 3 characters?Speaking of advanced routing: I understand the need for selecting the whole input for From/To but could you please switch it off for routing codes? I, for one, need to change a letter or number here or there much more often than not and I'm pretty sure anyone using the routing codes field (as opposed to entering their carriers/connections in the To/From fields with "::") can deal with their text not being selected on focus.
And while we're at Berlin, would it be possible to set BER back to Berlin Metropolitan instead of Brandenburg please? Not like it's going to open anytime soon...
Also a somewhat related issue (still!) is the nearby airports link. Could you please "tabindex" it to the bottom of the list along with reverse route and remove routing codes so we can have a "From-tab-Routingcode-tab-To-tab-Routingcode-tab-Month/SpecificDate-tab-Calendar" route on the page?
When switching between whole month and specified dates, would it be possible to keep the date already entered? This is a very minor but extremely annoying thing.
The currency and sales city doesn't behave like the to/from fields, eg using USD for currency or BOS for sales city is not accepted as valid entries without waiting for the autocorrect to do it's job (or picking one item from the list).
There also seems to be an issue with the routing codes getting stuck when you select a previous query on the top. If only the current query used advanced routing then it will stuck (eg current one is "LHR:: BA+" and previous is "BOS" then it will be "BOS:: BA+"), and even more strange if both queries used routing codes then ITA will concat them. Eg "LHR:: BA+ /F BA..M-" currently and "BOS:: UA ~DEN UA" previously will become "BOS:: UA ~DEN UA /F BA..M-" when selecting the BOS search.
And is it possible to use a fare specification with other advanced codes, eg "/F BA..M-" and "/MAXCONNECT 4:00" together? Everything I tried so far have failed.
Last edited by FrankTalk; May 22, 2013 at 7:01 am
May 22, 2013, 7:35 am
#276
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,185
/ alliance oneworld; f bc=Y|bc=L|bc=M; nocodeshares; minconnect 60; maxconnect 400
Last edited by aktchi; May 22, 2013 at 7:16 pm
May 22, 2013, 12:00 pm
#278
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,443
Jun 19, 2013, 7:53 am
#279
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC-ELITE 50K
Posts: 66
Specific Airlines per routing
Hi,
How do i code the following
Looking for Fares GCM to YUL
Routing is actually GCM to MIA with AA and then MIA to YUL.
However i want AC flight from MIA to yul.
How can i code the ITA to bring up both AA leg (GCM-MIA) and AC leg (MIA-YUL).
Also will it bring only direct flights or will it show connecting flights?
How do i code the following
Looking for Fares GCM to YUL
Routing is actually GCM to MIA with AA and then MIA to YUL.
However i want AC flight from MIA to yul.
How can i code the ITA to bring up both AA leg (GCM-MIA) and AC leg (MIA-YUL).
Also will it bring only direct flights or will it show connecting flights?
Jun 19, 2013, 8:34 am
#281
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC-ELITE 50K
Posts: 66
Jun 19, 2013, 9:30 am
#282
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,185
GCM:: aa
MIA
FLL:: ac
YUL
As FrankTalk aid, if you want to look at connecting flights too, use aa+ ac+ etc. in the respective segment.
If you are open to either aa or ac, use aa,ac for direct and aa,ac+ for direct & connections.
Last edited by aktchi; Jun 19, 2013 at 9:36 am
Jun 19, 2013, 9:38 am
#283
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC-ELITE 50K
Posts: 66
I would like to pull up a through fare.
Jun 19, 2013, 9:59 am
#284
Suspended
Join Date: May 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 1,961
The whole point of using ITA is that it "should" give you the best fare for a given set of flights, regardless of whether it's a "through fare", "open jaw", "multicity", or whatever. How you specify the flights you want is independent of how those flights will be priced once you find them.
Jun 19, 2013, 10:01 am
#285
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,194
In fact, doing a multi-city search of AAA-BBB, BBB-CCC, CCC-DDD, DDD-EEE all on the same departure date is the exact equivalent of doing AAA-EEE and specifying BBB CCC DDD in the routing rules.