Encounters with the post-transition web site: Tips to boost survival odds
Apr 11, 2011, 4:01 pm
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
Encounters with the post-transition web site: Tips to boost survival odds
This post will be updated as topics are added to this thread.
The following web site enhancements are covered in this thread:The following general "how to" instructions will be useful if you are not familiar with saving bookmarklets or installing GreaseMonkey scripts from a FT thread:
Note: This thread was getting a bit unwieldy, so feedback, commentary and help requests and replies have been moved to a separate thread.
The following web site enhancements are covered in this thread:
- View Award/fare calendar while using "Change Itinerary".
- Easily switch [to/from] Award [from/to] Dollars/Points searches.
- Bookmarklets to open companion booking page from, or insert link to it on, the purchase confirmation page.
- Book your companion before your new reservation shows up on the future flights page, or if no book companion link is available.
- Remove the ad carousel from the main flight search page:
- Tone down the "too soon" OLCI message and add server time stamp.
- Automatically redirect from Master Session Timeout page.
- Speedily book multiple Award reservations at schedule opening.
- Quickly get to search pages for old awards.
Note: This thread was getting a bit unwieldy, so feedback, commentary and help requests and replies have been moved to a separate thread.
Last edited by ftnoob; May 24, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Apr 11, 2011, 4:01 pm
#2
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
Encounters with the post-transition web site: Tips to boost survival odds
Today I finally got to see the new SA/FA booking pages. As others have commented, they sure managed to bury the Award listing page and the Award booking page. Here is how to save yourself some hassle:
If you like bookmarks, use these links:There is no longer a separate entry page for the award calendar; it is now just a check box on the regular flight search page. ^ The Flexible Date version of the Award search URL causes the form to be displayed with the box already checked.
There are two different versions of the Award Booking page just in case the shortened one doesn't work right. It should but I did even less testing on these links than SWA did on the revamped web site!
If you prefer using the AwesomeBar instead of or in addition to bookmarks, some of these pages are real easy to get to with just a few keystrokes. Use your favorite shortcut to jump to the bar and type fragments such as /cert for the award certificates list, /reiss for the reissue page, ?flex for the award calendar page, etc. Or whatever works for you. Just be sure you don't select any URL with a disc= parameter that the AwesomeBar already remembers from prior visits to those pages. Those disc parameters reference previous sessions, so they won't work.
Update:
If you like bookmarks, use these links:There is no longer a separate entry page for the award calendar; it is now just a check box on the regular flight search page. ^ The Flexible Date version of the Award search URL causes the form to be displayed with the box already checked.
There are two different versions of the Award Booking page just in case the shortened one doesn't work right. It should but I did even less testing on these links than SWA did on the revamped web site!
If you prefer using the AwesomeBar instead of or in addition to bookmarks, some of these pages are real easy to get to with just a few keystrokes. Use your favorite shortcut to jump to the bar and type fragments such as /cert for the award certificates list, /reiss for the reissue page, ?flex for the award calendar page, etc. Or whatever works for you. Just be sure you don't select any URL with a disc= parameter that the AwesomeBar already remembers from prior visits to those pages. Those disc parameters reference previous sessions, so they won't work.
Update:
As noted elsewhere in this thread, SWA made changes to the web site that broke the ability to easily view Award availability even if you have no available Awards. I later discovered that with a bit more effort it is still possible to view flight-specific Award seat availability. Due to management's user-hostile insistence on hiding this information from most customers, however, I will not post the details publicly. Send a PM to me if you want to know how to accomplish this task. (If you are not a known regular contributor to the RR forum, you will need to give assurance that you are not an SWA employee or contractor, not an employee of an SWA contractor, and that you will not divulge the provided information to any such person.)
Last edited by ftnoob; Apr 24, 2012 at 1:05 am Reason: Update
Apr 12, 2011, 10:42 am
#3
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
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Join Date: Mar 2008
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To break the tie for clues as to what was intended, we can look to the modal search form on the award list page. On that form, the FS box remains enabled for both RT and OW searches (note the subtle color difference between it and the adult pax box):
May 23, 2011, 4:25 pm
#4
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
When you want to book multiple Award flights at schedule opening, it may be useful to book dummy awards in advance, bookmark all the links to modify each one (excluding the session variable!), then use those Change Itinerary to book the flights you want after schedule extension; that should be much quicker for online booking, but slower for phone booking, so you'll have to decide in advance.
You should book non-connecting dummy flights ($2.50 fee) for trips you know will be non-stop and connecting dummy flights ($5.00 fee) for trips you know will be connecting flights. If a trip could be NS or connecting based on availability, consider whether it will be quicker to pay the extra $2.50 or to refund the extra $2.50 (could vary depending on whether you keep a credit card number stored in your RR online account).
Importantly, you don't have to log in to change any itinerary, including an Award itinerary. (This changed at one point; not sure of current status.)
You should book non-connecting dummy flights ($2.50 fee) for trips you know will be non-stop and connecting dummy flights ($5.00 fee) for trips you know will be connecting flights. If a trip could be NS or connecting based on availability, consider whether it will be quicker to pay the extra $2.50 or to refund the extra $2.50 (could vary depending on whether you keep a credit card number stored in your RR online account).
Importantly, you don't have to log in to change any itinerary, including an Award itinerary. (This changed at one point; not sure of current status.)
Last edited by ftnoob; May 24, 2012 at 12:04 pm Reason: Remove unnecessary portions of copied post
May 25, 2011, 2:38 pm
#5
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Here is an automatic redirector for the massively annoying Master Session Timeout page:
The above is a GreaseMonkey script, therefore you must copy all the text in the box, save it (in plain text form, e.g., via notepad), as swaMasterSessionTimeout.user.js (or similar name ending in .user.js not .user.js.txt as notepad would do by default). Once you have saved a [something].user.js file, drag it from your file manager (e.g., Explorer) to Firefox, and follow the prompts.
Note that an alternative to the above GM script would be to install Einar Egilsson's Redirector Add On.
I don't redirect to the MySouthwest login page because I think MySouthwest sessions should be avoided whenever possible. (There are way too many security issues involved.) What I have been doing until now for the timeout page is entering the key sequence: Alt-D, Ctrl-Z, [Enter] to get back to the page I was trying to load. (This shortcut doesn't work in Chrome because its address bar doesn't recognize the world's most common undo shortcut.
)
At some point I might investigate whether I could have this script use the browser's history to duplicate my personal shortcut.
If you install and test this today it will probably seem slow; southwest.com has seemed slow to me all day, perhaps due to continued high use with yesterday's holiday booking window opening.
Code:
// ==UserScript== // @name SWA Master Session Timeout Redirector // @author wnProTips // @namespace http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/members/ftnoob.html // @description Automatically redirects away from masterSessionTimeout.html // @license Creative Commons Attribution License // @version Beta 0.1 // @released 2011-05-25 // @updated // @include http://www.southwest.com/flight/masterSessionTimeout.html* // ==/UserScript== window.location.href='http://www.southwest.com/flight/';
Note that an alternative to the above GM script would be to install Einar Egilsson's Redirector Add On.
I don't redirect to the MySouthwest login page because I think MySouthwest sessions should be avoided whenever possible. (There are way too many security issues involved.) What I have been doing until now for the timeout page is entering the key sequence: Alt-D, Ctrl-Z, [Enter] to get back to the page I was trying to load. (This shortcut doesn't work in Chrome because its address bar doesn't recognize the world's most common undo shortcut.
)At some point I might investigate whether I could have this script use the browser's history to duplicate my personal shortcut.
If you install and test this today it will probably seem slow; southwest.com has seemed slow to me all day, perhaps due to continued high use with yesterday's holiday booking window opening.
Last edited by ftnoob; May 24, 2012 at 12:11 pm Reason: Splitting content; previously: change user. to .user.; previously: Several enhancements / clarifications
May 25, 2011, 11:00 pm
#6
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
SWA Ad Carousel Zapper / Expert Mode Teaser GreaseMonkey Script Beta v0.1
After spending way too much time (ETA: yesterday and today, after not touching this since Friday) adding/tweaking minor demo features far beyond what I had intended to post on Friday, here it is at last:
If you have already tried the script above you obviously know that it vastly decrapifies the flight search page. For now, much of the decrapifiying relies on jQuery animation effects a) for amusement; and b) as a reminder that an installed script is modifying the page (as opposed to the page being broken). Remember that you can always use the GreaseMonkey menu to disable a script if you need to see the unmodfied version of the page.
The ultra-long line of unintelligible code is a tweak of an existing (minified) JS function related to the airport flyouts. It simply adds one tiny condition that makes the existence of the flyouts vastly more tolerable. The conditional does one simple thing: until the point that you have typed at least four characters in the input field, it causes the flyout script to assume that you probably know what you are doing and don't need any help. (That is similar to the way kayak.com implements their smart input fields, though their help might show up after the third character.)
This GreaseMonkey script also implements my 2009-Oct proposed fix for the typing a space after the airport code / city name problem that SWA is (presumably) still "working on."
These two tiny changes do not add up to a perfect solution, as at least one area of potential confusion remains: if you don't know that the code for Fort Myers is RSW, and you don't know whether SWA lists Fort Myers asyou are going to have to resort to either trial-and-error or clicking the flyout trigger button. 
It wouldn't be difficult to fix that in the original source code, but it's too much trouble for Beta v0.1 of a GreaseMonkey Extreme Makeover -- Web Site Edition! script!
This script also adds a rarely-used feature of HTML: access keys for form elements. For usability reasons I would never have implemented the OW/RT option the way SWA did. The (local storage) version of my Expert Mode flight search page used a select box with OW/RT/ABC options instead of (only two) radio buttons that lack access keys. Note that to use the (underlined) access keys in Firefox, you have to press Shift-Alt-[key] instead of just Alt-[Key] as you do in a stand alone Windows or Linux app (sorry, I don't know the Mac equivalents). That isn't super friendly, but it is a far sight better than having to take a hand off the keyboard to use the mouse. Experiment by alternately pressing Shift-Alt-A and Shift-Alt-O.
If you click "add another flight" and then repeat the above experiment, you might notice some weird stuff going on / not happening with the third city input box. That is due to a new bug introduced during SWA's rush to assault you with the offensive ad carousel on the flight search page. I might or might not again wait 19 months to see whether their crack programmers can figure that one out before distributing my own fix.
In conjunction with some other changes of varying visibility (lightly deploying the tab index feature, hiding input fields that usually shouldn't be used on an initial search, disabling the date picker calendar, and setting initial focus to the originAirport_displayed field), with this script installed it is now possible to pretty efficiently enter a fare search for travel "today:" nine key strokes, no mousing, and you are there. Example: sfo[tab]lax[tab][enter].
(I could of course change the default date in the script, but this version does not do that).
Once you do that, you'll see that the flight search results page has a few tweaks as well, although comparatively few. See the next post for that discussion.
Code:
// ==UserScript==
// @name SWA Ad Carousel Zapper With Expert Mode
// @author wnProTips
// @namespace http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/members/ftnoob.html
// @description Removes the Ad Carousel from flight search page on southwest.com. A future version will enable the expert mode search feature.
// @license Creative Commons Attribution License
// @version Beta 0.1
// @released 2011-05-25
// @updated
// @include http://www.southwest.com/flight/
// @include http://www.southwest.com/flight/?int=*
// @include http://www.southwest.com/flight/search-flight.html*
// @include http://www.southwest.com/flight/select-flight.html?disc=*
// ==/UserScript==
window.addEventListener('load',
function(e) {var pn=document.location.pathname;
function fixFlightsPage() {
window.setTimeout(function() {
var $ = unsafeWindow.jQuery, sEl=document.createElement('script') ;
$('#modifyDatesForm [id*="port_"]').hide();
$('#modifyDatesForm [id$="port"]').show();
sEl.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript");
sEl.setAttribute("id", "disUp");
sEl.appendChild(document.createTextNode("document.addEventListener('click', function(){disableUpsellDrawers = true;},false);\n"));
document.body.appendChild(sEl);
}
,250);
}
function fixSearchPage(){
var $ = unsafeWindow.jQuery, scriptNode=document.createElement("script");
$('#sw_footer, .swa_content_module').html('');
$("#outboundTimeOfDay").hide();
$('#center-content').fadeOut(250);
$('#returnBookingSelects, div.passenger-selects, #sw_header_primary_nav').slideToggle(500);
$('#promoCode').parent().parent().slideToggle(500);
$(".product-icon").parent().slideToggle(500);
var sEmbed="var displayFilteredStationList=function(i,v,G,k,K,t,g,f){try{if(typeof f==\"undefined\"){f=\"ALL\" }$(\"#tab_container .country_tabs\").css(\"display\",\"none\"); var h=$(i).siblings(\"select.stationInput\").attr(\"id\"); if($(i).siblings(\"label\").size()>0){h=$(i).siblings(\"label\").attr(\"for\") }var D=$(\"#destination_flyout\"); D.html(\"\"); var C=[\"US\",\"MX\",\"ALL\"]; var J=[\"USA\",\"Mexico\",\"All\"]; var m=\"<div id=\\\"tab_container\\\"><ul style=\\\"width:100%;position:relative;z-index:1000\\\" class=\\\"country_tabs\\\">\"; for(var u=0; u<C.length; u++){var F=(f==C[u])?\"country_tab_selected\":\"country_tab\"; if(f==\"ALL\"&&u==0){F=\"country_tab_selected\" }if(C[u]!=\"ALL\"){m+=\"<li id=\\\"tab_\"+C[u]+\"\\\" class=\\\"\"+F+\"\\\">\"+J[u]+\"</li>\" }}var A=\"-12px\"; if($(\"option.MX\").length==0){A=\"0px\" }m+=\"</ul></div>\"; m+=\"<div style=\\\"padding-left:0px;width:100%;border-bottom:solid 1px #F0F0F0;height:1px;position:relative;top:\"+A+\";_top:-18px;z-index:900\\\"></div>\"; D.append(m); for(var u=0; u<1; u++){var c=\"<div style=\\\"clear:both;display:none;width:100%;padding-top:0px;_margin-top:-5px\\\" class=\\\"destination_container\\\" id=\\\"destination_container_\"+C[u]+\"\\\">\"; if(K){c+=\"<div class=\\\"noMatch\\\">\"+noMatchOnFilterErrorMessage+\"</div><br style=\\\"clear:both\\\" />\" }c+=\"</div>\"; D.append(c) }var N=t?$(i).val().toUpperCase():null; populateDestinationFlyout(D,v,G,N,g,f); D.wrapInner(\"<div class=\\\"station_list\\\" id=\\\"\"+h+\"_station_list\\\"></div>\"); var j=\"\"; j+=\"<div class=\\\"close_button_container\\\">\"; j+=\"<div style=\\\"float:left;padding-top:3px;padding-left:10px\\\" id=\\\"destination_footer_content\\\"></div>\"; j+=\"<div style=\\\"float:right\\\"><a class=\\\"close_button\\\" onclick=\\\"return(false)\\\" href=\\\"#\\\"><span class=\\\"closeImg\\\"></span><span style=\\\"float:right\\\">Close</span></a></div>\"; j+=\"</div>\"; D.children(\".station_list\").after(j); if(k){var L=D.children(\".station_list\").children(\"div.innerDiv:first-child\").children(\"a\"); $(L[0]).addClass(\"highlighted\") }if(g==true){$(\"#tab_container .country_tabs\").hide(); $(\"#destination_container_US\").show() }else{$(\"#destination_container_\"+C[0]).show() }i.value.trim().length>3&&D.show(); var B=\"#destination_container_\"+C[0]+\" div\"; var x=$(B).length; if(x>4){x=4 }var a=x*240; D.css(\"width\",a); var d=$(\"#\"+h+\"_displayed\").offset(); var w=$(\"#\"+h+\"_displayed\").outerHeight(); var p=$(\"#\"+h+\"_displayed\").outerWidth(); var z; if($(\"#\"+h+\"_displayed\").hasClass(\"destFlyoutRightAlign\")){z=d.left+p-D.outerWidth() }else{z=d.left }D.css({left:z,top:d.top+w}); var b=$(flyoutHider); if(b.size()>0){$(b[0]).css({left:$(D[0]).offset().left,top:$(D[0]).offset().top,width:a,height:$(D[0]).innerHeight(),position:\"absolute\",zIndex:1}); $(b[0]).show() }var r=D.offset(); var q=r.left; var M=D.width(); var H=$(window).width(); if(H-(q+M)<0){var l=q-(Math.abs(H-(q+M))); $(flyoutHider).css(\"left\",q) }if($(\".innerDiv:last\").length>0){var o=$(\".innerDiv:last\"); var n=o.offset(); var s=n.left; var y=n.left+o.width(); var E=(q+M)-y; if(E>0){D.css(\"width\",((a-E)+12)+\"px\"); $(flyoutHider).css(\"width\",((a-E)+12)+\"px\") }}$(\"#tab_container .country_tabs li\").bind(\"click\",function(){if($(i).attr(\"id\").indexOf(\"returnAirport\")>=0){setTimeout(function(){var P=\"\"; if($(\"input#oneWay\").length==0){P+=\"<a class=\\\"US\\\" title=\\\"\\\" style=\\\"display:block;\\\">None</a>\" }P+=\"<a class=\\\"US\\\" title=\\\"RoundTrip\\\" style=\\\"display:block;\\\">Depart City/Round Trip</a>\"; $(\".destination_container .innerDiv:first\").prepend(P) },100) }selectTab(this); D.html(\"\"); var O=$(this).attr(\"id\"); var e=O.substring(O.indexOf(\"_\")+1); displayFilteredStationList(i,v,G,k,K,t,g,e); addEventsToDestinationFlyout(i,D); if(e.toLowerCase()==\"mx\"){if($(\".destination_flyout\").css(\"width\")==\"223px\"||$(\".destination_flyout\").css(\"width\")==\"213px\"){$(\".destination_flyout\").css(\"width\",\"375px\") }$(\"#destination_footer_content\").css(\"text-align\",\"left\"); $(\"#destination_footer_content\").text(\"Flights into and out of Mexico operated by Volaris\"); if(SWA.dollarToggle.pointsSelected){$(\"#destination_container_US\").hide() }}}) }catch(I){}return D };".quote();
unsafeWindow.String.prototype.trim = function (){return $.trim(this.toString())}
unsafeWindow.isStationCodeOrNameMatching = function (b, a) {b=b.trim(); return a.stationCode.indexOf(b) == 0 || a.stationName.toUpperCase().indexOf(b) == 0;}
scriptNode.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript");
scriptNode.appendChild(document.createTextNode("eval(" + sEmbed +");"));
document.body.appendChild(scriptNode);
$('#oneWay').click();
$('#returnAirport_displayed').attr('disabled', false);
$('label[for="oneWay"]').attr('accessKey', 'o');
$('label[for="roundTrip"]').attr('accessKey', 'a');
$('label[for="roundTrip"]').html('<span style="text-decoration: underline;">A</span>-B-C');
$('label[for="oneWay"]').html('<span style="text-decoration: underline;">O</span>ne Way');
$('#buildItineraryForm *').filter(':input').attr('tabindex',999);
$('#buildItineraryForm a[href*="routemap"]').attr('tabindex',0);
window.setTimeout(function() {
var $ = unsafeWindow.jQuery,cc=$('#center-content'),oA=$('#originAirport_displayed'),oD=$('#outboundDate'),ccHtml;
ccHtml = '<div id="divExpert"><h2 style="text-align: center;">Expert Mode</h2>' +
'<h3 style="text-align: center;">Coming soon!</h3>' +
'<form id="expInp" style="margin-left: 4ex; ">' +
' <label for="expInp">Search: </label>' +
' <input id="expSearch" type="text" style="width: 80%; border: 1px solid black;">' +
' <p style="margin: .3em 0; font-weight: 600;">Examples of valid searches:</p>' +
' <p style="margin: 0 2ex; padding-bottom: 2em;">' +
' LAX,SFO,0704<br />' +
' LAX.SFO.0704<br />' +
' LAX/SFO/0704<br />' +
' LAX SFO 0704<br />' +
' LAXSFO07.04<br />' +
' LAX (SFO OAK) 07/04<br />' +
' (LAX SNA)(SFO OAK) 0704<br /></span></P>' +
'<p id=dlm></p>' +
'<p id=cookies> </p>' +
'</form>' +
'</div>' ;
cc.html(ccHtml);
$('#dlm').html(document.lastModified) ;
cc.fadeIn(700);
$.datepicker._disableDatepicker(oD[0]) ;
oD.attr('disabled', '') ;
oA.focus();
oA.select();
}, 600);
}
(pn.indexOf('select-')<0)?fixSearchPage():fixFlightsPage();
}
,false);
The ultra-long line of unintelligible code is a tweak of an existing (minified) JS function related to the airport flyouts. It simply adds one tiny condition that makes the existence of the flyouts vastly more tolerable. The conditional does one simple thing: until the point that you have typed at least four characters in the input field, it causes the flyout script to assume that you probably know what you are doing and don't need any help. (That is similar to the way kayak.com implements their smart input fields, though their help might show up after the third character.)
This GreaseMonkey script also implements my 2009-Oct proposed fix for the typing a space after the airport code / city name problem that SWA is (presumably) still "working on."
These two tiny changes do not add up to a perfect solution, as at least one area of potential confusion remains: if you don't know that the code for Fort Myers is RSW, and you don't know whether SWA lists Fort Myers as
- Fort Myers;
- Ft Myers; or
- Ft. Myers
It wouldn't be difficult to fix that in the original source code, but it's too much trouble for Beta v0.1 of a GreaseMonkey Extreme Makeover -- Web Site Edition! script!This script also adds a rarely-used feature of HTML: access keys for form elements. For usability reasons I would never have implemented the OW/RT option the way SWA did. The (local storage) version of my Expert Mode flight search page used a select box with OW/RT/ABC options instead of (only two) radio buttons that lack access keys. Note that to use the (underlined) access keys in Firefox, you have to press Shift-Alt-[key] instead of just Alt-[Key] as you do in a stand alone Windows or Linux app (sorry, I don't know the Mac equivalents). That isn't super friendly, but it is a far sight better than having to take a hand off the keyboard to use the mouse. Experiment by alternately pressing Shift-Alt-A and Shift-Alt-O.
If you click "add another flight" and then repeat the above experiment, you might notice some weird stuff going on / not happening with the third city input box. That is due to a new bug introduced during SWA's rush to assault you with the offensive ad carousel on the flight search page. I might or might not again wait 19 months to see whether their crack programmers can figure that one out before distributing my own fix.
In conjunction with some other changes of varying visibility (lightly deploying the tab index feature, hiding input fields that usually shouldn't be used on an initial search, disabling the date picker calendar, and setting initial focus to the originAirport_displayed field), with this script installed it is now possible to pretty efficiently enter a fare search for travel "today:" nine key strokes, no mousing, and you are there. Example: sfo[tab]lax[tab][enter].
(I could of course change the default date in the script, but this version does not do that).Once you do that, you'll see that the flight search results page has a few tweaks as well, although comparatively few. See the next post for that discussion.
Last edited by ftnoob; May 26, 2011 at 12:11 am Reason: Experiment weirdness correctioin; previously: As noted
May 26, 2011, 12:04 am
#7
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
As annoying as the ad carousel is (for its distraction and interference with the purpose of the page), equally annoying (for general usability reasons) is the recent breakage of the modify search city input fields on the search results page. I am seriously sick of entering lax[tab], for example, and seeing that the _displayed input field does not expand to "Los Angeles, CA - LAX," then rolling the dice and losing (by getting back a copy of my original search results, instead of the results for the modified search). The breakage is because, with the recent changes, the _displayed input fields do not expand your input/copy your input to the hidden *Airport fields unless you have first used the mouse to click on the flyout trigger icon. 
Rather than again wasting my time debugging SWA's code for free only to see the bug hang around for 1.5+ years, Beta v0.1 of the Zapper/Teaser GM script toggles the displayed input fields: instead of seeing SWA's crappy implementation of smart input fields, you will see (tweaked) versions of the old style select box input fields (which happen to be the only city input fields actually processed by the server). The "tweak" is not the work of the script; one good thing SWA finally did with the recent changes was to make those input fields display as single line select boxes, rather than five-line select boxes. (That is similar to a change I had kludged with user css long ago, before I knew any JavaScript.)
The script also turns off the upsell messages, though this feature might not be 100% reliable due to various interactions among GreaseMonkey, jQuery, and JSC. (JSC is the delayed JavaScript feature that allows a page to appear to be fully loaded/ready for use long before even a quad-core machine running a super-fast JS engine has finished executing the horribly bloated code that SWA foists upon you)
Rather than again wasting my time debugging SWA's code for free only to see the bug hang around for 1.5+ years, Beta v0.1 of the Zapper/Teaser GM script toggles the displayed input fields: instead of seeing SWA's crappy implementation of smart input fields, you will see (tweaked) versions of the old style select box input fields (which happen to be the only city input fields actually processed by the server). The "tweak" is not the work of the script; one good thing SWA finally did with the recent changes was to make those input fields display as single line select boxes, rather than five-line select boxes. (That is similar to a change I had kludged with user css long ago, before I knew any JavaScript.)
The script also turns off the upsell messages, though this feature might not be 100% reliable due to various interactions among GreaseMonkey, jQuery, and JSC. (JSC is the delayed JavaScript feature that allows a page to appear to be fully loaded/ready for use long before even a quad-core machine running a super-fast JS engine has finished executing the horribly bloated code that SWA foists upon you)
May 26, 2011, 3:04 pm
#8
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
Do you miss the time stamp on the OLCI "too soon" error? Do you find the huge Oops graphic and two paragraphs of error message text more than a bit over-the-top in that situation?
Below is a simple user script to change the too early page to look like this:
The input fields were edited, without resubmitting the form, after the improved form was displayed. The script does nothing if the error message doesn't contain the phrase 'more than 24 hours.' The time stamp is the web server time, which at one time was known to vary from the time on the back end servers.
Here is the GreaseMonkey user script:
Below is a simple user script to change the too early page to look like this:
The input fields were edited, without resubmitting the form, after the improved form was displayed. The script does nothing if the error message doesn't contain the phrase 'more than 24 hours.' The time stamp is the web server time, which at one time was known to vary from the time on the back end servers.
Here is the GreaseMonkey user script:
Code:
// ==UserScript==
// @name SWA OLCI Too Early Fixer
// @author wnProTips
// @namespace http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/members/ftnoob.html
// @description Replaces two paragraphs of explanation with less obtrusive message, and adds Time Stamp.
// @license Creative Commons Attribution License
// @version Beta 0.1
// @released 2011-05-26
// @updated
// @include http://www.southwest.com/flight/retrieveCheckinDoc.html*
// ==/UserScript==
(function() {
var d = document.getElementById('submitButton').parentNode.parentNode, e=document.getElementById('errors');
if(e.innerHTML.indexOf('more than 24 hours')>-1){
e.parentNode.style.display='none';
d.innerHTML='<p class=required>Too soon: '+document.lastModified +'</p>'+d.innerHTML;
}
}()
)
May 31, 2011, 11:42 pm
#9
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
In the good old days, folks hated that they could accidentally book their companion on the wrong itinerary. In the bad new days, folks hate that they have no flexibility to book anything other than what the system dictates they can book, and that sometimes the system permanently or temporarily thinks they should not be able to book a companion at all.
This weekend I had nsx show me the post-transition CP booking process; in return I showed him workarounds for some of the problems with the new system.
I witnessed a case where nsx's future flight listing had no "add companion" link even though he did not have a companion booked on the flight. Most folks would resort to a phone call to book the companion in those circumstances, but it turned out there is a fairly easy workaround that allows booking the companion online. When an "add companion" link was available, the URL looked something like:
The URL above works perfectly well if you remove everything after ABC123. Furthermore, it is customizable if you simply replace ABC123 with the PNR of the CP holder's flight. So nsx was able to complete a test booking for his companion on a PNR that was a half-flown RT. Amazingly enough, the system had no problem adding the companion to just the unflown portion of the itinerary.
A more common frustration is that you want to book your companion immediately after you book your flight, rather than waiting around 5, 10, 15, or ??? minutes for your new reservation to show up in your future flight listing. Tested and confirmed: no problemo. Simply open a new tab, paste the pro-forma add CP URL above, copy the new PNR from the confirmation page and paste it over ABC123, hit Enter, and off you go.
To make it easier, you can bookmark this pro-forma CP booking link (use the right-click context menu to bookmark the link) so it is handy whenever you need it.
This weekend I had nsx show me the post-transition CP booking process; in return I showed him workarounds for some of the problems with the new system.
I witnessed a case where nsx's future flight listing had no "add companion" link even though he did not have a companion booked on the flight. Most folks would resort to a phone call to book the companion in those circumstances, but it turned out there is a fairly easy workaround that allows booking the companion online. When an "add companion" link was available, the URL looked something like:
Code:
http://www.southwest.com/account/rapidrewards/bookCompanion.html?recordLocator=ABC123&ss=0&disc=...
A more common frustration is that you want to book your companion immediately after you book your flight, rather than waiting around 5, 10, 15, or ??? minutes for your new reservation to show up in your future flight listing. Tested and confirmed: no problemo. Simply open a new tab, paste the pro-forma add CP URL above, copy the new PNR from the confirmation page and paste it over ABC123, hit Enter, and off you go.
To make it easier, you can bookmark this pro-forma CP booking link (use the right-click context menu to bookmark the link) so it is handy whenever you need it.
But wait, there's more!
In Firefox you can assign a keyword such as (addCp, or even just cp) to the pro-forma bookmark above, so that you can access it very quickly just by typing cp (or your chosen keyword) in the AwesomeBar. ^
(To see the dialog pictured above, you have to first bookmark the link, then edit the bookmark properties. The easiest way to get there is via the Recently Bookmarked item on the Bookmarks menu.)
I didn't have a chance to dive into the guts of the new purchase confirmation page for this project, but once I do that it should be easy to create a GreaseMonkey user script to add an "Add Companion" link to the purchase confirmation page.
In Firefox you can assign a keyword such as (addCp, or even just cp) to the pro-forma bookmark above, so that you can access it very quickly just by typing cp (or your chosen keyword) in the AwesomeBar. ^
But wait, there's even more!
In Firefox you can replace the ABC123 with %s to indicate that a substitution should be made for the PNR. So you bookmark this substitution version of the above URL, (right click context menu again), add the keyword as per above, then when you want to immediately add a companion booking to your just completed reservation, simply follow these steps:Using copy and paste of course isn't necessary, it is just the most efficient approach for many of us. Some folks will find it easier to look at the PNR and retype it instead of copying and pasting it.
In Firefox you can replace the ABC123 with %s to indicate that a substitution should be made for the PNR. So you bookmark this substitution version of the above URL, (right click context menu again), add the keyword as per above, then when you want to immediately add a companion booking to your just completed reservation, simply follow these steps:
- Copy the PNR;
- Open a new tab (precaution, not strictly necessary);
- Type cp Ctrl-v[Enter] (that is: cp[space]/paste the PNR/hit Enter);
- Proceed as usual to complete the CP booking.
Last edited by ftnoob; Oct 15, 2011 at 12:29 pm Reason: typo; previously: oops, the critical %s was missing from the substitution version of the URL!
Jun 14, 2011, 9:01 am
#10
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
Here is a bookmarklet that finds the confirmation number within the HTML of the page shown at the Confirmed step of the booking process, and opens a window/tab for your companion booking:
If you prefer to just insert a link you can click, use this version:
Your purchase page will be modified as follows (image edited to shrink width for FT display purposes):
The insert link bookmarklet will eventually become the basis for a GreaseMonkey automatic modification script, but unfortunately I'm not available to create that at this time.
I don't have a CP so I can only confirm it serves to generate a Please check your Companion Pass Status (SW900001) but it should work (which means nothing in the programming world!). Someone with a CP will have to test and confirm.
Note that this was only tested on a single-pax award booking; it may very well fail on a reservation that results in multiple PNRs.
Code:
javascript: void(window.open('http://www.southwest.com/account/rapidrewards/bookCompanion.html?recordLocator='+$('span.confirmation_number').html()))
Code:
javascript: void($('#changeReservationLink').parent().html('<a id="changeReservationLink" title="Add Companion" href="/account/rapidrewards/bookCompanion.html?recordLocator=[PNR]"> Book Companion |</a>'.replace('[PNR]', $('span.confirmation_number').html())+$('#changeReservationLink').parent().html()))
I don't have a CP so I can only confirm it serves to generate a Please check your Companion Pass Status (SW900001) but it should work (which means nothing in the programming world!). Someone with a CP will have to test and confirm.
Note that this was only tested on a single-pax award booking; it may very well fail on a reservation that results in multiple PNRs.
Last edited by ftnoob; May 15, 2012 at 6:07 pm Reason: Fix hover text on Add Companion link
Aug 11, 2011, 12:37 pm
#11
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
Isn't it simply delightful that with all the things that are broken on the web site, Priority #1 continues to be making the damn thing ever more customer-hostile? SWA has disabled the ability to use three of these five direct links:
Now the only way to enter an Award booking request is via the JavaScript-based overlay form on the Award listing page. (ETA: The Advanced Search feature does still work, but to see that link you have to go through the overlay form. I will look for a workaround on that.) Know what is especially lovely about that? If you happen to be browsing the site without JavaScript, it is now impossible to view the Award calendar or book an award. You'll still see the links for booking an Award or checking availability, but when you click them you'll end up with the regular dollars/points flight search page.
Also, since at least 26-Jun, it has been impossible to view the Award Calendar if you have no Awards available. That's incredibly rude, considering you might be trying to decide whether or not to convert points to top off an Award! (Or even, as I am for a relative with an imminent deadline, whether to purchase points to top off that Award.)
Is there any major web site in existence that regularly exhibits such utter contempt for its own customers?
- Award Listing
- Reissue Awards
Flexible Date Award SearchBook Award TravelBook Award Travel II
Also, since at least 26-Jun, it has been impossible to view the Award Calendar if you have no Awards available. That's incredibly rude, considering you might be trying to decide whether or not to convert points to top off an Award! (Or even, as I am for a relative with an imminent deadline, whether to purchase points to top off that Award.)
Is there any major web site in existence that regularly exhibits such utter contempt for its own customers?
Aug 11, 2011, 10:55 pm
#12
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
I should have thought to include this one in the original batch:Bookmark it!
May 18, 2012, 10:33 am
#13
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
SWA: Easily switch [to/from] Award [from/to] Dollars/Points searches
If you are viewing Dollars/Points results and want to see Award availability, or vice versa, in a single step, append a fareType parameter to the URL line as follows:
Sorry it took so long to come up with this one: it's been a long time since I've had much reason to use the web site, especially for comparing Award availability and fares.
UPDATE: Be sure to do this on a "fresh" search results page. If, for example, you have used the calendar tabs to adjust the date for which information is displayed, the base URL may have changed, there may be no parameters, and fareType switching attempts may only produce an error.
- &fareType=DOLLARS
- &fareType=POINTS
- &fareType=TRANSITION_CERTIFICATE
UPDATE: Be sure to do this on a "fresh" search results page. If, for example, you have used the calendar tabs to adjust the date for which information is displayed, the base URL may have changed, there may be no parameters, and fareType switching attempts may only produce an error.
Last edited by ftnoob; Jul 26, 2013 at 4:46 am Reason: Update
May 24, 2012, 12:28 pm
#14
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
SWA: View Award/fare calendar while using "Change Itinerary"
As discussed in the Wiki, there are several cases where the low fare calendar link is not available. One such situation appears to be a case of the web site folks unthinkingly leaving things alone because "it has always been that way:" the change itinerary process.
If you bookmark this generic version of the calendar from flight list URL, you can jump to the Award, fare, or points calendar for your Change Itinerary request.
If you bookmark this generic version of the calendar from flight list URL, you can jump to the Award, fare, or points calendar for your Change Itinerary request.