Feb 14, 2015, 12:53 pm
Last edit by: 747FC
The ExpertFlyer support by email is at [email protected]
This is a community-maintained wiki, it is not necessarily endorsed by ExpertFlyer.
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Searches currently not working:
To search AA upgrades:
This is a community-maintained wiki, it is not necessarily endorsed by ExpertFlyer.
--------------------
Searches currently not working:
- Upgrades - AY, BA, EK, EY, IB, QR, VS
- Awards - AY, BA, IB, EY, QR, VS
To search AA upgrades:
- Use the Award & Upgrade tool
- Only search for individual segments (set the "Connection Preference" drop-down to "Direct/Non-Stop only"). Flight results that are part of a connection won't show the upgrade version of C or A inventory because AA only files upgrade inventory as individual, not married, segments. (Married segments show revenue inventory instead of upgrade inventory.)
- To avoid confusion, check the "Exclude Codeshares" box, as AA awards and upgrades are not valid on codeshares.
ExpertFlyer.com Help Desk Thread
Feb 24, 2015, 3:34 pm
#871
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
Do I want J or Y? Well, usually Y because experience has taught me to assume that I can't afford J, but I would surely prefer J when the difference is very little and affordable.
Similarly, do I want a 15-hour nonstop to some Asian city or 22 hours with a connection? The answer may seem obvious till you consider the details. For example, the nonstop arrives at 1AM forcing me to get a hotel or sit in some plastic chair in the arrival hall till my next flight at 10AM; in contrast, the connecting flight allows me to spend the extra time in a first class lounge somewhere with shower and food, followed by 7AM arrival and a comfortable forward connection.
These are real example, such things do happen. There isn't a software package written that will allow you to "widen your search" is all ways that are meaningful to human needs.
Similarly, do I want a 15-hour nonstop to some Asian city or 22 hours with a connection? The answer may seem obvious till you consider the details. For example, the nonstop arrives at 1AM forcing me to get a hotel or sit in some plastic chair in the arrival hall till my next flight at 10AM; in contrast, the connecting flight allows me to spend the extra time in a first class lounge somewhere with shower and food, followed by 7AM arrival and a comfortable forward connection.
These are real example, such things do happen. There isn't a software package written that will allow you to "widen your search" is all ways that are meaningful to human needs.
Feb 24, 2015, 3:40 pm
#872
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Feb 24, 2015, 3:54 pm
#873
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
Feb 24, 2015, 6:13 pm
#874
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
A very useful place for questions like this, loaded with information, is in thevTravel Tools Fourm: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...sk-thread.html
Remember, seat charts merely show seats that have been assigned, and seats that are blocked for various reasons from crew rest to you name it. Some passengers don't select / obsess over seats, and in some cases there may be groups (e.g. cruise passengers, etc.) without seat assignments.
When you see F0, J0, Y0 you can be pretty sure the airline is unwilling, unable to sell more seats, and in fact might be oversold.
Remember, seat charts merely show seats that have been assigned, and seats that are blocked for various reasons from crew rest to you name it. Some passengers don't select / obsess over seats, and in some cases there may be groups (e.g. cruise passengers, etc.) without seat assignments.
When you see F0, J0, Y0 you can be pretty sure the airline is unwilling, unable to sell more seats, and in fact might be oversold.
Feb 25, 2015, 4:19 pm
#878
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
<Redacted by moderator>. EF says it's going to do X, it has an API of sorts, to BA's GDS that produces X+Y. EF then says to me: here's X and shows me X+Y instead of doing the trivial task of accounting for the fault in the API it's using and stripping out Y. If such a task of doing what you say you're doing is completely unprogrammable, perhaps the text saying "here's X" should be changed to "here isn't X"
<Redacted by moderator>
<Redacted by moderator>
Last edited by TWA884; Feb 25, 2015 at 5:24 pm Reason: Snarky and snide remarks
Feb 25, 2015, 4:54 pm
#880
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
I could understand the complaint if you asked for non-stop BA flights, and all you got was connecting itineraries on other airlines.
But you're getting everything you ask for here. You're also sometimes getting some more, laid out in a way which does not confuse. That's why I find it impossible to understand why this should be considered anything more than a minor bemusement.
Last edited by TWA884; Feb 25, 2015 at 5:38 pm Reason: Edited quoted post to conform to prior moderator edit
Feb 25, 2015, 5:22 pm
#882
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,647
Feb 25, 2015, 5:26 pm
#883
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
ExpertFlyer is designed to be a nicer interface for basic queries of the GDS at a lower cost than direct GDS access (which I have had in the past at $45 per month). Like everyone else here has noted, it does exactly what we expect it to do: query the GDS and return the results in a pleasant-to-look-at format (plus email alerts and things).
You are asking them to change their entire system from being a mostly pass-through interface to a comprehensive system that understands the data the GDS is returning and sorts and filters it.
That's nice, but that also significantly increases the complexity of the product. Development resources would have to be committed to that. Much more intensive monitoring of the product would ensue to ensure that the software isn't filtering out the wrong stuff. The subscription price for EF would have to go up significantly to do that.
I don't want any of that. I want exactly what I get: the raw results from the GDS. And judging by the rest of the posts in this thread, everyone else but you wants the exact same thing.
You're welcome to be the outlier and want more out of the product, but when arguing your case in this thread, make sure to take reality into account. And that reality is both that what you want is not feasible within the current fee structure of the product and also that pretty much everyone else here is quite happy with the way it is.
Last edited by TWA884; Feb 25, 2015 at 5:43 pm Reason: Conform to prior moderator edit of quoted post
Feb 25, 2015, 5:47 pm
#885
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
I was also complaining. 
I understand your perspective but it isn't clear to me that ExpertFlyer is simply there to repackage whatever comes from the GDS.
I also raise eyebrows at suggestions that verifying externally-sourced data match requirements is difficult or expensive ... when I was a programming contractor I did that for free because I thought it was expected practise!
I understand your perspective but it isn't clear to me that ExpertFlyer is simply there to repackage whatever comes from the GDS.
I also raise eyebrows at suggestions that verifying externally-sourced data match requirements is difficult or expensive ... when I was a programming contractor I did that for free because I thought it was expected practise!