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ExpertFlyer.com Help Desk Thread

Old Feb 14, 2015, 12:53 pm
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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.




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ExpertFlyer.com Help Desk Thread

Old Feb 2, 2018, 12:04 pm
  #1606  
Left Expert Flyer 4/23
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,741
Originally Posted by Globaliser
The easiest way to think of it is this: You cannot set an alert for a seat which is currently available, only for seats which are not currently available. Selecting the "Include Blocked seats" option means "Treat blocked seats as already available", so that they are excluded from the seats which you can set for the alert.

The EF wording is confusing, but that is the way that the site seems to work.
Correct, it's explained on the Help popup for creating a Seat Alert: https://www.expertflyer.com/popup/he...eat-alert.html
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Old Feb 4, 2018, 7:13 pm
  #1607  
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 969
Originally Posted by ExpertFlyer Voice
Correct, it's explained on the Help popup for creating a Seat Alert: https://www.expertflyer.com/popup/he...eat-alert.html
Thanks. Didn't come across that when I was searching. Safely bookmarked!
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Old Feb 5, 2018, 3:58 am
  #1608  
 
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Hi all - searching for award inventory BRU-DAC or DUS-DAC in *A with Expertflyer.
Does it matter wether I use airline Lufthansa / Singapore / Thai for example? I am a miles&more member myself, and I notice that each of these 3 give different award inventory. For example airline LH gives me mostly TK routings via IST, and none via BKK or SIN. Using SIN I am mostly seeing routings via HND.

Do you guys recommend to search segment per segment and somehow 'marry' them together myself?
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Old Feb 5, 2018, 7:52 am
  #1609  
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Any possibility of adding Finnair business class award availability ("U" booking class) to the list of predefined classes? Right now, only economy awards ("X" class) is a predefined class, and trying to specify "U" class manually doesn't return any results even when there are business class seats available for booking via airline websites. One example: March 22nd, HEL-ARN.
(Yes, that is confirmed availability on aa.com, not phantom availability)





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Old Feb 5, 2018, 2:05 pm
  #1610  
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Originally Posted by The Wolf
Hi all - searching for award inventory BRU-DAC or DUS-DAC in *A with Expertflyer.
Does it matter wether I use airline Lufthansa / Singapore / Thai for example? I am a miles&more member myself, and I notice that each of these 3 give different award inventory. For example airline LH gives me mostly TK routings via IST, and none via BKK or SIN. Using SIN I am mostly seeing routings via HND.

Do you guys recommend to search segment per segment and somehow 'marry' them together myself?
You select the operating airline who's awards you want to search for. If you know your itinerary will be multi-airline, you may want to search for a single airlines worth of segments at a time then combine the results.
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Old Feb 5, 2018, 2:06 pm
  #1611  
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Originally Posted by DoTheBartMan
Any possibility of adding Finnair business class award availability ("U" booking class) to the list of predefined classes? Right now, only economy awards ("X" class) is a predefined class, and trying to specify "U" class manually doesn't return any results even when there are business class seats available for booking via airline websites. One example: March 22nd, HEL-ARN.
(Yes, that is confirmed availability on aa.com, not phantom availability)
U class is not published and therefore not available to ExpertFlyer. If it was it would have been listed.
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Old Feb 9, 2018, 10:58 pm
  #1612  
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
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Delta cannot see Mar 1 availability that I received a EF notification for a few hours ago. The flight I am trying to redeem with Skymiles is CZ 602 SYD-CAN.

This is my first time using Expert Flyer, so I am not sure if DL sees all availability that EF sees or does EF occasionally see phantom availability?
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Old Feb 10, 2018, 7:39 am
  #1613  
IMH
 
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Originally Posted by knit-in
Mar 1 [...] CZ 602 SYD-CAN
Looking now on EF, I'm seeing O1 X0 on that flight. Looking on delta.com, that business class seat is offered to me for 65,000 miles and 96.48 USD.

Maybe you got a subpar agent. Maybe s/he didn't understand you wanted business class (assuming you do). Or maybe the availability EF alerted to you was taken and then re-released, or taken and later replaced with new award inventory.

Either way: if you want that seat and you're online reading this: try again!
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Old Feb 10, 2018, 2:48 pm
  #1614  
 
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Originally Posted by IMH
Looking now on EF, I'm seeing O1 X0 on that flight. Looking on delta.com, that business class seat is offered to me for 65,000 miles and 96.48 USD.

Maybe you got a subpar agent. Maybe s/he didn't understand you wanted business class (assuming you do). Or maybe the availability EF alerted to you was taken and then re-released, or taken and later replaced with new award inventory.

Either way: if you want that seat and you're online reading this: try again!
I did indeed get a less than competent agent last night. I was very specific about the class of service (Business). This morning I called again and was lucky to get a superb agent who found the inventory and was done within five minutes. I was looking for SYD-CAN-DEL in Business. It was 80,000 Skymiles and USD 132.

So, from my first experience using Expert Flyer, I can say with some certainty that EF inventory is quite reliable, although there is at least one post in the "Using Skymiles on SkyTeam and Other Partners" thread over on the Delta forum that suggests that DL agents can't see CZ inventory that shows up on Expert Flyer.

Last edited by knit-in; Feb 10, 2018 at 3:05 pm
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Old Feb 10, 2018, 3:09 pm
  #1615  
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Originally Posted by ExpertFlyer Voice
U class is not published and therefore not available to ExpertFlyer. If it was it would have been listed.
Thanks for the reply
(and apologies for my late "thank you")
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Old Feb 12, 2018, 4:11 pm
  #1616  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
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Anyone know if the inventory for Delta is 'back' on expert flyer ??? (I have read they are not).
Or on any other tools.
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Old Feb 12, 2018, 5:32 pm
  #1617  
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Originally Posted by FBplatinum
Anyone know if the inventory for Delta is 'back' on expert flyer ??? (I have read they are not).
Or on any other tools.
Inventory for DL has been back on EF for a few years. DL was only offline for a few months. You do need to specifically request DL inventory though.
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Old Feb 19, 2018, 10:00 pm
  #1618  
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 969
For a brief moment of time, an aisle seat near the front of the Y cabin became available and I received a notification about it from EF. I switched my seat asap, which I'm glad I did as the other seats in the row were back to being blocked an hour or two later. They were empty on the flight so I had a free seat next to me on which to plonk my bag.

I'm not a frequent flyer but EF made one of my flights a lot nicer. Thanks EF.
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Old Feb 19, 2018, 11:32 pm
  #1619  
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Originally Posted by DragonSoul
For a brief moment of time, an aisle seat near the front of the Y cabin became available and I received a notification about it from EF. I switched my seat asap, which I'm glad I did as the other seats in the row were back to being blocked an hour or two later. They were empty on the flight so I had a free seat next to me on which to plonk my bag.

I'm not a frequent flyer but EF made one of my flights a lot nicer. Thanks EF.
You're welcome! Enjoy your flight.
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Old Feb 19, 2018, 11:44 pm
  #1620  
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Originally Posted by DragonSoul
For a brief moment of time, an aisle seat near the front of the Y cabin became available and I received a notification about it from EF. I switched my seat asap, which I'm glad I did as the other seats in the row were back to being blocked an hour or two later. They were empty on the flight so I had a free seat next to me on which to plonk my bag.

I'm not a frequent flyer but EF made one of my flights a lot nicer. Thanks EF.
Had a similar deal with QF 853 this morning.

Still love a boarding pass with 1A on it
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