For any airline, awards are not valid on codeshares as the same fare class codes are used for other purposes on other airlines and the reservation system doesn't know the difference.

Hi folks, we're testing a solution for BA/QR/IB awards in production, so you can search (ignore the message at the top of the page) and please email us directly if you find searches where there is an issue with the results or that just don't work, thank you.

Update 4/29: We're fixing edge case issues as they come up. As part of that we may have to turn off the search from time to time. We'll post here with updates and we won't remove the notification banners from the results pages until we think we have it correct. Thanks.

ExpertFlyer Voice, this problem continues and for me is growing. For example just today I wanted to read business class fare rules on Emirates for SIN-SEA. All the fares have the characteristic you describe, more than one fare with the same fare basis code in the same market. So EF shows the error "Fare rules cannot be displayed. This may be due to multiple fares existing for fare basis ..." for all requests.

To actually see some fare rules, I used ITA Matrix to price a specific itinerary, then clicked ITA's Fare Rules link. But that's a lot more steps -- have to price an itinerary, whereas I much prefer the EF approach of letting me browse all fares in a market.

I guess I don't quite understand what the problem is. If there are five fares with the same fare basis code, show all five on one page (with appropriate section headings). Or show the user a menu/choice ("there are five fares ABCDE in this market, as prices x y z w q, which do you want to see?"). It's a real loss in EF functionality when fare rules are not available. This is a big part of the service that savvy users pay for!

That is the problem, the "correct" duplicate fare and thus the fare rules can only be determined once specific flights are priced. In addition we aren't given the ability to see all the fare rules for all the duplicate fares, or even tell the difference between them, therefore we cannot give you that option.

Is there a way you can ask your data provider to make this available? Then you could display them all and let the subscriber figure out which of the duplicate fares is applicable.

The reservation systems won't make any change that isn't in facilitation of selling a ticket. We will try to look at alternatives.

I see EF mentioned extensively in relation to awards, fare classes, seats, etc.

Before I spend for a subscription, is EF useful for monitoring airfares? For example, I am considering two domestic trips this fall and I'm budget conscious. As a generic example, does EF allow for an alert if a fare falls below $500 for IAD-FAI for travel between September 1 and September 30?

Why wouldnt you just set alerts on Google Flights for free?

EF Fare information is not always helpful. For example, some airlines load additional fees on top of the base fare. What you'll see in the EF fare data is the base fare. So, if you look at BA it's not quite clear what you're actually paying. That low base fare is bumped up by the YQ fee, thus making the EF fare data less than useful when searching for low fares. The fully loaded fare (including fare, airline imposed fees, gov't imposed fees, and taxes) will be found using the Google Flights search engine. That's where you should spend your time.

No, I don't think that you can do this on EF. And it would be pretty useless for what you want to do, for the reason that WillTravel4Food says: EF shows base fares only.

The fares part of EF is really good for getting the fine detail of fare rules, which can help you to build a trip better using the other fine detail available from EF and elsewhere. (That's why there's so much frustration at the increasing number of times that EF is unable to display fare rules.) If you just want a superficial headline search like "Can I fly this trip for less than $500?", then that's a job for ITA or GF.

Fares themselves are rarely raised or lowered. Usually, airlines publish a slew of fares, each with various restrictions as to routing, travel days/dates, advance purchase, minimum/maximum stay, booking inventory, etc., and continually adjust booking inventory availability (for individual flights and for connecting flights). EF can show all available fares and currently available booking inventory, but it isn't designed to price itineraries. For that, I use Matrix (for the fine-grain control it offers), while many use Google Flights (for the speed and simplicity). These tools match available flights and available fares to price them.

If you really want to find the cheapest fares or cheapest fares that aren't basic economy or some such, you can use EF to do it, but it takes some work. First, do a Fare Information query for fares for your origination and destination, being sure to check the box for "Show Fares for All Travel Dates" and uncheck "Validate Fares". That shows all published fares for the starting and ending cities. Then, pick the cheapest fare you want to buy and read through the routing rules and fare rules to see if you could use that fare. If so, make note of the booking inventory required, and do a Flight Availability query to see if there are flights that have the available inventory. If not, set an EF alert to notify you if the required inventory becomes available.

HI,

I'm trying to set an alert for a VS flight and in the code class section is lists the codes as currently-unavailable.

What does this mean exactly?

Thanks!

That VS award searching is currently unavailable while we fix an issue with it. To answer your next question we don't have an ETA but we will post here when it is fixed, thank you.

Any update on Qatar Airways awards being reintroduced? I got expertflyer last week, and was disappointed to find out that this doesent work. Is it possible to get a refund?

This is a major feature. It's always been the case that Cathay and a few others were unavailable, but it seems like the majority of oneworld recently became unsearchable.