Yes it's normal, alerts run on a pull schedule, it's not pushed from the airline.

Here's a good troubleshooting checklist for alerts:

• If you run a Quick Check for the alert in the View Saved Alerts page, does it find the seat/inventory.
  • If yes, it should then alert you the next time the alert is run.
• If the Quick Check doesn't find the inventory/seat, then do the underlying search (Award/Flight Avail/Seat Map) to see if EF sees what you think it should see.
  • If EF does show the availability/free seat you think it should, then check to make sure the alert is created correctly, and -then- bring it to EF support's attention with that information. (Then you can post on FT with the same information).
  • If EF doesn't show the availability/free seat you think it should (as compared to the airline.com) then it's not the alert. Bring that possible search bug to EF support's attention. (Then you can post the details to FT.)

Before I open a ticket (which won't do any good based upon past experiences):

Original itinerary:
ALB-DTW on 8/10/24 DL 2253 6:00 am - 7:50 am
DTW-MYR on 8/10/24 DL 2057 8:25 am - 10:15 am

Return:
MYR-ATL on 8/17/24 DL 2939 at 11:40 am - 1:03 pm
ATL-ALB on 8/17/24 DL 2389 3:10 pm - 5:31 pm

Yesterday I get the schedule change email from DL
Return is now:
MYR-DTW on 8/17/24 DL1145 11:15 am - 1:15 pm
DTW-ALB on 8/17/24 DL3767 3:50 pm - 5:24 pm

If I search delta.dumb it still shows the original DL2939 available, but no longer lists DL2389

Expert Flyer schedule notification for DL2389 claims it's still alive/intact and no email notification about a schedule change.

Is this a DL issue or Expert Flyer issue? (I've had at least 2 if not 3 times in the past where AA has cancelled a flight or changed the city pairs and never get Expert Flyer notifications because they don't notify on cancellations according to tech support)

EF doesn't send "schedule change" alerts for cancellations, which has caught a few of us out.

Setting a "flight" alert for "less than 1" seat available in Y will usually do the trick.

(I'm fairly certain I learnt that somewhere on FT, possibly in this thread, but I'm too lazy to search right now. ;) )

Does EF have issues with TK?

I've always used the free version but am thinking of getting the pro one to see fare class availability.

What are the best prices/discounts that have been available over the last several months? Are there ever any sales, multi-year packages, etc.?

Almost never (sale) and no, as far as I know/recall (multi-year).

Thanks, this is super helpful. Do you happen to know how often that pull schedule runs?

I’m going on a trip with two colleagues, and there were only center seats available. I encouraged them both to keep checking and I set an Expert Flyer alert for myself.

After the weekend, my boss said, “thanks for that advice, I looked twice over the weekend and snagged a window on Saturday.” Then my other colleague reported he moved to a window seat on Sunday.

I didn’t get any alerts, so I’d imagine they both lucked out. I double checked with a test alert on another flight and it seems to be working. Still awaiting my alert and refreshing AA.com a few times a day just in case, for myself.

Are award seats alerts for NH still working on EF?

thanks

Are there any travel agents here (or known to you) who can ticket a flight that EF says is available but normal OTAs don't see that availability?

Try Quail

Suppose you query the fare availability for JFK-HND on a given date. EF appears to assume that's your whole trip and gives you an answer.

However, in real life either JFK or HND could be a connecting airport in a longer trip or a stop in a multi-city trip, for example, JFK-HND-MEL-ORD or MEL-JFK-HND-SYD. We can certainly imagine more complex itineraries. In these cases the fare availability could depend on the origin / destination of the entire journey which would render the EF answer wrong.

So, is there a way to tell EF the actual origin and destination of a trip when querying the fare availability?




Anil

EF is probably not the ideal tool... you could do it manually by trying to construct it yourself (e.g. JFK-HND-MEL-ORD is likely to be constructed from half the JFK-HND-MEL plus half the MEL-ORD, picking from fare rules that permit a connection/stopover in IATA Area 3, and can combine as an open jaw, etc.). But really not recommended. A better tool would be matrix.itasoftware.com, enter the exact full itinerary you want and it will price it out and give you links to the actual fare rules available at that time (though you can tell it to not check for actual availability). EF becomes useful if you need to seek out specific flights that have a given fare bucket available (e.g. I class for discounted business class on most OneWorld carriers).

Does ExpertFlyer have any benefit specific to retired commercial pilots above and beyond what the “standard” frequent traveler would use it for?

App again not working on android. Not possible to log in.

Same on Apple.