KVS Availability Tool vs. ExpertFlyer
 

I am trying to decide which of these services I should join. I do mostly international travel on UA and of course am looking for bargain C and Y class fares, upgrade opportunities from Y to C inventories, and UA award information. Do you have a preference after (hopefully) your personal experience with both? Which would you choose today?
Thanks in advance for any comparasion you can offer and any suggestions you might share.
LWW

I've found that Expertflyer is well worth the $100/year fee. I really value the availability of fare listings, and the ability to view "hidden" fare classes. The fare listing function on KVS isn't great, and depending on what airline you fly, KVS won't display the upgrade/award inventory you need. There are also advantages to KVS (including a lower price), and Expertflyer has some limitations as well (most notably, no useful routing information), but if I were forced to choose one, I'd pick Expertflyer.

We appreciate your kind comments about ExpertFlyer but we are a little perplexed about the above statement about "no useful routing information". Next to every fare are two links to both Rules and Routing details that are published verbatim by the corresponding airline.

Thank you for your support,
EFV

Definitely ExpertFlyer, as it works everywhere and on all platforms. I like the fare listings and especially the seatmap feature - and the ability to save my queries for frequent rechecks.

When Expert Flyer added the routing rules it really made this site worth the money. I certainly like it.

While I am not sure what the original intent of the posters question on 'routing information' was, the one issue I have with routings on the site is that it does not allow you to be too selective. If I want to fly from DFW-DEN-LAX-HNL on UA it will not let you select this in your query. You can search DFW-DEN-HNL or DFW-LAX-HNL on UA but you can't force it to show a double connection, if needed.

I completely agree with this. It would really help on mileage runs and such to be able to do this, and let's face it, aren't mileage runners a target market for them?

Another advantage is that EF is web based and can be accessed on any computer with a browser. I think KVS is introducing a web interface now/recently, although not sure whether it has all the features of the downloadable version.

Thanks for the comments so far, others?

My platinum subscription to KVS has just expired, so I'm pondering the same issue. Never used Expert flyer.

I really like the non-web spreadsheet-style interface of KVS. (There's a web one too.) Just seems to make it clean, compact and fast. I always have my laptop with me when I travel - and generally have internet access so its no problem you have to use an app rather than a browser. Is there a similar app you can download re. Expert flyer?

I fly with EVA more than anyone. But I find availability just doesn't match what's available through EVA's own site. Eg a flight I was looking at a couple of days back. KVS shows (which ever system you use) available in Y but no C. EVA's site was showing the exact reverse. I suppose this has got something to do with airlines not releasing inventory to the world at large. Really I don't know anything about these things. But would Expert Flyer be any different - ie ultimately is the data coming from the same source(s) as KVS (on platinum)?

You should get exactly the same data, as by using the [Sabre: ITN] method in the KVS Tool.

I'm just finding these threads now. :eek:

Basically, my needs are simple: whenever I'm probing this deeply into detailed class availability, it's because I'm looking for award availability - usually at a peak time when it's not easy to find just by plugging in dates on AA.com or UA.com. (Those are my two main airlines.)

Which airline would help for the following scenarios:

- "I want to go somewhere over Christmas, flying on peak dates, but using miles. I know from past experience that sometimes you find random 'hits' where you least expect them. I'm totally flexible on destination and sort of flexible on exact dates/routes - just want to go somewhere fun on either AA or UA."

- "I need to get to a certain part of the world on a given date, I'm sort of flexible on airport (e.g., let's say anything within England will do) and can use anyone within *A or OW that will give me an award using my UA or AA miles. How can I find my award seat?"

Will either of these tools help me much?

Two great issues that I hope someone with experience on ExpertFlyer/KVS
will comment on.

For those flying UA, neither KVS Tool nor ExpertFlyer can access UA upgrade/award seat ("special class") inventory. You can sometimes see this availability by making a dummy award booking at United.com, but especially in the case of upgrade availability you usually have to call reservations.

Gosh, too bad. :eek: Thanks for delivering the news however, CollegeFlyer. I assume you do not know of other ways to learn about UA availibity other than the United.com site?
Reagards
LWW

only the one I specified...call UA and talk to a real person.