Oct 18, 2020, 7:03 pm
ExpertFlyer Beta Info and Feedback Thread
Oct 23, 2020 | 7:54 am
#16
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 6,053
Sorry, more UI quirks....
Also on Fare Information search. The "loading" screen being dark blue and the main site being white is a big discontinuity and quite jarring going from white to dark blue to white.
In terms of what I like, I do like the new "blobs" at the top that describe each of the parameters of my search. However, what would be good, would be to be able to combine multiple airports. For example, I'm just looking at LHR to LPA. It would be great if I could click on "LPA" and type in something like "LPA, TFS" to see fares for both airports combined into the same list.
Click on the "advanced" link takes me to a different UI experience for inputting fare information search. Ironically, this layout is a little bit more logical, although still with the discontinuity with airline 2 and airline 3.
Edited to add, some of my UI preferences are respected, but some are not. It respects DDMMYYYY, but not 24hr vs 12hr clock. POS preference is not respected as UK either, it defaults to US. The older interface respects all of these.
Also on Fare Information search. The "loading" screen being dark blue and the main site being white is a big discontinuity and quite jarring going from white to dark blue to white.
In terms of what I like, I do like the new "blobs" at the top that describe each of the parameters of my search. However, what would be good, would be to be able to combine multiple airports. For example, I'm just looking at LHR to LPA. It would be great if I could click on "LPA" and type in something like "LPA, TFS" to see fares for both airports combined into the same list.
Click on the "advanced" link takes me to a different UI experience for inputting fare information search. Ironically, this layout is a little bit more logical, although still with the discontinuity with airline 2 and airline 3.
Edited to add, some of my UI preferences are respected, but some are not. It respects DDMMYYYY, but not 24hr vs 12hr clock. POS preference is not respected as UK either, it defaults to US. The older interface respects all of these.
Last edited by Dave_C; Oct 23, 2020 at 8:05 am
Oct 23, 2020 | 9:39 am
#17
Original Poster
Company Representative - ExpertFlyer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,924
As for multi airport searching, we can't change the nature of the individual searches themselves, that is governed by the underlying reservation system searches.
Oct 23, 2020 | 11:22 am
#18
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 6,053
I appreciate that you cant change the nature of individual searches, but you can easily kick off multiple searches and amalgamate the results into a single table.
As with all the other suggestions above its about thinking outside the box of what the GDS can do natively, and building some capabilities to provide value, as opposed to a pretty, but worse UI. 🙄
Oct 23, 2020 | 2:56 pm
#19
Original Poster
Company Representative - ExpertFlyer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,924
Whats the point of this thread then? My DMs are open if you want to reach out.
I appreciate that you cant change the nature of individual searches, but you can easily kick off multiple searches and amalgamate the results into a single table.
As with all the other suggestions above its about thinking outside the box of what the GDS can do natively, and building some capabilities to provide value, as opposed to a pretty, but worse UI. 🙄
I appreciate that you cant change the nature of individual searches, but you can easily kick off multiple searches and amalgamate the results into a single table.
As with all the other suggestions above its about thinking outside the box of what the GDS can do natively, and building some capabilities to provide value, as opposed to a pretty, but worse UI. 🙄
Nov 1, 2020 | 2:51 am
#20
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: AMS
Programs: KL PFL; BA Nobody; EY Silver
Posts: 2,587
I had the same problem as [MENTION=10077915]dylarr[/MENTION] but it's been fixed now. I finally have access to the beta. I've only looked at it for ten minutes but I have two major criticisms and already encountered a major bug:
1. So much more clicking!! What I loved about the original site was the drop-downs on the left showing me my saved queries. In the new site I have to click on the icon in the upper-right corner, then click "flight availability", then click the "..." next to the saved query I want to run and then click "search now". In the previous site I did this in two clicks on the same page -- one for the drop down and one to select the query to run. On the new site I am at a minimum of four clicks. Not to mention when I want to move on to searching the next saved query I have to repeat all of these steps again (or at least click back in my browser and then start with the "..." next to the query).
2. So much wasted/white space. When doing a flight availability search I can only see the first 1.5 search results at the bottom of the page. The fonts are huge, the wasted space is absurd and the layout of the pages is going to force a lot of scrolling.
So far, I hate the new site. I won't lie.
BUG:
1. I saved my first flight availability search which uses "UA" as the airline. On the page showing me my saved queries it correctly lists "UA". However, after the four clicks referenced above the flight availability results page is showing me EVERY airline including NK, AA, DL at the top. I will submit this via "give feedback".
Sorry, EF. You tried to make a change but honestly the original site just works better, even if it uses old graphics. The new site seems to have been made with "change for change sake" in mind rather than functionality and concise displays.
-RM
1. So much more clicking!! What I loved about the original site was the drop-downs on the left showing me my saved queries. In the new site I have to click on the icon in the upper-right corner, then click "flight availability", then click the "..." next to the saved query I want to run and then click "search now". In the previous site I did this in two clicks on the same page -- one for the drop down and one to select the query to run. On the new site I am at a minimum of four clicks. Not to mention when I want to move on to searching the next saved query I have to repeat all of these steps again (or at least click back in my browser and then start with the "..." next to the query).
2. So much wasted/white space. When doing a flight availability search I can only see the first 1.5 search results at the bottom of the page. The fonts are huge, the wasted space is absurd and the layout of the pages is going to force a lot of scrolling.
So far, I hate the new site. I won't lie.
BUG:
1. I saved my first flight availability search which uses "UA" as the airline. On the page showing me my saved queries it correctly lists "UA". However, after the four clicks referenced above the flight availability results page is showing me EVERY airline including NK, AA, DL at the top. I will submit this via "give feedback".
Sorry, EF. You tried to make a change but honestly the original site just works better, even if it uses old graphics. The new site seems to have been made with "change for change sake" in mind rather than functionality and concise displays.
-RM
More clicking, more space taken for everything will require a lot more time to get what one needs.The new dengine is a good tool but its advantges are absolutely burrowed under the disavantages of everything else.
Unless this is really the intention (to reduce the number of requests to GDS by making it unusable) i really recomment to allow classic (or GDS ike) views as an option.
The new engine is same as used by Lufthansa - frankly I am not even able to find what to click in order to book a reward flight. Every time I open that website hahaha! No ergonomics for the specific needs.
Nov 1, 2020 | 2:53 am
#21
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: AMS
Programs: KL PFL; BA Nobody; EY Silver
Posts: 2,587
A technical issue: fare listing only displays one way fares if a seach is for 'any travel date' (which is a default search as I can see). In the classic version we get all fares in this case (OW and RT).
Nov 2, 2020 | 11:01 am
#22
Original Poster
Company Representative - ExpertFlyer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,924
We cannot replicate this, please email us a specific search example. Also "Any Date" is not the default option.
Nov 3, 2020 | 6:42 am
#23
Moderator: InterContinental Hotels and Germany
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,197
The new page is not very user friendly. It might be developed for a small tablet, but if you use it on a regular computer / laptop screen, it requries a lot more scrolling and it less usable in regard to overview. I am also missing the print button for the fare rules, and routing information. The print button above the fare inforamtion let me think that the button for the aforementioned is simply missing (has been reported).
Do not blame me, but you know, that there is a saying "never change a running system"? Why would you change the old system? What it the reason?
Couldn't this also be implemented with the regular layout as of now? Why not simply implement this using the now layout?
I disagree - I would like not to see the mobile version on my desktop as it is with the beta. And I disagree with the UI improvment as well. To me, it is a dis-improvment
Let me put is this way, it the now beta will become the new standard, you number of customers will be one down ...
- The screen with the results is very space consuiming and thus even with only one airline selected the usability is far from good. A lot of scrolling is required. The larger font might make is better to read, but in overall, I prefere smaller font in favour of more scrolling. Limit the space between the search results - the list of one results nees the space of three.
- The three dots for "view rules", "view routing" and "view booking classes" should be substiuted with icons for this like in the current layout. This is one click more than now.
- Disable the icons of the airlines as not required (especially if you do not cover all airlines, e.g. DE (Condor) has no icon).
- There is a line break for longer fare basis codes (e.g. PLN8C8M4 EUUP for AA on DUS - JFK in PE). Use the spcae for the icone of the airlines instead.
- The filter function is overcrowded - are you sure, these are realy required? Have you done a research, what your users want to have?
- I do not really see any function in "view fares with / without surcharges". Maybe I am missing something, but what sould that be? At lest for international travel originating in Europe I have so far not discovered any difference?
Do not blame me, but you know, that there is a saying "never change a running system"? Why would you change the old system? What it the reason?
- Married segment alerts: from both the Flight Availability and Award & Upgrade results any itineraries with connections will now allow you to create alerts for all the segments combined. (We know youve been patiently waiting for this one and we thank you.)
- Route Alerts: at the top of the Flight Availability or Award Upgrade results pages youll see a banner that prompts you to create an alert for all flights. It allows you to create an alert for a specific day/airline/class but for any non-stop/direct flight, not just one specific flight.
- SMS Alerts: You can now enter in a mobile phone number on the My Account page to get true SMS alerts.
- Seat Alerts as a separate search: Seat Alerts are now created via their own page that checks to see if the seat type you want (ie Any Window) is already available on the flight. If it isnt, then you are given the opportunity to create a Seat Alert. Soon we will remove the requirement to know your flight number (the user will be shown a list of flights for date/airline/route). We will also be adding back in the ability to create a Seat Alert from the Seat Map results.
- In Flight Availability and Award searching numeric inventory values of 2 or less are now in red to stand out better.
- The default view in Flight Availability is by cabin, however you can click on the switch to class view link in the results table header to switch to the class code view. The preference will be remembered.
- A new mobile experience: Unlike the current EF the mobile version will have the same UI as the desktop version. It also uses the same URL, no more /mobile for the mobile version.
- A lot of general UI improvements
Let me put is this way, it the now beta will become the new standard, you number of customers will be one down ...
Dec 18, 2021 | 11:54 pm
#24
Join Date: May 2003
Location: PDX USA
Programs: AS MVPG, AA, BA, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Platinum, IHG, Hertz 5*
Posts: 693
Beta Site not working?
Im currently traveling outside the US and have been using the EF Beta site for well over a year now and even during this trip using Safari. However, yesterday, it suddenly stopped working. Every time I attempt to go to the site, it says:
Safari cannot open the page because it could not establish a secure connection to the server.
Ive cleared my cache and website data, and still getting the error. I can get to the old EF site, but wondering if this is a known issue that is being worked on or and IP address issue?
Ive also tried it in Chrome, and the error message that comes back there is that:
Safari cannot open the page because it could not establish a secure connection to the server.
Ive cleared my cache and website data, and still getting the error. I can get to the old EF site, but wondering if this is a known issue that is being worked on or and IP address issue?
Ive also tried it in Chrome, and the error message that comes back there is that:
This site cannot provide a secure connection.
beta.ExpertFlyer.com sent and invalid response
ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR
Any help is appreciated as EF allows saved alerts and queries on either one site or the other, but not both, so I currently cannot access any of the multitudes of queries and searches I have set up. Would be nice for EF to finally just have one site.
beta.ExpertFlyer.com sent and invalid response
ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR
Last edited by pdxasflyer; Dec 19, 2021 at 12:15 am
Jun 13, 2024 | 6:29 am
#26
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: UA 1K/MM, EK Gold, CX Silver
Posts: 927
Beta version discontinued
The advanced Beta site which was working for the last 2 years or so, has been discontinued, so it's features are no longer available
Here is what they wrote:
Alexandra Stassen Goff (ExpertFlyer)
Jun 13, 2024, 04:39 EDT
Hi, Thank you for your email. Our team has decided to remove the Beta site. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your support and understanding.
Thank you,
The ExpertFlyer.com Team
Here is what they wrote:
Alexandra Stassen Goff (ExpertFlyer)
Jun 13, 2024, 04:39 EDT
Hi, Thank you for your email. Our team has decided to remove the Beta site. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your support and understanding.
Thank you,
The ExpertFlyer.com Team
Jun 20, 2024 | 9:05 am
#27
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 30
Married Segment Alerts From Beta Site
I emailed support asking whether the married segment flight availability and award availability alerts would be brought to the existing site and was told the following:
Very disappointing as I used them quite frequently.
We do not plan on adding any additional features to the normal site as of now. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Jun 26, 2024 | 8:09 am
#28
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: PDX
Posts: 35
I exclusively used the beta site. They dumped all of the data as well. Over 190 alerts I had set up are now gone. In addition to no married segment functionality, you now have to manually create individual alerts for each fare class on a single flight vs. entering them all at once on the beta. Very disappointing all around and a significant reduction in features and functionality going back to the old site.
EDIT to post their response:
Thank you for your feedback and questions. At this time, our team has decided to direct their focus on the normal site. There are no plans for an updated or modern version of the site.
EDIT to post their response:
Thank you for your feedback and questions. At this time, our team has decided to direct their focus on the normal site. There are no plans for an updated or modern version of the site.
Last edited by teddyarrowhead; Jun 26, 2024 at 8:23 am
Jun 28, 2024 | 3:41 am
#29
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,159
Jun 28, 2024 | 9:06 am
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, UA Silver, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Titanium, Nat'l EE, Avis PC, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,637
Well, I would ordinarily say that is a good thing because most of us "experts" didn't think the beta site was nearly as good as the original... as it tried to simplify things too much, loosing much of the appeal that the word expert in expertflyer implies. Unfortunately, however, not much seems to be happening with the original site either. Since the founders moved on, investing in the core product seems to have been cut back considerably.