Nov 11, 2014, 2:41 am

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Last edit by: Xyzzy

Where does the KVS tool get its data and is KVS authorized to provide this data in the manner it is presented?

The tool is known to access a variety of web sites, many in a manner that is not authorized. Please see the next section of this Wiki for a list of sites believed to be accessed and their data access policies (where known).

Additionally, under some conditions the tool appears to access sites via a KVS-operated back end. This means that the tool is not just a 'web browser' that runs via a user's machine. No detailed public information is available about how this works or whether any of this back-end access is authorized.

Websites KVS Accesses and their relevant Terms of Use

http://book.aircanada.com/pl/AConlin...verrideServlet
http://book.aircanada.com/pl/AConlin...PreviewServlet
https://book.aircanada.com/pl/AConli...verrideServlet
https://www.aircanada.com
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/legal/notice.html
Use of our web site for any other purpose, including any commercial use or purpose, is expressly prohibited.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you agree that, in using or accessing our website, you shall not commit or participate in any of the following acts or actions, each of which is expressly prohibited under this User Agreement:
directly or indirectly, use or access, or encourage, solicit, permit, facilitate, aid, assist or abet, including, but not limited to, the selling, licensing, distribution or provision to any person of any means that permit, the use or access, or agree to provide the use or access, of our website through any manual process or any automatic, electronic or technical device, including but not limited to automated scripts, robots, crawls, screen scrapers, web "bots", deep-links, indexes, spiders, click-spams, macro programs, or any other device, program, software, system, algorithm, methodology or technology, now known or hereinafter discovered, that performs the same or a similar function, in order to, without limitation: "data mine"; "screen scrape"; data process; access, extract, copy, distribute, aggregate or acquire information; generate impressions or clicks; input or store information; search or generate searches; or manipulate or monitor any portion or content of our website;

http://data.flight24.com/flights/
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://www.flightradar24.com/terms-and-conditions
Website’s information and Services are provided for personal, non-commercial use only. Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials (information or software) on Flightradar24’s web site for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:

Modify or copy the materials;
Use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non-commercial);
Attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on Flightradar24's web site;
Remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials; or
Transfer the materials to another person or "mirror" the materials on any other server.

This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by Flightradar24 at any time. Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this license, you must destroy any downloaded materials in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.

http://data.seatexpert.com/tpi/find.php
Terms of Use:

http://plane.lan.com/cgi-bin/recibo_...bo_eticket.cgi
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://www.lan.com/en_us/sitio_perso...-use/about-us/
You may use the information on our site solely for non-commercial purposes, and any use or modification of the website contents is not permitted.

http://reservations.usairways.com/Default.aspx
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://reservations.usairways.com/en-US/aboutus/site_usage_policy.html
Content may be used for non-commercial personal use only, and you agree not to modify, copy, transmit, distribute, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, sell or otherwise transfer any information, software, products or services obtained from the Site without prior written permission from US Airways. You agree not to use any automatic device, manual process, or scraping to monitor or copy the Site or the content contained therein for any purpose without US Airways’ prior written permission. You agree not to use any device, software or routine to interfere with or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site or any activities conducted on the Site.

https://book.austrian.com/app/fb.fly
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://www.austrian.com/Info/LegalRegulations/WebsiteTerms.aspx?sc_lang=en&cc=AT
2. Proprietary rights
All trademark rights, copyrights, database rights and other intellectual property rights to the contents of the Austrian-website, (as well as the organization and layout of the website), together with the underlying software code rest, either with Austrian or with its licensors. You may not, either in whole or in part, copy, modify, distribute or use or reproduce in other form contents of the Austrian-website, or the underlying software code, without the prior written consent of Austrian.

3. Permissible use
All Austrian-website online services (including the booking machine) are provided solely for the purpose of enabling you to check the availability of goods or services relating to your journey (the timetable, for example), make legitimate reservations, use our online check-in or transact other business with suppliers. You may only use the website in accordance with these terms and conditions and for the legally permitted purposes described above. In particular, you indicate your agreement to the following:
...
3.5 You may not reproduce information from the Austrian-website for commercial purposes. This also includes providing prices for Austrian flights on another website or another online server. In particular you may not copy, distribute, in other way use or reproduce discarded content from the Austrian-website with the help of 'robots', other search machine technologies or through other automatic mechanisms.

https://booking.qatarairways.com/qri...Booking.action
Terms of Use:

https://book.tam.com.br/TAM/dyn/air/...ng/retrievePNR
Terms of Use:

https://classic.checkmytrip.com/plne...ievePNR.action
Terms of Use:

Quote:

(D) not to use any automated system or software to extract data from the Application, Documents or Services for commercial purposes (such as screen scraping);

Quote:

https://mytripandmore.com/TermsAndConditions.aspx
Except as expressly permitted by these Terms, you may not:
...
9. use any "robot", "spider" or other automatic device, software, program, algorithm, routine, methodology, or any manual process or functionality:
...to monitor, assemble, analyse, index, copy, transmit, distribute, transfer, or link to any of the pages, data, materials, or content available on the Site,

https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/PilotWe...yICAOAction.do
Terms of Use:

https://prefunds.aa.com/refunds/receipt
https://www.aa.com/reservation/findReservationSubmit.do
Terms of Use:

Quote:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/footer/siteUsage.jsp
Intellectual property notifications
...
D. American Airlines owns or uses by permission all software contained on the Site, including without limitation all HTML code and Active X controls. Copyright and other laws and international treaty provisions protect this software. The law expressly prohibits any modification, redistribution, or reproduction of the software, and such actions could result in severe civil and criminal penalties. American Airlines will seek and support prosecuting violators to the maximum extent possible.
E. You may not copy, display, distribute, download, license, modify, publish, re-post, reproduce, reuse, sell, transmit, use to create a derivative work, or otherwise use the content of the Site for public or commercial purposes. Nothing on the Site shall be construed to confer any grant or license of any intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, by implication, or otherwise.
...
Limitations on your use:
You agree that you will not Misuse the Site. "Misuse" includes, but is not limited to, using the Site to do any of the following:
...
L. Copy or create derivative works from, display, distribute, license, perform, publish, recreate, reproduce, sell, transfer, or transmit any information, products, services, or software obtained by, from, or through the Site.
M. Monitor or copy any Content by using any manual process, or any robot, spider, or other automatic device, without first obtaining American Airlines' prior written consent.

https://raw.github.com/opentraveldat...i_airlines.csv
Terms of Use:

https://secure.jetairways.com/PlatformID/Identify.aspx
Terms of Use:

https://tickets.airtran.com/SeatAvailability.aspx
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://www.southwest.com/html/about-...ons/index.html
Prohibited Activities

You may not copy, display, distribute, download, license, modify, publish, re-post, reproduce, reuse, sell, transmit, use to create a derivative work, or otherwise use the content of this site for public or commercial purposes without our express written permission. Nothing on this site shall be construed to confer any grant or license of any intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, by implication, or otherwise.

You may not modify, re-render, frame, mirror, truncate, add to, inject, filter or change the order of the information contained on any page of the Southwest Airlines sites, including, without limitation, by any way of reproducing Southwest Airlines or SWABiz® web pages or Company information on any other web site without our express written permission.

You may not copy, derive, edit, translate, decompile, reverse engineer, modify, use, or reproduce any code or source relating to our sites, including without limitation, any service or product Southwest offers.

You may not cause to appear any pop-up, pop-under, exit windows, expanding buttons, banners advertisement, or anything else which minimizes, covers, or otherwise inhibits the full display of the Southwest Airlines sites.

You may not use any deep-link, page-scrape, robot, crawl, index, spider, click spam, macro programs, Internet agent, or other automatic device, program, algorithm or methodology which does the same things, to use, access, copy, acquire information, generate impressions or clicks, input information, store information, search, generate searches, or monitor any portion of the Southwest Airlines sites or Company information.
...
You may not disguise the origin of information transmitted to, from, or through the Southwest Airlines sites. You may not circumvent any measures implemented by Southwest Airlines aimed at preventing violations of the Use Agreement. You may not violate the restrictions in any robot exclusion header.

When you use the Southwest Airlines sites or Company information for an authorized purpose, you must include all proprietary notices without changing, hiding or deleting them.

You may not engage in any conduct that is, or that Southwest Airlines deems to be, in violation of this Use Agreement.

Quote:

https://www.checkmytrip.com/cmt/apf/...&SITE=NCMTNCMT
3. Licence restrictions

3.1 Except as expressly set out in this EULA or as permitted by any local law, you agree:
...
(D) not to use any automated system or software to extract data from the Application, Documents or Services for commercial purposes (such as screen scraping);

https://www.delta.com/mytrips/findPnr.action
http://www.delta.com/ism/SeatMapDisplay.action
http://www.delta.com/shared/components/blank.jsp
Terms of Use:

https://www.finnair.com
Terms of Use:

https://www.flysas.com
Terms of Use:

https://www.iberia.com/web/retrievePNR.do
Terms of Use:

https://www.lot.com
Terms of Use:

https://www.lufthansa.com
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://www.lufthansa.com/online/port...d=2016866&l=en

2. Proprietary rights
...You may not, either in whole or in part, copy, modify, distribute or use or reproduce in other form contents of the Lufthansa-website, or the underlying software code, without the prior written consent of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

https://www.routehappy.com/
Terms of Use:

https://www.swiss.com
Terms of Use:

https://www.tripforyou.net/t4u/PTopAction.do
Terms of Use:

https://www.tripple.jp
Terms of Use:

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/app...n/default.aspx
Terms of Use:

Quote:

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/legal.aspx This website is for the User's personal, noncommercial use only. User agrees not to modify, copy, alter, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, software, products or services obtained from this website without United’s prior written permission. User agrees not to use any robot, spider, other automatic device, or manual process to monitor or copy this website or the content contained therein or for any other unauthorized purpose without United’s prior written permission. ... United reserves the right to investigate any illegal and/or unauthorized use of this website, including, but not limited to, unauthorized framing of this website or unauthorized use of any robot, spider or other automated device, and to take appropriate legal action, including, without limitation, civil, criminal and injunctive redress.

Quote:

http://www.gcmap.com/faq/using
Q: May I use the Great Circle Mapper's maps on my web page?
A: You may use maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper on non-commercial web pages (q.v. commericial use below) so long as you do not profit from them and you include the following credit on pages which include maps:
...
Q: May I use the Great Circle Mapper's maps for commercial sites or publications?
A: Please write to Karl L. Swartz regarding terms for commercial use of the maps.

http://www.iata.org/about/members/Pa...line-list.aspx
Terms of Use:

Quote:

http://www.iata.org/Pages/terms.aspx
2. Your Conduct

The content on this Site is for your personal use only within the organization or entity to which you are attached as applicable, and it is not intended for commercial exploitation unless expressly agreed in writing by IATA through a duly authorized representative. IATA authorizes you to download or reproduce selected materials at this Site only for your personal, non-commercial use, in the ordinary course of business provided that you retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the original materials on any copies of the materials and that the title or database brand name and IATA name is stated as the source.

You may not otherwise modify, disassemble, create derivative works, distribute, reproduce, publicly display, perform, transmit, re-transmit, sell, rent, sublicense, or otherwise use any materials or content on this Site for commercial or non-commercial exploitation by yourself or the organization or entity to which you are attached or permit third parties to so do. Without limitation, unlimited or wholesale reproduction, copying of the content for commercial or non-commercial purposes and unwarranted modification of data and information within the content is not permitted, and any use of these materials on any other website or networked computer environment for any purpose without IATA’s prior written consent is prohibited.
...
4. Intellectual Property Rights

...You must not modify, decompile, or reverse engineer any software IATA discloses to you via this Site, and you must not remove, overprint, or deface any notice of copyright, trademark, logo, legend, or other notice of ownership from any originals or copies of software or information from the website. "IATA Trademarks" means all names, marks, brands, URL names or addresses, logos, designs, trade dress and other designations IATA uses in connection with Products or Services. You are not permitted to incorporate any IATA Trademarks into any other trademarks, service marks, company names, Internet addresses, domain names, or any other similar designations. Any unauthorized use of any materials contained on this website may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes.

http://www.itn.net/cgi/get
Terms of Use:

http://www.kenya-airways.com/kqbook.aspx
Terms of Use:

http://www.myairlines.ru
Terms of Use:

http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/do/dyn/checkmytrip
Terms of Use:

http://www.seatexpert.com/multiple_results.php
Terms of Use:

http://www.seatguru.com/ajax/findseatmap.php
Terms of Use:

http://www.seatmaestro.com/airlines-...eckmytrip.html
http://www.seatmaestro.com/themes/de...te_airline.php
Terms of Use:

http://www.seatplans.com/ajax/Airline
http://www.seatplans.com/ajax/airports-and-city
http://www.seatplans.com/find-and-compare/
Terms of Use:

KVS Availability Tool

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Nov 15, 2008, 7:28 pm

#2266

sbm12

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: PSM

Posts: 69,232

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tweaked

Hello..
I was wonder if this tool is able to allow me to buy the tickets or do i have to contact my travel agent to buy it for me? Sorry if this seems to be a stupid question or answered before. Just starting to get familar with this tool.

Thanks..

You cannot buy through the tool. You can generally find the flight(s) through the carriers directly or through 3rd party booking sources.

Nov 16, 2008, 11:26 am

#2267

KVS

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Original Poster

Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Worldwide

Posts: 12,949

Quote:

Originally Posted by lascarb

no news, good news ?

The fares from your previous examples have been withdrawn, so I can't verify. But if you run into this issue again, pls send me the details and I will look into it further...

Nov 17, 2008, 11:38 am

#2268

nologic

Join Date: Jan 2001

Location: Boston, MA

Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum (3MM), QF Lifetime Gold, Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum, Ex-Hyatt Diamond

Posts: 7,541

Seems British Airwars lounges sre blocking access to kVS,

Nov 17, 2008, 11:41 am

#2269

KVS

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Original Poster

Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Worldwide

Posts: 12,949

Quote:

Originally Posted by nologic

Seems British Airwars lounges sre blocking access to kVS,

That's very unlikely. If you are referring to free WiFi in BA lounges, did you go through their sign-in process first (which must be done using a web browser)?

Nov 20, 2008, 2:06 pm

#2270

philip456

Join Date: Sep 2007

Programs: UA

Posts: 13

Different availability with UA

KVS recommend Apollo for checking availability with UA. However, checking ORD-LHR for 30NOV08 on the UA922, Apollo was showing W1, Worldspan was showing W1, Galileo was showing W0 and Sabre was showing W0.

I rang UA and they said that there were no seats in W class.

Three hours later and the availability is still the same.

Has anyone else had this experience?

Nov 21, 2008, 2:38 am

#2271

lascarb

Join Date: May 2008

Programs: Flying Blue

Posts: 106

Quote:

Originally Posted by KVS

The fares from your previous examples have been withdrawn, so I can't verify. But if you run into this issue again, pls send me the details and I will look into it further...

Different, but same kind of issue:
On KLM website, I found a special Holiday fare in business at 967 GBP (without taxes) from EDI to BOS (12/23-01/03)
I can't find it on Sabre fare dot/res (neither on ITA...)
No fare code on KLM site.
So some fares are not published?

Nov 21, 2008, 11:59 am

#2272

KVS

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Original Poster

Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Worldwide

Posts: 12,949

Quote:

Originally Posted by lascarb

If it's a KL fare, then it's not a published fare. Otherwise, there is an AF fare in that price range:

[KVS Availability Tool 3.3.2/Platinum - Sabre: Fares/TVN/CA]

Code:

EDI  Edinburgh Turnhouse UK [EGPH]
BOS  Boston Logan Int'l MA US [KBOS]
RT   Nov-Oct

Carrier   From   To   Fare      Cur  Expiry    Min  Max  Fare Basis
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- ---- ---------- 
AF        EDI    BOS      167   GBP            Sun  12M  QLXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      195   GBP            Sun  12M  QLWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      205   GBP            Sun  12M  LLXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      234   GBP            Sun  12M  LLWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      262   GBP            Sun  12M  VLXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      291   GBP            Sun  12M  VLWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      339   GBP            Sun  12M  TLXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      348   GBP            Sun  12M  QHXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      368   GBP            Sun  12M  TLWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      377   GBP            Sun  12M  QHWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      387   GBP            Sun  12M  LHXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      415   GBP            Sun  12M  HLXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      415   GBP            Sun  12M  LHWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      444   GBP            Sun  12M  HLWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      444   GBP            Sun  12M  VHXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      473   GBP            Sun  12M  VHWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      520   GBP            Sun  12M  THXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      549   GBP            Sun  12M  THWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      597   GBP            Sun  12M  HHXGB
AF        EDI    BOS      626   GBP            Sun  12M  HHWGB
AF        EDI    BOS      801   GBP                 12M  H2GBRT
AF        EDI    BOS      937   GBP            Sun  12M  ZHSS28
AF        EDI    BOS      992   GBP                 12M  K2GBRT
AF        EDI    BOS     1135   GBP                 12M  BEEGB
AF        EDI    BOS     1272   GBP            Sun  12M  IHSS28
AF        EDI    BOS     1418   GBP            Sun   1M  ZLAPGB
AF        EDI    BOS     1618   GBP            Sun   1M  ZHAPGB
AF        EDI    BOS     1788   GBP                      Y2RT
AF        EDI    BOS     2041   GBP            Sun       ILAPGB
AF        EDI    BOS     2142   GBP            Sun       IHAPGB
AF        EDI    BOS     2165   GBP                      YRT
AF        EDI    BOS     2664   GBP            Sun       DAPGB
AF        EDI    BOS     3620   GBP                      CRT
AF        EDI    BOS     3644   GBP                      CAP7GB

Nov 24, 2008, 9:09 am

#2273

Fims

Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: Mostly EU & (SE)Asia

Programs: Various shiny cards at hotel chains and airlines

Posts: 1,042

Hey, it seems that the Fares/TVN is down... it worked some hours ago, but now says an error message.

Nov 24, 2008, 10:11 am

#2274

KVS

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Original Poster

Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Worldwide

Posts: 12,949

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fims

Hey, it seems that the Fares/TVN is down... it worked some hours ago, but now says an error message.

Seems to work fine:

[KVS Availability Tool 3.3.2/Platinum - Sabre: Fares/TVN/CA]

Code:

LON  London Metro UK = LHR LGW STN LTN LCY
PAR  Paris Metro FR = BVA CDG ORY
RT   Nov-Oct

Carrier   From   To   Fare      Cur  Expiry    Min  Max  Fare Basis
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- ---- ---------- 
AB        LON    PAR       38   USD  30 Apr              WSMILERT
AB        LON    PAR       40   USD  30 Apr              VAB2RT
AF        LON    PAR       52   USD            ***   1M  NSTAYGB
BA        LON    PAR       62   USD                      ONCLON2
AB        LON    PAR       63   USD  30 Apr              KAB2RT
AF        LON    PAR       85   USD            ***   6M  ESTAYGB
AB        LON    PAR       88   USD  30 Apr              IAB2RT
AF        LON    PAR       91   USD                  6M  TTIMEGB
BA        LON    PAR       95   USD                      QNCLON2
AB        LON    PAR      112   USD  30 Apr              OAB2RT
AZ        LON    PAR      114   USD            Sun   6M  LSPEU6
BA        LON    PAR      133   USD                      NNCLON2
AB        LON    PAR      136   USD  30 Apr              PAB2RT
BA        LON    PAR      142   USD  27 Mar              RGOBA
AF        LON    PAR      143   USD            ***   6M  WSTAYGB
AZ        LON    PAR      148   USD            ***  12M  NABEU6
BA        LON    PAR      170   USD                      VNCLON2
AF        LON    PAR      172   USD                  6M  ATIMEGB
AB        LON    PAR      186   USD  30 Apr              GAB2RT
AF        LON    PAR      201   USD            ***   6M  QSTAYGB
AZ        LON    PAR      201   USD            ***  12M  TAPEU6
BA        LON    PAR      207   USD                      LNCLON2
KL        LON    PAR      218   USD            ***   1M  NSTAYGB
AB        LON    PAR      234   USD  30 Apr              QAB2RT
BA        LON    PAR      244   USD                      MNCLON2
BA        LON    PAR      253   USD                      REUNBA
AF        LON    PAR      255   USD                      ZRTGB
KL        LON    PAR      265   USD            ***   6M  ESTAYGB
AZ        LON    PAR      282   USD            ***  12M  VSXEU6

Nov 24, 2008, 2:22 pm

#2275

Fims

Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: Mostly EU & (SE)Asia

Programs: Various shiny cards at hotel chains and airlines

Posts: 1,042

It still gives me a message:

Quote:

Unable to retrive fares:
"Become a member!"

But I am a Plat member and everything else works fine.

Nov 24, 2008, 2:46 pm

#2276

KVS

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Original Poster

Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Worldwide

Posts: 12,949

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fims

It still gives me a message:

But I am a Plat member and everything else works fine.

Check your MSIE cookie settings: http://www.kvstool.com/FAQ.php#Errors
Another user recently reported that the issue was resolved by installing XP SP3.

Nov 25, 2008, 2:44 am

#2277

edy4eva

Join Date: Nov 2007

Location: KYE

Posts: 4,156

Same issue with me

Nov 25, 2008, 4:25 am

#2278

edy4eva

Join Date: Nov 2007

Location: KYE

Posts: 4,156

And I have SP3 installed (since ages ago).
This is irritating. First not being able to get the premium fares, now this 'Become a member!' message.
What's the problem?

Nov 25, 2008, 5:38 am

#2279

sbm12

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: PSM

Posts: 69,232

TVN fares are working fine for me (Vista SP1).

Nov 25, 2008, 10:13 am

#2280

Fims

Join Date: Dec 2006

Location: Mostly EU & (SE)Asia

Programs: Various shiny cards at hotel chains and airlines

Posts: 1,042

I have WinXP SP3, IE settings are fine as the rest of KVS works perfectly, just this TVN has this fish...