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Old Nov 11, 2014, 2:41 am
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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:
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:
http://www.flightradar24.com/terms-and-conditions
Websites 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 Flightradar24s 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:
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:
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:
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:
(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://en.aegeanair.com
Terms of Use:

https://eservice.evaair.com
Terms of Use:

https://flymas.mobi/itravel/viewBooking.xhtml
Terms of Use:

https://fly.rj.com/MyBookings/Home/EN/Default.aspx
Terms of Use:

http://skyvector.com/airport/
Terms of Use:

https://m.aeroflot.ru/b/info/pnr/load
Terms of Use:

https://mm.alitalia.com/GB_EN/booking/apvsearch.aspx
Terms of Use:

https://mobile1.emirates.com/myb/review.xhtml
Terms of Use:

https://myb.s7.ru/getMyBooking.action
Terms of Use:

https://mytripandmore.com/Itinerary.aspx
Terms of Use:
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:
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:
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.

https://wftc3.e-travel.com
Terms of Use:

https://wtrweb.worldtracer.aero/WorldTracerWeb/pax.do
Terms of Use:

https://www121.jal.co.jp/JmbWeb/JR/S...MileCalc_en.do
Terms of Use:

https://www4.thy.com/mybookings/ETDisplay.tk
https://www4.thy.com/mybookings/getPnr.tk
Terms of Use:

https://www.airberlin.com/en-DE/cockpit
Terms of Use:

https://www.airfrance.fr/cgi-bin/AF/...chPnrAction.do
Terms of Use:

https://www.alaskaair.com/booking/reservationlookup
Terms of Use:

https://www.bookonline.saudiairlines...verride.action
https://www.bookonline.saudiairlines...verride.action
Terms of Use:

https://www.britishairways.com/trave...g/public/en_gb
Terms of Use:

https://www.checkmytrip.com/CMTSERVLET
Terms of Use:
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:
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:
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 Uniteds 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 Uniteds 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.

https://www.viewtrip.com/GetItin.aspx
Terms of Use:

https://www.virginamerica.com/book/ow/a1/
Terms of Use:

https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/g...ndBooking.next
Terms of Use:

https://www.virtuallythere.com/new/reservations.html
Terms of Use:

http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/
Terms of Use:

http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi
Terms of Use:

http://www.airframes.org/fleet/
Terms of Use:

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_H...oking-now.html
Terms of Use:

http://www.flightradar24.com/
Terms of Use:

http://www.FlightStats.com/go/Flight...ingByFlight.do
http://www.FlightStats.com/go/Flight...tusByFlight.do
Terms of Use:

http://www.flightview.com/TravelTool...eryResults.asp
http://www.flightview.com/TravelTools/viewairport.asp
Terms of Use:

http://www.gcmap.com/airport/
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui
Terms of Use:
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:
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 IATAs 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:
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KVS Availability Tool

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Old Oct 19, 2014 | 4:29 pm
  #7261  
KVS
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Arrow "Error 12031: Connection Reset"

Originally Posted by rankourabu
When doing BA-OneWorld as well as QF OneWorld and GTC - I get this error for the last couple days:

Error 12031: Connection Reset
The connection to the server has been reset
Error 9002: No Data Received

I switched from the Beta version to the regular, and its still there.
KVS Tool Users, who are experiencing "Error 12031: Connection Reset" should follow these steps:
Click the purple [Tools] button at the top of the KVS Tool, then click [Internet Options].

Select [Advanced] -> [Security].

Ensure that all "Use TLS" options are checked (on).

Restart the Tool and try again.
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Old Oct 19, 2014 | 5:12 pm
  #7262  
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Posts: 23,584
Originally Posted by KVS
Restart the Tool and try again.[/INDENT]
Thanks ^
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 9:23 am
  #7263  
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Posts: 6,698
KVS tool problems?

The past few days I cannot check availability on KVS.
I get error message saying old method soes not work, that I must use GTC
method - that requires a sign-up, and for the life of me I cannot figure where
and how to sign up based on emails from KVS.

Anyone else having same problems? Resolved?
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 9:27 am
  #7264  
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Programs: UA*1K MM SK EBG LATAM BL AC*E50
Posts: 23,584
Originally Posted by IluvSQ
The past few days I cannot check availability on KVS.
I get error message saying old method soes not work, that I must use GTC
method - that requires a sign-up, and for the life of me I cannot figure where
and how to sign up based on emails from KVS.

Anyone else having same problems? Resolved?
GTC signup was easy based on the instructions, works fine.
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 9:33 am
  #7265  
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Posts: 57,029
As this is a KVS query it's been relocated from the Air Canada forum here to the Travel Tools forum for further discussion.

tcook052
Air Canada Forum Moderator
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 10:28 am
  #7266  
IMH
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Originally Posted by andymo99
This whole GTC situation has been bizarre.
It always was bizarre. Use a packet sniffer to find out what the 'Tool' is sending over the net on your behalf, or for some historical perspective ask Google about KVS and Lorraine Travel, or Strand Travel, and you'll quickly conclude that "engine transition" just means "using a new set of credentials without authorisation because the ones we were piggybacking have stopped working".
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 10:40 am
  #7267  
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Posts: 69,232
Originally Posted by LatusElAl
But many of us are already paying a not insignificant amount for KVS - and I think we should be offered a legitimate method - even if it costs a few bucks more.
Never gonna happen. Most (probably back to nearly all, now, though it wasn't for a bit) of the EF data these days is paid/licensed. If that's the way you want to go then EF is likely the better source.
Originally Posted by A_Lee
In there you will see the university's instructions for how to sign up. Does not at all look like something designed for general use. KVS, unless you were given specific permission from FAU to use this, and give it out to your customers, this is not at all cool.
Lots of the KVS sources have been like this over the years. At various points in time the KVS tool has used credentials for Lorraine Travel in the GetThere/Sabre system or TravelNet, Strand Business Travel Management and Travel Center Huachinango in the DotRes/Sabre system. Similarly the Availability/FS was just scraping FlightStats and ETR was etour.co.jp.

You're essentially paying for the "tool" to browse for you to other websites and push the data in a different format.
Originally Posted by lewinr
He is pointing us to sources of data which are available for his tool.
And it is up to us if we use them or not.
And it is worth knowing what those sources of data actually are. Especially the part where, generally speaking, there are questions about the legitimacy of such use.
Originally Posted by HIDDY
I wasn't aware that KVS or other similar tools were using such methods to gather data.
Really? I suppose I should be only a little surprised given that KVS does everything possible to squash such discussions.

Originally Posted by IMH
It always was bizarre. Use a packet sniffer to find out what the 'Tool' is sending over the net on your behalf, or for some historical perspective ask Google about KVS and Lorraine Travel, or Strand Travel, and you'll quickly conclude that "engine transition" just means "using a new set of credentials without authorisation because the ones we were piggybacking have stopped working".
:-:


Most of my tools do the same stuff. I'm just more honest and open about the situation.
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 10:40 am
  #7268  
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Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
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Posts: 38,648
Originally Posted by andymo99
Now the search tool is "decommissioned" without notice...
That's because the "decommissioning" could have happened rather suddenly due to notice -- a C&D notice being received by KVS. Or the source could have simply pulled the plug -- unable to find KVS. Why? Because whoever the source of the data was finally nticed what was going on. Cue the next victim...

Last edited by Xyzzy; Oct 20, 2014 at 10:52 am
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 10:45 am
  #7269  
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Originally Posted by A_Lee
In case any non-KVS customers are wondering, just by piecing together what's been posted here, if one does a google search for:

fau "getthere"
The first link returned is as follows:

http://www.fau.edu/controller/travel...ence_Guide.pdf

In there you will see the university's instructions for how to sign up. Does not at all look like something designed for general use. KVS, unless you were given specific permission from FAU to use this, and give it out to your customers, this is not at all cool.

Perhaps it's time someone sends some emails to FAU, marathon travel, and Sabre, to see what the real deal is, because obviously KVS wants to keep it all a big secret.
Definitely short-sighted on KVS' part. How long before FAU noticed all these new accounts associated with names/emails that don't match any of their faculty/students etc.

The writing is on the wall. KVS is going to be forced to revisit it's business model. I'm surprised they haven't come up with a better solution since they depend on scraping webpages, they would have known there's always going to be the risk that data source will no longer be available.
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 10:50 am
  #7270  
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Posts: 4,535
I wish everyone would stop complaining about how KVS gets it's data. It's none of my concern. It's between KVS and the data provider. If you have serious qualms about it, you always have the option of discontinuing use of KVS.

KVS is an extremely valuable tool for me that is not matched by any other service. EF is excellent but it is only minimally helpful with OneWorld award searches. I would hate to see KVS disappear.
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 11:02 am
  #7271  
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Originally Posted by JIMCHI
I wish everyone would stop complaining about how KVS gets it's data. It's none of my concern. It's between KVS and the data provider. If you have serious qualms about it, you always have the option of discontinuing use of KVS.

KVS is an extremely valuable tool for me that is not matched by any other service. EF is excellent but it is only minimally helpful with OneWorld award searches. I would hate to see KVS disappear.
+1 - did those who complain never wondered why they need to plug various credentials for award searches and other info requests?
KVS is not "data provider", its a browser tool that represents data you can get directly on your own in a way that some people prefer over regular browser way. You pay for convenience of data layout - not for some magic data stream officiated by each company where the data comes from.

I guess you guys didnt use UA award search which disappeared as well - you used your credentials, on your own time/cpu and UA still had a problem with it.
Given this is FT with huge volumes of posts dedicated to MS, airline mistakes, MR and BR, ways to dump fuel costs, etc - the outrage over KVS tool is comical.
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 11:12 am
  #7272  
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Originally Posted by seawolf
The writing is on the wall. KVS is going to be forced to revisit it's business model.
Unlikely. Many people are happy to pay for what the 'Tool' does, reasonably well, much of the time, and that isn't about to change.

Originally Posted by JIMCHI
I wish everyone would stop complaining about how KVS gets it's data.
1. I don't think people are complaining. They're adding openness to the discussion about why users were no longer able to retrieve some data using the KVS 'Tool'.

2. KVS doesn't "get" data. It's individual 'Tool' users who retrieve data over the internet -- and who at least share responsibility for the requests and credentials they submit or cause to be submitted.

Originally Posted by dsauch
the outrage over KVS tool is comical.
Outrage? What outrage? EDIT: Okay, having reviewed earlier posts you're right: some people's reactions have been a touch OTT.

Last edited by IMH; Oct 20, 2014 at 11:49 am Reason: Acknowledging existence of outrage ;)
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 11:13 am
  #7273  
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Originally Posted by dsauch
+1 - did those who complain never wondered why they need to plug various credentials for award searches and other info requests?
KVS is not "data provider", its a browser tool that represents data you can get directly on your own in a way that some people prefer over regular browser way. You pay for convenience of data layout - not for some magic data stream officiated by each company where the data comes from.

I guess you guys didnt use UA award search which disappeared as well - you used your credentials, on your own time/cpu and UA still had a problem with it.
Given this is FT with huge volumes of posts dedicated to MS, airline mistakes, MR and BR, ways to dump fuel costs, etc - the outrage over KVS tool is comical.
+1

But KVS should stop marketing themselves as if they were the data provider. This is the cause of all these complaints here. The tool is just a website scraper. It is providing a huge convenience to its users, as opposed to going to individual websites to get the info. Charging a subscription fee is justified because of the continuous updates necessary to keep pace with the changes of the various data source websites. And I have no complaints about this.
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 11:24 am
  #7274  
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Originally Posted by jarusoba
Charging a subscription fee is justified because of the continuous updates necessary to keep pace with the changes of the various data source websites.
That's the point -- the 'continuous updates' are not just product improvements. They happen suddenly -- after the owners of the data that is being used realize what is happening. Someone is making money by facilitating the unauthorised use (some would call it theft) of their data. That's just plain WRNG. It's also not standard business practice. Were KVS a legitimate business data source changes wouldn't always happen without notice. Think about that before condoning what is going on here.

Last edited by Xyzzy; Oct 20, 2014 at 11:34 am
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Old Oct 20, 2014 | 11:28 am
  #7275  
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Originally Posted by Xyzzy
That's because the "decommissioning" could have happened rather suddenly due to notice
These conspiracy theories are as entertaining as they are baseless.
In reality, the website in question was re-designed and certain unpopular sections were removed, based on insufficient demand.
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