The way I read it anyone can purchase a Gift Cert for someone else, no problem there. EF setup a gift system that apparently has the sole purpose of being able to give an EF subscription to someone who doesn't already have it. Ok fine. Just because you can't now use it in a way that it wasn't intended to just to get an extra discount for yourself, although you may not like it, doesn't equal "Scrooge like behavior".

Agreed. I am a subscriber to another service outside the travel realm and when they have sales you can use it to extend your current membership. This is why I asked. There is nothing wrong with the way EF has set up this promotion.

Well, the poster did put a smiley after the phrase "Scrooge like," which I took to mean it was in jest, not serious.

My post above (#315) does not suggest anywhere that EF do not have the right to tailor their offers how they wish. I am no genius user of the classical or online English, but "Scrooge-like" meant "un-Christmas-like act during Christmas season", and the smiley that I was more amused than anything else.

However, inviting people to give you their money while putting restrictions on what they can and cannot buy with it, does seem to bring a "Soviet touch" to the marketplace and customer service. :)

Get one certificate, once your current premium registration is over (Less than 6 mos), redeem the certificate yourself by creating a new account.

Availability in real-time?
 

To what extend the EF availability is real-time?
Here is an example: The availbity for QR170 DOH-MCT 20Dec showed 9s for most of the classes (some 4 hrs before the departure). At the same time a friend was told by QR customer service in DOH that the flight was 45 pax oversold.

It's all real-time from the airline reservation systems, we don't cache any data. QR is especially accurate as it participates in the highest level of connectivity with the reservation system we use.

That however is not the issue. The Flight Availability numbers reflect what the airline is willing to sell, not how many seats are unsold. If the flight is really oversold by 45 pax, then QR is basically willing to sell a seat to anyone who wants one, regardless of if there is one, and therefore the "available" inventory stays high. If you look at the First fare classes, you'll see they have more realistic values. Either way, that's what QR is showing to every travel agent around the world.

I happen to agree with aktchi on this one.

AA Flight Availability Listings
 

As an FYI to our subscribers, because of this: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...eement-aa.html, AA flights may not show for Flight Availability searches unless AA is specified as one of the airlines in the search. All other search functions, including Awards & Upgrades, are unaffected by this. Thank you for your understanding.

Good to know, thanks - AA is my default preference, so as long as we can still access the data, I'm happy.

Not all fares displaying?
 

I'm trying to figure out the routing rules for my fare for a trip OKC-STL coming up. Using the fare information tool, I plug in the depart/arrive/date, but my fare code isn't coming up. Now, the fare I have is a 14-day advance purchase, so I understand that might be an issue. I thought by deselecting "validate fares", EF would show fares that aren't available for purchase. Also, my trip isn't two married fares, so I don't think that's an issue either.

What else should I be doing to find my fare? Thanks!

Please email the airline, dates, and the fare code you are looking for to [email protected] and our support team will help you out.

Delta Seat Map Improvements
 

As of today, all of the outstanding Delta Seat Map issues appear to be fixed by our reservation system provider.

If you come across any new issues, please send an email to [email protected] and let us know.

BA Awards?
 

Any progress (or reasonable hope) for BA award searches?

Any update on new routing rules implementation (which include announced extended Sabre fare information)?