EF Service interruption - affects viewing Qantas upgrade classes (amongst others)

[aus_flyer]

I'm almost ready to cancel.
Viewing access to U and Z inventory is my main reason for subscribing!

 

[Mal]

I'm almost ready to cancel.
Viewing access to U and Z inventory is my main reason for subscribing!

Yeah would be nice for an update.

Overall though - even without U/Z/T/etc access, I'm still happy. I still get to see fares from cities, I still get seat maps and I still see most availability.

My use of EF for upgrade classes is probably 5%. The rest is looking for good fares, availability, airplane types, seat maps etc.

 

[serfty]

I have to agree with you kpc. I am somewhat frustrated that SQ availability in D shown by EF is not what my travel agent is seeing, which makes the tool less than useful.
Is it the case of EF resulting, at least for SQ and QF, in the "Unempowered Frequent Flyer"?

This maybe because E/F is "Seeing" the availability from an North American viewpoint and you TA is seeing it from an Oz viewpoint.

Some airlines, including Qantas, vary the availability depending on the region from where a search is being made.

 

[serfty]

The ability to save queries with a premium subscription is quite a time saver. For me the jury is still out; I am wavering on whether to renew or not come July when my annual subscription is due.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

This maybe because E/F is "Seeing" the availability from an North American viewpoint and you TA is seeing it from an Oz viewpoint.

Some airlines, including Qantas, vary the availability depending on the region from where a search is being made.

SQ does that too.

 

[KVS]

Just wanted to mention that KVS Tool users continue to enjoy uninterrupted access to QF's Z & U availability. The relevant links are in the The ULTIMATE Qantas Guide thread ...

 

[simongr]

Just wanted to mention that KVS Tool users continue to enjoy uninterrupted access to QF's Z & U availability. The relevant links are in the The ULTIMATE Qantas Guide thread ...

Sadly not if you own a mac... or can't install software on your business laptop

 

[kpc]

Just wanted to mention that KVS Tool users continue to enjoy uninterrupted access to QF's Z & U availability. The relevant links are in the The ULTIMATE Qantas Guide thread ...

...but it doesn't show "T" class, which is important for Qantas Gold and Platinum flyers:!:...whcih EF did show until now

 

[QF WP]

and it would still appear that EF is still not showing U and Z yet....will ExpertFlyer Voice give us an update.

 

[aus_flyer]

Has anyone heard an update about U/Z inventory?

Others are also missing - Y is not showing on QF flights either.

 

[Maca44]

The only seat plan I have been able to view over the last few weeks for QF international flights is F Class, no J, Y or award seats. I think it is time to reconsider my renewal also.

 

[serfty]

I don't have that problem; E/F is showing maps in all classes for the flights I have booked from May onwards.

I did not see a WHY map for two weeks before my Easter flights, but neither did www.checkmytrip.com .

As posted, the 'saving' of queries is a useful time saver.

 

[chrisb]

Does ExpertFlyer show U class again?

What about KVS? I couldn't Qantas awards listed on their website...

I'm starting to miss access to this info.

 

[dot]

I got an email form EF today and it looks like they have a solution to the display of award classes.

Dear ExpertFlyer Subscriber:

As part of our policy to continually improve the ExpertFlyer experience, we are proud to announce several new additions to ExpertFlyer. These additions expand and improve upon the service offering to enhance the value of your subscription.

Specifically, the following improvements and additions have been made:

• The introduction of new service feature: Awards & Upgrades. This allows direct access to available award and upgrade inventory without having to know or remember specific inventory codes. This also allows us to facilitate additional award and upgrade inventory from more varied sources in the future. Keep in mind the data is not different; it is just a different way of accessing and presenting the information. Both hidden and non-hidden award and upgrade inventory for available airlines are viewable through this feature. The full list of airlines that we have Award or Upgrade availability for can be found here.
  • To help make this new feature speedier for you, you can set an optional default airline to search for awards and upgrades. Go to My Account, click on the Preferences tab and enter your preferred airline code in the first box. These will then be used as default fill-ins every time you do a search in Awards & Upgrades and Flight Availability. Additionally, you can add two more airlines codes that will be use only for Flight Availability searches.
• Inside of this new Awards & Upgrade search feature we have added the ability to search for three (3) classes of any type paid-for revenues you want using the new Other Fare Class feature.
• For the existing Flight Availability search feature, searching for hidden award and upgrade classes will no longer be available. For this, please use the new Awards & Upgrade search feature. However, non-hidden award and upgrade classes will still be available through the Flight Availability search in addition to the new Award & Upgrade search.
• For the Flight Availability search feature we have improved upon the inventory class filter. You can specify the classes you want to search for in a free form manner with up to nine (9) non-hidden classes. "FJYBKVS", "F J Y B K V S" and others are all acceptable input.
• If our Premium subscribers have any existing Flight Availability Saved Queries, they will be automatically converted to new Awards & Upgrades Saved Queries if they contain any airline/class combinations (i.e. AA C inventory) that will only be viewable in Awards & Upgrades search.
• We have added on new feature to the Flight Availability search. At the bottom of the results screen for these searches you will now see a link Get More Results which will automatically get more results in time for your search if they exist. This eliminates the need to modify your search by increasing the departure time and repeating the search to see more flights. In effect, you can see the flights for the entire day that match your search criteria without having to modify the original search criteria.
• We have improved the calendar function used for to help you input a date. We think you will find it faster and more user friendly.
• We have also updated the User Guide to explain these new features. Look for it in the FAQ/Help section of the website.
• Last but not least, we have also started an ExpertFlyer Blog. We'll use this blog as a forum to openly communicate with our fellow travelers about were making ExpertFlyer a better product and let you know what we're up to as a company. It can be found at ExpertFlyer Blog

We are confident you will find these features to be a positive benefit to your ExpertFlyer experience. We are continually looking for ways to improve ExpertFlyer and look forward to your comments and suggestions.

As always, we appreciate the support you have given us over the years and thank you for your loyalty.

Sincerely,
The ExpertFlyer Team

 

[Mal]

I got an email form EF today and it looks like they have a solution to the display of award classes.

Not really -

Qantas Airways (QF) X Economy - Award

Still missing Y+, J, F award classes.

 

[NM]

According to an email response I received a few weeks back, they still do not have a resolution to the QF award availability limitation and do not expect to have a resolution in the foreseeable future.

 

[vt01]

I've been using EF for a while now but do not seem to be getting valid results at the moment. I was looking for D class on BA from LHR to HKG on 17/5/08.
EF shows D9 on both BA31 and BA27.
If I check 18/5/08 I see D0 for both flights. I asked my travel agent to book on 17/5 and they said no seats available!.. They then said there were D class seats on the 18/5????
Any idea as to what might be going on here?
Thx..

 

[serfty]

I've done a query and E/F shows as you indicated.

Note, that E/F show availability for the American market. BA may (and often do) choose to vary availability between markets.

If your TA is based in OZ, they may be seeing availability for the OZ market.

A GB based TA might see a further different view.

 

[vt01]

I've done a query and E/F shows as you indicated.

Note, that E/F show availability for the American market. BA may (and often do) choose to vary availability between markets.

If your TA is based in OZ, they may be seeing availability for the OZ market.

A GB based TA might see a further different view.

Thanks Serfty. That would explain it. I have also seen the same for AA flights such as PVG-ORD..