What is Expert Flyer and is it worth it?

[sparoy]

Re: Expert Flyer

As a Gold AFF member you have access to a forum called "Gold Membership Privileges" under the Community Resources forum group. Instructions for redeeming all membership privileges can be found in that forum. If you cannot locate the instructions, send me a PM and I will direct you to it.

Thanks NM.

I've got the instructions.

 

[Danger]

Re: Expert Flyer

With regard to QF international seat maps on EF, does the wheelchair icon indicate only that the particular seat is wheelchair accessible or does it indicate the seat is wheelchair accessible and available?

 

[serfty]

... accessible and available?

The Latter ... the

symbol will not appear if the seat is allocated,

will show instead.

 

[beardoc]

Re: Expert Flyer

I'm interested in an EF subscription, but looking at the KVS Tool it seems a lot more comprehensive (if a little more clunky in terms of its interface). For people that have used them both, what are the merits of either? NM seemed to allude that KVS was harder to use - but EF doesn't seem to cover that many airlines, at least on their website? Would that be right?

 

[serfty]

I have a technical background and like KVS and would use it, except for #1 - that's the deal breaker.:

1. Main difference is that E/F is standard Web browser based (IE, FireFox, Safari etc) while KVS is client based. With E/F, you can use it from almost anywhere that has internet access. KVS registration is tied to the one piece of hardware (although ISTR some versions allowed up to 3).
2. Finally, with E/F you don't have to think too much about what GDS to employ - this is important with KVS.

 

[KrugBoi]

Hi - I've noticed on some of the threads that many of you have mentioned Expert Flyer which I am presuming allows you to see what seats are available for award redemptions and availability.

I've been to the website, haven't quite worked it out yet and noticed that there is a joining fee. Is it worth the money and how have you found it useful compared to checking online? I am with Qantas(now Gold Status) and KrisFlyer(Silver) .

Thanks - appreciate any insights.

 

[samh004]

I guess if you’re an advanced flyer and get into award/seat availability and all that mumbo jumbo a lot, then it might be worth it for you. If you rarely do those things, perhaps not so much, plus if you ask nicely and infrequently, other members are often quite happy to check on the little details for you anyway

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Or if you only need to use it infrequently, you can make use of the 5day trial period.

Next time you have some flights to arrange join up on the trial and test it out.

 

[Must...Fly!]

If you fly a lot it is probably useful for you to have a membership.

However if you use it infrequently you could just pay monthly as you need it.

It is a very useful tool and sometimes shows availability that is not visible on the QF website - eg for me, a QF award PER-MEL-WLG was not showing on QF, but was on ExpertFlyer (PER-MEL a JQ operated QF codeshare). Just ring up QF and they will make the booking for you at no extra cost (usually it is 2,500 pts premium to book over the phone).

 

[davidj-bell]

Hi - I've noticed on some of the threads that many of you have mentioned Expert Flyer which I am presuming allows you to see what seats are available for award redemptions and availability.

I've been to the website, haven't quite worked it out yet and noticed that there is a joining fee. Is it worth the money and how have you found it useful compared to checking online? I am with Qantas(now Gold Status) and KrisFlyer(Silver) .

Thanks - appreciate any insights.

I had a look at Expert Flyer, and didn't think it was worth paying for. If you had membership of lots of schemes, it might come handy, but I've only got QF and BA, so I find it's just as easy (actually, easier) to jump on their sites and do searches for award flights.

 

[straitman]

EF is very useful for looking up seat maps and availability. Like all things it is a very subjective answer to say either yes or no.

As suggested the five day trial and/or the monthly membership may be useful when planning trips. Personally I think it is useful.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Would EF help you find those elusive American Express redemption seats on the $450.00 pa Amex Ultimate card?

Someone posted on another thread that there were no seats avail between now and the end of the year

Oz

 

[Mal]

Would EF help you find those elusive American Express redemption seats on the $450.00 pa Amex Ultimate card?

Yes, but also SeatCounter and the Qantas website would as well. The Amex tickets book into O class (If I recall correctly - someone will correct me if wrong), so you just need to find that availability.

I don't think the tickets are elusive though. You just need to fly on days where there are lots of (cheaper) red-e-deals available and find direct flights.

 

[danmancs]

I find EF incredibly useful for finding flight availabilty, saving you having to search individual websites, it gives you many more options than the likes of expedia etc. It also gives ALL the available fares and there are often savings to be made by purchasing the ticket from another airline than the one you actually want to fly on. I saved about $2500 on a J fare because I saw it on EF and pulled the travel agent up on their price. It often shows available QF fares that are cheaper than on the QF website too.

 

[LR09WA]

Is Expert Flyer worth it?

Do the people who fly domestic a lot find expert flyer worthwhile ??

 

[ckck]

Re: Is Expert Flyer worth it?

It will depend on how often you fly, how much you want a certain seat, or to see if there are any upgrades available. There are other features too so sign up for the free trial and see how you like it.

If you decide to join but you don't fly that frequently then you can opt for the monthly payment plan and only subscribe when you are doing your planning/booking/flying stages and stop your membership for when you are not flying so much.

hths,

ck

 

[serfty]

Re: Is Expert Flyer worth it?

Thread/Question merged with main thread. Please see earlier posts.

 

[kpc]

Recently, I rang the Thai office to allocate 2 adjacent F seats Syd- Bkk-Lhr (award flights booked with US dividend miles). All done without a blink. I then checked Expert flyer to confirm the seats had been allocated as requested. Got an interesting result: found that seats had been allocated on the Bkk- Lhr, Lhr- Bkk, and Bkk- Syd sectors but not the Syd- Bkk sector. Was really puzzled....upon closer inspection, noticed that the afternoon Syd- Bkk flight that was booked on (to connect to the Bkk-Lhr flight) had been cancelled, and computer had allocated the following morning's Syd- Bkk flight which arrived after the Bkk-Lhr flight had departed!!!!

This was missed by the Thai office when I rung to allocate seats, and expert flyer ( indirectly) had enabled me to identify this problem in a timely fashion to sort out by changing the US Dividend miles Syd-Bkk award flight to the previous morning......

 

[serfty]

ExpertFlyer paid for the last few years subscription on the weekend!

I was looking for a JASA next year from LAX across the pacific and at T-353 days only a connection via BNE was available. I really wanted MEL as it meant less time away from work.

I kept looking for some days but in the end booked the BNE connection and with small hope set a U class fare alert for QF94.

That was a while ago, and I had really resigned myself to BNE, but lo - I received an email alert early Saturday afternoon that U was available. My booked JASA was in 'full' "Business", so a change should have been easy¹, but qantas.com wanted to charge me $11,000+ to make the change???

A call to Qantas (Thankfully answered "Qantas Premium") and 25 minutes later at no additional cost I was selecting seating on a 388 rather than a 744.

¹[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #b22222"]Business[/TD]
[TD="class: description, align: left"]Booking Changes[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]

• Changes can be made by calling your local Qantas office.
• Before / After Departure:
  • Date and re-routing changes permitted with no penalty.
  • Additional charges and taxes may apply, plus any fare difference.

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[maomaocat]

Re: ExpertFlyer paid for the last few years subscription on the weekend!

Is it possible to use EF to find all the dates in a particular class and under a certain price threshold for nominated flights? eg, everything in the next 6 months under $x in Y.