Comments on: Summer Travel Tip: Check If Those Frequent Flyer Award Seats Are Available on ExpertFlyer

By: majik

majik — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:39:26 +0000

I’m sorry Mike R but the ITA matrix does show fare-basis codes and fare rules.

By: IncomeGreed

IncomeGreed — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:21:00 +0000

Frequent flyer miles was the worst idea ever..

By: Angus Logan's Blog : Most promising site I’ve seen – ExpertFlyer.com

Angus Logan's Blog : Most promising site I’ve seen – ExpertFlyer.com — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:27:18 +0000

[...] TechCrunch just posted about ExpertFlyer – this site looks like it has the most potential of any travel site I’ve seen – definitely subscribing to their blog (feed). [...]

By: Mike R

Mike R — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:17:27 +0000

As a user of ExpertFlyer, I can tell you that none of those sites do what EF does:
- KVS doesn’t have a mobile version, an alerting feature, upgrade information for NW, DL, AA, UA, etc, nor show you the actual amount of awards or upgrades available. Since KVS just shows (and takes) info from various airline and travel agency websites, it doesn’t show anything more then an airline website shows, which why EF has been around so long in the first place. I also like that i can subcribe for only a month at a time if I want to when my flying is light.

- itasoftware is good at showing cheap fares, but it won’t show you all the fares, the fare basis codes, and all the explicit routing rules as well as fare rules.

- the flightstats data is already integrated into EF which makes it nice to the the ontime rating for flights directly in the availability results instead of having to look up all the flights manually on flightstats.com

Since EF is the only site that has my AA upgrade info (aa.com doesn’t even have it and I hate calling the AAgents), I’ll be sticking with it for a while.

By: majik

majik — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:52:53 +0000

Three things that do what expertflyer does and more:

kvstool.com, Award & Class availbility, seat maps, Trip/PNR manager
$30/yr (Gold) $60/yr (Plat)

matrix.itasoftware.com, Travel Planning matrix (inc fare rules) (Free)

Flightstats.com, Flight, Airport & TSA info (free)

By: Frank Reardon

Frank Reardon — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:48:39 +0000

@12 Well the only problem with the ANA tool is that it doesn’t show the expanded UA award inventory for 1K members, doesn’t show the exact number of awards or upgrades available and doesn’t have the alerting feature of EF so you don’t have to check it every day. Also if partner airlines want to show different award inventory to ANA vs their own native flyers looking for inventory, you’d never see what’s really available.

You get what you pay for.

By: Michael Klawansky

Michael Klawansky — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:09:48 +0000

Well it’s not a perfect tool, but ANA airlines offers a search tool for star alliance award availability.

Best of all, it is a free tool.

By: TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » 夏の旅行のマメ知識：ExpertFlyerでフリークエント・フライヤー席の空席状況をチェックしよう！

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:46:21 +0000

[...] [本文へ] [...]

By: Jim Renalds

Jim Renalds — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:17:50 +0000

The business model doesn’t look reliable or stable in terms of long term growth. What are the key things that need to change in their business to ensure longevity and profitability? Some suggestions anybody? My answers are included here… http://www.read...ex.php?RTA=web2

By: Westside

Westside — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:53:15 +0000

“in the end your still going to need to call the airline to book the award travel ticket or upgrade and incur a service fee.”

If you are an elite flier with a particular airline program, these fees are usually waived. For example, if you are a 1K on United Airlines …

Furthermore, most airlines have websites (shock!) that let you book award travel for free or reduced cost. You may not need EF if you exclusively use one program, though EF’s interface is far better than provided by any single airline and may help you construct award tickets that these airline websites may not be able to find.

Airline GDS != Google Search engine, TC ‘tards!

“…..only a matter of time before somebody launches a free ad-supported version.”

Yes, with $10M funding from a bunch of fifth-rate VCs and it will never be profitable. LOL. Here’s the word from The Man at EF:

“As for the other tools that offer some of the information ExpertFlyer does, since they are not built around sustainable business models …”

By: Doodool Tallah

Doodool Tallah — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:22:45 +0000

…..only a matter of time before somebody launches a free ad-supported version.

By: beatofhawaii.com

beatofhawaii.com — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:15:10 +0000

Very nice service! Wish it covered one of my main airlines: Hawaiian.

Aloha, http://beatofhawaii.com

By: Gabe Zichermann

Gabe Zichermann — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:08:54 +0000

I may be an airline/points nerd, but I gotta tell you, ExpertFlyer is *amazing*. Truly one of the best prosumer apps online today. I’ve been a paying customer for over a year, and I just adore it. Yes, it’s nerdy…but it’s worthwhile if you travel a lot.

By: Rob H

Rob H — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:03:56 +0000

I used expertflyer’s premium service about a year ago and I was not very impressed. I canceled my account before it was set to renew.
While I like the idea of being able to check award ticket seat availability, in the end your still going to need to call the airline to book the award travel ticket or upgrade and incur a service fee.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:52:18 +0000

As a user of EF I can say that for someone blowing $25k+ a year on international air travel, $5 a month is nothing since it helps me find upgrades so I don’t have to sit in coach for 10 hours at a clip. I’ve used their premium plan for the alerts feature to email me when upgrade availability has opened up so I don’t waste time checking the airlines site all day.

By: Robert Lancer

Robert Lancer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:42:14 +0000

Expert Flyer is amazing!

By: Financeyousay

Financeyousay — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:37:05 +0000

Just use up all the miles at once. I bought First Class tix to New Zealand & Australia. Since then, I’ve given up on accumulating miles altogether.

By: TechCult

TechCult — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:35:46 +0000

I will wait for the free version, thanks.

By: Westside

Westside — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:13:02 +0000

“So for now, you have to pay.”

Has there every been a company on TechCrunch that has implemented this business model? LOL.