ExpertFlyer Blog

United Award ticket sale - 20% off

Between now and July 24, United is offering discounts for Mileage Plus awards for United Economy Saver Award travel of at least 20% off the normal cost of miles:

• Ticketing period: July 15 - July 24, 2009
• Travel period: August 18 - November 18, 2009
• Saver Awards only, not Standard
• Economy class only, no first or business
• United or United Express only, no Star Alliance partners

Details on the exact discounts for which markets is on United.com.

Double miles until the end of the year on Delta

In what could be one of the largest frequent flyer promotions of the year, Delta has decided to offer double miles on all flights, in all classes, flown between now and December 31st.  The Delta promotion is available to Amex Delta SkyMiles card holders only however.  While many Delta frequent flyers already have the card, it may be a significant enough promotion to convert those that don't.  Either way, enjoy it while it lasts.

Clear Pass shut down, so we want to help - 20% discount for new subs

Clear Pass, the company that promised to speed frequent flyers past long security lines at airports, has shut down as of last night.  To add insult to injury, the company will not be refunding any part of the up to $199/yr membership fee it charges it's members.  There was always a question of the value of Clear, as the people it was targeted at, frequent flyers, already had access to special security lines because of their frequent flyer status with their airlines, free of charge.

No matter, since we at ExpertFlyer have always tried to make the lives of frequent flyers easier, we've decided to help in our own way.  From now until July 15th, all new ExpertFlyer subscribers can enjoy 20% off their first monthly or yearly bill by using the coupon code: PKYGEZFT  This is good for either a regular subscription or it can be applied toward a gift certificate for the frequent flyer that has everything.  We're offering this discount exclusivly to our loyal blog readers, but feel free to tell a friend!

ExpertFlyer can now also be found on Twitter (@expertflyer) and on Facebook. So be sure to follow us for any future twitter/blog only discounts and offers.

Improved Fare Rules Formatting

Tonight we updated how we format our Fare Rules to make them more readable and useful.  For example, what used to look like this:

RTW BOOKING CLASSES BY CARRIER CXR FIRST BUSINESS  ECONOMY AC C NOTE 4 C NOTE 4  H BD D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M CA A NOTE 5 D NOTE 5  M  F WITHIN CN C WITHIN CN  M WITHIN CN  F NOTE 8 C NOTE 8  M FM A NOTE 2 D NOTE 1  M JK D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M JP D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M KF D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M LH A NOTE 2 D NOTE 1  M LO D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M LX A NOTE 2 D NOTE 1  M NH A NOTE 2 D NOTE 7  B  F WITHIN JP Y WITHIN JP  Y WITHIN JP NOTE 3 NZ C NOTE 6 D NOTE 6 X  M NOTE 11 MS A NOTE 3 D NOTE 1  M OS D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M OU D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M OZ A NOTE 2 D NOTE 1  M  Y WITHIN KR Y WITHIN KR  Y WITHIN KR SA A NOTE 2 D NOTE 1  M SK/BU D NOTE 9 D NOTE 9  M NOTE 10 SQ A NOTE 2 D NOTE 1  M TG A NOTE 2 D NOTE 3  M TK A NOTE 2 D NOTE 1  M TP D NOTE 1 D NOTE 1  M UA A NOTE 5 D NOTE 5  M US A NOTE 5 D NOTE 5  M NOTE 1 IF D NOT AVAILABLE BOOK Y.
 NOTE 2 IF A NOT AVAILABLE BOOK D.
 NOTE 3 IF A/F NOT AVAILABLE BOOK D.IF D NOT AVAILABLE BOOK Y EXCEPT ON DIRECT SERVICES TO/FROM USA BOOK U.
 NOTE 4 IF C NOT AVAILABLE BOOK H.
etc...

Now looks like this:

RTW BOOKING CLASSES BY CARRIER
           CXR        FIRST        BUSINESS       ECONOMY
           AC         C NOTE 4     C NOTE 4       H
           BD         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           CA         A NOTE 5     D NOTE 5       M
                      F WITHIN CN  C WITHIN CN    M 
                      F NOTE 8     C NOTE 8       M
           FM         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 1       M
           JK         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           JP         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           KF         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           LH         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 1       M
           LO         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           LX         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 1       M
           NH         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 7       B
                      F WITHIN JP  Y WITHIN JP    Y 
                        NOTE 3
           NZ         C NOTE 6     D NOTE 6  X    M 
           MS         A NOTE 3     D NOTE 1       M
           OS         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           OU         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           OZ         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 1       M
                      Y WITHIN KR  Y WITHIN KR    Y 
           SA         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 1       M
           SK/BU      D NOTE 9     D NOTE 9       M 
           SQ         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 1       M
           TG         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 3       M
           TK         A NOTE 2     D NOTE 1       M
           TP         D NOTE 1     D NOTE 1       M
           UA         A NOTE 5     D NOTE 5       M
           US         A NOTE 5     D NOTE 5       M
           NOTE 1 IF D NOT AVAILABLE BOOK Y.
           NOTE 2 IF A NOT AVAILABLE BOOK D.
           NOTE 3 IF A/F NOT AVAILABLE BOOK D.IF D NOT
                  AVAILABLE BOOK Y EXCEPT ON DIRECT
                  SERVICES TO/FROM USA BOOK U.
           NOTE 4 IF C NOT AVAILABLE BOOK H.
          

In the future, we hope to add more meta-data about the nature of the rules and restrictions of a fare to the initial Fare Information search so that it becomes less and less necessary to read the full fare rules.  Because let's face it, no one really wants to do that.

American to let flyers use miles on one-way trips

This past week American Airlines launched an update to AA.com that let frequent fliers use miles to book one-way awards for half the miles of a round trip.  That itself is great and AA flyers have been waiting for this for a while, but here's the kicker... American will also let flyers redeem miles to fly one leg of a round trip in first-class and fewer miles to fly in coach on another leg. 

So now when you're searching for your AA awards on ExpertFlyer, you can now search for your MileSAAverawards one leg at a time. More importantly, this allows you to better leverage EF Flight Alerts to be notified when the one flight leg that you couldn't get as a reduced miles award, or in the class you wanted, becomes available. 

Combined with the recent trend of airlines to make an unprecedented amount of awards available due to the downturn in travel, hopefully this should go a long way to help us to actually make use of all those miles we've been accumulating. Just in time for summer vacation.  Safe travels!