ExpertFlyer Review: In the last decade Airline Frequent
Flyer programs have become popular by more than frequent flyers; it seems that everyone
has membership to at least one program, earning points from Credit Card
Purchases, thru to House mortgages. Membership by users other than the
traditional frequent flyer has greatly affected award availability, with many
frequent flyers unable to book the award flight they require.
Enter ExpertFlyer.com, this feature packed website the power
back into the hands of the real frequent flyers, by giving them access to
exclusive airline, flight & fare information that is normally only
available to travel agents.
What can ExpertFlyer do for me?
Because ExpertFlyer accesses up to the minute fare and availability
data from airlines, it can has been able to build features using this data that
turn it into meaningful information and services that can assist you.
For instance you are looking for an award seat on Qantas, or
a OneWorld partner, in the ExpertFlyer website search for your requested
flight and use the provided class code to see the all class availability including
award availability.
Picture 1: The ExpertFlyer Flight Availability Search
Page
Picture 2: The ExpertFlyer Flight
Availability Results Page
So what happens if there are no award seats available?
Normally you would need to wait until the airline releases
more award seats, phoning the airline daily to see if any award seats have been
released on your flight.
Now that frequent flyers have ExpertFlyer at their finger
tips you can use the flight alert feature to email you as soon as a fare in
your required class (Normal Award or upgrade) is available. This feature is
truly where ExpertFlyer gives its subscribers the upper hand over everyone
else.
The ExpertFlyer Service gives you more than just assistance
when trying to capture that elusive Award seat, all of its features are listed
below.
Flight Availability
Displays Flight availability including times, fare buckets
and connections, with the use of provided class codes users have visibility of
Airline upgrade and award availability (For select airlines)
Flight status
Real time departure and arrival times for flights on any day
including terminal gate and baggage claim information where available.
Flight Details
Scheduled departure times total elapsed travel time and meal
service
Seat Map
Available and occupied seat locations for flights on over
100 selected airlines
Fare Information
Published fare pricing for city pairs, both one way and
round trips. Includes detailed fare and routing rules
Travel Information
In-depth on time and reliability information for many
flights
Saved Queries
When you have performed a query it can be saved for quick
future reference
Saved flight alerts
An alert will regularly check flight & fare information and
the instant a fare is available meeting your requirements an alert (email) is
sent to you.
Have Expert flyer email you when seats on a particular class
become available on a flight, this could be to alert you of available Upgrade
or Award seat on a selected flight.
The ExpertFlyer service has two monthly plans, the basic
costing US$ 4.99 per month and the Premium Plan costing US$9.99 per month.
With the basic plan you are limited to 250 queries per month
and don’t get access to Fare Information,
Flexible Search, Saved Queries, Flight Alerts or the ExpertFlyer Mobile Edition.
The Premium Plan gives you unlimited queries and access to
all the above features.
If you are unsure if ExpertFlyer meets your
needs or just want to give it a try ExpertFlyer offer a 5 day trial period, if
you cancel your account in the first five days they will not charge your credit
card. For package details and to sign-up head over to the ExpertFlyer rate
& plan page.
If you happen to subscribe to the ExpertFlyer service and have any great experices to share plese discuss via the Business Travel Guru forums.