Disappointed with Expert Flyer and with Seat Guru

[klfrodo]

FlyerTalk helped resolve or at least understand my concern.

 

I have international air travel scheduled for the summer of 2021 on BA. 

Return was originally scheduled on an A380 which I anticipated would be changed due to A380's being removed from service.

 

So, I received that e-mail from BA overnight. Indicating that we have been moved to a 777 and to go to Manage My Booking to select new seats.

 

First, I go to Expert Flyer to check out my Alerts that I had created. Nothing, all is well. (I'm wondering what the hell I paid for if the site doesn't work)

Next, I open up BA to see what new seats I have to choose from.

I see the configuration, then open a new window for Seat Guru. I go thru all the configurations on Seat Guru and nothing matches up. None of the 777's, none of the 787"s, not even the A350.

BA shows me having a plane with Club World seats in a 1-2-1 configuration start at row 5 and ending at row 8 with a galley behind row 8, then some more rows of Club World

I'm confused. If Expert Flyer can't help, and Seat Guru is wrong,, what's left?   Flyer Talk.

 

Within seconds, I get a reply that Seat Guru hasn't been close on BA aircraft for years. My new metal is a 777-200ER that has been refitted with the new Club Suites.

 

Thank you Flyer Talk.

Now to try to get a refund from Expert Flyer for failure to notify me for my alerts I had created.

[klfrodo]

Received a response from ExpertFlyer and I quote

"It looks like you were notified an hour ago. The alerts check a few times a day but not every second, patience is the key."

 

My response

 

"I was notified by BA of the change at 2:14AM. ExpertFlyer notified me at 11:10AM.

That is a 9 hours difference. In my opinion as a paid "Premium" customer, that is well outside the "patience is key" standard."

 

They did respond to my response and let's say that in my opinion their response was not well taken. At the end of the day, I have clicked on my account information and my account will NOT be renewed.

[FlyerTalker]

Careful with your criticism of SeatGuru.  They are owned by the same company that owns CC.

 

As for EF:  sorry that they didn't meet your expectations.  In my case, they've always been pretty good on alerting me -- but then, I am OK with having their "data sweeps" being a couple times a day.  I am not aware of any service that gives close to real-time status on equipment.

[klfrodo]

14 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Careful with your criticism of SeatGuru.  They are owned by the same company that owns CC.

 

As for EF:  sorry that they didn't meet your expectations.  In my case, they've always been pretty good on alerting me -- but then, I am OK with having their "data sweeps" being a couple times a day.  I am not aware of any service that gives close to real-time status on equipment.

 

Appreciate the warning about SeatGuru and CC.

CC does seen to be a bit touchy about criticism even though I think a good management style would see the benefits in  a polite but healthy dose of criticism.

I receive it everyday from my wife. 😲 I don't block or ban her.

SeatGuru is a great source to assist in making decisions. But not if the information is no longer valid.

 

Regarding EF,,, maybe my expectations are/were too high. I'm just thinking an annual subscription rate of $99 per year should provide a better service than 1 or 2 "data sweeps" per day. Heck, it's only a line or 2 of code.

repeat {
statement
}

Edited December 4, 2020 by klfrodo

[jagoffee]

23 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Received a response from ExpertFlyer and I quote

"It looks like you were notified an hour ago. The alerts check a few times a day but not every second, patience is the key."

 

My response

 

"I was notified by BA of the change at 2:14AM. ExpertFlyer notified me at 11:10AM.

That is a 9 hours difference. In my opinion as a paid "Premium" customer, that is well outside the "patience is key" standard."

 

They did respond to my response and let's say that in my opinion their response was not well taken. At the end of the day, I have clicked on my account information and my account will NOT be renewed.

It is your money and you can set your expectations wherever you wish.

Once or twice a day is adequate enough for me.  I never had any expectations for instant notification.

Obviously you can chose not to renew, perhaps you can cancel and get a prorated refund.  What are you going to do instead?

 

maybe if you you lower your expectations slightly, you will still find it worth the fee.

 

Best of luck.

 

P.S.  I fly AA mostly and I do not normally receive notifications from AA for days after a change.  I am very impressed that BA was so quick. Is this normal?

[AF-1]

Maybe BA has not updated their aircraft seating with SeatGuru.  I have always found Seat Guru to be accurate.  I mostly Fly Delta and American.