A bit of a reprieve on the Star Alliance reward search problem

Posted by Seth Miller on June 17, 2010 under frequent flyer, News, points | 45 Comments to Read

UPDATE (2012-8-29): See this new post for an updated version of the script which is working again.

 

The news this morning that searching for Star Alliance rewards using the ANA website was no longer viable for most folks was shocking and more than a bit disappointing. The good news? Apparently the restriction actually isn’t quite as bad as was initially thought. Yes, the option is missing on the website for most folks right now but that appears to only be a UI issue. In other words the functionality is still there if you can get to the correct webpage. And I can.

Just a bit of tinkering this afternoon and I’ve whipped up a GreaseMonkey script that puts a link back on the main page for folks who are searching:

Fullscreen capture 6172010 54644 PM.bmp

Nothing fancy, but pretty darn functional. Simply sign in to your ANA account and go to the AMC reward page here. Click on the link for an International Reward search and, assuming everything is actually working correctly, the link should show up on the top of your screen.

Every now and then you’ll get a Session Expired error with the link. Just start the search over and it should go away.

Make sure you’ve got GreaseMonkey installed and then grab the script here. And enjoy your reward travels.

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  1. chitownflyer said,

    Many thanks to you for this script and workaround. Cheers, Chitownflyer

  2. Wandering Aramean said,

    Glad it is working for you. Hopefully this option will remain viable for a while. If not, I’m sure another option will come up soon enough. Lots of resourceful folks out there who are not keen on being denied our access to airline reward inventory.

  3. dan1431 said,

    Thank you for the script, it worked like a charm and allowed me to find some much needed availability.

    Thank you again,
    Dan

  4. chitownflyer said,

    How does one learn how to write these Grease Monkey scripts? They are great. I have used the one to enable ticket holds on united.com which is a great workaround.

  5. dracs said,

    Perfect!! Worked like charm.

    Thank you very much!

  6. Oliver said,

    Does CO plan to eventually offer access to all *A partner award seats on their website?

    @chitownflyer – google for grease monkey. It’s been a while since I last looked at it, but they had tutorials/docs on their site. Need to know/learn a bit of JavaScript and HTML.

  7. Wandering Aramean said,

    CO has a dozen or so carriers now and they’ve stated that they intend to offer as many as possible. I don’t know that all will get there and there are certainly limitations in how complete the searches are right now even for the ones they have, but they’ve stated their intention to keep adding more as they can.

  8. Kathy said,

    Bizarre, I am logged into ANA, tried to click on your *A link but received the following error. Any words of advice?

    *Your session has been terminated due to inactivity for a given period. Please go back to the top page by clicking [Continue] and try again.(Action_349)

    You may encounter this error when viewing the site without the proper environment or browser settings. Please check here for our recommended environment or contact ANA Reservation and Information Center.

  9. Wandering Aramean said,

    Kathy:

    Go back to the from page and try again. That errory usually only happens once or twice. You can also try clicking on the “Return to Menu” link in the title bar and trying again. That will often “reset” things.

  10. joan said,

    i’m getting the same error message as Kathy, and can’t get out of the loop! Tried your suggestions, but am not seeing any exit.

  11. Wandering Aramean said,

    Hey, all…

    After some feedback on FlyerTalk and additional tweaking I think that it should be a bit more reliable now. If you have already downloaded the script I suggest deleting it (Manage User Scripts in GreaseMonkey) and then installing it again from the link above. It should have both the link AND the blue button back now.

    Joan: Try the new version and let me know if you’re still having trouble.

  12. joan said,

    Hi,
    Seems to be working fine this time—thank you very much!

  13. Kathy said,

    Thanks! it works now

  14. dracs said,

    Yup working now after installing new script!!

  15. frustratedfreqflyer said,

    No luck in getting the search icon – is this still functioning?

  16. Seth said,

    Still working for me. If the icon isn’t there the first time click on the “Return to menu” icon and then back on International reward reservations and it should show up then.

  17. Seeing other *A flights on CO - FlyerTalk Forums said,

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  18. ANA Tool - Help!!!! - FlyerTalk Forums said,

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  19. Reward Flights from Boston (BOS) to Minsk (MSQ)/Kiev (KPB) - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] recent limitations but it is still the best way to find availability for *A partners. Workarounds: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…earch-problem/ or ANA: partner award search __________________ Wandering Aramean | Twitter | Lounge Guide | [...]

  20. Neuling: Hilfe bei der Buchung von Flugprämien - Vielfliegertreff: Das Forum für Vielflieger said,

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  25. Is this itinerary valid for reward travel? Open jaw + stopover - FlyerTalk Forums said,

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  26. Let's test your Frequent Flyer Knowledge - Assorted Questions - FlyerTalk Forums said,

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  27. Minimum miles needed to access ANA *A availability tool - FlyerTalk Forums said,

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  28. ANA availability tool blocked... - FlyerTalk Forums said,

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  37. Rolf said,

    great script, thank you very much.

    Would it be possible to change the script such that it would take me to the “Flight search” page instead of the “enter a round-trip” page? I guess quite many would like to enter their flights segment by segment.

  38. ANA tool doesn't show partner airlines... - FlyerTalk Forums said,

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  43. Al said,

    Hello,

    I cannot get the script…..when I click the link, it does not work…

  44. ma'am said,

    not getting the script to work for me either. it’s not installing when i click the above link.

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