Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Does seatmap on KA show realistic number of bookings?

Looking at a KA flight next week on an A321 plane. Economy only shows 7 seats taken (looking on EF). If you have no status on OneWorld, does that mean you cannot reserve a seat until online checkin?

I can't believe only 7 seats taken in the entire plane.... I may change my J class booking to Y class and just spread out if this is the case.

Looking at the seatmap does not tell you much about the actual load. Many or most people may not have pre-assigned seats in which case all the seats will show as empty.

It is really difficult to tell for KA flights. They are unpredictable:
* There are many flights with availability wide open, then suddenly everything is done the night before depature.
* Many passengers do not have assigned seats, but there are also a few flights with a lot of seats assigned.
* There are many flights with few passengers doing OLCI.
* There are also flights that I have BN# above 200 even if I check in 3 hours before departure.

You cannot use seat maps to predict availability.

Seatmap is useful to view available seats, nothing else.@:-)

It is not a good indicator of load. Passengers on low fare classes cannot reserve seats, as well as tour groups; many Asian passengers don't know there is such a thing as pre-reserved seating.:p A nearly full flight can have nearly empty seatmap.

Seatmap is useful to view available seats, nothing else.@:-)

It is not a good indicator of load. Passengers on low fare classes cannot reserve seats, as well as tour groups; many Asian passengers don't know there is such a thing as pre-reserved seating.:p A nearly full flight can have nearly empty seatmap.


That has also been my experience. I remember a few years ago (when I started to book flights online), I booked a flight with high seat availability thinking that it would allow me to spread out. I was in for a nasty surprise once I actually boarded.

The KA network is running at VERY high load factors right now with many flights going out at 100%. Seat assignments are generally not made in Y it seems, whether tour groups, or low fares or what not.. Grab the seat you want now, the others will be full on the day.

I flew KA782 HKG-CAN two weeks ago. When I did OLCI and selected seats, it seemed there were a lot of availability. However, when I got on, the flight was completely full. It is quite amazing given that HKG-CAN is only like 83 miles apart, and people can catch bus/train/ferries between these two cities.

Of course, majority of the people on this flight (myself included) must be connecting it from another flight from KA/CX or other OW airlines. I saw lots of people getting the immigration form for foreigners to enter China.

So yes, it seems KA is doing well on the load factor, which is good to see. I would like to see KA doing more local Asian destinations, maybe even Urumqi and Central Asian countries (ie the "stans").

I just flew HKG-PEK a few hours ago. When I last checked, YBHKMV were all 9s. There were only a few booked seats. It turned out to be a full flight.

Sometimes I see low numbers in YBHK, but when I get onto the plane, it's not even 60 or 70% full.....