Air France Frequence Plus - Loads on tomorrow (Sat 26th) CDG- BKK AF0166

Hi,

I'm flying with my wife and two young children tomorrow and have reserved 4 seats together in the middle in economy. On the online checkin there are seats towards the back on the 777 where there are two rows of window seats / isle's (ie three seats together), so I'm thinking of spreading us over those three seats leaving the middle free - in the hope that one wants a middle seat at the back. This way the kids get a window each!

Is there anyone that check any systems to see how many seats are free for tomorrows flight ? It may save a lot of hassle, moaning and crying on the long flight to bangkok!

Thanks in advance,

Stephen.

The availability reported on publically available websites is not at all a good indication of actual loads, so you can have a zeroed out flight which ends up leaving with lots of empty seats or one with lots of 9s could be overbooked. As such I think you are probably better off sticking to your seats and then checking early at the airport. There, if loads are low enough, they could not only assign you your desired seats but block the middle ones if you have a nice person who feels able to do it in view of the loads.

The availability reported on publically available websites is not at all a good indication of actual loads, so you can have a zeroed out flight which ends up leaving with lots of empty seats or one with lots of 9s could be overbooked. As such I think you are probably better off sticking to your seats and then checking early at the airport. There, if loads are low enough, they could not only assign you your desired seats but block the middle ones if you have a nice person who feels able to do it in view of the loads.An overbooked flight with loads of 9s the day before is, it has to be said, rather rare, especially on long-haul. And yes, a zero-ed out flight can leave with empty seats. So you are right that it cannot be a reliable indicator. It does, however, provide a very rough indication. The best approach remains to ask at the airport how full the flight is as the check-in agent should have the numbers. Still not a guarantee, though.

I agree. Playing musical chairs during OLCI has almost never lead to a more desirable results for me. It is better to stick to what you have, get to the airport early and kindly ask if the check in agent can make some changes.

An overbooked flight with loads of 9s the day before is, it has to be said, rather rare, especially on long-haul.

You're right it is much rarer on long haul. On short haul it happens quite a lot since the start of the crisis. On long haul it would be more likely to occur if there is a cancelled flight to the same destination or big delays etc but indeed it shouldn't be the norm! Still, I'd personally stick to the airport option. Call me over cautious but I'd personally hate to move from a front 'just the four of us' to a back 2 and 2 only to find we have neighbours on both rows after all!