Flying Blue (Air France & KLM) - advice on possible reward from CDG to JNB

I am looking for a reward on AF (W class) for Aug 11 from CDG to JNB. Here is what availability look like now:

AF 990 CDG 23:15 JNB 09:40 +1 744 0 P9 F9 R0 A0 J9 C9 D8 I8 Z4 Q0 Y9 B9 K9 H6 W0 T0 V0 L0 N0 G0 U0

What is the likelihood that a seat in W will open up in the next few days? The 12 and the 10th had similar availability last week and they now have seats but the 11th, a Friday, is still closed. Any advice would be appreciated.

Have you also called FB to see if they will book it for you now.

In the "olden days" more than a year ago a Royal Wing/Platinum calling could sometimes get a seat opened up even though it wasn't showing on KVS, etc. They would call revenue management/yield management and get the seat opened up.

Alternatively, maybe you could fly business down and come back on economy?

I'd say with an availability like this, things could go either way for the W-class availability to open up. It looks like there is a good chance, though, for an award seat in F and/or C to become available. As for economy, the lower fare buckets might be zeroed out either because the flight is really selling out or because Air France thinks that on a commercially interesting evening like Friday, they will be able to sell seats at a higher fare by making only higher booking classes available.

I am looking for a reward on AF (W class) for Aug 11 from CDG to JNB. Here is what availability look like now:

AF 990 CDG 23:15 JNB 09:40 +1 744 0 P9 F9 R0 A0 J9 C9 D8 I8 Z4 Q0 Y9 B9 K9 H6 W0 T0 V0 L0 N0 G0 U0

What is the likelihood that a seat in W will open up in the next few days?

It's anybody's guess of course but my bet is that if you have the nerve to wait up until a few hours before departure (and check often enough) your chance of catching a coach reward seat are quite good. This, however, will not happen more than 24-48 hours before the flight.

There is "Flight Alert" feature on expertflyer that can send you an email as soon as it has found availability in W. But I do not know how often they check (probably ~once per day -- they won't tell).

Good luck!