how many unbooked seats are available on any given flight?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: CA, USA
Posts: 252
how many unbooked seats are available on any given flight?
Does anyone know if there is a web site that shows how many unbooked seats are available on any given flight? I'm flying on British Airways in May & want to know how full the flight is & if there are any better seats left that I can switch to without having to call the airline, wait on hold, etc. They don't have a "choose your seat " section. Also, sometimes if the flight prices are the same, I'd like to be able to choose a less full plane.
Is there such a site?
Anita
Is there such a site?
Anita
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,642
I don't think you can get access to the raw number of unsold seats - commercially confidential information - without inside help.
What is easier to get is the displays that travel agents see, showing what is available for booking. Full-ish flights will be identifiable by restricted availability in certain or most classes. For Internet links (thanks to other FT'ers), try:-
http://www.aeroplan.de/ap_rb_galileo.htm
(or http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/...leo/frame.html for an English language interface)
http://www.etour.co.jp/Solar/index.html
(or the link marked "switch to Japanese Etour interface" at the top of http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/...leo/frame.html for an English-language interface)
http://flyaow.com/classual.htm
http://flyaow.com/classamex.htm
To see what seats are available for pre-allocation, the easiest way is to make a dummy booking on Travelocity. Pretend to make a booking on the flights on which you are travelling. Go beyond the screen where you enter your name and personal details. If seat pre-allocation is available, a seat chart should come up for each sector in turn showing what can be pre-allocated. Armed with this information, call the airline and ask for a pre-allocated seat that you like. This can often also give you an idea about which of two flights is more full.
You should note that BA will only pre-allocate about 30% of the seats before check-in opens. If there is nothing there that you like, register a preference. Try checking in early, perhaps online if you and your itinerary qualify - see the BA website for details. That may get you a better selection of seats than if you wait until you get to the airport. But if you have no status then there will be people ahead of you in priority for the "good" seats.
What is easier to get is the displays that travel agents see, showing what is available for booking. Full-ish flights will be identifiable by restricted availability in certain or most classes. For Internet links (thanks to other FT'ers), try:-
http://www.aeroplan.de/ap_rb_galileo.htm
(or http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/...leo/frame.html for an English language interface)
http://www.etour.co.jp/Solar/index.html
(or the link marked "switch to Japanese Etour interface" at the top of http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/...leo/frame.html for an English-language interface)
http://flyaow.com/classual.htm
http://flyaow.com/classamex.htm
To see what seats are available for pre-allocation, the easiest way is to make a dummy booking on Travelocity. Pretend to make a booking on the flights on which you are travelling. Go beyond the screen where you enter your name and personal details. If seat pre-allocation is available, a seat chart should come up for each sector in turn showing what can be pre-allocated. Armed with this information, call the airline and ask for a pre-allocated seat that you like. This can often also give you an idea about which of two flights is more full.
You should note that BA will only pre-allocate about 30% of the seats before check-in opens. If there is nothing there that you like, register a preference. Try checking in early, perhaps online if you and your itinerary qualify - see the BA website for details. That may get you a better selection of seats than if you wait until you get to the airport. But if you have no status then there will be people ahead of you in priority for the "good" seats.
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: DCA
Programs: AMC MovieWatcher, Giant BonusCard, Petco PALS Card, Silver Diner Blue Plate Club
Posts: 22,294
This won't help you for your BA trip, but America West actually does offer a way to see the number of pax booked on each flight...
http://www.americawest.com/pbt/pbt_lookup.asp
Shh... Looks like an internal system for their NRSAs which is just not password protected...
http://www.americawest.com/pbt/pbt_lookup.asp
Shh... Looks like an internal system for their NRSAs which is just not password protected...
#4
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: RDU
Posts: 2,260
[QUOTE]Originally posted by gleff:
[B]This won't help you for your BA trip, but America West actually does offer a way to see the number of pax booked on each flight...
http://www.americawest.com/pbt/pbt_lookup.asp
Very interesting site. Totally useless for me, but fun to play around with nonetheless. Not only can you see total passengers booked, but you also have access to some of the employee benefits info, including interline airfare agreements with all carriers. Wouldn't want to spoil the secret, but this would go over well as it's own topic on Travelbuzz!
Thanks for posting it.
[This message has been edited by dave_261 (edited 02-21-2003).]
[B]This won't help you for your BA trip, but America West actually does offer a way to see the number of pax booked on each flight...
http://www.americawest.com/pbt/pbt_lookup.asp
Very interesting site. Totally useless for me, but fun to play around with nonetheless. Not only can you see total passengers booked, but you also have access to some of the employee benefits info, including interline airfare agreements with all carriers. Wouldn't want to spoil the secret, but this would go over well as it's own topic on Travelbuzz!
Thanks for posting it.
[This message has been edited by dave_261 (edited 02-21-2003).]