Originally posted by eastwest:
I just call the airline and ask. Usually on some suitable pretext they will tell you.
Not that easy. They can tell you if up to 9 seats (depending on airline) are still availabel for sale but not more. Reservation agents (at least on US) can't tell you if a flight is oversold but gate/check-in agents can. I think the no. of seats actually sold is probably limited to management and the yield control people for competitive reasons.