FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Help understanding BA ZED seat availability
Old Aug 8, 2019 | 9:39 am
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Cymro
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Originally Posted by fulan_flyer
F1 A0 J9 C7 D4 R0 I0 W6 E1 T0 Y7 B3 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
Can't put this into a staff travel context but as a general rule we can take that list of fare buckets and break it down as follows - those on the left hand side are more flexible than those on the right.

F1 A0

OK, not good: BA is usually willing to oversell First class by one seat only. In other words, it looks like the cabin is full but probably someone will cancel/miss their flight so they'd squeeze one person in for the cost of a full flex seat and worry about the consequences later if it doesn't work out.

J9 C7 D4 R0 I0

This is business class. Looking slightly quieter: they'll sell 9 full flex tickets, 7 at a C fare, 4 at a D fare, but none at the cheaper R/I fares. So it looks like they're expecting a pretty full cabin (at least after operational upgrades) and even allowing for missed connections and cancellations.

W6 E1 T0

This is premium economy. They'll sell another six fully flex premium economy seats, and even 1 mid-priced E fare - suggest that means that the cabin is nearly full but there may be the odd seat knocking around before, and maybe after op-ups.

Y7 B3 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Pretty full. By the time BA is willing to sell only Y/B there are unlikely to be any physical seats left in the cabin and they'll make room by rolling forward. Of course, everything I've said depends on what happens on the day, on the route, commercial considerations, and all kinds of proprietary information I don't have - and those who do have it aren't allowed to share.

Given that we're a month out, I'd expect at least 7 people to buy seats on this flight, even at those high prices - reducing the stock of available seats further down to zero and possibly beyond, so that BA would be reliant on no-shows to avoid bumping. At that point, if travelling on standby, you're hoping and praying that a big group misses a connecting flight to free up seats for you; otherwise, I'd say your chances of a standby seat are pretty low!
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