Availability of classes on AF flight
 

Hello everyone.

Other than calling reservation, is there a way to check on the net how full each class is for a particular flight? For example, I am flying to CDG/YYZ with AF 356 on Friday 26 March.

Would like to estimate my (slim, I know this is AF...) chances of upgrade due to K class ticketing and Platinum card.

Thank you.

Actually, your chances look excellent -- Y cabin is likely overbooked:

[KVS Availability Tool 5.4.0/Diamond - Apollo: Availability/ITN/US-MYP]

ExpertFlyer shows:
J9 C9 D9 I7 Z5 M4 O2 Y0 B0 K0 H0 T0 V0 R0 L0 Q0 N0 X0 U0 G0

So very full in coach, and quite empty in Biz. Also YYZ is probably not a preferred destination of AF staff/family/friends (who get priority for upgrades). So you have a chance.

Thank you KVS and Brunos for yout such quick answer. Goods news regarding Y cabin full, but as you pointed out, this is AF... So till I am actually in the C seat, won't hope much.

I am just owndering what what O and M class are...

http://www.expertflyer.com/ has all these answers, all the time. It costs, but if you fly frequently it is a good way to manage your information and get answers to questions. Have a look, and you'll see,

"O" is a Business class award and "M" is a special Business class award for elites

Not to temper the optimism around, but as mentioned by many of us in other threads, in recent months, availability figures have been unusually approximative predictors of how full planes actually are. Many a times, I have been in a flight that showed Y9 ...N9 but ended up overbooked, and others in zeroed out flights which had quite a few empty seats. My - and many others' expectation is that the crisis has modified some travelling patterns as well as airline behaviour hence this issue.

Needless to say that even if it is overbooked, whether or not your card will help for you to be upgraded remains to be seen too...

Thank you blairvanhorn. Your news is good news. Looks like Y is sold out. Will go to bed now, dreaming of an unexpected sudden transfer to the front of the plane! :p

Yes, agree wiht you. With AF NEVER count or even hope of an upgrade.

Just let it happen, when it does. AF only upgrdes when forced to, never to please/reward FF. And only if friends/family/top brass do not fly on the same flight as you.

Many years ago, when I had direct contact with AF sales office, a confirmed upgrade from C to F woud end up as no upgrade at all. They have not changed that much....

And, as KVS showed above, KVS Availability Tool also has this information:)

Question for you AF folks - in situations like these, if I was on a DL codeshare operated by AF, and I'm a DL elite, would AF bump me to J to free up space in Y? If so, what fare do you have to be on? I ask this because I have never gotten a bump in oversold situations, from any carrier...I think I just have bad luck :P

In the end, no upgrade!!!
 

FYI, tale heard 100 times, I was of course not upgraded.

It started well : the lady at the lounge told me that I was first on the list for upgrades (which makes sense : Platinum + high contribution ticket) and the plane being over full it looked good; I should come back at 13:10 to know

Back at the agreed time, spoke with an indifferent guy who condescended to have a brief look at things to tell me in a casual manner that there was no upgrade. They had upgraded two people, with one full fare ticket and being a couple, they had (HAD!!!) to upgrade both. He said as if he could not care less "maybe next time".

What is most unpleasant in such an instance is not the fact that there was no upgrade (upgrade is never guaranteed and any frequent flyer, especially with AF knows that), but the attitude of the staff.

A "sorry", a smile, any sign of sympathy would have been nice.

On the contrary, I think the guy looked almost pleased. True that upgrades at AF are given in priority to friends and family, so he would see a FF as competition for their perks rather than a customer that AF should try to please from time to time.

One of the joys of flying AF, isn't it?

Sad

Guess it's better not knowing at all whether you're on top of the list... Would be devastated myself too :) The bleep at boarding is usually the best way of finding out :P

ps any idea why the full fare person was not ahead of you on the list at first?

Yes, better not ask. However, despite my years of flying, I can't resist doing so.

My best bet why the Y passenger was not listed first is that he/she was already confirmed for upgrade.

Then knowing AF the way we know them no way the other half of an ordinary couple woud be upgraded on the basis that one was upgraded already.

So this must have been a Y pasenger with connections.... and as we all know, at AF friends/family come first, way before FF.

Anyhow, am flying back YYZ CDG tomorrow Thursday. Full Y cabin again. Asked for cost of upgrade:

- CAD 2600 in cash!!!
- CAD 600 something (or was it 800?) + 32,500 miles.

On the other side of the coin, I once flew on an award economy ticket (frequence plus at the time) from Atlanta to Paris. I had no status, not even silver. I'd just quit my job and was moving back to France to find a job (I'm American but still had work papers).

And just somehow, who could even ever know why, I got UPGRADED to business, sat next to a guy who ended up offering me a job on the flight....10+ years later I've worked that into owning companies in USA, France and Thailand....so at least when you get an upgrade, it is one heck of an upgrade!!!! :)

What an incredible and wonderful story ! Thanks for sharing it with us :)