Jan 1, 2014, 6:10 am
Last edit by: NWIFlyer
If you wish to request availability for a specific flight, please state the date and origin/departure airport codes, not just the flight number.
Please also restrict requests to BA/oneworld flights - flights for other airlines may be removed to avoid cluttering the thread and taking it away from BAEC.
As of 15 Oct 2014 flightstats.com no longer displays flight availability.
Fare class availability can be queried in various ways*:
* Please update wiki if you know of any others.
** Origin of data concealed
What do the codes mean?
Suppose we have a result as F1 A0 J9 C7 D0 RC IC W9 E9 T4 Y9 BC HC ...
This means:
There is 1 seat in the F bucket for sale
There are 0 seats in the A and D bucket for sale, but you can join the waitlist in case seats get released later.
There are at least 9 seats in the J, W, E and Y buckets.
The R, I, B and H buckets are closed to waitlisting.
There are two important things to note about how to interpret these numbers that many people don't understand as it is very counter intuitive:
1) There is NO direct relation to the actual number of seats available on the specific flight. They only mean that the airline is willing to sell this many seats on that specific flight. The airline may intend to oversell seats or withhold seats from sale for many reasons.
2) In the example above, the results show W9 E9 T4 (which are all WT+ buckets). This does not mean that there are 9+9+4=22 seats for sale. Interpret these numbers as "there are at least 9 seats for sale in WT+". There could really be anywhere between 9 and 22 seats for sale - we just can't tell from the numbers the system gives us. Therefore, the conservative approach of assuming that there are at least 9 seats for sale is usually the best one.
What does the "C" mean?
Closed to waitlisting.
In the example above we have RC, IC, BC and HC. This is different to A0 and D0: The A and D buckets are "full" but you can apply to join their waitlists (if your fare permits waitlisting). With R, I, B and H you cannot even request a seat.
The carrier will determine how to confirm your seat if it wishes. Sometimes this may happen immediately, other times only a few minutes before the flight's departure. The order of the waitlist is determined by the carrier privately, but your Executive Club status will push you towards the front of the queue. Many cheap fares do not allow waitlisting.
Differences for non-BA airlines
Please also restrict requests to BA/oneworld flights - flights for other airlines may be removed to avoid cluttering the thread and taking it away from BAEC.
As of 15 Oct 2014 flightstats.com no longer displays flight availability.
Fare class availability can be queried in various ways*:
* Please update wiki if you know of any others.
** Origin of data concealed
What do the codes mean?
Suppose we have a result as F1 A0 J9 C7 D0 RC IC W9 E9 T4 Y9 BC HC ...
This means:
There is 1 seat in the F bucket for sale
There are 0 seats in the A and D bucket for sale, but you can join the waitlist in case seats get released later.
There are at least 9 seats in the J, W, E and Y buckets.
The R, I, B and H buckets are closed to waitlisting.
There are two important things to note about how to interpret these numbers that many people don't understand as it is very counter intuitive:
1) There is NO direct relation to the actual number of seats available on the specific flight. They only mean that the airline is willing to sell this many seats on that specific flight. The airline may intend to oversell seats or withhold seats from sale for many reasons.
2) In the example above, the results show W9 E9 T4 (which are all WT+ buckets). This does not mean that there are 9+9+4=22 seats for sale. Interpret these numbers as "there are at least 9 seats for sale in WT+". There could really be anywhere between 9 and 22 seats for sale - we just can't tell from the numbers the system gives us. Therefore, the conservative approach of assuming that there are at least 9 seats for sale is usually the best one.
What does the "C" mean?
Closed to waitlisting.
In the example above we have RC, IC, BC and HC. This is different to A0 and D0: The A and D buckets are "full" but you can apply to join their waitlists (if your fare permits waitlisting). With R, I, B and H you cannot even request a seat.
The carrier will determine how to confirm your seat if it wishes. Sometimes this may happen immediately, other times only a few minutes before the flight's departure. The order of the waitlist is determined by the carrier privately, but your Executive Club status will push you towards the front of the queue. Many cheap fares do not allow waitlisting.
Differences for non-BA airlines
- Some carriers (those using Sabre such as AA) only show a maximum of 7 available seats (not 9). Others only show a maximum of 5.
- Some carriers use "L" instead of "0" (e.g., CL DL YL) to indicate you may waitlist for the seat. This tends to happen when the entire flight is on a list basis.
Help to check seat availability and flight loads
Mar 1, 2014, 8:10 am
#16
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC, AMEX, BA, WS
Posts: 164
www.expertflyer.com. A subscription web-based service that gives you access to the full inventory for flights and also allows you to access seats maps for many airlines (including BA up to T-24). One point of note: it uses US Point of Sale availability which can and often does vary from UK availability especially on long routes (e.g. I is available in the US but only C in the UK)
A free ExpertFlyer account has given me exactly the information I need to book a pair of PEY tickets on QF to Australia this summer, and now that I've booked I can see those same seats are occupied. Pretty happy camper here.
Mar 1, 2014, 8:28 am
#17
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver, ITA Club Executive, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,599
If I go to the UK version of FlightStats, would I get availability based on UK as the point of sale? Or would it still be the US one?
Mar 1, 2014, 10:20 am
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Mar 2, 2014, 2:11 pm
#19
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 176
Am on the BA0198 from Mumbai to London on the 21st march 13.50,when i booked the ticket a few weeks ago i was told this flight in wtp was busy,i got to Uua my outbound but no space for the return,have been watching on flightstats and at the moment its showing
W2 E0 T0 ,however if i do a dummy booking on BA its saying 4W tickets left.I know this flight is still a few weeks off but am i right in thinking it could be close to being oversold,would really like to Uua or an op up would be even better.thanks
W2 E0 T0 ,however if i do a dummy booking on BA its saying 4W tickets left.I know this flight is still a few weeks off but am i right in thinking it could be close to being oversold,would really like to Uua or an op up would be even better.thanks
Mar 2, 2014, 3:34 pm
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Your flight is weeks away. With this sort of speculation, you might as well be asking for next week's lottery numbers. The flight has probably been overbooked for weeks if not months, but there's no way an outsider can know whether or not that's the case. And don't forget that the concept of "sold out" doesn't exist in the airline industry. These are not cans of baked beans on a supermarket shelf. In the last couple of weeks before the flight, there are usually many many cancellations of reservations that people don't want any more - hence the need to overbook.
Mar 2, 2014, 4:01 pm
#21
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 176
Sorry, i am new to all this,i have for years refused to fly due to being scared however this year i finally agreed(hubby very happy)and have gone from nothing to silver in 6 months and also its been thanks to great cabin crew that i carried on flying and also to FT that i got my outbound upgraded to CW and have booked 63j/k,i know in flight terms its still a while away it was just because i wanted to book tickets for my boys who now want to come with us on BA's website it says sold out,also that my sister in law has the connection.
Mar 4, 2014, 11:19 am
#22
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: BOS, NCL (sort of)
Programs: BA Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 49
Would someone mind telling me the loads for these flights?
BA 214 6th March 2014 21:10 BOS-LHR
BA 143 7th March 2014 11:40 LHR-DEL
Thanks
BA 214 6th March 2014 21:10 BOS-LHR
BA 143 7th March 2014 11:40 LHR-DEL
Thanks
Mar 4, 2014, 11:27 am
#23
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: MAN
Programs: F
Posts: 2,898
BA 214 BOS-LHR F0 A0 J0 C0 W0 Y1 B1 H1 K1 M1 G0
BA 143 LHR-DEL F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
BA 143 LHR-DEL F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
Mar 5, 2014, 11:43 am
#24
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 450
Can someone with KVS or Expert Flyer check BA 115 on 15 March and BA 178 on 17 March for UK point of sale?
US point of sale from flightstats shows the 115 being wide open, and the 178 is pretty full in W but fairly open everywhere else. I'm in Y both ways and am hoping for a POUG offer!
Edit: Sorry, this is LHR-JFK on the 115 and JFK-LHR on the 178!
US point of sale from flightstats shows the 115 being wide open, and the 178 is pretty full in W but fairly open everywhere else. I'm in Y both ways and am hoping for a POUG offer!
Edit: Sorry, this is LHR-JFK on the 115 and JFK-LHR on the 178!
Last edited by nickerss; Mar 5, 2014 at 11:46 am Reason: Forgot to include origin/destination!
Mar 5, 2014, 12:12 pm
#25
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: MAN
Programs: F
Posts: 2,898
Can someone with KVS or Expert Flyer check BA 115 on 15 March and BA 178 on 17 March for UK point of sale?
US point of sale from flightstats shows the 115 being wide open, and the 178 is pretty full in W but fairly open everywhere else. I'm in Y both ways and am hoping for a POUG offer!
Edit: Sorry, this is LHR-JFK on the 115 and JFK-LHR on the 178!
US point of sale from flightstats shows the 115 being wide open, and the 178 is pretty full in W but fairly open everywhere else. I'm in Y both ways and am hoping for a POUG offer!
Edit: Sorry, this is LHR-JFK on the 115 and JFK-LHR on the 178!
BA115 F7 A6 J9 C8 D7 R6 IC W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
BA178 F9 A9 J9 C2 DC RC IC W4 E2 T2 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
BA178 F9 A9 J9 C2 DC RC IC W4 E2 T2 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
Mar 5, 2014, 12:20 pm
#26
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 450
Thanks, redshift27!!
That's the same as from the US POS except on the 178 I see R1 W3 E2 T1 for US POS.
I wonder if the availability is always this similar?
That's the same as from the US POS except on the 178 I see R1 W3 E2 T1 for US POS.
I wonder if the availability is always this similar?
Mar 12, 2014, 7:15 pm
#27
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Programs: DL, AA, UA, SPG Gold, HH Gold, IHG Platinum, Marriott Silver
Posts: 471
Is there a way to check the seat map of a flight the day of departure after I have checked in?
Mar 13, 2014, 3:09 am
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Another good reason never to print/send/download a boarding pass unless time is critical.
Mar 20, 2014, 11:29 pm
#29
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: BHD
Posts: 133
Hi,
I have been checking from before T-72 for 'Gold' status reserved seats to become available for the masses but as of yet, they have not. Can someone check if the seats I am waiting on are still reserved or has someone already got their names on them?
Flight and seats concerned are BA196 IAH-LHR this Sat 22 Mar. Seats 1A and/or 1K.
Thanks a lot.
I have been checking from before T-72 for 'Gold' status reserved seats to become available for the masses but as of yet, they have not. Can someone check if the seats I am waiting on are still reserved or has someone already got their names on them?
Flight and seats concerned are BA196 IAH-LHR this Sat 22 Mar. Seats 1A and/or 1K.
Thanks a lot.
Last edited by paul78; Mar 20, 2014 at 11:36 pm
Mar 21, 2014, 2:23 am
#30
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 97
thanks for posting this thread.
Out of interest, does it show the redemption fare codes as well?
Dave
Out of interest, does it show the redemption fare codes as well?
Dave