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Help to check seat availability and flight loads

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Old Jan 1, 2014, 6:10 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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
        • 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.
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        Help to check seat availability and flight loads

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        Old Apr 21, 2017, 7:09 am
          #4981  
         
        Join Date: Nov 2003
        Location: Yvr
        Programs: Aeroplan 75, Marriott Platinum
        Posts: 161
        Looking for flight loads for BA 84 from YVR to LHR on 23rd may. dont see any first showing up on BA's flight for that day (or the 22nd), unlike say the 24th. Surprised they would be completely sold out... thanks in advance
        deeman is offline  
        Old Apr 21, 2017, 7:31 am
          #4982  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2015
        Location: Somewhere around Europe...
        Programs: BA Gold; MB Ti; HH Diamond; IHG Plat; RR Gold
        Posts: 530
        Originally Posted by deeman
        Looking for flight loads for BA 84 from YVR to LHR on 23rd may. dont see any first showing up on BA's flight for that day (or the 22nd), unlike say the 24th. Surprised they would be completely sold out... thanks in advance
        BA84 23rd May: F2 A1 J9 C9 D9 R7 I5 W8 E7 T3 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
        UK POS.

        Edit: The seat map does show F as virtually full though; there are only two unoccupied seats 1K (blocked) and 4K.
        dakaix is offline  
        Old Apr 21, 2017, 7:38 am
          #4983  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2010
        Location: Gloucestershire
        Programs: BA Gold (ex-GGL, maybe future Silver), Hilton Diamond
        Posts: 6,201
        Originally Posted by Sam Bee
        If WT is empty, you stand no chance of an OpUp. Likely a POUG would be expensive. Maybe look to invest in an Emergency Exit Seat?
        Pretty much all there is to it. WTP Is either full or oversold, economy is quiet -a slightly unusual position to be in, admittedly.

        So... options in order of preference are:

        1. AUP on the day - £225? to be upgraded into a middle seat on a 747 (or maybe use avios beforehand if your fare supports it). Maybe get lucky with a POUG if not connecting. All of these are only likely if economy is oversold or WTP isn't though.

        2. Tough it out in economy;

        3. Pay the difference - but if £1k matters less to you than the difference between Y and W on an unrefurbished 747, you should be in F to start with.

        Keep checking but probably don't get your hopes up.
        Cymro is offline  
        Old Apr 21, 2017, 7:44 am
          #4984  
         
        Join Date: Jul 2015
        Location: London
        Programs: BAEC Gold
        Posts: 228
        Please could someone check BA67 on Sat 29 April (LHR-PHL)
        I am booked in WT+ and there have been no seats available since I booked a few weeks back. Hoping that means I'll move forward, I have a pretty good hit rate on that route.
        I have not flown it for a while and was surprised to see a 747 - so managed to grab 64K on the return. Excited about that
        LBP2 is offline  
        Old Apr 21, 2017, 7:48 am
          #4985  
        Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
         
        Join Date: Nov 2010
        Location: TPA/ABZ
        Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
        Posts: 13,248
        Originally Posted by LBP2
        Please could someone check BA67 on Sat 29 April (LHR-PHL)
        I am booked in WT+ and there have been no seats available since I booked a few weeks back. Hoping that means I'll move forward, I have a pretty good hit rate on that route.
        I have not flown it for a while and was surprised to see a 747 - so managed to grab 64K on the return. Excited about that
        Very full in WT+ but less so everywhere else. WT+ may well be overbooked which is your best chance given that there's no pressure from behind.

        The other good news is that it's a Super Hi J 744.

        F4 A4 J9 C4 D2 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N0 Q0 O0 G2
        golfmad is offline  
        Old Apr 21, 2017, 8:04 am
          #4986  
        Original Member
         
        Join Date: May 1998
        Location: The shape-shifting urban sprawl that is El Lay. FT member #71.
        Programs: UA Gold & MM; DL & AA credit card dirt status; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Fool's Gold
        Posts: 4,690
        Please could someone check CW seating for Saturday - 29 April, LAX-LHR on BA282.

        Thanks
        Craig6z is online now  
        Old Apr 21, 2017, 8:07 am
          #4987  
         
        Join Date: Oct 2007
        Location: London
        Programs: BA - Gold for Life, CCR & GGL; IC Spire Elite Ambassador; Diamond Hilton Honors; Hyatt Discoverist
        Posts: 6,720
        Originally Posted by craig6z
        please could someone check cw seating for saturday - 29 april, lax-lhr on ba282.

        Thanks
        From ExpertFlyer - US point of sale:

        F2 A1 J9 C6 D3 R1 I0 W8 E3 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K8 M6 L3 V2 S1 N1 Q0 O0 G0
        TravellerFrequently is offline  
        Old Apr 21, 2017, 10:26 am
          #4988  
         
        Join Date: Jul 2015
        Location: London
        Programs: BAEC Gold
        Posts: 228
        Originally Posted by golfmad
        Very full in WT+ but less so everywhere else. WT+ may well be overbooked which is your best chance given that there's no pressure from behind.

        The other good news is that it's a Super Hi J 744.

        F4 A4 J9 C4 D2 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N0 Q0 O0 G2

        Thank you, hopefully the upgrade gods will be kind to me
        LBP2 is offline  
        Old Apr 23, 2017, 5:40 am
          #4989  
         
        Join Date: Dec 2008
        Location: London
        Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
        Posts: 5,163
        What are the chances of the movements between the cabins with this availability
        F4 A0 J2 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y5 B3 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
        Or is it a case of a pretty full flight with everyone flying in their booked class?
        jms_uk is offline  
        Old Apr 23, 2017, 6:53 am
          #4990  
        Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
         
        Join Date: Nov 2010
        Location: TPA/ABZ
        Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
        Posts: 13,248
        Originally Posted by jms_uk
        What are the chances of the movements between the cabins with this availability
        F4 A0 J2 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y5 B3 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
        Or is it a case of a pretty full flight with everyone flying in their booked class?
        Without access to more information and all other things being equal, my guess would be that this is an almost ideal position for the airline with the airline prepared to sell a small number of high or full fare tickets in economy, probably full in WT+ and possibly full in CW with a little space to accommodate an op-up or two in F if necessary.
        golfmad is offline  
        Old Apr 23, 2017, 10:51 am
          #4991  
         
        Join Date: Dec 2008
        Location: London
        Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
        Posts: 5,163
        Originally Posted by golfmad
        Without access to more information and all other things being equal, my guess would be that this is an almost ideal position for the airline with the airline prepared to sell a small number of high or full fare tickets in economy, probably full in WT+ and possibly full in CW with a little space to accommodate an op-up or two in F if necessary.
        Thank you for your comments - my thinking was similar [booked in WTP.]

        I can see that F and J have gone down since...

        F1 A1 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y5 B3 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

        ...but, as this flight is 6 days away - things can still change.
        jms_uk is offline  
        Old Apr 23, 2017, 3:42 pm
          #4992  
         
        Join Date: Jun 2013
        Location: London
        Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
        Posts: 1,546
        Can someone kindly check BA107 LHR-DXB on 26/04. Thank you.
        Gomac is offline  
        Old Apr 23, 2017, 3:46 pm
          #4993  
         
        Join Date: Oct 2007
        Location: London
        Programs: BA - Gold for Life, CCR & GGL; IC Spire Elite Ambassador; Diamond Hilton Honors; Hyatt Discoverist
        Posts: 6,720
        Originally Posted by Gomac
        Can someone kindly check BA107 LHR-DXB on 26/04. Thank you.
        Expertflyer:


        BA 107 LHR
        26/04/17 12:55 DXB 26/04/17 23:10 744
        Daily 72% / 22m

        F4 A4 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y8 B1 H1 K1 M1 L1 V1 S1 N1 Q1 O0 G0
        TravellerFrequently is offline  
        Old Apr 23, 2017, 3:54 pm
          #4994  
         
        Join Date: Jun 2013
        Location: London
        Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
        Posts: 1,546
        Originally Posted by TravellerFrequently
        Expertflyer:


        BA 107 LHR
        26/04/17 12:55 DXB 26/04/17 23:10 744
        Daily 72% / 22m

        F4 A4 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y8 B1 H1 K1 M1 L1 V1 S1 N1 Q1 O0 G0
        Great thanks travellerfrequently, thought the seatmap looked wide open in CW for a super high J.
        Gomac is offline  
        Old Apr 24, 2017, 4:03 am
          #4995  
         
        Join Date: Mar 2015
        Programs: BA GGL
        Posts: 2,447
        Can someone check load on BA0173, Wed 26, LHR-JFK. Thanks.
        mmxbreaks is offline  


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