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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 Mar 8, 2015, 11:03 am
          #676  
         
        Join Date: Oct 2014
        Location: London, UK
        Programs: BA Exec Club Gold
        Posts: 335
        Originally Posted by paralytic
        could someone check the loads on the ba119 lhr-blr tomorrow please.
        j9 c0 dc rc ic w9 ec tc y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v6 s4 n1 q1 o9 g8
        FastTrak2Elite is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 11:38 am
          #677  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2014
        Location: London
        Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, HH Diamond
        Posts: 1,916
        Could a kind soul check availability of 1A/1K on LHR-LAS BA275 Fri 29 Aug please?
        ENTP is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 11:47 am
          #678  
         
        Join Date: Oct 2014
        Location: London, UK
        Programs: BA Exec Club Gold
        Posts: 335
        Originally Posted by ENTP
        Could a kind soul check availability of 1A/1K on LHR-LAS BA275 Fri 29 Aug please?
        29 Aug isn't a Friday...
        FastTrak2Elite is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 11:54 am
          #679  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2014
        Location: London
        Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, HH Diamond
        Posts: 1,916
        Originally Posted by FastTrak2Elite
        29 Aug isn't a Friday...
        Right you are! Fri 28 Aug ^
        ENTP is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 11:55 am
          #680  
         
        Join Date: Oct 2014
        Location: London, UK
        Programs: BA Exec Club Gold
        Posts: 335
        Originally Posted by ENTP
        Right you are! Fri 28 Aug ^
        1A/1K both open on Fri 28th
        FastTrak2Elite is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 11:56 am
          #681  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2014
        Location: London
        Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, HH Diamond
        Posts: 1,916
        Originally Posted by FastTrak2Elite
        1A/1K both open on Fri 28th
        Thank you kindly
        ENTP is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 1:26 pm
          #682  
        Hilton Contributor Badge
         
        Join Date: Sep 2014
        Location: Cumbria
        Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
        Posts: 4,510
        Could somebody kindly check the following:

        Saturday 28/3 BA117 LHR/JFK
        Tuesday 31/3 BA2 JFK/LCY

        Many thanks.
        madfish is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 3:38 pm
          #683  
         
        Join Date: May 2006
        Location: 5 miles from EMA
        Programs: BD, BAEC Pleb, VS Pleb, Accor Pleb, HHonors Gold, Big White Season Pass
        Posts: 5,903
        Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
        As mentioned above and in the Wiki, it's always a good idea to mention the route in these requests, just to help those of us who haven't memorised the entire timetable! Below is for UK Point of Sale.

        BA103 LHR to Calgary
        J7 C7 D6 R5 I3 W5 EC TC Y9 B6 H1 KC M0 LC VC SC NC QC OC G0

        BA48 Seattle to LHR
        F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T5 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V7 S6 N3 QC O9 G0
        Thank you CWS and apologies for the epicfail not reading the top of the page
        Tiger_lily is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 3:51 pm
          #684  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2012
        Posts: 2,676
        Originally Posted by madfish
        could somebody kindly check the following:

        Saturday 28/3 ba117 lhr/jfk
        f2 a1 j2 c0 dc rc ic w0 ec tc y2 b0 hc kc m0 lc vc sc nc qc oc g0

        tuesday 31/3 ba2 jfk/lcy
        j9 c9 d9 r9 i8
        MPH1980 is offline  
        Old Mar 8, 2015, 3:58 pm
          #685  
         
        Join Date: Apr 2012
        Posts: 48
        Hello,

        May I ask if anyone could kindly assist me and check on availability for the following two flights, please?

        10 March 2015
        BA233, LHR to DME

        12 March 2015
        BA234, DME to LHR

        Thank you in advance!
        frequentglobetrotter is offline  
        Old Mar 9, 2015, 12:30 am
          #686  
        Hilton Contributor Badge
         
        Join Date: Sep 2014
        Location: Cumbria
        Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
        Posts: 4,510
        Originally Posted by MPH1980
        f2 a1 j2 c0 dc rc ic w0 ec tc y2 b0 hc kc m0 lc vc sc nc qc oc g0
        Thank you. Think it's fair to say that the outbound will be fairly busy, and probably no chance of UuA. Seat map is still showing a couple of seats on UD so hopefully not too many bronzes waiting to snaffle these at T-7 or I may be in a middle seat downstairs.
        madfish is offline  
        Old Mar 9, 2015, 12:48 am
          #687  
         
        Join Date: Oct 2014
        Location: Hong Kong
        Programs: BA Silver (OWS)
        Posts: 654
        I imagine quite often the people requesting availability here are only really interested in a couple of fare buckets (say, F and A). Checking availability for a fare bucket is quite quick and easy on ITA matrix, certainly quicker than waiting several days for someone kind to respond here.

        For example

        Originally Posted by frequentglobetrotter
        Hello,

        10 March 2015
        BA233, LHR to DME
        This ITA search:



        ...results in no flights found, so tick the number of passengers down and try again. Eventually (within a minute) you'll find there is F7 availability.

        Just a tip for anyone who wants a quicker answer for specific buckets.
        zeltergiset is offline  
        Old Mar 9, 2015, 3:25 am
          #688  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2012
        Posts: 2,676
        Originally Posted by frequentglobetrotter
        Hello,

        May I ask if anyone could kindly assist me and check on availability for the following two flights, please?

        10 March 2015
        BA233, LHR to DME
        Pretty empty at the back.

        F7 A7 J9 C7 D6 R1 IC W9 E4 T1 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S8 N4 Q1 O9 G9

        12 March 2015
        BA234, DME to LHR

        Thank you in advance!
        Similarly empty ... although it's full fare at the front.

        J9 C0 DC RC IC Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S6 N3 Q2 O9 G9
        MPH1980 is offline  
        Old Mar 9, 2015, 5:26 am
          #689  
        Hilton Contributor Badge
         
        Join Date: Feb 2014
        Location: ±38,000 feet
        Programs: LH HON, BA GGL, AF Plat, EK Plat
        Posts: 6,426
        Would a kind soul check availability on these for me(planning the Hawaii TP Run):

        AA271 (jan 1 2016)
        AA283 (jan 1 2016)
        AA30 (jan 4 2016)

        Thanks in advance ;-)
        nufnuf77 is offline  
        Old Mar 9, 2015, 6:18 am
          #690  
        Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
         
        Join Date: Nov 2010
        Location: TPA/ABZ
        Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
        Posts: 13,243
        Originally Posted by zeltergiset
        I imagine quite often the people requesting availability here are only really interested in a couple of fare buckets (say, F and A). Checking availability for a fare bucket is quite quick and easy on ITA matrix, certainly quicker than waiting several days for someone kind to respond here.

        For example



        This ITA search:



        ...results in no flights found, so tick the number of passengers down and try again. Eventually (within a minute) you'll find there is F7 availability.

        Just a tip for anyone who wants a quicker answer for specific buckets.
        Great tip. Thought it should be added to the wiki but just checked and it's already there.
        golfmad is offline  


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