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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 Aug 13, 2014, 2:27 am
          #106  
         
        Join Date: Mar 2013
        Location: LHR
        Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum
        Posts: 450
        Originally Posted by nickerss
        Could someone please check the loads for me on BA185 LHR-EWR for Thursday 14 August 2014 using UK point of sale please?
        Bump. OLCI opens in an hour...
        nickerss is offline  
        Old Aug 13, 2014, 4:05 am
          #107  
         
        Join Date: Oct 2006
        Location: London
        Programs: Many. Too many. I came here to cut them down. I failed.
        Posts: 2,999
        Originally Posted by nickerss
        bump. Olci opens in an hour...
        Here ya go

        lhr ewr 1035 1315 ba 185 f1 a1 j1 c0 dc rc ic w2 e2 tc y3 b3 h3 k1 m1 l1 v1 s1 nc qc o2 g0
        Sam Bee is offline  
        Old Aug 13, 2014, 4:23 am
          #108  
         
        Join Date: Jun 2011
        Location: Isle of Man
        Programs: BA Gold, M&M SEN, EK Gold
        Posts: 225
        GRU - LHR on 15/08/14

        Folks,

        I am on BA246 on Friday and I would like to UuA from CW to First. No availability at the moment, but I was wondering what people thought the likelihood of availability opening up was?

        FlightStats has
        F7 A6 J7 C6 D5 R5 I5 W4 E1 T1 and zeros across the board in WT

        As a gold do you think there is much likelihood of an op up?

        Cheers

        Manx Flyer
        Manx Flyer is offline  
        Old Aug 13, 2014, 5:34 am
          #109  
         
        Join Date: Mar 2013
        Location: LHR
        Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum
        Posts: 450
        Originally Posted by Sam Bee
        Here ya go

        lhr ewr 1035 1315 ba 185 f1 a1 j1 c0 dc rc ic w2 e2 tc y3 b3 h3 k1 m1 l1 v1 s1 nc qc o2 g0
        Thank you very much.
        nickerss is offline  
        Old Aug 14, 2014, 3:41 am
          #110  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2009
        Posts: 648
        Hi,

        Could someone look at FLR-LCY for 15th August (BA3280) for me? Can't check in online and hoping for an AUP as I'm 30 TPs short of gold.

        Many thanks!
        polochick is offline  
        Old Aug 14, 2014, 3:54 am
          #111  
        Suspended
         
        Join Date: Mar 2002
        Location: Canada, USA, Europe
        Programs: UA 1K
        Posts: 31,452
        Originally Posted by polochick
        Hi,

        Could someone look at FLR-LCY for 15th August (BA3280) for me? Can't check in online and hoping for an AUP as I'm 30 TPs short of gold.

        Many thanks!
        Not looking good I'm afraid...

        J1 C1 D1 RC IC Y1 B1 H1 K1 ML LC VC NC QC OC S1 G1
        LondonElite is offline  
        Old Aug 14, 2014, 4:01 am
          #112  
         
        Join Date: Aug 2009
        Posts: 648
        Thanks for looking so quickly. You're right, doesn't look great!

        Last edited by polochick; Aug 14, 2014 at 4:44 am
        polochick is offline  
        Old Aug 23, 2014, 9:35 am
          #113  
         
        Join Date: Feb 2011
        Programs: BA blue,, aeroplan 25K
        Posts: 1,029
        Ba99 aug 24 LHR YYZ

        Would someone be mind enough to check loads on BA 99
        Tomorrow LHR to YYZ ?
        May need to book quickly in WT+....or even Y
        Many thanks
        aircrashsurvivor is offline  
        Old Aug 23, 2014, 9:42 am
          #114  
         
        Join Date: Mar 2009
        Location: Hertfordshire, England
        Programs: BA Gold, Hhonors Silver, Accor Club Silver and many others at the lowest level
        Posts: 437
        Expertflyer says F1 A1 J2 C1 W1 with all other classes zero or closed for UK PoS.
        tdng is offline  
        Old Aug 23, 2014, 10:17 am
          #115  
        FlyerTalk Evangelist
         
        Join Date: Oct 2011
        Location: Anywhere I need to be.
        Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold, NEXUS, GE, ABTC/APEC, South Korea SES, eIACS, PP, Hyatt Diamond
        Posts: 16,046
        Originally Posted by tdng
        Expertflyer says F1 A1 J2 C1 W1 with all other classes zero or closed for UK PoS.
        BA 99 F0 A0 J2 C2 D2 R1 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y0 ... (all the rest are 0ed out) with YVR POS as of 1617 GMT
        AA_EXP09 is offline  
        Old Aug 23, 2014, 10:19 am
          #116  
         
        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
        Have you checked the availability and fares (likely to be high) on ba.com?
        TravellerFrequently is offline  
        Old Aug 25, 2014, 7:37 am
          #117  
         
        Join Date: Jul 2014
        Location: Wedged somewhere between BTS and VIE ✈
        Programs: Star Alliance Gold (A3 Gold), Oneworld Emerald (BA Gold), Hilton Diamond
        Posts: 6,338
        Hi all, I wonder if someone can shed a little light on something for me.

        I'm still an amateur here when it comes to understanding booking classes.

        I need a flight for Sat 30.08.14 from VIE to LHR. Reward availability is very poor this week (usually quite good) with no economy flights showing, so I'm not sure whether to just book a flight with cash.

        I've followed the advice here (searched on FlightStats) and on all flights that day there seems to be good availability in Y, B, H; but there are no reward flights showing. Are any of these seats likely to be made available? or are these classes usually not released?

        I'd be grateful for any info, thanks.

        Last edited by headingwest; Aug 25, 2014 at 9:24 am Reason: added
        headingwest is offline  
        Old Aug 25, 2014, 9:31 am
          #118  
         
        Join Date: Jul 2014
        Location: Wedged somewhere between BTS and VIE ✈
        Programs: Star Alliance Gold (A3 Gold), Oneworld Emerald (BA Gold), Hilton Diamond
        Posts: 6,338
        So I've just read that they take from X, P, U, Z. They never take from other fares?
        headingwest is offline  
        Old Aug 25, 2014, 9:35 am
          #119  
        FlyerTalk Evangelist
         
        Join Date: Jul 2009
        Location: UK
        Programs: Mucci, BA, AF
        Posts: 10,130
        X is for Economy, P is for Premium Economy, U is for Business and Z is for First - these are the redemption classes. Additionally Golds can access V class availability for Economy rewards.

        If your flight is only showing YBH then I doubt you'll have any success, but do keep checking as seats may be released at the last minute (again, doubtful if only YBH).
        BA6501 is offline  
        Old Aug 25, 2014, 9:37 am
          #120  
         
        Join Date: Jul 2014
        Location: Wedged somewhere between BTS and VIE ✈
        Programs: Star Alliance Gold (A3 Gold), Oneworld Emerald (BA Gold), Hilton Diamond
        Posts: 6,338
        Thanks for the reply BA6501
        headingwest is offline  


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