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Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads

Old Jul 9, 2017, 11:09 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Tobias-UK
This is community help desk which allows members to assist each other in finding out how many seats are available on any given flight.

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 and probably unauthorised (so buyer beware)


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 BA seat availability and BA flight loads

Old Nov 12, 2018, 10:03 pm
  #2671  
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: USA
Posts: 207
New to this whole concept. If someone could look this one up:

BA226 ATL >> LHR for Tue June 11, and Wed June 12.

Thanks!
ne0ven0m is offline  
Old Nov 12, 2018, 10:36 pm
  #2672  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cape Town
Programs: BA Exec Gold , Qatar Priviledge Club Plat
Posts: 1,584
Originally Posted by Pelu
Very bizarre but I'm very intrigue with the outcome although I'm sure you are right. They might have even considered the upgrades already...There are (were) 23 seats in club in the seat map indeed.
If I have another slow day I'll report back tomorrow, but in any case please do report back as I am very intrigued now
Op-up to 3A, great! Comair special services just called to confirm the upgrade and asked about seating preference and to inform of a possible 20min delay. Still currently 7 over in Y, but who cares as Im in Club!
Flame3601 is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 12:17 am
  #2673  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Plymouth, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 1,159
Originally Posted by ne0ven0m
new to this whole concept. If someone could look this one up:

Ba226 atl >> lhr for tue june 11, and wed june 12.

Thanks!
ba226 11/6/19 atl- lhr F9 A8 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0

snaxmuppet is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 12:59 am
  #2674  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Programs: BA
Posts: 1
Please can someone check the flight load on BA0275 LHR-LAS 20th Nov 2018.


Thanks

Nick
nickgold is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 4:05 am
  #2675  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 72
Hi,

Can someone please check the loads for:

BA 2169 (LGW - FLL) on Sat 17th Nov
and
BA 2168 (FLL - LGW) on Thu 29th Nov

Thanks,
Paul

Last edited by PaulJohnson; Nov 13, 2018 at 4:27 am
PaulJohnson is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 4:21 am
  #2676  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Plymouth, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 1,159
Originally Posted by PaulJohnson
Hi,

Can someone please check the loads for:

BA 2169 on Sat 17th Nov
and
BA 2168 on Thu 29th Nov

Thanks,
Paul
From the wiki:
If you wish to request availability for a specific flight, please state the date and origin/departure airport codes, not just the flight number.
People look these up for you as a favour... please don't make it more difficult for them by forcing them to look up the airports too. We need the dept and arr airport codes to do the lookup

Thanks.
snaxmuppet is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 4:27 am
  #2677  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 72
Originally Posted by snaxmuppet
From the wiki:


People look these up for you as a favour... please don't make it more difficult for them by forcing them to look up the airports too. We need the dept and arr airport codes to do the lookup

Thanks.
Sorry about that, updated now.

Thanks,
Paul
snaxmuppet likes this.
PaulJohnson is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 5:56 am
  #2678  
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Blue
Posts: 39
Originally Posted by PaulJohnson
Hi,

Can someone please check the loads for:

BA 2169 (LGW - FLL) on Sat 17th Nov
and
BA 2168 (FLL - LGW) on Thu 29th Nov

Thanks,
Paul
Hi Paul,

BA 2169 (LGW - FLL) on Sat 17th Nov
J8 C8 D8 R6 I0 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B4 H4 K4 M3 L2 V2 S2 N1 Q9 O9 G9

BA 2168 (FLL - LGW) on Thu 29th Nov
J9 C8 D8 R6 I5 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
Weebl is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 6:13 am
  #2679  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: LON
Programs: BA Gold; LH FTL; IHG Diamond; Marriott Gold; ALL Gold
Posts: 1,758
Please can someone check BA27 LHR-HKG on Thurs 15th Nov?

And for double points, BA28 back HKG-LHR on 19th Nov?

Thanks!
Deltus is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 6:16 am
  #2680  
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Blue
Posts: 39
Originally Posted by Deltus
Please can someone check BA27 LHR-HKG on Thurs 15th Nov?

And for double points, BA28 back HKG-LHR on 19th Nov?

Thanks!
Hi Deltus,

BA27 LHR-HKG on Thurs 15th Nov
F1 A0 J9 C0 D0 R0 I0 W4 E2 T1 Y4 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

BA28 back HKG-LHR on 19th Nov
F3 A3 J9 C9 D9 R0 I0 W6 E1 T0 Y6 B6 H6 K6 M6 L6 V6 S6 N6 Q4 O2 G4
Deltus likes this.
Weebl is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 6:53 am
  #2681  
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Programs: Hilton/Diamond, BA/Gold
Posts: 158
If someone could do:

BA 239 (LHR - BOS) on Fri 24th May 2019
and
BA 216 (IAD - LHR) on Sat 8th June 2019

Thanks!
andrewr1985 is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 7:01 am
  #2682  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 72
Originally Posted by Weebl
Hi Paul,

BA 2169 (LGW - FLL) on Sat 17th Nov
J8 C8 D8 R6 I0 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B4 H4 K4 M3 L2 V2 S2 N1 Q9 O9 G9

BA 2168 (FLL - LGW) on Thu 29th Nov
J9 C8 D8 R6 I5 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
Thank you!
PaulJohnson is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 7:06 am
  #2683  
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Blue
Posts: 39
Originally Posted by andrewr1985
If someone could do:

BA 239 (LHR - BOS) on Fri 24th May 2019
and
BA 216 (IAD - LHR) on Sat 8th June 2019

Thanks!
BA 239 (LHR - BOS) on Fri 24th May 2019
F9 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T7 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q0 O0 G0

BA 216 (IAD - LHR) on Sat 8th June 2019
F9 A7 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0
Weebl is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 7:07 am
  #2684  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: LON
Programs: BA Gold; LH FTL; IHG Diamond; Marriott Gold; ALL Gold
Posts: 1,758
Originally Posted by Weebl
Hi Deltus,

BA27 LHR-HKG on Thurs 15th Nov
F1 A0 J9 C0 D0 R0 I0 W4 E2 T1 Y4 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

BA28 back HKG-LHR on 19th Nov
F3 A3 J9 C9 D9 R0 I0 W6 E1 T0 Y6 B6 H6 K6 M6 L6 V6 S6 N6 Q4 O2 G4
Thank you! I'm in Y on both, so perhaps a chance of an op-up on the outbound, and hopefully a few empty seats around on the way home...
Deltus is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 11:29 am
  #2685  
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Programs: Hilton/Diamond, BA/Gold
Posts: 158
Originally Posted by Weebl
BA 239 (LHR - BOS) on Fri 24th May 2019
F9 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T7 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q0 O0 G0

BA 216 (IAD - LHR) on Sat 8th June 2019
F9 A7 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0
Thanks, currently in CW (U) as reward tickets on BA216, hoping that some of those F/A open up at some point
andrewr1985 is offline  

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