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Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads

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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

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Old Jan 3, 2019, 8:55 am
  #2956  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Mucci: Classe de la Luxe Eternelle
Posts: 816
Could someone please check BA 461 MAD-LHR tomorrow 4th of Jan?

Thank you!
noFODplease is offline  
Old Jan 3, 2019, 9:06 am
  #2957  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 267
Originally Posted by noFODplease
Could someone please check BA 461 MAD-LHR tomorrow 4th of Jan?
BA 461
0
MAD 04/01/19 17:55
LHR 04/01/19 19:15
777
Su,M,W,F,Sa
68% / 24m
J5 C2 D0 R0 I0 Y9 B9 H4 K0 M0 L0 V0 N0 O0 Q0 S0 G9
jfallesen is offline  
Old Jan 3, 2019, 10:29 am
  #2958  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 41
Hi folks, please can someone do me the honours for the following flights:

BA0073 LHR-AUH 12th Jan 2019
BA0072 AUH-LHR 21st Jan 2019

Much appreciated! :-)
chapers is offline  
Old Jan 3, 2019, 10:37 am
  #2959  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC GGL/GFl, HH Diamond, BW Diamond, Virgin Voyages Deep Blue Extra, Blue Peter Badge Holder
Posts: 3,937
BA73 12JAN19 F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 R8 I3 W0 E0 T0 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q8 O5 G0

BA72 21Jan19 F6 A5 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9

navylad is offline  
Old Jan 5, 2019, 2:30 am
  #2960  
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,212
This thread is being closed to ensure good housekeeping. However there is a brand new thread for 2019 and that can be found here:

Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads

Prospero
Moderator: BA forum
Prospero is offline  


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