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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 Sep 4, 2017, 1:39 am
  #286  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, ZSL Silver
Posts: 2,554
Originally Posted by ibbitsc
Would someone mind checking the flight loads for the following please:

BA185 LHR>EWR departs on 09 Sep 17
BA184 EWR>LHR departs on 14 Sep 17

Thanks in advance !
BA185 9 September:
F6 A6 J9 C3 D3 R0 I0 W9 E9 T8 Y9 B7 H4 K4 M4 L4 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

BA184 14 September
F9 A9 J9 C4 D0 R0 I0 W3 E1 T1 Y9 B9 H8 K8 M8 L8 V2 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

These are both with UK POS.
gustavmahler is online now  
Old Sep 4, 2017, 8:45 am
  #287  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL & CCR, GFL
Posts: 495
Could someone possibly check:

BA 2781 FNC-LGW on September 17th
AdBoy is offline  
Old Sep 4, 2017, 8:48 am
  #288  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, ZSL Silver
Posts: 2,554
Originally Posted by AdBoy
Could someone possibly check:

BA 2781 FNC-LGW on September 17th
Here you go - UK POS.

J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 Y8 B7 H5 K0 M0 L0 V0 N0 Q0 O0 S0 G0
gustavmahler is online now  
Old Sep 4, 2017, 8:50 am
  #289  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL & CCR, GFL
Posts: 495
Originally Posted by gustavmahler
Here you go - UK POS.

J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 Y8 B7 H5 K0 M0 L0 V0 N0 Q0 O0 S0 G0
Much obliged.
AdBoy is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 4:08 am
  #290  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: British Airways exec
Posts: 3
Could you check the following:

Heathrow (London) - Los Angeles International (CA), BA0283, 09:50 Sat 16 Sep 2017

San Francisco International (CA) - Heathrow (London) BA0286, 19:30 Thu 21 Sep 2017
raivok is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 4:42 am
  #291  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Spitalfields, London
Programs: BA Gold, KFC 'The Colonel's Club' Palladium tier, Mucci des Visions Célestes du Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Posts: 2,328
Much obliged if someone could check LHR-JTR (Santorini) BA652 on Sat 16th September. Thank you!
choosethedrew is online now  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 4:44 am
  #292  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Gloucestershire
Programs: BA Gold (ex-GGL, maybe future Silver), Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,201
Originally Posted by choosethedrew
Much obliged if someone could check LHR-JTR (Santorini) BA652 on Sat 16th September. Thank you!
J4 C0 D0 R0 I0 Y2 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 N0 Q0 O0 S0 G0

Very full already.

Reasonable chance of someone being upgraded if that's what you're thinking, but in short-haul they can move the curtain to avoid too many upgrades.
Cymro is online now  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 4:49 am
  #293  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Gloucestershire
Programs: BA Gold (ex-GGL, maybe future Silver), Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,201
Originally Posted by raivok
Could you check the following:

Heathrow (London) - Los Angeles International (CA), BA0283, 09:50 Sat 16 Sep 2017

San Francisco International (CA) - Heathrow (London) BA0286, 19:30 Thu 21 Sep 2017
LAX:
F2 A1
J9 C3 D2 R0 I0
W6 E0 T0
Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Sold out in economy, comparatively quiet business class so very high chance of upgrades from WTP. Probably only one empty seat in F for the moment.

SFO:

F1 A0
J9 C6 D1 R0 I0
W7 E0 T0
Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Fairly quiet in economy (though that can easily change - lots of last minute bookings from tech companies with an all-Y policy?), getting full in WTP, about average in CW, and probably no actual seats in F (relying on a change/cancellation, which is common in F).
raivok likes this.
Cymro is online now  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 6:51 am
  #294  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: British Airways exec
Posts: 3
Originally Posted by Cymro
LAX:
F2 A1
J9 C3 D2 R0 I0
W6 E0 T0
Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Sold out in economy, comparatively quiet business class so very high chance of upgrades from WTP. Probably only one empty seat in F for the moment.

SFO:

F1 A0
J9 C6 D1 R0 I0
W7 E0 T0
Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Fairly quiet in economy (though that can easily change - lots of last minute bookings from tech companies with an all-Y policy?), getting full in WTP, about average in CW, and probably no actual seats in F (relying on a change/cancellation, which is common in F).
Many thanks ^ You are a :-:
raivok is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 8:54 am
  #295  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: BA Gold; IHG Plat
Posts: 116
Would anyone be so kind as to check the load on BA956 this afternoon (17:20 departure) from LHR-MUC? All seats seem to be blocked or occupied in Y (I booked last night), yet the seat map shows 4 x CE available. Just wondering if there's any chance I'll get an OUP (if so, hopefully to 1D/F) as when booking the exit rows were already taken, unfortunately.
arnie. is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 11:53 am
  #296  
 
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
I'd be most grateful if someone could check the following 2 flights for me.

21st Sept, BA28 and BA32, both HKG-LHR
headingwest is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 12:15 pm
  #297  
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: YVR, HNL
Programs: AS 75k, UA peon, BA Bronze, AC E50k, Marriott Plat, HH Diamond, Fairmont Plat (RIP)
Posts: 7,834
Would be most grateful if anyone can tell me if 1A/K are taken or just blocked on:
26 Sept, BA 64, NBO-LHR

If just blocked, I will make the effort to check at T-72 (is that the time when they open up to plebes?) but if occupied, I won't worry so much if I miss it.
Finkface is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 12:35 pm
  #298  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: SFO, LON
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, Bonvoy Tit, Hilton Dia etc etc
Posts: 2,354
Originally Posted by arnie.
Would anyone be so kind as to check the load on BA956 this afternoon (17:20 departure) from LHR-MUC? All seats seem to be blocked or occupied in Y (I booked last night), yet the seat map shows 4 x CE available. Just wondering if there's any chance I'll get an OUP (if so, hopefully to 1D/F) as when booking the exit rows were already taken, unfortunately.
Hope this worked out for you, tho' sometimes these days seats are blocked rather than filled.

Originally Posted by headingwest
I'd be most grateful if someone could check the following 2 flights for me.

21st Sept, BA28 and BA32, both HKG-LHR
32 is Y3, 28 is Y5. Packed flights.

Originally Posted by Finkface
Would be most grateful if anyone can tell me if 1A/K are taken or just blocked on:
26 Sept, BA 64, NBO-LHR

If just blocked, I will make the effort to check at T-72 (is that the time when they open up to plebes?) but if occupied, I won't worry so much if I miss it.
1A is blocked. i'd ask again on or around Sep 21.
MarkedMan is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 12:40 pm
  #299  
 
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
Thank you MarkedMan ^
headingwest is offline  
Old Sep 5, 2017, 12:43 pm
  #300  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Spitalfields, London
Programs: BA Gold, KFC 'The Colonel's Club' Palladium tier, Mucci des Visions Célestes du Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Posts: 2,328
Originally Posted by Cymro
J4 C0 D0 R0 I0 Y2 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 N0 Q0 O0 S0 G0

Very full already.

Reasonable chance of someone being upgraded if that's what you're thinking, but in short-haul they can move the curtain to avoid too many upgrades.
Thank you ^
choosethedrew is online now  


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