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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 Dec 16, 2017, 6:29 am
  #841  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 16
Can I ask for somebody to check the following flight load:

BA2159 to St Lucia Thu 28 Dec 2017 10:00
BA2158 to London Sun 07 Jan 2018 20:45

Thanks in advance!

Degreecy
degreecy is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 11:17 am
  #842  
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: LHR
Programs: BA GGL/CCR
Posts: 63
Originally Posted by degreecy
Can I ask for somebody to check the following flight load:

BA2159 to St Lucia Thu 28 Dec 2017 10:00: J2 C2 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y1 B1 H1 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
BA2158 to London Sun 07 Jan 2018 20:45: J5 C3 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y1 B1 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Thanks in advance!

Degreecy
fin_dg is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 12:31 pm
  #843  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 10
Please could someone kindly check for me load and seat maps for the following flights:

BA0269 from LHR to LAX Sat 23 Dec 2017 15:30
BA0280 from LAX to LHR Mon 01 Jan 2018 17:50
Lolusinski is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 1:49 pm
  #844  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Berkshire / London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Nandos
Posts: 1,004
pls can someone check BA271 from LHR to LAS Sat 23 Dec 2017 at 1215


thanks
TPRun is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 7:11 pm
  #845  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC : GGL; HHonors : Diamond
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by Lolusinski
Please could someone kindly check for me load and seat maps for the following flights:

BA0269 from LHR to LAX Sat 23 Dec 2017 15:30
BA0280 from LAX to LHR Mon 01 Jan 2018 17:50
BA269: F5 A4 J9 C1 D1 R0 I0 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B7 H6 K4 M1 L1 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
BA280: F1 A0 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K8 M7 L4 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Which class seat maps are you looking for?
timcjp is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 7:12 pm
  #846  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC : GGL; HHonors : Diamond
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by tprun
pls can someone check ba271 from lhr to las sat 23 dec 2017 at 1215


thanks
f1 a0 j8 c0 d0 r0 i0 w7 e5 t5 y7 b3 h0 k0 m0 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
timcjp is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 10:47 pm
  #847  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: Marriott AmBE ; AA EXP; Amtrak Select Executive; Hertz PC
Posts: 151
might be a bit early but want to see what my chances are for an upgrade from premium economy(e) to business. if someone can check the load for CX831 JFK-HKG on Jan 1st 2018. hoping they oversold economy. thanks in advance!
dunno282 is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 11:19 pm
  #848  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC : GGL; HHonors : Diamond
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by dunno282
might be a bit early but want to see what my chances are for an upgrade from premium economy(e) to business. If someone can check the load for cx831 jfk-hkg on jan 1st 2018. Hoping they oversold economy. Thanks in advance!
f5 a5 j9 c4 d0 i0 w1 r0 e0 y0 b0 h0 k0 m0 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0
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timcjp is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2017, 1:40 am
  #849  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: BA GGL, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 809
Could someone please tell me what the loads look like for BA109 LHR-DXB tonight (17/12)? In J and wondering what the chances of opups will be. Thanks in advance!
Foofighter69 is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2017, 2:18 am
  #850  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Programs: BA Gold, TP Silver
Posts: 888
Originally Posted by Foofighter69
Could someone please tell me what the loads look like for BA109 LHR-DXB tonight (17/12)? In J and wondering what the chances of opups will be. Thanks in advance!
Results from https://www.ExpertFlyer.com
Code:
Flight Availability Search
Departing LHR on 12/17/17 9:00 PM for DXB
Flying BA
Direct/Non-Stop Only
Point of Sale: UK


Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
0 Connections
BA 109 0 LHR DXB 777 Daily F2 A2 J1 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E1 T1 Y2 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
12/17/17 9:40 PM 12/18/17 8:35 AM 84% / 22m
duvin is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2017, 2:52 am
  #851  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 10
Originally Posted by timcjp
BA269: F5 A4 J9 C1 D1 R0 I0 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B7 H6 K4 M1 L1 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
BA280: F1 A0 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K8 M7 L4 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Which class seat maps are you looking for?

thabks for checking! I am in WT on the way out and CW on the way back using 241 Amex voucher. Wondering what are my odds of getting downgraded on the way back... it seems like cabin got heavily oversold?
Lolusinski is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2017, 3:10 am
  #852  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,233
Morning!

Can someone kindly check please:

BA271 LHR-LAS 27th Dec 17
BA274 LAS-LHR 1st Jan 18
mikeyfly is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2017, 4:27 am
  #853  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: BA GGL, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 809
Originally Posted by duvin
Results from https://www.ExpertFlyer.com
Code:
Flight Availability Search
Departing LHR on 12/17/17 9:00 PM for DXB
Flying BA
Direct/Non-Stop Only
Point of Sale: UK


Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
0 Connections
BA 109 0 LHR DXB 777 Daily F2 A2 J1 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E1 T1 Y2 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
12/17/17 9:40 PM 12/18/17 8:35 AM 84% / 22m
Thank you for that. Am I right in reading that as 2 seats in F, J has one, WTP has one and Y is oversold but they are selling two fully flex WT seats?

I can’t read this as well a lot of you on here can!

Foofighter69 is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2017, 8:19 pm
  #854  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC : GGL; HHonors : Diamond
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by Foofighter69


Thank you for that. Am I right in reading that as 2 seats in F, J has one, WTP has one and Y is oversold but they are selling two fully flex WT seats?

I can’t read this as well a lot of you on here can!

F2 A2 J1 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E1 T1 Y2 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

First = F, A
Club = J, C, D, R, I
WTP = W, E, T
WT = Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q, O, G

My (non expert) understanding is that the numbers simply relate to the minimum number of tickets that can be purchased in each of the booking classes at the time the availability was checked.

It doesn't represent the actual number of physical seats available as selling a ticket in the Y bucket may then reduce the availability in Y or it might change the availability in WTP or even Club depending on what level of overselling that has happened.

Likewise you cannot tell if any actual overselling has taken place, although you can make a guess that some overselling is likely the lower the numbers. But really, it's only a guess.

I think it depends on why you are interested in the availability numbers. For me, if I've bought a tick in Club then I'm normally intrested in how many more tickets can be bought in WTP and Club. If that is low/zero, then the chances of me being upgraded to First might be higher :-)

Other reasons I look is if I"m thinking about buying a ticket and I know that I need to book into a discounted booking class, such as I. If it's at I9 then I'm fairly confident I can take a bit of time making a decision. If it's lower than I9, I need to move faster to purchase before the price goes up.
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timcjp is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2017, 8:21 pm
  #855  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC : GGL; HHonors : Diamond
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by mikeyfly
morning!

Can someone kindly check please:

Ba271 lhr-las 27th dec 17
ba274 las-lhr 1st jan 18
ba271 :: F1 a0 j6 c2 d1 r0 i0 w9 e1 t0 y9 b9 h7 k4 m1 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
ba274 :: F1 a0 j5 c1 d0 r0 i0 w9 e4 t0 y9 b9 h7 k7 m5 l3 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
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timcjp is offline  

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