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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 Mar 6, 2018, 7:38 am
  #1246  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: BHX
Programs: BA GGL CCR GfL, SQ Gold, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat, Cafe Nero Loyalty Card (7 Stamps)
Posts: 7,330
Originally Posted by just_starting
I've had two WT->WTP upgrades on BA holiday bookings and one or two redemption bookings in CW. Never paid for a CW fare though if that makes a difference - try to avoid BA on long-haul business :-)

Does not having paid for a CW ticket before really make a difference when it comes to upgrades? I always thought that was just a myth...

Thanks!
We're steering this thread OT here, but certainly my experience as a relatively new Silver with no previous upgrades and all my fares purchased in discounted CW resulted in a couple of upgrades to F; until they realised I wouldn't be paying for F, then they stopped entirely until I hit GGL.

Others have reported similar, but ultimately it's all hearsay and speculation as no-one knows for sure.
Wozza2404 is offline  
Old Mar 6, 2018, 8:06 am
  #1247  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 47
Hello! Newbie here.

Could I check loads for the following
BA009 LHR-BKK 10 MAR 18
BA0032 HKG-LHR 21 MAR 18

Thanks in advance
ClosetoLHR is offline  
Old Mar 6, 2018, 12:44 pm
  #1248  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,993
Could someone kindly check 9th March, BA239 LHR-BOS please?

Nevermind.

Last edited by Schwann; Mar 7, 2018 at 7:31 am
Schwann is online now  
Old Mar 7, 2018, 7:33 am
  #1249  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,993
Originally Posted by closetolhr
hello! Newbie here.

Could i check loads for the following
ba009 lhr-bkk 10 mar 18
ba0032 hkg-lhr 21 mar 18

thanks in advance
ba9: J8 c0 d0 r0 i0 w4 e2 t0 y9 b9 h8 k7 m5 l2 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
ba32: F2 a1 j9 c9 d9 r9 i0 w3 e3 t2 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s9 n9 q6 o2 g0
Schwann is online now  
Old Mar 7, 2018, 1:11 pm
  #1250  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 20
Hey,

Is it possible somebody can please check the following flight for me?

Ba0275 15/03/2018 LHR-LAS 15.50-19.30
Ba0270 19/03/2018 LAS-LHR 19.10-12.10

Thanks in advance for any help.
lloydy22 is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2018, 5:05 pm
  #1251  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,993
Originally Posted by lloydy22
Hey,

Is it possible somebody can please check the following flight for me?

Ba0275 15/03/2018 LHR-LAS 15.50-19.30
Ba0270 19/03/2018 LAS-LHR 19.10-12.10

Thanks in advance for any help.
BA275: F7 A6 J8 C0 D0 R0 I0 W4 E0 T0 Y2 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 (Busy down the back!)
BA270: F5 A4 J9 C0 D0 R1 I0 W9 E9 T7 Y7 B5 H5 K5 M1 L1 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
Schwann is online now  
Old Mar 7, 2018, 7:15 pm
  #1252  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by Schwann
BA275: F7 A6 J8 C0 D0 R0 I0 W4 E0 T0 Y2 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 (Busy down the back!)
BA270: F5 A4 J9 C0 D0 R1 I0 W9 E9 T7 Y7 B5 H5 K5 M1 L1 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
Oh nice and busy then.

Am ireading it correctly then when i say there are only 2 seats left in economy?

Thanks for checking and coming back to me. very much appreciated.
lloydy22 is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2018, 2:35 am
  #1253  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 47
Originally Posted by Schwann
ba9: J8 c0 d0 r0 i0 w4 e2 t0 y9 b9 h8 k7 m5 l2 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
ba32: F2 a1 j9 c9 d9 r9 i0 w3 e3 t2 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s9 n9 q6 o2 g0


Excellent - thank you very much indeed.

Interesting... BA 9 looks busy.
BA32 I am in W so hopefully a slim chance of a bump up to J!
ClosetoLHR is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2018, 3:23 am
  #1254  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,993
Originally Posted by lloydy22
Oh nice and busy then.

Am ireading it correctly then when i say there are only 2 seats left in economy?

Thanks for checking and coming back to me. very much appreciated.
No problem. I'm no expert, but I believe it means BA is willing to sell 2 seats in economy... whether that's two tangible seats or not I'm not sure!


Originally Posted by ClosetoLHR
Excellent - thank you very much indeed.

Interesting... BA 9 looks busy.
BA32 I am in W so hopefully a slim chance of a bump up to J!
Neither of those flights look particularly busy, but fingers crossed!
ClosetoLHR likes this.
Schwann is online now  
Old Mar 9, 2018, 12:16 am
  #1255  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 107
Hi all

is someone able to check BA0203 LHR to BOS on 14 Mar please?

currently in Y but would like to know chances of a opup
rtid is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2018, 1:34 am
  #1256  
Hilton Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,531
Originally Posted by rtid
hi all

is someone able to check ba0203 lhr to bos on 14 mar please?

Currently in y but would like to know chances of a opup
f4 a3 j9 c1 d1 r0 i0 w9 e0 t0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m8 l5 v5 s0 n0 q0 o0 g9
florens is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2018, 10:00 am
  #1257  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: UK
Programs: BA
Posts: 28
Can some helpful member check BA 292 for tonight (09 MAR 2018) from IAD to LHR please?
Currently unable to check-in online. Don't know if it is a good sign.
sin3386 is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2018, 10:03 am
  #1258  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Manchester, UK.
Programs: BAEC Silver, then a handful of points on everything else.
Posts: 185
Originally Posted by sin3386
Can some helpful member check BA 292 for tonight (09 MAR 2018) from IAD to LHR please?
Currently unable to check-in online. Don't know if it is a good sign.
Looking kinda busy.

Results from https://www.ExpertFlyer.com
Code:
Flight Availability Search
Departing IAD on 03/09/18 12:00 AM for LHR
Flying BA  


                                                                     Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     Available Classes
0 Connections
BA 292        0      IAD                LHR                789       Su,M,F          F1 A0 J1 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 
                     03/09/18 10:30 PM  03/10/18 10:40 AM            87% / 40m
internetplumber is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2018, 5:04 pm
  #1259  
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,156
Originally Posted by ClosetoLHR
Hello! Newbie here.

Could I check loads for the following
BA009 LHR-BKK 10 MAR 18
BA0032 HKG-LHR 21 MAR 18

Thanks in advance
Well, hello! A nice handle there ClosetoLHR, welcome aboard!

A belated welcome to Flyertalk and the BA Board and I hope you enjoy your time having taken the plunge in registering.
PETER01 is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2018, 5:10 pm
  #1260  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: LHR
Programs: Accor PLT,Thai Silver, HH Dia, SPG Titanium (LT Gold), Aegean Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 5,120
BA 31 17/3 LHR - HKG please
ExpatSomchai is offline  


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