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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 Sep 25, 2017, 9:00 am
  #421  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Gloucestershire
Programs: BA Gold (ex-GGL, maybe future Silver), Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,196
Originally Posted by jen_lc
Hi all - I wonder if someone would be so kind as to help me with flight loads for two upcoming flights?

BA93 LHR to YYZ on Thurs 12 October
BA98 YYZ to LHR on Sat 21 October

Currently booked into WT on the way to YYZ, and WT+ on the return leg.

Would really like to upgrade to WT+ on the outbound but it was booked through TA (travelling for work) so no option of an online upgrade offer, and it's the lowest fare class so no option to upgrade with avios. I am guessing my only option will to see if a paid upgrade will be available at the airport on the day, but also not sure how possible that is/i.e. how busy the flight is. Cheers.
Probably too early to tell this far out, and also ... just because the flight is busy, doesn't mean you're "not" getting cheap upgrades. The best case scenario for upgrades is an overbooked economy and an empty premium economy - in that scenario, anyone who is willing to pay to be upgraded is a win because it means they free up an empty economy seat and get paid for it, rather than being forced to upgrade someone for free.
Cymro is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2017, 3:39 pm
  #422  
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 5
Hi All, Please could someone check the following flights for me?


29/09 LHR-CPT BA0059
1/10 CPT-LHR BA0058


Many thanks for your help
Annie10 is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2017, 11:35 pm
  #423  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: SFO, LON
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, Bonvoy Tit, Hilton Dia etc etc
Posts: 2,354
Originally Posted by annie10
hi all, please could someone check the following flights for me?


29/09 lhr-cpt ba0059
1/10 cpt-lhr ba0058


many thanks for your help
ba 59 lhr 09/29/17 9:30 pm cpt 09/30/17 10:00 am
f1 a0 j1 c0 d0 r0 i0 w2 e0 t0 y4 b0 h0 k0 m0 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0

ba 58 cpt 10/01/17 7:30 pm lhr 10/02/17 6:30 am
f8 a8 j9 c9 d9 r0 i0 w4 e0 t0 y9 b9 h8 k4 m2 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
MarkedMan is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2017, 12:53 am
  #424  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Ipswich
Posts: 7,543
Good morning.

Would someone kindly check BA2608 LGW NAP 27Sep.

Thank you
windowontheAside is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2017, 3:30 am
  #425  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: London
Programs: Many. Too many. I came here to cut them down. I failed.
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by windowontheAside
Good morning.

Would someone kindly check BA2608 LGW NAP 27Sep.

Thank you
WED 27SEP17 LONDON AREA /NAPLES
LGW NAP 1425 1805 BA2608
J0 C0 DC RC IC Y1 B1 H0 K0 M0 LC VC NC QC OC SC G0

BA's other 2 LGW-NAP flights tomorrow seem almost empty (if that helps)
Sam Bee is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2017, 9:02 am
  #426  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: BAEC, Aeroplan
Posts: 13
Originally Posted by Cymro
Probably too early to tell this far out, and also ... just because the flight is busy, doesn't mean you're "not" getting cheap upgrades. The best case scenario for upgrades is an overbooked economy and an empty premium economy - in that scenario, anyone who is willing to pay to be upgraded is a win because it means they free up an empty economy seat and get paid for it, rather than being forced to upgrade someone for free.
No worries, thanks for the information. I think WT+ is normally full or near-to-full on BA flights to Toronto so I am not crossing my fingers. However, I'll likely still ask for an update regardless closer to my flying date, just in case!
jen_lc is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2017, 9:51 am
  #427  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA, Aeroplan
Posts: 4
Hi there. Would someone be able to kindly check the following please;

YVR-LHR 13th Oct BA084
LHR-YVR - 20th Oct BA085

Booked into WT+ wondering if any availability will appear for upgrade (Avios) as we get closer to the flight(s).

Thanks

drwoodsy

Last edited by drwoodsy1; Sep 26, 2017 at 11:48 am
drwoodsy1 is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2017, 9:56 am
  #428  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Ipswich
Posts: 7,543
Originally Posted by Sam Bee
WED 27SEP17 LONDON AREA /NAPLES
LGW NAP 1425 1805 BA2608
J0 C0 DC RC IC Y1 B1 H0 K0 M0 LC VC NC QC OC SC G0

BA's other 2 LGW-NAP flights tomorrow seem almost empty (if that helps)
Danggit. I'm booked on this one so little chance of theoretical seating giving me an empty seat.

Also explains why there have been no CE award seats offered at any point over the last couple of months, but both other flights have had them.

Ahh well. Thanks for the info.
windowontheAside is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2017, 2:15 am
  #429  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: Aegean Airlines Silver, British Airways Gold, Virgin Atlantic Silver
Posts: 1,740
Could someone please check both BA2725 IBZ-LGW and BA8462 IBZ-LCY today 27/10.
Both are showing as delayed and now LCY flight is showing as leaving at the same time as the LCY. I recall a while back reading that you could move to a different flight on the same day FOC. Would this apply here and if so how would I do this?

Thanks
gallagher is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2017, 2:49 am
  #430  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: UK
Programs: BA Nada, HH Diamond, IHG Spire AMB, Marriott Plat, Accor Gold
Posts: 510
Could someone please check tomorrow (28 Sep) LGW-UVF in club. No seats available to reserve at 24 hours before for our reward flight.
strickers is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2017, 2:51 am
  #431  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by strickers
Could someone please check tomorrow (28 Sep) LGW-UVF in club. No seats available to reserve at 24 hours before for our reward flight.
UK Position

BA 2159
LGW 28/09/17 10:00
UVF 28/09/17 13:45
777
J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Looks pretty cosy.
peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2017, 2:52 am
  #432  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: UK
Programs: BA Nada, HH Diamond, IHG Spire AMB, Marriott Plat, Accor Gold
Posts: 510
Ouch, thanks.
strickers is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2017, 2:59 am
  #433  
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sussex by the Sea
Programs: BA Silver, for now at least...
Posts: 573
I would appreciate a load check for BA 0274 on 19/10/17 (LAS-LHR). I am hoping for some late reward seat releases

Thanks in advance.
Professor Yaffle is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2017, 3:05 am
  #434  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: UK
Programs: BA Nada, HH Diamond, IHG Spire AMB, Marriott Plat, Accor Gold
Posts: 510
Weird, looked again a few minutes later and seat choices were available, IT glitch?
strickers is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2017, 6:20 am
  #435  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Gloucestershire
Programs: BA Gold (ex-GGL, maybe future Silver), Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,196
Anyone else having problems logging in to EF using Facebook?
Cymro is offline  

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