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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 30, 2017, 1:53 am
  #451  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Berkshire
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 75
I would appreciate a load check for BA 0297 (LHR-ORD) on 04 Oct 2017.

Many thanks in advance.
airline brat is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 2:17 am
  #452  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
Originally Posted by WonderPink
Hi, hoping I can request to check OneWorld? Can someone help check CX flight load for any direct flights from LHR to HKG on Oct 13 please? I'm on waitlist at the moment...
UK POS;
CX 252
LHR 12:25 → HKG 7:05
F0 A0 J5 C5 D1 I0 W3 R0 E0 Y7 B5 H3 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 238
LHR 17:05 → HKG 11:55
J0 C0 D0 I0 W0 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L7 V5 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 250
LHR 18:20 → HKG 13:15
F4 A3 J7 C6 D2 I0 W0 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M6 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 256
LHR 20:10 → HKG 15:05
J5 C4 D0 I0 W0 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K5 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 254
LHR 22:20 → HKG 17:10
F2 A1 J3 C3 D0 I0 W1 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H8 K4 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

Matt
MHendo84 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 2:20 am
  #453  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
Originally Posted by airline brat
i would appreciate a load check for ba 0297 (lhr-ord) on 04 oct 2017.

Many thanks in advance.
uk pos;

f8 a7 j9 c3 d0 r0 i0 w9 e9 t5 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s9 n9 q9 o9 g5
MHendo84 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 10:39 am
  #454  
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: UK - the nearest airport is named after a motorway !
Posts: 4,232
Could someone check LHR-JNB (ideally both 55 and 57) on Monday 2nd October please? Looking busy...
Stewie Mac is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 11:39 am
  #455  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
Originally Posted by Stewie Mac
Could someone check LHR-JNB (ideally both 55 and 57) on Monday 2nd October please? Looking busy...
Both flights are 0's across the board.

Matt
MHendo84 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 11:43 am
  #456  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
I have a quick question, I'm following availability LHR-SYD in the hope some F seats appear for Avios. I have noticed on my particular flight that ExpertFlyer is showing F3 but looking at the seat map only 1 seat is unoccupied (all others occupied).

Is this usual?
MHendo84 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 12:41 pm
  #457  
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: UK - the nearest airport is named after a motorway !
Posts: 4,232
Originally Posted by MHendo84
Both flights are 0's across the board.

Matt
thanks Matt

PS I can't help you on F seat maps vs availability.... never get that far forward!
Stewie Mac is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 2:23 pm
  #458  
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,163
Originally Posted by MHendo84
I have a quick question, I'm following availability LHR-SYD in the hope some F seats appear for Avios. I have noticed on my particular flight that ExpertFlyer is showing F3 but looking at the seat map only 1 seat is unoccupied (all others occupied).

Is this usual?
Are they occupied or some are blocked?
jms_uk is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 2:25 pm
  #459  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
Originally Posted by jms_uk
Are they occupied or some are blocked?
All solid blue, occupied. Just one seat white. None with the usual white cross. 1AK etc.
MHendo84 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 2:51 pm
  #460  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ARN
Programs: SK EBG, BAEC Gold, LH FTL, FBP, CCG, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,533
Originally Posted by MHendo84
I have a quick question, I'm following availability LHR-SYD in the hope some F seats appear for Avios. I have noticed on my particular flight that ExpertFlyer is showing F3 but looking at the seat map only 1 seat is unoccupied (all others occupied).

Is this usual?
No it is not unusual and you can't compare the numbers - they reflect very different things.
agehall is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 3:02 pm
  #461  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
Originally Posted by agehall
No it is not unusual and you can't compare the numbers - they reflect very different things.
Yep understood, just wondered as hadn't seen similar before.
MHendo84 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 3:52 pm
  #462  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Programs: BA Gold, Starwood Platinum
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by MHendo84
UK POS;
CX 252
LHR 12:25 → HKG 7:05
F0 A0 J5 C5 D1 I0 W3 R0 E0 Y7 B5 H3 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 238
LHR 17:05 → HKG 11:55
J0 C0 D0 I0 W0 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L7 V5 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 250
LHR 18:20 → HKG 13:15
F4 A3 J7 C6 D2 I0 W0 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M6 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 256
LHR 20:10 → HKG 15:05
J5 C4 D0 I0 W0 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K5 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

CX 254
LHR 22:20 → HKG 17:10
F2 A1 J3 C3 D0 I0 W1 R0 E0 Y9 B9 H8 K4 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

Matt
Thanks Matt! Excuse my ignorance here but am I just looking at the number next to F and J if I'm trying to fly in those classes? Any other letters I should be looking out for?
WonderPink is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 3:54 pm
  #463  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
Originally Posted by WonderPink
Thanks Matt! Excuse my ignorance here but am I just looking at the number next to F and J if I'm trying to fly in those classes? Any other letters I should be looking out for?
Indeed F & A - First Class; J-I - Business...
MHendo84 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 7:28 pm
  #464  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 103
I would appreciate a load check for BA 007 (LHR-HND) on 03 Oct 2017.

Many thanks in advance.
lovejapan is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2017, 8:01 pm
  #465  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Priority Club Gold, Herts Pres Circle
Posts: 492
Originally Posted by lovejapan
I would appreciate a load check for BA 007 (LHR-HND) on 03 Oct 2017.

Many thanks in advance.
Morning,

UK POS;

F6 A6 J9 C5 D5 R0 I0 W9 E4 T0 Y3 B1 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Matt
MHendo84 is offline  


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