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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 Oct 26, 2017, 1:03 pm
  #616  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC GGL, BA Amex PP
Posts: 1,051
Originally Posted by expatsomchai
ba055 on 31/10 please


ba 55 0 lhr
31/10/17 6:10 pm jnb
01/11/17 7:15 am 388

f4 a3 j8 c6 d2 r0 i0 w1 e0 t0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v6 s4 n2 q0 o0 g0
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Old Oct 26, 2017, 2:33 pm
  #617  
BOH
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Programs: IC Hotels Spire, BA Gold
Posts: 8,667
Originally Posted by nh1980
ba 2688 0 lgw
27/10/17 6:30 am goa
27/10/17 9:35 am 320

j9 c7 d3 r9 i9 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 n9 q9 o6 s9 g9
Thank you, much appreciated. However I have to plead ignorance and ask what all those actually mean? Can I work out from that how full the Y cabin is?

Thanks
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Old Oct 26, 2017, 3:32 pm
  #618  
BOH
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Programs: IC Hotels Spire, BA Gold
Posts: 8,667
Originally Posted by BOH
Thank you, much appreciated. However I have to plead ignorance and ask what all those actually mean? Can I work out from that how full the Y cabin is?

Thanks
Bump! Am about to check in - could someone explain what this means regarding my flight tomorrow and how to tell whether the Y cabin is likely to be full?

j9 c7 d3 r9 i9 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 n9 q9 o6 s9 g9

Am about to check-in for my flight tomorrow and decide whether to POUG into C - it depends on how full the Y cabin is though!
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Old Oct 26, 2017, 5:01 pm
  #619  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC GGL, BA Amex PP
Posts: 1,051
Originally Posted by BOH
Bump! Am about to check in - could someone explain what this means regarding my flight tomorrow and how to tell whether the Y cabin is likely to be full?

j9 c7 d3 r9 i9 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 n9 q9 o6 s9 g9

Am about to check-in for my flight tomorrow and decide whether to POUG into C - it depends on how full the Y cabin is though!
Generous availability across most classes in the 9s suggests that this isn't the busiest of flights ! Seat map for economy shows lots of seats haven't been reserved yet (lots of space especially after row 10) , and no seats allocated at all in business.....seeing OLCI has been open since early this morning, I'd say it's a pretty quiet one
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Old Oct 26, 2017, 10:32 pm
  #620  
BOH
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Programs: IC Hotels Spire, BA Gold
Posts: 8,667
Originally Posted by nh1980
Generous availability across most classes in the 9s suggests that this isn't the busiest of flights ! Seat map for economy shows lots of seats haven't been reserved yet (lots of space especially after row 10) , and no seats allocated at all in business.....seeing OLCI has been open since early this morning, I'd say it's a pretty quiet one
Many thanks - yes having checked in using SSCI it does look pretty quiet. Am the only person in the Y exit rows (2 rows) ^
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Old Oct 27, 2017, 2:34 am
  #621  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,091
May I kindly ask about BA209, LHR-MIA, tomorrow 28/10?

Thank you.
Lefly is offline  
Old Oct 27, 2017, 6:51 am
  #622  
Hilton Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,529
Originally Posted by Lefly
May I kindly ask about BA209, LHR-MIA, tomorrow 28/10?

Thank you.
Results from https://www.ExpertFlyer.com
Code:
Flight Availability Search
Departing LHR on 10/28/17 12:00 AM for MIA
Flying BA  
Point of Sale: UK

0 Connections
BA 209        0      LHR                MIA                388       Daily           F1 A0 J7 C1 D0 R0 I0 W4 E0 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M8 L5 V2 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9 
                     10/28/17 1:45 PM   10/28/17 6:15 PM             62% / 33m
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Old Oct 27, 2017, 8:34 am
  #623  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,091
Originally Posted by florens
thanks!
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 7:40 am
  #624  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 708
Looking for availability for tonight's LCY - GLA flights - on standby and hoping will be plenty of room on either? Don't want to end up stuck though! Thanks in advance ^

29th Oct 2017 LCY GLA
BA 8728 Dep 1950
BA 8730 Dep 2045
DocS is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2017, 8:02 am
  #625  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH DIAMOND, AVIS Presidents Club, Karahi Express
Posts: 1,229
Originally Posted by docs
looking for availability for tonight's lcy - gla flights - on standby and hoping will be plenty of room on either? Don't want to end up stuck though! Thanks in advance ^

29th oct 2017 lcy gla
ba 8728 dep 1950
ba 8730 dep 2045
ba 8728 j9 c7 d6 r6 i0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v0 n0 q0 o0 s1 g8
ba 8730 j7 c7 d7 r7 i0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 n0 q0 o0 s8 g9
deboyzoned is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2017, 8:34 am
  #626  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 708
Originally Posted by deboyzoned
ba 8728 j9 c7 d6 r6 i0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v0 n0 q0 o0 s1 g8
ba 8730 j7 c7 d7 r7 i0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 n0 q0 o0 s8 g9
Brilliant - many thanks
DocS is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2017, 11:02 am
  #627  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 54
10th Nov 2017 LHR ARN
BA782 - 16:10

Thanks in advance!
86BA7 is online now  
Old Oct 30, 2017, 4:54 am
  #628  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,546
Would someone please be able to check BA279 LHR-SJC for 1st Nov?

Many thanks
Gomac is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2017, 4:57 am
  #629  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by gomac
would someone please be able to check ba279 lhr-sjc for 1st nov?

Many thanks
uk pos

ba 279
lhr 01/11/17 12:50
sjc 01/11/17 16:50
789
f5 a4 j9 c0 d0 r0 i0 w9 e9 t5 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s9 n2 q0 o0 g9
peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2017, 5:42 am
  #630  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,546
Originally Posted by peterinlewesuk
uk pos

ba 279
lhr 01/11/17 12:50
sjc 01/11/17 16:50
789
f5 a4 j9 c0 d0 r0 i0 w9 e9 t5 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s9 n2 q0 o0 g9
Thank you very much peterinlewesuk looks like a I might be able to ask for an AUP to F
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