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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 Feb 22, 2018, 10:31 am
  #1201  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 5
Duplicate message without quote, please delete!
FlyerDan91 is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2018, 10:31 am
  #1202  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 5
Originally Posted by BertieBadger
Welcome! Please do stay around and contribute where you can.

Here you go. UK Point of sale
.
BA 2167
LGW 02/25/18 12:30 PM
TPA 02/25/18 5:25 PM
777
Su,M,T,Th,F,Sa
59% / 24m
J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9

Not quite sure what's going on there tbh! EF shows only 4 seats unoccupied in J, albeit with 9 more blocked, but why I9?

It is showing a 4 class 777 with all of F currently blocked off, so maybe they are planning to oversell J and roll people forward into "Flub" class? W and Y cabins mostly empty by the seat map, but obviously many people do not select until check in, so I don't know you can read anything into that.
Oh I definitely plan to continue posting. I've enjoyed following along but I feel like I can now contribute!

Thanks for the details. That is indeed a little curious. It looks like the flight is quite undersold 3 days out! I think usually its a 3-class 777 from Gatwick, right? I'm not sure what's going on with F in this situation!

Thanks again for your help!
FlyerDan91 is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2018, 10:51 am
  #1203  
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: BA, Hilton
Posts: 2,091
Originally Posted by FlyerDan91
Oh I definitely plan to continue posting. I've enjoyed following along but I feel like I can now contribute!

Thanks for the details. That is indeed a little curious. It looks like the flight is quite undersold 3 days out! I think usually its a 3-class 777 from Gatwick, right? I'm not sure what's going on with F in this situation!

Thanks again for your help!
It certainly looks undersold by those numbers. I did requery just there but got the same result. Here's the seat map as of a few minutes ago:




When I looked this morning, the F cabin was all blocked, looks like someone has managed to locate themselves in 1A. Whether they stay there, I'm not sure as my understanding is that they won't open the F cabin unless overselling J requires it.

Looking at the tracker on thebasource.com, over the last 30 days, a quick count shows BA2167 has flow 24 times, of which 6 were done in a 3 class 777-200ER, and 18 were done in a 4 class.

It's not a route I know, but if I look on ba.com, First is marked as not available for BA2167 so that would suggest it is at least intended as a 3 class service, even if lately it's been flown more often in a 4 class.

Perhaps one of the more experienced hands can shed some light on it?
BertieBadger is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2018, 2:53 pm
  #1204  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: LHR
Programs: Accor PLT,Thai Silver, HH Dia, SPG Titanium (LT Gold), Aegean Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 5,120
Could someone take a look at 675 and 677 on 8/3 (IST - LHR)
Thanks
ExpatSomchai is offline  
Old Feb 23, 2018, 4:27 am
  #1205  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: Aegean Airlines Silver, British Airways Gold, Virgin Atlantic Silver
Posts: 1,740
Could someone please check BA0072 AUH-LHR on 25/02/18?

thanks
gallagher is offline  
Old Feb 23, 2018, 4:28 am
  #1206  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by gallagher
could someone please check ba0072 auh-lhr on 25/02/18?

Thanks
uk pos
ba 72
auh 25/02/18 2:05
lhr 25/02/18 6:15
789
f1 a0 j2 c0 d0 r0 i0 w4 e2 t1 y1 b0 h0 k0 m0 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
gallagher likes this.
peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Feb 23, 2018, 1:56 pm
  #1207  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BMI Gold, BA Silver (Gold imminent!)
Posts: 12
Could someone take a look at the BA0085 tomorrow for me please.
Fozziman is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2018, 2:18 pm
  #1208  
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 245
Hello
Please could someone check
BA7 LHR - HND 15 March
BA6 NRT - LHR 25 March
thanks in advance!
Voda_boy is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2018, 2:08 am
  #1209  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: London / Brighton
Programs: BAEC Gold / M-Life Gold / HH Diamond
Posts: 1,634
Originally Posted by Voda_boy
Hello
Please could someone check
BA7 LHR - HND 15 March
BA6 NRT - LHR 25 March
thanks in advance!
Here you go:

Flight Availability Search
Departing LHR on 15/03/18 0:00 for HND
Flying BA
Direct/Non-Stop Only
Point of Sale: UK

Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
0 Connections
BA 7 0 LHR HND 777 Daily F6 A5 J9 C9 D9 R9 I0 W2 E0 T0 Y4 B2 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
15/03/18 10:50 16/03/18 7:35 75% / 34m

Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
0 Connections
BA 6 0 NRT LHR 777 Daily F2 A1 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K6 M3 L1 V0 S0 N9 Q0 O9 G8
25/03/18 12:55 25/03/18 17:20 71% / 34m
Lucanesque is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2018, 7:49 am
  #1210  
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: LHR
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 375
Grateful for info on the BA257 LHR-DEL on 14/03/18

Thanks in advance!
ceej123 is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2018, 8:09 am
  #1211  
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,153
Originally Posted by ceej123
Grateful for info on the BA257 LHR-DEL on 14/03/18

Thanks in advance!
BA 257
LHR 03/14/18 6:55 PM
DEL03/15/18 8:50 AM
​​​​​​​777
M,T,W,Th,F,Sa
77% / 29m
F9 A8 J9 C9 D9 R8 I6 W5 E3 T0 Y9 B9
H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0
ceej123 likes this.
PETER01 is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2018, 1:29 pm
  #1212  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: Gold Actually
Posts: 271
Please can someone check BA 095 lhr-yul. Montreal on 01/03/18. Thanks in advance
Castle25 is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2018, 2:04 pm
  #1213  
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,153
BA 95
LHR03/01/18 4:45 PM
YUL03/01/18 7:10 PM
788
Daily
59% / 33m

J9 C9 D9 R9 I0 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K9
M8 L5 V2 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
PETER01 is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2018, 3:02 pm
  #1214  
Accor Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: London
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, BAEC Gold
Posts: 283
Can someone check the loads in Y/W/J for BA0098 11/04/18 YYZ-LHR please?

TIA
All She Wrote is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2018, 3:12 pm
  #1215  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: LHR
Programs: BAEC Gold, SkyTeam Elite Plus, Sixt Gold
Posts: 418
My partner (BAEC Blue), me (BAEC Gold) and our 15 months old daughter are flying on BA0604 on 8 Mar and back on BA0605 on 14 Mar.

This time I gambled and reserved 6A and 6C seats, hoping that nobody would choose 6B nor the system would assign it. I now see on BA0604 that 6B cannot be selected, which is strange to me as the plane looks mostly empty. What do you recommend to do to ensure the changes of ending up with an empty middle seat between us?

Btw, on BA0605 I booked 7D and 7F, but 7E looks still free.
frandrake is offline  


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