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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 Mar 18, 2018, 7:55 pm
  #1336  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bridport, Dorset
Programs: Mucci, BA Bronze, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,113
Originally Posted by noFODplease
Can someone please check ba215 lhr-bos next weds 21st of march?

thank you
Here we go...

F6 A5 J9 C1 D1 R1 I0 W9 E5 T0 Y9 B9 H6 K5 M3 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9
noFODplease likes this.
Sealink is online now  
Old Mar 18, 2018, 7:57 pm
  #1337  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC : GGL; HHonors : Diamond
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by noFODplease
Can someone please check ba215 lhr-bos next weds 21st of march?

thank you
timcjp is offline  
Old Mar 18, 2018, 7:57 pm
  #1338  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bridport, Dorset
Programs: Mucci, BA Bronze, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,113
Originally Posted by brad.walker
Looking for seat availability for the following flight

British Airways - Denver (DEN) to London/Heathrow (LHR)
flight BA218 on 3-19-18

Thanks!
Here we go...

F8 A7 J9 C1 D1 R0 I0 W8 E0 T0 Y9 B7 H4 K2 M2 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9
Sealink is online now  
Old Mar 18, 2018, 7:58 pm
  #1339  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bridport, Dorset
Programs: Mucci, BA Bronze, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,113
Originally Posted by timcjp
Sure, here you go:

​​​​​​J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

Wow - that's a lot of zeroes!
I didn't get that result at all...
Sealink is online now  
Old Mar 18, 2018, 7:59 pm
  #1340  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bridport, Dorset
Programs: Mucci, BA Bronze, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,113
Originally Posted by ibbitsc
Can anyone advise BA138 departing Mumbai this Friday at 0215 to LHR?

TIA
Here we go...

F0 A0 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y9 B7 H4 K3 M2 L1 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
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Sealink is online now  
Old Mar 18, 2018, 8:21 pm
  #1341  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC : GGL; HHonors : Diamond
Posts: 181
Originally Posted by Sealink
I didn't get that result at all...
Ah sorry - my mistake, wrong date!!
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timcjp is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2018, 3:12 am
  #1342  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Mucci: Classe de la Luxe Eternelle
Posts: 815
Thank you Sealink!

Originally Posted by Sealink
Here we go...

F8 A7 J9 C1 D1 R0 I0 W8 E0 T0 Y9 B7 H4 K2 M2 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9
Sealink likes this.
noFODplease is online now  
Old Mar 19, 2018, 8:57 am
  #1343  
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,008
hi All,

can anyone tell me the loads for BA161 LHR>PVG on Thursday 22/3

thanks GavT
GavT_london is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2018, 8:59 am
  #1344  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by gavt_london
hi all,

can anyone tell me the loads for ba161 lhr>pvg on thursday 22/3

thanks gavt
uk pos

ba 161
lhr 22/03/18 21:35
pvg 23/03/18 17:00
789
f1 a0 j2 c0 d0 r0 i0 w6 e0 t0 y0 b0 h0 k0 m0 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
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peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2018, 7:57 am
  #1345  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: US/UK - and elsewhere
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 2,527
This has probably been asked/answered before: on today's flight the seat map suggests that Economy is sold out, with the only space being in Business (LH flight). The availability shows: J3 C0 D0 R0 I0 W3 E2 T2 Y8 B6 H6 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 . Presumably this is so that they can sell full-fare Y seats and bump people up if necessary?
CKBA is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2018, 12:21 pm
  #1346  
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: BAEC Gold, Accor Platinum
Posts: 109
Hi

can someone check loads for BA278 SJC to LHR on 23 March (this Friday) please ?

TIA
avon75 is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2018, 12:23 pm
  #1347  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: London / Brighton
Programs: BAEC Gold / M-Life Gold / HH Diamond
Posts: 1,625
Originally Posted by avon75
Hi

can someone check loads for BA278 SJC to LHR on 23 March (this Friday) please ?

TIA

BA 278
SJC 23/03/18 19:55
LHR 24/03/18 13:10
789 Daily
89% / 13mF1 A0 J1 C0 D0 R0 I0 W4 E0 T0 Y4 B1
H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
Lucanesque is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2018, 12:48 pm
  #1348  
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: BAEC Gold, Accor Platinum
Posts: 109
Originally Posted by Lucanesque
BA 278
SJC 23/03/18 19:55
LHR 24/03/18 13:10
789 Daily
89% / 13mF1 A0 J1 C0 D0 R0 I0 W4 E0 T0 Y4 B1
H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
thanks for the quick reply.

Im in WT+ - am guessing an airport upgrade to CW will either be non existent or very expensive ?
avon75 is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2018, 3:21 pm
  #1349  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Mucci: Classe de la Luxe Eternelle
Posts: 815
Can someone update me on ba215 lhr-bos tomorrow?

It seemed wide open but now Y and J are not for sale.

I wonder if it is weather related or if it has really filled up!

thank you
noFODplease is online now  
Old Mar 20, 2018, 3:27 pm
  #1350  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
Originally Posted by noFODplease
Can someone update me on ba215 lhr-bos tomorrow?

It seemed wide open but now Y and J are not for sale.

I wonder if it is weather related or if it has really filled up!

thank you
F5 A3 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y0 B0
H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

The earlier BA203 - "Flight Cancelled"
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ehud is offline  

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