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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 Mar 22, 2018, 2:01 am
  #1366  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: London / Brighton
Programs: BAEC Gold / M-Life Gold / HH Diamond
Posts: 1,631
Originally Posted by lev441
Wow! No chance of last min avios seats then....

What about BA165 on the Thursday 29th?
Also busy:

BA 165 LHR
29/03/18 8:10TLV
29/03/18 15:00777
Daily
83% / 18mF1 A0 J2 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0
H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
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Old Mar 22, 2018, 2:07 am
  #1367  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: London / Brighton
Programs: BAEC Gold / M-Life Gold / HH Diamond
Posts: 1,631
Originally Posted by sudge27
many thanks Lucanesque - seems those seats have been sold then (was asking for a friend).
Your friend may be in luck if they want to buy an AUP today, they've opened up 3 x J seats for sale (see posts above!) so if they get to the airport early they may be able to snag one. I also did a quick award / upgrade search for you, no availability for Avios showing.
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Old Mar 22, 2018, 3:05 am
  #1368  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 677
Please could someone check BA175 from LHR to JFK tomorrow, 23 March. I am assuming it is zeroed out. Looking forward to trying the new CW service but its always nice to get a ping at the gate.
Newly Wed is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 3:06 am
  #1369  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
F2 A0 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
ehud is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 3:14 am
  #1370  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 677
Thanks. Looks pretty full then. Presume that is due to the cancellations of all NYC flights yesterday.
Newly Wed is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 3:16 am
  #1371  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 677
Gahhh....and now showing a 7hr 20 min delay :-(

Last edited by Newly Wed; Mar 22, 2018 at 3:16 am Reason: Typo
Newly Wed is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 6:31 am
  #1372  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: BAEC - Gold
Posts: 47
Originally Posted by Lucanesque
My pleasure - here's BA279:

BA 279 LHR
23/03/18 12:50SJC
23/03/18 16:50789
Daily
78% / 17mF1 A0 J3 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y1 B0
H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
thanks for this - looks like little chance of an OpUp or an AUP from J-F on this flight.
sudge27 is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 6:51 am
  #1373  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: London / Brighton
Programs: BAEC Gold / M-Life Gold / HH Diamond
Posts: 1,631
Originally Posted by sudge27
thanks for this - looks like little chance of an OpUp or an AUP from J-F on this flight.
OpUp I tend to agree with you, unless you happen to be the highest CIV on the flight and they need to move someone forward for some reason (I'm guessing that as you're "just" gold, that won't be you ). AUP tho, I think you stand a chance of snagging that if you get in quick tomorrow - I've done it myself in several places around the world (not just LHR), my experience is that if there's space on the plane they're more than happy to get some cash for it.
Lucanesque is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 6:56 am
  #1374  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: BAEC - Gold
Posts: 47
Originally Posted by Lucanesque
OpUp I tend to agree with you, unless you happen to be the highest CIV on the flight and they need to move someone forward for some reason (I'm guessing that as you're "just" gold, that won't be you ). AUP tho, I think you stand a chance of snagging that if you get in quick tomorrow - I've done it myself in several places around the world (not just LHR), my experience is that if there's space on the plane they're more than happy to get some cash for it.
agreed re CIV - my father on same flight with a different booking, GFL so if he gets it i can start the bidding
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sudge27 is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 1:24 pm
  #1375  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 2,447
What's Saturday's LHR-HKG looking like? BA31, 24th March 2018.

Thanks!
mmxbreaks is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 1:52 pm
  #1376  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Perth WA/ UK
Programs: BA Gold, Priority Club Gold, Accor Silver, Virgin Australia Gold
Posts: 1,750
Can anyone advise on the I class load FRA-LHR tomorrow BA903? 767 service? Booked on later 319 service but coming in from DOH back end of 6am so hoping to be able to nab X2 seats on the 903.

Nivsy.
nivsy is online now  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 2:15 pm
  #1377  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
Originally Posted by mmxbreaks
What's Saturday's LHR-HKG looking like? BA31, 24th March 2018.

Thanks!
F3 A0 J1 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y4 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
ehud is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 2:17 pm
  #1378  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
Originally Posted by nivsy
can anyone advise on the i class load fra-lhr tomorrow ba903? 767 service? Booked on later 319 service but coming in from doh back end of 6am so hoping to be able to nab x2 seats on the 903.

Nivsy.
ba903 (767) - i0
ehud is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 2:36 pm
  #1379  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Perth WA/ UK
Programs: BA Gold, Priority Club Gold, Accor Silver, Virgin Australia Gold
Posts: 1,750
Originally Posted by ehud
ba903 (767) - i0
Damn. Ok thanks.
nivsy is online now  
Old Mar 22, 2018, 2:50 pm
  #1380  
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles Platinum
Posts: 2,374
Lhr - arn 27/3 ba786

Hi All

Can I please get some help from you?

Im travelling LHR - ARN on Tuesday 27/3 on BA786 and booked HBO, but now need to take a bag.

Homestly im trying to be a cheapskate if I can, and see what my chances of getting that “full flight, check bag for free” message are?

Ive got to take a bottle of wine which is a gift, and had not planned originally to check anything!

Your help is appreciated!
Cris L is offline  


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