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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 23, 2018, 1:52 am
  #1381  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 2,447
Originally Posted by ehud
Yikes. Guess my just purchased full fare Y has zero upgrade chance then. Best get some good movies downloaded!
mmxbreaks is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2018, 3:21 am
  #1382  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: London / Brighton
Programs: BAEC Gold / M-Life Gold / HH Diamond
Posts: 1,631
Originally Posted by Cris L
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!
Looking at the seat maps, most seats are available, and they're selling across discounted and full fare buckets:
BA 786 LHR
27/03/18 20:05ARN
27/03/18 23:35319
Daily
73% / 26mJ9 C6 D2 R0 I0 Y9 B9 H8 K4 M0 L0 V0
N0 Q9 O0 S0 G9

Best bet is to go to the check in desk and ask to check it in and see what happens!
Lucanesque is online now  
Old Mar 23, 2018, 7:27 am
  #1383  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 110
April 7 2018 BA194 IAH-LHR

Looking at chances for a POUG or AUP from WT to WTP.

Appreciate it all. Thanks!
bradleykhofmann is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2018, 7:29 am
  #1384  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
Originally Posted by bradleykhofmann
april 7 2018 ba194 iah-lhr

looking at chances for a poug or aup from wt to wtp.

Appreciate it all. Thanks!
F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 R9 I8 W9 E8 T5 Y9 B9 H9 K8 M6 L6 V3 S2 N1 Q0 O0 G0
ehud is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2018, 7:35 am
  #1385  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 110
Originally Posted by ehud
Looks like a pretty sparse flight for now. Or I'm ignorant hahaha. I booked a good deal in O class IAH-EDI back in September.
bradleykhofmann is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2018, 12:03 pm
  #1386  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 246
Hello, could someone please check:

BA0185 LHR - EWR, 30th March
BA0116, JFK-LHR, 4th April

Thanks in advance,

ABZGirl
ABZGirl is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2018, 12:09 pm
  #1387  
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: BA, Hilton
Posts: 2,091
BA185 Mar 30
LHR 10:50a → EWR 1:40p
F3 A2 J9 C3 D1 R0 I0 W2 E0 T0 Y1 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
BA116 Apr 4
JFK 8:10p → LHR 8:20a
F4 A3 J9 C9 D9 R9 I0 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9

​​​
Apologies if the formatting is odd, cut n pasted on mobile.
BertieBadger is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2018, 12:13 pm
  #1388  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 246
Thank you for the speedy response! Busy flight on Friday, then.
ABZGirl is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2018, 3:28 am
  #1389  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 778
Hello, please can somebody check the loads on BA35 LHR to MAA on 28/3 and MAA to LHR BA36 on 7/4.

Thank you - much appreciated
CharlotteC is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2018, 3:31 am
  #1390  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
Ba35 28/3 - j9 c9 d9 r0 i0 w9 e9 t8 y9 b9 h9 k8 m6 l4 v2 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0

ba36 07/4 - j9 c8 d5 r3 i0 w6 e0 t0 y9 b2 h0 k0 m0 l0 v0 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0

Last edited by ehud; Mar 25, 2018 at 3:47 am
ehud is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2018, 3:54 am
  #1391  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 778
Thank you CW seems reasonably quiet on those flights at the moment
CharlotteC is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2018, 7:25 am
  #1392  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 1
First time user help on BA flight this week

Hi all,

first time user on this site.
im flying BA0213 Lhr to Boston on wednesday 28th March.

can someone tell me how busy economy is (I get a bit confused by all the codes).

Am am very tall guy and wondering if there will be possibile for spare seats.

thsnks
Pjamesdyke is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2018, 11:07 am
  #1393  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: Virgin, BA
Posts: 4
Ba31 lhr -hkg

I would be most grateful if someone could check the following flight for me;

BA31 LHR-HKG 09.04.18
Marronnier is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2018, 11:42 am
  #1394  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
Originally Posted by marronnier
i would be most grateful if someone could check the following flight for me;

ba31 lhr-hkg 09.04.18
f7 a2 j0 c0 d0 r0 i0 w2 e0 t0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s6 n0 q0 o0 g0
ehud is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2018, 1:04 pm
  #1395  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: Virgin, BA
Posts: 4
Originally Posted by ehud
f7 a2 j0 c0 d0 r0 i0 w2 e0 t0 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s6 n0 q0 o0 g0

Thanks ehud for your speedy reply, Looking quite light at the moment.
Marronnier is offline  


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