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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 Apr 11, 2018, 3:20 am
  #1516  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, IHG Spire Elite
Posts: 1,713
Can someone please check BA172 21:00 JFK-LHR on Monday 16th April?

Many thanks in advance.
BerksFlyer is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 3:29 am
  #1517  
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: BA, Hilton
Posts: 2,091
Originally Posted by BerksFlyer
Can someone please check BA172 21:00 JFK-LHR on Monday 16th April?

Many thanks in advance.
Certainly! UK Point of Sale:

BA 172
JFK 04/16/18 9:00 PM
LHR 04/17/18 9:05 AM
744
M,T,W,F
79% / 38m F8 A7 J9 C2 D1 R0 I0 W9 E1 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N3 Q1 O0 G9
BertieBadger is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 5:51 am
  #1518  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver (for now)
Posts: 1,000
Flight load check - please help

Hi- help on checking this one much appreciated.

1 May 18.
LHR-HND BA007
Will100 is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 5:58 am
  #1519  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by willphipps
hi- help on checking this one much appreciated.

1 may 18.
Lhr-hnd ba007
uk pos

ba 7
lhr 01/05/18 11:40
hnd 02/05/18 7:10
777
f5 a4 j9 c9 d9 r9 i0 w9 e9 t9 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s6 n0 q0 o0 g0
peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 6:06 am
  #1520  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver (for now)
Posts: 1,000
Originally Posted by peterinlewesuk
uk pos

ba 7
lhr 01/05/18 11:40
hnd 02/05/18 7:10
777
f5 a4 j9 c9 d9 r9 i0 w9 e9 t9 y9 b9 h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s6 n0 q0 o0 g0
Thanks for the super quick reply.

Can an you just clarify, does this indicate a total of 5 or 9 empty seats in F?
Will100 is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 6:10 am
  #1521  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
It means they are prepared to sell 5 seats at the highest price - not necessarily 5 empty. But checking seating plan it does show 2 blocked and 3 vacant. The blocked ones may be for high status cardholders not yet allocated a seat.
Will100 likes this.
peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 6:36 am
  #1522  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,752
Could someone please check BA16 SIN-LHR for April 15? Thank you!
PAL62V is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 6:43 am
  #1523  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by PAL62V
Could someone please check BA16 SIN-LHR for April 15? Thank you!
UK POS - Looking pretty cosy!

BA 16
SIN 15/04/18 22:35
LHR 16/04/18 5:05
777
F2 A0 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 6:47 am
  #1524  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,752
Originally Posted by peterinlewesuk
UK POS - Looking pretty cosy!

BA 16
SIN 15/04/18 22:35
LHR 16/04/18 5:05
777
F2 A0 J0 C0 D0 R0 I0 W0 E0 T0 Y0 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
Thanks for the quick reply. Wish it was better news though.
PAL62V is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 6:57 am
  #1525  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 5
would someone be kind enough to check LHR - DEN BA219 departing on 13 September please.
misaps is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 7:00 am
  #1526  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Lewes, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by misaps
would someone be kind enough to check LHR - DEN BA219 departing on 13 September please.
UK POS - Wide open!

BA 219
LHR 13/09/18 14:40
DEN 13/09/18 17:30
744
F5 A2 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T8 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
peterinlewesuk is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 7:10 am
  #1527  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 5
Originally Posted by peterinlewesuk
UK POS - Wide open!

BA 219
LHR 13/09/18 14:40
DEN 13/09/18 17:30
744
F5 A2 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T8 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
excellent thanks Peter
misaps is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 7:16 am
  #1528  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver (for now)
Posts: 1,000
Originally Posted by peterinlewesuk
It means they are prepared to sell 5 seats at the highest price - not necessarily 5 empty. But checking seating plan it does show 2 blocked and 3 vacant. The blocked ones may be for high status cardholders not yet allocated a seat.
Interesting! Let’s hope we don’t get bumped.

Would you you be able to check our return leg too?

15 May
PVG - LHR BA168

thanks Will
Will100 is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 7:47 am
  #1529  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 532
Originally Posted by Willphipps


Interesting! Let’s hope we don’t get bumped.

Would you you be able to check our return leg too?

15 May
PVG - LHR BA168

thanks Will
BA 168
0PVG
05/15/18 11:00 AM
LHR
05/15/18 4:35 PM
777
Daily
100% / 5m
F5 A4 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q4 O2 G0 (UK Sales Point)
tinkicker is offline  
Old Apr 11, 2018, 8:21 am
  #1530  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: SoCal, USA
Programs: British Airways Silver
Posts: 25
Can someone please check the loads for the following two flights:

17 May 2018: BA 0282 LAX - LHR
27 May 2018: BA 0281 LHR - LAX

Many thanks in advance!
Betty Johnson is offline  


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