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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 Aug 16, 2018, 6:42 am
  #2236  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,456
Originally Posted by SoggyDollar
221
ams
08/18/18 10:20 am
dfw
08/18/18 2:00 pm 772
J7 R7 D7 I7 W5 P3 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7
G7 V7 S7 N7 Q7 O7 E7
Much appreciated!
etiene is online now  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 6:46 am
  #2237  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: EDI, and often LHR, DOH and PVG, OPO or AMS - or just about anywhere else...
Programs: BA Silver (soft-drop now I moved all longhauls away), KLM Gold, Emirates Gold, and others
Posts: 83
Could someone be so kind as to give me details on this please?

05/10/2018 BA2159 10:00 LGW-UCF

Thanks

Last edited by Sully the Scarer; Aug 16, 2018 at 6:48 am Reason: add details
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Old Aug 16, 2018, 6:57 am
  #2238  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: LON
Programs: AA : BA
Posts: 276
Originally Posted by Sully the Scarer
Could someone be so kind as to give me details on this please?

05/10/2018 BA2159 10:00 LGW-UCF

Thanks
2159
LGW
10/05/18 10:00 AM
UVF
10/05/18 1:45 PM
F6 A5 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9
H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0
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Old Aug 16, 2018, 9:29 am
  #2239  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LON
Programs: Mucci, BAEC, Eurostar
Posts: 3,283
Hi,

could someone please give me the loads for these 3 flights please (and also, if you know which bucket to look for if I wanted to Avios-upgrade a CW ticket to F?)
All in 2019.
LHR-LAS 26/02 BA275
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA285
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA287

Thank you
alex67500 is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 10:50 am
  #2240  
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: NYC/LAX/ATL
Programs: JAL Diamond, BAEC Gold, AS 75K, VS Gold, AC 50K, WoH Globalist, HHonors Diamond, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 237
Originally Posted by alex67500
Hi,

could someone please give me the loads for these 3 flights please (and also, if you know which bucket to look for if I wanted to Avios-upgrade a CW ticket to F?)
All in 2019.
LHR-LAS 26/02 BA275
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA285
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA287

Thank you

LHR-LAS 26/02 BA275 shows F9 A8 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA285 shows F9 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G8
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA287 shows F9 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9

which bucket to look for if I wanted to Avios-upgrade a CW ticket to F? It's the same as award bucket, Z.
JALOO5-Flyer is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 12:08 pm
  #2241  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LON
Programs: Mucci, BAEC, Eurostar
Posts: 3,283
Originally Posted by JALOO5-Flyer
LHR-LAS 26/02 BA275 shows F9 A8 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA285 shows F9 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G8
LHR-SFO 23/04 BA287 shows F9 A6 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9

which bucket to look for if I wanted to Avios-upgrade a CW ticket to F? It's the same as award bucket, Z.
Great, thanks!
Can't see a Z bucket on your list, but I can see availability on the baredemptionfinder website. Am I looking for something different and not making much sense?

(also, do you get those from expertflyer? is it worth the subscription if I only fly couple of times a month, and rarely long haul?)
alex67500 is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 12:36 pm
  #2242  
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: CCR
Programs: BAEC, IHG, Nandos
Posts: 51
Please could someone let me know if the following means an AUP is likely or not? Thanks

BA 734
LHR 26/08/18 3:30 PM
GVA 26/08/18 6:15 PM

J9 C2 D0 R1 I0 Y8 B6 H5 K2 M0 L0 V0N0 O0 Q0 S0 G0
Speedbird7304 is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 12:38 pm
  #2243  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
Originally Posted by alex67500
Great, thanks!
Can't see a Z bucket on your list, but I can see availability on the baredemptionfinder website. Am I looking for something different and not making much sense?

(also, do you get those from expertflyer? is it worth the subscription if I only fly couple of times a month, and rarely long haul?)
There is one seat in Z for the BA287 on 23 April, but no Z availability on your other flights.
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Flexible preferences is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 3:19 pm
  #2244  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 646
Please could someone look up LHR-EZE on 19 October (BA245)? Many thanks
polochick is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 3:27 pm
  #2245  
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,128
Originally Posted by polochick
Please could someone look up LHR-EZE on 19 October (BA245)? Many thanks
Mmm, EF is only showing LHR-MAD-EZE flight availability and not the direct BA one as above which they are still selling seats for on ba.com.

Not sure why that is but maybe someone will be along with greater skills/knowledge than I!

This is a US POS I believe (as per post 2164) and shows this but not sure how accurate that is.

https://flightavailability.bcdtravel...MnAvlMain.aspx

BookingClass - Seat Availability
J - 7
C - 4
D - 2
W - 6
E - 5
T - 4
Y - 9
B - 9
H - 9
K - 9
M - 9
L - 9
V - 9
S - 9
N - 9
Q - 9
O - 8

Last edited by PETER01; Aug 16, 2018 at 3:32 pm
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Old Aug 16, 2018, 3:39 pm
  #2246  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 646
Originally Posted by PETER01
Mmm, EF is only showing LHR-MAD-EZE flight availability and not the direct BA one as above which they are still selling seats for on ba.com.

Not sure why that is but maybe someone will be along with greater skills/knowledge than I!

This is a US POS I believe (as per post 2164) and shows this but not sure how accurate that is.

https://flightavailability.bcdtravel...MnAvlMain.aspx

BookingClass - Seat Availability
J - 7
C - 4
D - 2
W - 6
E - 5
T - 4
Y - 9
B - 9
H - 9
K - 9
M - 9
L - 9
V - 9
S - 9
N - 9
Q - 9
O - 8
Thanks very much. If a class is not shown, does that indicate it is sold out, e.g. I?
polochick is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2018, 3:45 pm
  #2247  
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,128
Originally Posted by polochick
Thanks very much. If a class is not shown, does that indicate it is sold out, e.g. I?
I'm not familiar with that tool posted previously or how reliable it is so can't comment really. Maybe one of the EF gurus can explain why you flight isn't showing on Expertflyer and apologies that I can't answer your post fully but I'm hopeful that someone will be along with an explanation.
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Old Aug 18, 2018, 12:51 am
  #2248  
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2
Hi can someone please give me the flight load for the following flights?

CX219 HKG to MAN on 3 Jan and 4 Jan 2019.

thanks
Xcool1 is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2018, 1:01 am
  #2249  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: LON
Programs: AA : BA
Posts: 276
219
HKG
01/03/19 1:35 AM
MAN
01/03/19 6:35 AM
J9 C9 D9 I7 W9 R9 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K0 M0
L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

219
HKG
01/04/19 1:35 AM
MAN
01/04/19 6:35 AM
J9 C9 D7 I0 W9 R9 E0 Y9 B9 H0 K0 M0
L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

Oh, and welcome to FT!
SoggyDollar is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2018, 1:04 am
  #2250  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Aberdeen
Programs: BA Gold, AF Silver
Posts: 70
Originally Posted by Xcool1
Hi can someone please give me the flight load for the following flights?

CX219 HKG to MAN on 3 Jan and 4 Jan 2019.

thanks

Here you go UK POS

3rd
CX 219
HKG 03/01/19 1:35
MAN 03/01/19 6:35 351
Daily
81% / 44mJ9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M0
L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

4th
CX 219
HKG 04/01/19 1:35
MAN 04/01/19 6:35 351
Daily
81% / 44mJ9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 E0 Y9 B9 H9 K0 M0
L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

Edit: Oops not quick enough
HighlandBoy is offline  


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