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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 Dec 4, 2018, 7:26 am
  #2806  
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: LHR & JER
Programs: BAEC Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 253
Originally Posted by Tafflyer
Anyone with insight into BA284 SFO-LHR on 05/01/2019 here? Looking at the seat map in F, 6 empty seats but none on sale on ba.com. We have seats in CW on the UD, so quite happy, but have been watching for F availability for a while and it appears to have been zeroed now despite space being available. Is W or J oversold so that BA has stopped selling F in order to accommodate rolling cabins forward? Seat maps in W and J look wide open.

Thanks. Taff.
BA 284 is currently showing as F1 A0 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B8 H5 K2 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

So looks like a pretty booked up cabin in F but with people having no selected their seats. A lot of availability in J though
nick.t.davies is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2018, 10:37 am
  #2807  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,126
Originally Posted by nick.t.davies
BA 284 is currently showing as F1 A0 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B8 H5 K2 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0

So looks like a pretty booked up cabin in F but with people having no selected their seats. A lot of availability in J though
Thanks. Very little chance of any step up to F then. With only higher buckets available in Y and W it looks to me like the J cabin will be used to roll forwards on this flight if those buckets get sold.
Tafflyer is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2018, 4:46 pm
  #2808  
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 36
Originally Posted by Sealink
AA 39LHR 10:35a → MIA 3:40p
F1 A0 J7 R7 D7 I7 W3 P0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 G7 V7 S7 N5 Q3 O1 E0


AA 78DFW 8:30p → LHR 11:35a
F2 A2 J6 R6 D6 I5 W7 P7 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 G7 V7 S7 N7 Q7 O7 E7


sorry about formatting
thanks sealink much appreciated. Looks like my outgoing in W has best chance of OP UP
stu287 is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2018, 12:18 pm
  #2809  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,699
Since BA have gone and cancelled my flight from LHR to LAX, I'm now on the 269 on the 9th Dec.
What are the loads like? Got an EF trial but no idea how to see the results in the format given here. The WT+ cabin I'm in is showing one untaken seat and not sure if BA have maybe put a hold on a bassinet seat for me as i mentioned it or if an infant is now there. Have no seat otherwise and 5/6 of the available seats have gone this afternoon.
xenole is online now  
Old Dec 5, 2018, 12:46 pm
  #2810  
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 3
Hello, can one of the many kind people on here give me some insight on BA0188 tomorrow (06 Dec 2018) EWR>LHR. Seat map looks like it's pretty quiet but looking for an upgrade from WT to WTP.

Thanks in advance,
Rob
robertcrossuk is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2018, 12:55 pm
  #2811  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 46
Ba 1880ewr
06/12/18 21:30lhr
07/12/18 9:15789

f1 a0 j0 c0 d0 r0 i0 w6 e0 t0 y9 b9h9 k9 m8 l5 v2 s0 n0 q0 o0 g9
cwagsg is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2018, 1:01 pm
  #2812  
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 3
Originally Posted by cwagsg
Ba 1880ewr
06/12/18 21:30lhr
07/12/18 9:15789

f1 a0 j0 c0 d0 r0 i0 w6 e0 t0 y9 b9h9 k9 m8 l5 v2 s0 n0 q0 o0 g9
Thank you very much! What a service, have a great day.
cwagsg likes this.
robertcrossuk is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2018, 1:03 pm
  #2813  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 46
You too! The seat map's looking a bit busy in WTP but I'm having trouble copying it over for some reason. Think it should be there now for you
cwagsg is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2018, 1:11 pm
  #2814  
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 3
I see it, perfect. Thanks so much for your help.
robertcrossuk is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2018, 7:45 am
  #2815  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 354
Could someone pull up: BA0169 LHR-PVG on Dec. 20.
J-class is the relevant bit.

Thanks,
YacozA is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2018, 7:49 am
  #2816  
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,084
Originally Posted by YacozA
Could someone pull up: BA0169 LHR-PVG on Dec. 20.
J-class is the relevant bit.

Thanks,
UK Point of Sale

Here you go, it's a 777-200 for info

BA 169
LHR - 12/20/18 1:50 PM
PVG - 12/21/18 9:10 AM
777
Su,M,W,Th
79% / 29m

F3 A2
J9 C9 D9 R9 I9

W9 E9 T9
Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9
L9 V9 S9 N9 Q0 O0 G0
PETER01 is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2018, 7:49 am
  #2817  
 
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 YacozA
Could someone pull up: BA0169 LHR-PVG on Dec. 20.
J-class is the relevant bit.

Thanks,

The F and J cabin shows F2 A2 J9 C9 D9 R9 I3 which seems not very busy in the cabin.

and a seat map for the CW section:

JALOO5-Flyer is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2018, 12:04 pm
  #2818  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: Mucci, BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Stena Gold
Posts: 1,078
Hello

I've been on the receiving end of an AA schedule change during a TP run, so looking at my options..

Could someone please check the following two flights from JFK-LHR on 5th March '19: BA114 and BA182 (looking for I class to "help with my plan!)

Thank you
Gastrocnemius is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2018, 12:10 pm
  #2819  
 
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 Gastrocnemius
Hello

I've been on the receiving end of an AA schedule change during a TP run, so looking at my options..

Could someone please check the following two flights from JFK-LHR on 5th March '19: BA114 and BA182 (looking for I class to "help with my plan!)

Thank you

Both flights are showing F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 R9 I9 on Mar 5th 2019, operating on 772s.
JALOO5-Flyer is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2018, 12:32 pm
  #2820  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: BAEC Gold, IHG Gold Elite, Le Club Accor Platinum
Posts: 38
Originally Posted by xenole
Since BA have gone and cancelled my flight from LHR to LAX, I'm now on the 269 on the 9th Dec.
What are the loads like? Got an EF trial but no idea how to see the results in the format given here. The WT+ cabin I'm in is showing one untaken seat and not sure if BA have maybe put a hold on a bassinet seat for me as i mentioned it or if an infant is now there. Have no seat otherwise and 5/6 of the available seats have gone this afternoon.
BA 269 0 LHR
09/12/18 3:30 PM LAX
09/12/18 6:50 PM 388
Daily
54% / 26m F6 A5 J3 C0 D0 R0 I0 W1 E0 T0 Y9 B8 H7 K5 M4 L4 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9
Strattonflyer is offline  

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