Jan 11, 19, 1:29 am
Last edit by: Prospero
Current methods to check fare/booking class availability:
BCD Travel flight availability tool (free)currently down- Expertflyer.com $99 / year
- KVS Fees Vary
- Travel Agent Friends
If you are requesting flight load / class availability, please provide the following:
1. Actual travel date (don't say tomorrow, or similar, as that is ambiguous given the global flyertalk membership)
2. Departure and arrival airport codes
3. Flight number
Thanks!
Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads
Jan 5, 19, 3:29 am
#1
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,023
Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads
This is community help desk which allows members to assist each other in finding out how many seats are available on any given flight. The previous thread (now archived) can be found here: Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads
If you wish to request availability for a specific flight, please state the date and origin/departure airport codes, not just the flight number.
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:
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
If you wish to request availability for a specific flight, please state the date and origin/departure airport codes, not just the flight number.
Important
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.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.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
Jan 5, 19, 4:35 am
#2
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 94
Hi,
Could someone be so kind as to let me know the availability on:
BA460
LHR-MAD
Jan 27
Thanks!
Could someone be so kind as to let me know the availability on:
BA460
LHR-MAD
Jan 27
Thanks!
Last edited by mrkflyer; Jan 5, 19 at 9:31 am Reason: Added airport codes. Thanks Brighterside!
Jan 5, 19, 5:15 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hilton Honors, SPG, BA GOLD
Posts: 581
For example:-
Please can anyone check for my following trip:
16 January 2019
LHR-AUH
BA73
Many thanks.
Jan 5, 19, 7:03 am
#4
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: UK - Hampshire & London
Programs: Mucci de Guardian des Celliers des Grands Crus 1e Class, plus BAEC.
Posts: 2,606
Hello,
Could someone check the following please:
07 Jan 19
LHR - PRG
BA856
Thanks.
Could someone check the following please:
07 Jan 19
LHR - PRG
BA856
Thanks.
Jan 5, 19, 7:09 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: HHonors Diamond, SPG Plat, BA Gold
Posts: 473
Hi
in addition to the open requests, can someone please check for me 9th Jan BA138 BOM-LHR?
many thanks
in addition to the open requests, can someone please check for me 9th Jan BA138 BOM-LHR?
many thanks
Jan 5, 19, 10:00 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 8
Could somebody please check for BA2158 on 15th May 2019 from UVF to LGW
Many Thanks
Many Thanks
Jan 5, 19, 1:05 pm
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 11,854
Here you go!
J9 C9 D8 R5 I0 W2 E0 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K9M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G4
Jan 5, 19, 1:33 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Brisbane
Programs: BAEC Blue/Bronze, Krisflyer, Qantas
Posts: 394
Jan 5, 19, 1:35 pm
#9
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Brisbane
Programs: BAEC Blue/Bronze, Krisflyer, Qantas
Posts: 394
Jan 5, 19, 1:36 pm
#10
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Brisbane
Programs: BAEC Blue/Bronze, Krisflyer, Qantas
Posts: 394
Jan 5, 19, 1:42 pm
#11
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,112
This is community help desk which allows members to assist each other in finding out how many seats are available on any given flight. The previous thread (now archived) can be found here: Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads
If you wish to request availability for a specific flight, please state the date and origin/departure airport codes, not just the flight number.
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:
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
If you wish to request availability for a specific flight, please state the date and origin/departure airport codes, not just the flight number.
Important
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.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.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
In the W9 E9 T4 example, there could also be more than 22 = 9 + 9 + 4 seats for sale, since for example W9 would mean that BA is willing to sell 24 more W class seats, etc. Since airlines overbook, the maximum isn't even limited by the number of seats in the cabin (in this case, WT+) on the aircraft. It just means that there are at least 9 seats for sale, not that the number of seats for sale must be between 9 and 22 inclusive.
Jan 5, 19, 7:30 pm
#12
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 825
Can someone please check
7JAN, BA268 (LAX-LHR).
7JAN, BA268 (LAX-LHR).
Jan 5, 19, 7:38 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA, U2+, SK, AF/KL, IHG, Hilton, others gathering dust...
Posts: 2,548
Flew LHR-LAX a couple of weeks ago and was upgraded WTP-CW!
Jan 6, 19, 10:43 am
#15
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: HHonors Diamond, SPG Plat, BA Gold
Posts: 473
