LHR - Vancouver loads (WTP)

Old May 7, 2019, 10:01 am
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LHR - Vancouver loads (WTP)

I fly to YVR on Friday 10th in WTP and out of curiosity more than anything else I have just looked at loads which left me perplexed!

Most flights for the next week (all A380, so a huge WTP cabin) or so have 90%+ seats allocated (typically 1-3 seats unallocated - free or blocked).

But BA continue to sell W9, sometimes E5 T0 and sometimes E0 T0

So I have some questions:
1. Is this a status heavy route in WTP? With so many seats selected thus far out? Maybe a block booking with free seating - perhaps cruise passengers or something like that?
2. Do BA oversell on this route frequently in WTP?

I am on an Avios WTP ticket as BA Gold so wondering what my chances are of an OpUp...
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Old May 7, 2019, 11:20 am
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Yes it can be quite status heavy and the flights are regularly very busy (including in J and F). BA overbooks all cabins if they have a chance to, this one neither more nor less than any other.
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Old May 7, 2019, 11:26 am
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Interesting topic as I fly to YVR in WTP on May 22nd. Can't look up the loads but based on the seat map (when doing a dummy flex booking) my flight is slightly over 60% taken in WTP at this moment, based on remaining available seats. OpUp would be nice although having a window seat and being a dayflight not really needed.
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Old May 7, 2019, 12:36 pm
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Originally Posted by TimDP
Interesting topic as I fly to YVR in WTP on May 22nd. Can't look up the loads but based on the seat map (when doing a dummy flex booking) my flight is slightly over 60% taken in WTP at this moment, based on remaining available seats. OpUp would be nice although having a window seat and being a dayflight not really needed.
BA85 on 22nd is F5 A4 J9 C9 D9 R5 I0 W9 E5 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q0 O0 G4

PE is 38/55 allocated. CW half empty.
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Old May 7, 2019, 12:37 pm
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Based on current availability OP doesn’t look like they’ll be rolling forwards so I think you’ll remain in WTP


72% / 28mF4 A3 J9 C0 D0 R0 I0 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B9H9 K9 M6 L3 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9
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Old May 7, 2019, 1:13 pm
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Originally Posted by mikeyfly
Based on current availability OP doesn’t look like they’ll be rolling forwards so I think you’ll remain in WTP


72% / 28mF4 A3 J9 C0 D0 R0 I0 W9 E0 T0 Y9 B9H9 K9 M6 L3 V1 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9
EF showing W9 does not necessarily mean there are a lot of seats remaining in WTP -- BA may oversell WTP (which is why there are W9) and bump WTP to CW (and CW to F)

OP said based on seat map there are fewer than 9 open seats
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Old May 7, 2019, 3:51 pm
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You can look up EF all you want, but it's neither ski season nor summer season, yet an A380 is going to be oversold to YVR? With a late rush of PE bookings since Y is obviously far from full?

Trying to guess your chances of an Opup just leaves you disappointed 99.9% of the time. Just be blissfully unaware and happy when the magic beep comes. Or spend your time more productively looking for upgrade space using Avios...
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Old May 7, 2019, 11:34 pm
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
. Or spend your time more productively looking for upgrade space using Avios...
Given the load in J, I don’t think there would be anything productive in doing that this time! Agree trying to gauge chances of opup is rather pointless too and mostly leads to mild disappointment.
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Old May 10, 2019, 2:21 am
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All seats taken in WTP now with 8 hours to fly.

F2 A1 J7 C0 D0 R0 I0 W5 E0 T0 Y9 B8 H5 K2 M1 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G8

This thread is more about trying to understand the selling logic..
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Old May 10, 2019, 5:38 am
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I am no revenue guru but I suspect BA wants to continue to sell as many tickets as they can, in whichever class, for this flight. So, if someone wants to buy a WT+ ticket, then they can - they might end up in WT+ or CW and so, either way they are happy and so is BA. It's a very profitable cabin and maybe the price points are just right for some passengers.
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Old May 10, 2019, 5:58 am
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I always find the F cabin a good indicator. If BA are selling F2A1 but the cabin has 8 unallocated seats then it’s going to be upgrade o’clock.
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Old May 10, 2019, 7:35 am
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Me and 4 others just got bumped to CW - 5 blocked seats in WTP left behind on EF.

My theory is that they were never going to see 20+ seats in J in a week. In addition to overselling W they were also selling Avios rewards in W.

I wonder how much much of this is automated and how much is manual intervention..
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Old May 10, 2019, 10:03 am
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
You can look up EF all you want, but it's neither ski season nor summer season, yet an A380 is going to be oversold to YVR? With a late rush of PE bookings since Y is obviously far from full?

Trying to guess your chances of an Opup just leaves you disappointed 99.9% of the time. Just be blissfully unaware and happy when the magic beep comes. Or spend your time more productively looking for upgrade space using Avios...
It was oversold by 21 in WTP.

A useful bit of insight for us all, including you!
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Old May 10, 2019, 10:13 am
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Enjoy the bump. Always good. It is largely automated. During the 340 day or so lifecycle of a flight it be as extreme as being oversold by twice the number of seats at some point in the period. With flexi tickets, cancellations, no shows etc, this means on some routes the plane should go out full on the day it flies.
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Old May 10, 2019, 1:28 pm
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Originally Posted by Foofighter69


It was oversold by 21 in WTP.

A useful bit of insight for us all, including you!
How did you extrapolate 5 Opups to an oversell of 21?
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