ExpertFlyer versus gate agent

Old Jun 26, 2019, 7:29 pm
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ExpertFlyer versus gate agent

Sitting here hoping for an OpUp to CW as the gate agent told me Y is oversold by 6.

EF is showing Y4.

What is the deal with the discrepancy?
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Old Jun 26, 2019, 7:30 pm
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Tried to post a pic.

Why does the mobile version of this site suck so badly regarding attachments?
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Old Jun 26, 2019, 7:45 pm
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Originally Posted by 355F1
Sitting here hoping for an OpUp to CW as the gate agent told me Y is oversold by 6.

EF is showing Y4.

What is the deal with the discrepancy?
Y4 doesn't tell you the whole picture about the extent of oversell in the economy cabin. Y4 means the airline is prepared to sell 4 full fare economy tickets possibly in the full knowledge that it will then need to hand out OPUPs if there's space in the forward cabins. It is therefore perfectly possible for economy to be oversold and for ExpertFlyer to show a value for Y that is greater than 0.
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Old Jun 26, 2019, 7:46 pm
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Expertflyer isnt always correct. On multiple occasions I have seen availability that isnt actually available when it comes to booking/making changes.

And what golfmad says above.
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Old Jun 26, 2019, 7:49 pm
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Originally Posted by pogonation
Expertflyer isnt always correct. On multiple occasions I have seen availability that isnt actually available when it comes to booking/making changes.
Don't forget that ExpertFlyer uses a point of sale [POS] to report its values. You have to match the POS to your booking in order to see accurate results.
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Old Jun 26, 2019, 7:54 pm
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What is the flight number?
It is not particularly unusual for WT or WTP to be oversold and for BA to still be selling tickets into those cabins if there is space in the CW and F cabins that they can use to opup passengers from WTP.
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 1:42 am
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Originally Posted by golfmad
Don't forget that ExpertFlyer uses a point of sale [POS] to report its values. You have to match the POS to your booking in order to see accurate results.
In a ticket purchase sense: sure - but in the OP's situation where they are at the gate then what is the appropriate POS to use? Or do they all converge near to departure...?
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 1:49 am
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If this is a BA operated flight at close to departure, then yes the gate agent is correct. The agent is looking at seats, you are looking at tickets and there is only a vague connection between the two.
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 2:01 am
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Originally Posted by 355F1
Sitting here hoping for an OpUp to CW as the gate agent told me Y is oversold by 6.

EF is showing Y4.

What is the deal with the discrepancy?
You are comparing apples and oranges.
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 2:06 am
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At the gate I can't imagine there will be many ticket sales so this is surely out of date ?
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 2:26 am
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EF is realtime. As others have pointed out in this thread, even on the day of Departure BA are often willing to sell full fare tickets in oversold cabins provided their systems are confident there is enough space further forward to OpUp into.

you'll often see something like F8 A7 J5 C0 D0 I0 for a ClubWorld Cabin that has no seats left to assign. Then in the minutes and hours before departure the FLY system will start OpUp-ing people as the system becomes increasingly confident it will need to create seats in CW for those with confirmed bookings but no seat
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 3:44 am
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Expert Flyer isn't God-like: it simply gives a version of the world it's programmed to report. Reality rules.

Though I have seen a guy argue with a hapless agent about seat allocation on the basis of EF's infallibility ...
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 4:07 am
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Originally Posted by alexwuk
EF is realtime. As others have pointed out in this thread, even on the day of Departure BA are often willing to sell full fare tickets in oversold cabins provided their systems are confident there is enough space further forward to OpUp into.

you'll often see something like F8 A7 J5 C0 D0 I0 for a ClubWorld Cabin that has no seats left to assign. Then in the minutes and hours before departure the FLY system will start OpUp-ing people as the system becomes increasingly confident it will need to create seats in CW for those with confirmed bookings but no seat
In simplistic terms if an A class seat is 5000 return, a full fare J could easily be 8000 - that's the beauty of it (for BA!).

Rigid company policies that insist on Y or PE tickets - even if more expensive than an upgraded cabin.

I've been bumped from an EK flight that showed every single Y Subclass at 9 seats 8 hours before. As i wondered up and down T3 (as it was then) with a credit card knowing I had to get to Singapore that evening I was secretly impressed with how effective airline algorithms are (everybody bumped got out on the last EK flight that night, I couldn't as misconnected with the SIN flight in DXB and my responsibility as on a staff ticket).

I'd love to have a few beers with someone that works in the department that does these things - not sure if that's sad, but i'm sure there must be a few insider secrets I could utilise in future!
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 4:27 am
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Originally Posted by rossmacd


You are comparing apples and oranges.
Maybe the OP is looking at an online grocery store and not EF?
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Old Jun 27, 2019, 7:36 am
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The terms really matter here.

The flight is apparently overbooked by 6 in Y. This means that if all of the Y passengers show up at the gate in a timely manner, that cabin will be oversold by 6 (overbooking vs. oversale). That has a passing relationship to what BA is willing to sell. By way of example, if someone appeared and wished to purchase 4 seats at the full Y fare, BA would sell them and deal with the overbooking / oversale. Or, BA believes that some passengers will no show for one reason or another or that it has seats in F/CW/WTP to deal with the overbooking should it become an oversale.

Bottom line is that both the staff and EF are likely correct.
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