Jan 2, 22, 3:09 am
Last edit by: Prospero
Current methods to check fare/booking class availability:
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!
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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 2, 22, 3:08 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: 21,767
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.
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.
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.
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 2, 22, 8:40 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: London
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold & GGL & CCR, HH Diam, Bonvoy Titanium, IHG Spire, Tastecard
Posts: 7,541
30/03/22 1:30 PMMCO
30/03/22 5:55 PM351
Daily
NA / NAJ9 C9 D2 R2 I0 W2 E0 T0 Y9 B9 H3 K0M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0
BA 2040MCO
07/04/22 7:55 PMLHR
08/04/22 9:10 AM351
Daily
NA / NAJ9 C9 D9 R9 I0 W9 E5 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K9M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O0 G0
Jan 3, 22, 3:45 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 11,066
f6 a3 j9 c9 d9 r9 i9 w9 e9 t7 y9 b9h9 k9 m9 l9 v9 s9 n9 q0 o0 g0
23/04
f4 a1 j9 c9 d9 r9 i9 w9 e9 t9 y9 b9h9 k9 m9 l9 v3 s0 n0 q0 o0 g0
Jan 4, 22, 2:15 am
#9
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,183
KL 566
NBO 01/04/22 11:59 PM
AMS 01/05/22 6:25 AM
781 M,T,F 68% / 20m
J0 C0 D0 I0 Z0 O0 Y0 B0 M0 U0 K0 H0 L0 Q0 T0 E0 N0 R0 V0 X0 G0
Looks full or about to be cancelled to me - but I am no expert!
rb211.
Jan 5, 22, 2:57 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: FRA, JFK
Programs: BAEC GGL, A3*G, Bonvoy Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 842
Code:
Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
0 Connections
BA 2063 0 LGW MRU 777 M,Th,Sa J2 C1 D0 R0 I0 W4 E2 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G9
01/15/22 8:15 PM 01/16/22 12:05 PM 0% / 20m
Jan 5, 22, 3:01 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2022
Posts: 4
