Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads | 2024 edition
#1
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,295
Help to check BA seat availability and BA flight loads | 2024 edition
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.
#3
#5
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 21
Please could someone confirm loads on BA0178 20th Jan flight in WTP cabin, is it W, E, T and P for this cabin? Can't book seat for free so want to check how full to understand what choice I'll have at check in, map shows many seats taken but how many of those likely blocked until check in rather than taken or is it just front row?
#6
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 21
Please could someone confirm loads on BA0178 20th Jan flight in WTP cabin, is it W, E, T and P for this cabin? Can't book seat for free so want to check how full to understand what choice I'll have at check in, map shows many seats taken but how many of those likely blocked until check in rather than taken or is it just front row?
#7
![](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/santabadge.png)
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Newcastle, UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, IHG Platinum, FlyingBlue Gold, Hilton Diamond, Mucci des repas d'enfant
Posts: 4,011
Please could someone confirm loads on BA0178 20th Jan flight in WTP cabin, is it W, E, T and P for this cabin? Can't book seat for free so want to check how full to understand what choice I'll have at check in, map shows many seats taken but how many of those likely blocked until check in rather than taken or is it just front row?
![](https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.flyertalk.com-vbulletin/1598x213/img_0506_a8dd179970a40021471d71bff9f224f586571f51.jpeg)
#9
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, IHG Spire Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 1,302
Would someone be able to provide the following flights availability please?
28 Sep 2024 BA 53 from LHR to SEA
8 Oct 2024 BA 268 from LAX to LHR
Specifically looking at A class
Thanks
28 Sep 2024 BA 53 from LHR to SEA
8 Oct 2024 BA 268 from LAX to LHR
Specifically looking at A class
Thanks
Last edited by HarryHolden68; Jan 4, 2024 at 4:41 am
#10
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: London / Brighton
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#12
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,322
#13
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 82
fab. Thank you. Any chance of Sunday too please? Saturday looks a busy flight!
#14
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