Frequentflyer99

Is it possible to be waitlisted without a ticket and, if so, what happens if (when) a seat becomes available ?

Are BA res agents able to tel how many pax are waitlisted ? They always say not, but I sense that this is just a stock anser.

ali_c

yes that is possible and easy to do



yes and you should not be told that they cannot see it as it is available as long as its a BA flight

Frequentflyer99

Got myself waitlisted and was told there were 4 or 5 ahead of me. When I asked whether they were also golds, I got the enigmatic response "Can't say because of data protection, I don't know how it all works anyway".

If they wanted to, would it be possible for someone more helpful to actually tell me how many Golds are ahead of me ?

Also, will the system send me an email if my statuts changes to confirmed, or is that too much to hope for ?

jkw76

I have never been told how many Golds are ahead of me, but I have been given a confirmed seat nearer to the departure date after calling again and mentioning my Gold status and my desire to fly only BA.

To this day, I have never received an email regarding moving from waitlist to confirmed.

ali_c

When it gets confirmed it will create a call back to the original agent it goes from HL status to KL (confirmed from list). However if you’re gold and trying to get economy you can use reservation assurance

G-BOAG

The automatic waitlist clearance system looks at more than your tier. It works on a points system, taking into account the letter class that's being waitlisted, tier, date/time of waitlist, route, onward connections, etc.

That's why an agent telling you that your #2 on the list with a Gold ahead of you means very little. It's all automated.

Frequentflyer99

If one is really keen to get a seat, could one improve one's waitlist prospects by adding on an expensive onward connection (eg. LHR-HKG in J as the add on) ??

G-BOAG

Two Gold's looking for an ATH-LHR that's sold out in J, C, D, & I.

One Gold member wants to purchase a "J" fare for ATH-LHR-ABZ.
The other wants to purchase a "J" fare for ATH-LHR-LAX.

Which Gold member is going to be comfirmed from the waitlist?


It's also not always good to be waitlisted for a certain flight for long periods. Same situation as above. One Gold requested to be wait listed 2 1/2 months before departure, the other was added to the waitlist a week before departure. The more recent has a better chance of being confirmed as they are more likely to take the flight if confirmed.

That being said, it's still all based on a points system, and no one will be able to tell you where you really are on the waitlist as it's all automated.

Frequentflyer99

Interesting, but the point on timing is positively bizarre ! How an organisation with "British" in its name can thumb its nose in such a blatant way at the great British queuing system is a wonder

It sounds from what you are saying that adding a further confirmed J longhaul sector could increase the prospects over a straightforward single waitlisted booking. Presumably there is then nothing that would require one to have the extra sector ticketed if the waitlisted flight goes confirmed. I suppose having that extra sector might actually make the system believe that one was more likely to take the flight as well ....

Whoever dreamt this system up must be a mind-games expert .....

SLF

And your point is? Schemes like this are obviously worth doing, witness the profitability of BA

Frequentflyer99

Any my point is .... That as a BA Shareholder, I have yet to receive a dividend. As a fare paying passenger with a gold card, I have yet ever to move from wailist to confirmed ...

jameslon

Ask the agent to add your waitlisted flight under your BA Exec number. You can then see if under MMB along with any other confirmed flight. For example, you may have a confirmed flight SYD-BKK, but wish to waitlist SYD-SIN. Both flights will show in MMB, the SYD-BKK as Status: Confirmed, whereas SYD-SIN will show Status: Waitlisted. If, and when you are confirmed on the waitlisted flight, the status will change accordingly. You will then effectively be booked on two outbound flights. It is then up to the agent to cancel the one that is not required, and to book any onward connection required.

So, in short, add BA Exec to booking, and check MMB regularly to see if waitlisted flight is confirmed.

To answer your original question, AFAIK, no email is sent automatically.

razflyer

Whether you make your gains via an increase in the share price or through dividends isn't really all that relevant - if BA's doing well their share price will go up, and if they then issue a dividend, the share price will adjust downwards.

If you're relying on dividends for your income, in which case you should probably go for a utility or a bank as they tend to have more stable dividends.

Kibison

I have a ticket number but MMB shows Status: Waitlisted. checkmytrip.com shows my ticket numbers but under the details it says "unable to accept sale - flight closed". It is an award ticket using BA miles on RJ on the AMS-AMM-AMS route.

Should I be worried?

Smirnoff

I'm assuming you think the booking is a confirmed booking, but it is now showing "waitlisted" in MMB? Was it always showing "waitlisted" in MMB, or "confirmed".

FWIW, RJ do some pretty odd things with their availability. One moment it's J9 C9 D9, then next it's all zeroed out. Then it re-appears again.

Also the case that RJ without warning cancels off bookings that it thinks have not been ticketed.

I think a call to BA and/or RJ would be sensile. Possibly RJ didn't see the ticket number in time, and cancelled the booking. They do that.