MASTER THREAD: Seat and flight availability
 

As regular readers will have noticed there are an increasing number of threads asking for seat and flight availability details. To keep these in one place - and also to provide some self help - we have created this master thread.

How to look for seat and flight availability?

www.ba.com can help. Using flight explorer you can see what 'fare bucket' is currently being sold and if less than 9 seats are left this will also be noted. If you have status or are travelling on a qualifying ticket MMB will also show you the seat map for your flights.

www.expertflyer.com. A subscription web-based service that gives you access to the full inventory for flights and also allows you to access seats maps for many airlines (including BA up to T-24). One point of note: it uses US Point of Sale availability which can and often does vary from UK availability especially on long routes (e.g. I is available in the US but only C in the UK)

www.kvstool.com. This offers much more flexibility on point of sale and the GDS (Global Distribution System) you can access, but does require a download to your PC.

There are other tools e.g. www.seatcounter.com but I don't have experience of using those.

seatcounter (and its mirror on the web site cited in my signature) requires verification but no subscription. It provides accurate counts for availability in the various fare buckets. There's a limit on the number of queries a given IP address can post in one day.

Shuly

BA299 to ORD on 29/07 - is it busy please?
 

I decided to splurge and have got an MFU to CW for my return trip, but woe is me, there was nothing showing up for the departure on BA299 on 29/07. So I'm in WT+ for the moment...

Going to MMB, I have my seat allocated for the trip down from NCL, but no specific seat mentioned for the LHR-ORD sector, obviously I realise that I can't change seats til -24 but I thought it would show up where I am at the moment?

Would it please be possible for someone kind and considerate to see how full WT+ and CW currently are on that flight? Wondering whether any more availability to MFU up to CW may appear between now and then, or if WT+ is looking over-booked with the lucky chance they might think "we'll chuck the voracious violinist into CW... even if she is only Blue...?

Really was looking forward to these scones for tea. :( Maybe I'll have to end up raiding the CW Kitchen... :D:D

Best I can do unfortunately - maybe someone else will be more helpful !

[KVS Availability Tool 5.0.1/Platinum - WSpan: Availability/ITN/US-WOT]
[KVS Availability Tool 5.0.1/Platinum - Amadeus Seat Map: 29 Jul 2009/BA 299/LHR-ORD/744/C]
[KVS Availability Tool 5.0.1/Platinum - Amadeus Seat Map: 29 Jul 2009/BA 299/LHR-ORD/744/W]

Confused...
 

Thanks Singapore Air for the info, I'm afraid I don't know the first thing about how to interpret it but hopefully someone will be able to help.

:confused:

A "+" shows an available seat and a "-" one that is taken or blocked for allocation (e.g. reserved for Golds, bassinet etc.). Basically both cabins are still wide open with very few seats allocated. Given the seating policy this may have nothing to do with loads, though.

Singapore_Air posted flight availability figures, the J9 C9 D9 R9 I5 indicate good availability in Club. The diagrams that followed are representative of the current seat maps. I've extrapolated this into a more user friendly format below. Those seats already assigned are indicated with a dollop of orange.
http://www.flyertalk.pwp.blueyonder....299_090729.jpg

U class availability is known to open up closer to the date of travel, so keep checking BA.com.

Wow! Nice job, Prospero! :-:

Oooh I like colours...!
 

Thanks very much Prospero - I am definitely a "pictures and colours" girl so that makes the whole issue so much clearer in my head!

With the J9 C9 D9 R9 I5 figures, which category would an MFU be going into? It's W isn't it? I guess I just have to hope my luck changes between now and the 29th. At the moment when I go into MMB both the upgrade for money and upgrade for miles are greyed out. :(

I have to admit I've not done an MFU before as I was never a Tesco Tart with enough miles until I joined this forum, have always bought nice seats myself or been treated. So this is my big treat of the year to be honest.

No, W is WT+ fully flex. You can't obtain MFU (or the same, regular award availability) from a normal flight availability tool like EF. Only the ba website (or the Qantas one) will work. And some tools that process those internally like KVS...

BTW: CW (and CE) award bucket is U.

What is the load for BA113 LHR-JFK on 03AUG09? I'm in CW for the first time :)

Here you are jcnorway

[KVS Availability Tool 5.0.1/Lite - WSpan: Availability/ITN/US-WOT]

Thanks speedbird182!

A lot of space left I see :rolleyes:

Thanks Frank for the clear explanation, I shall just have to keep glueing myself to ba.com in the hope of something coming up. Starting to wonder what kind of luck people have had with upgrading with miles actually on the day of flight at airport...

None at all. The airport systems can't cope with it.