How do I view availability in distinct fare buckets?
 

Sorry if this question has been asked before...
I have six upcoming flights on CO, and would like to see seat availability in First to get an idea of upgrade chances. Given that 4 of 6 flights are in class N or higher, I fancy my chances. However, is there any software/website I can use to determine seat availability? For instance, I remember seeing something like "A7 J7 R7" in a different thread, but can't find the tools that do that. I checked ITAsoftware.com and ITN.net, even registered at the latter, but couldn't figure out how to determine seat availability based on fare class. I understand CO uses "X" class for upgradable seats while NW uses "R" class for the same.

Thanks in advance.

P.S I'm posting in the CO Forum since all flights are on CO metal - being Silver, almost at Gold, I don't fly anyone else..!

Found this one on FlyerTalk - Its worked for me...

http://www.flyaow.com/classamex.htm

you can also do a search for availability tool...

download it and it shows you the availability by fare.

I called CO yesterday and was told that if I upgrade using elite status it does not matter what fare bucket is available, as long as there are seats available I'll get in (after the Plats etc of course)

Fare buckets only matter if you want to use miles to upgrade. Can any CO experts correct or confirm what I have been told yesterday?

I can confirm that you just can't trust what a Continental agent tells you over the phone. period. Don't take my word for it, call 5 times and see how many different answers you get to the same question. :rolleyes:

Thanks, that worked for me. Here's what I found:
A8 D3 Z3 Y9 H9 K9 N9 B9 V9 U9 Q9 I9 S9 W9

Does this mean there are no "R" buckets left, since CO's upgrades fall into the R bucket? And the numbers don't add up - this is a 735 with 10 seats in First....

Of course the numbers don't add up.

A8 D3 Z3 means that there are 8 seats for sale in first, three of which are also being offered in the D and Z buckets. The R bucket is secret. There are at least 9 seats available in coach, probably a lot more since the 9's are running throughout the alphabet soup.