Sep 14, 2017, 7:20 am
Last edit by: Flame3601
Information on Load requests
The number of seats for sale for a flight are available via ExpertFlyer.com, a subscription-based service with a 5-day free trial. A subscription is $9.99/month and can be enabled and disabled any time. It is encouraged to subscribe rather than post repeatedly in this thread.
NB: Op-up changes or overselling of a flight cannot be determined with certainty from this information, only inferred to be more or less probable.
For a once-off load request please follow these guidelines:
Flight loads >7 days out are not very useful, as the airline could still sell many seats, unless availability of a specific fare bucket (e.g. Business Saver upgrade) is requested. If you wish to know the general flight load please don't post >7 days before departure.
When requesting a load please provide the following information:
- Date of flight (departure date)
- Flight Number
- Origin
- Destination
These four fields are mandatory in searching on ExpertFlyer (see screenshot below) and it isn't fair to except those who pay for their subscriptions to also have to go look up which cities a specific flight number is from and to (also some flight numbers are onward flights (5th freedom routes, e.g. CMB-MLE) and loads will differ significantly depending on which sector of the flight is checked.
The number of seats for sale for a flight are available via ExpertFlyer.com, a subscription-based service with a 5-day free trial. A subscription is $9.99/month and can be enabled and disabled any time. It is encouraged to subscribe rather than post repeatedly in this thread.
NB: Op-up changes or overselling of a flight cannot be determined with certainty from this information, only inferred to be more or less probable.
For a once-off load request please follow these guidelines:
Flight loads >7 days out are not very useful, as the airline could still sell many seats, unless availability of a specific fare bucket (e.g. Business Saver upgrade) is requested. If you wish to know the general flight load please don't post >7 days before departure.
When requesting a load please provide the following information:
- Date of flight (departure date)
- Flight Number
- Origin
- Destination
These four fields are mandatory in searching on ExpertFlyer (see screenshot below) and it isn't fair to except those who pay for their subscriptions to also have to go look up which cities a specific flight number is from and to (also some flight numbers are onward flights (5th freedom routes, e.g. CMB-MLE) and loads will differ significantly depending on which sector of the flight is checked.
Flight Load Check request
Dec 9, 2019 | 4:00 am
#766
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Manchester/London
Programs: Skywards Plat, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,303
Dec 9, 2019 | 4:32 am
#767
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: EK1 ML5A ;-)
Programs: EK iO
Posts: 699
Dec 9, 2019 | 5:36 am
#768
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: MAN DXB ✈️
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 6,930
Dec 9, 2019 | 8:42 am
#769
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Manchester/London
Programs: Skywards Plat, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,303
Yes, indeed, I got an op up a few days a go on a flight showing Y9 but that only highlights even more why the flight load requests are pretty pointless. I had a flight 3 weeks ago showing Y0 from a week out. As a plat on a Flex+ I did not get an op up.
When you fly often enough you begin to see how little the info is worth on EF as there are so many factors that can alter the info you are seeing.
Y9 can mean empty flight and can also mean an overbooked flight, so why bother asking?
When you fly often enough you begin to see how little the info is worth on EF as there are so many factors that can alter the info you are seeing.
Y9 can mean empty flight and can also mean an overbooked flight, so why bother asking?
Dec 9, 2019 | 8:45 am
#770
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Manchester/London
Programs: Skywards Plat, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,303
Actually the opposite, I was making a joke out of how pointless EF is but If you can offer a service that provides real life useful info then tell me where to sign up, ill pay the 6 quid a month fee...!
Dec 9, 2019 | 8:10 pm
#771
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: MAN DXB ✈️
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 6,930
Yes, indeed, I got an op up a few days a go on a flight showing Y9 but that only highlights even more why the flight load requests are pretty pointless. I had a flight 3 weeks ago showing Y0 from a week out. As a plat on a Flex+ I did not get an op up.
When you fly often enough you begin to see how little the info is worth on EF as there are so many factors that can alter the info you are seeing.
Y9 can mean empty flight and can also mean an overbooked flight, so why bother asking?
When you fly often enough you begin to see how little the info is worth on EF as there are so many factors that can alter the info you are seeing.
Y9 can mean empty flight and can also mean an overbooked flight, so why bother asking?
Dec 16, 2019 | 9:44 am
#772
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Dubai
Programs: EK Gold
Posts: 213
Yes - that was us - good IG spotting
Ended up using miles to upgrade Y-J assuming (hoping) that our little man would sleep for the 2nd half of the flight. He didn't. Thankfully he was very well behaved, though Mum & Dad couldn't capitalize on the J menu.
Dec 22, 2019 | 6:57 pm
#776
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: EK1 ML5A ;-)
Programs: EK iO
Posts: 699
Dec 23, 2019 | 4:46 am
#777
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Manchester/London
Programs: Skywards Plat, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,303
I can pretty much determine if a flight is overbooked a few days out looking at the seat map plus the loads. I think its very easy to tell when a flight is very busy but harder to tell when j and f are light with heavy y loads hence the y 9 because Ek are happy to sell even the cheaper y fares last minute
Even more difficult to tell if there are not many status pax on board and or lots of saver tickets sold meaning nothing showing on the seat map for their seats before OLCI.
Dec 23, 2019 | 10:45 pm
#778
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 10,043
Somewhere between 24 and 48 hours before online check in opens, seats are allocated to all those who haven't paid or haven't the Skywards status to select. This is the point where you can really see just how full it's going to be or not.
Dec 24, 2019 | 2:41 am
#779
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Manchester/London
Programs: Skywards Plat, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 1,303
I would have to disagree with this due to recent experience. There are too many variables to ever say you will really know how full it is. My last op-up was still showing 25 seats empty in Y when I checked in and Y9 on EF. The flight before that was Y0 from a week out yet I didnt get an op-up as a plat on a Y flex+.
Dec 24, 2019 | 3:10 am
#780
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: EK1 ML5A ;-)
Programs: EK iO
Posts: 699
I would have to disagree with this due to recent experience. There are too many variables to ever say you will really know how full it is. My last op-up was still showing 25 seats empty in Y when I checked in and Y9 on EF. The flight before that was Y0 from a week out yet I didnt get an op-up as a plat on a Y flex+.
- no shows
- misconnections
- capacity change
- staff causing upgrades
- route specific (certain routes have little noshows (JP) so cannot be overbooked heavily)
I tend to agree with m3red but also do think it's not always as straightforward.