I am looking for some advice that is related to this topic. If it’s too far “off topic” then Admins please feel free to remove it (although I think it would be helpful for others interested in seat loading availability, for reasons that will become clear).

A member recently introduced me to Expert Flyer, to which I have since subscribed. Thank you.

A friend was travelling on Christmas Day, LHR to JFK on VS3 in Upper Class. I checked the seating availability Expert Flyer the night before to see how busy it would be. It showed it less than half full. I sent him a screenshot to show him how empty it was, showing a 2-2 seat configuration.

He then panicked as he had booked him and his wife into seats 4D and 4G as they had been shown on the Virgin system as together in the middle (1-2-1 config).

When he boarded, he msgd me to say it was 1-2-1 config and they were sitting together. And that the cabin was almost full! 2 empty seats.

I logged back into Expert Flyer and indeed it showed Upper Class almost full. Prem Econ had 3 spaces (where it had 1) and Econ which had 1 seat free at the back now had 10 empty seats.

My questions:

1. Is Expert Flyer usually accurate / inaccurate on seat layout / config?

2. For Upper Class to go from 22 empty seats to 2 empty seats in less than 12 hours - does that mean they upgrade passengers at the last minute to fill the top cabins?

Thanks!

My understanding is that Expert flyer cannot account for staff ticketing or staff standby bookings as it only shows confirmed bookings - others FTers may know otherwise. Some routes will have a very high volume of staff with their eligible family or friends who are on standby and they may also be eligible for premium cabins, if seats are available. On a recent BA flight from San Francisco I heard the gate agent mention that 23 people were on the staff standby list and that all of them will get a seat which meant a full flight. There can sometimes be crews positioning to a destination as passengers for operational reasons which would, I understand, also not show as confirmed bookings. We once had a positioning crew to JFK on a 744 in Club many years ago on Xmas Day when there was a reduced Xmas Day schedule but a full timetable back from JFK on Boxing Day and so crews would be needed for those flights.

Exactly what I was going to say, something like a Barbados, Dubai or Orlando can have anything up to a hundred on standby.

In my experience EF is usually accurate on configurations, but the graphics are primitive and not always able to reflect the reality of 21st century cabin layouts. It's always a good idea to compare the airline's seat maps -- which are usually, though not always, better -- and for state-of-the-art graphics use AeroLOPA (https://www.aerolopa.com/).

It's important to understand, however, that viewing the EF seat maps (or using an airline's seat selection tools) doesn't tell you much about loads. It tells you which seats are currently assigned (i.e. reserved by or allocated to specific passengers), but not how many tickets have been sold.

Seat maps can change a lot, especially in the last day or two before a flight and especially for airlines that charge for advance seat selection.

For information about likely loads, use EF's "Flight Availability" tool to see how many tickets the airline is still willing to sell in the various booking classes.

1: Expertflyer used to be accurate, I never noticed anything wrong. However, in October seatmaps were completely offline, and now that they're back, about half of the maps I view don't show them correctly. I've seen 3-1-2 on a 3-3 config, 2-2 on a 1-2-1 config (like you saw), and a number of other permutations.

2. As said above, most airlines allow for staff travel, but they don't get assigned seats until hours before the flight. Some airlines (primarily domestic US), give out complimentary upgrades to elites in the days before the flight, and yes, plenty of airlines charge for seat selection and allocate for free upon check in starting 24 hours before the flight. For an increase in available seats, folks may misconnect (and therefore not be on the flight), or cancel last minute (either themselves, or by the airline if they don't check in before the deadline). A quick note about loads and the flight availability tool - this only notes a minimum for sale, and is not additive. If looking, only look at the J (business), W (Premium Economy), and Y (Economy) numbers. This number also won't go above 9, sometimes 7, depending on the airline.

Always remember that many people may have confirmed reservations for a flight, but no specific seat reserved.
These show up on a seat map as available, but some/all may be occupied. Never use a seat map to judge loads.

A month later, and several emails from EF, but nothing has been fixed yet.
Expert Flyer, can you explain what is happening and whether this will be fixed?

EF Seatmaps (the ones that are back) are now wrong for many airlines as far the layout is concerned. Doesn’t really matter, but one’s needs to be aware that 2-2 is probably 1-2-1 etc. Seats available/taken seems correct - just the layouts are wrong.

between the continuing seat map issues for some airlines, TK gone and other functionality barely usable I am debating whether to keep my subscription. Essentially just renewed it - will give them another year to get their act together, but difficult to justify right now.

The display issue is an issue with how the GDS sends the seat map to EF, not EF itself. It's affecting other tools as well.

Not for American Airlines:


American Airlines seat map on left. Expert Flyer on right.
EF is only showing the standard AA blue seats as available. when in reality the green and orange seats are also still available.

And this is why I cancelled my EF renewal. They sent several responses back with no indication of a timeline, the final one I sent 3 weeks ago never got a reply.

Anyone else notice occasionally a discrepancy between Fare class availability displaying on EF vs. UA expert mode? Some flights are not even close.

it worked just fine before these issues started ...

Sure, however, they are acknowledging that issue ... Notice: We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with AA

not seen that to be honest. Do you have examples?