Is there a way to get an idea how full a flight I've booked is likely to be prior to arriving at the airport?
So I've booked a couple of flights with online travel agents based on best price alone.
But it would be nice to know how full the flights could be in advance. One flight is for tomorrow so I could probably get a reasonable idea for that one if not the one which is in a month and a half from now.
Is there a generic way to find this online? Or would it vary from airline to airline? Or is it something I might be able to learn at the airport but not before? Or would I have to make a phone call to get some idea rather than expect the Internet to provide any help?
Best Answer
There are several tools you can use to find out about load. Many frequent fliers will choose their flight not based on convenient times, but on likelihood of getting an upgrade, for example.
- KVS is user-supported and has a really horrible web site, but many people swear by it. You download an app that you run on your machine and it can find routings and show you availability.
- Expert Flyer has a free trial that might be all you need on this trip.
I have never used either, but on the FlyerTalk forums, people used to always paste KVS results and these days they seem to mostly post expert flyer results when they're helping each other plan something epic. There could easily be more tools, these are just two I have heard of. There is a big list on flyaow.com which is a site I used to use to check availability, but which doesn't offer that any more.
Back when I had status, my dream flight was super full in economy (no more seats for sale, or less than 9 in the top few buckets, 0 in the lower buckets, meaning it's overbooked) and wide open in business. That is a flight where op-ups will be happening if all the economy people show up. And yes, I have chosen flights based on that (or chosen for another reason but then monitored my flight), seen that pattern, and got an op-up. But that was long ago.
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Can you see how full a flight is before booking?
Option #2: A few days before your flight, log in to the airline's website, provide the record locator for your ticket and try to change your seat. This will take you to a page showing all the available seats on your airline. You can count how many seats are still open to get an idea of how crowded your flight is.How can I tell how full my flight will be?
The simplest way to figure out how full the flight will be is to pick up the phone and call the airline. Explain that you're concerned about being on a crowded flight and ask the agent to give you an estimate as to how full the flight currently is.How can I find out how many seats are booked on a flight?
Check on the Airline's Booking Page If you book a flight through the airline directly or through a third party, you can usually see how many seats are left on the flight.Do they cancel flights if not full?
What should I do if my flight is delayed? Under federal law, airlines are obliged to provide a full refund to customers if a flight is significantly delayed and the passenger chooses not to travel.HOW TO FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS - My Best Tips After Booking 500+ Flights
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Answer 2
Partial answer:
Airlines that allow you to select seats during booking show how many seats are available, I've used this myself. However the further ahead of the flight you book the more likely it is that more passengers sign up.
That said, you can check the same flight for a number of days coming up after the current date and you should get a good idea of the average. This has worked great for me.
But do note that this does indeed take some time, especially if you are comparing different airlines on the same stretch. But if you've got 20-30 spare minutes, it works.
Answer 3
I used this trick to figure it out for a recent flight:
- I searched on the airline's website for flights on the day of my flight for 1 passenger (saw my flight available in the results)
- I searched on the airline's website for flights on the day of my flight for 5 passengers (saw my flight available in the results)
- I searched on the airline's website for flights on the day of my flight for 10 passengers (saw my flight not available in the results)
- I searched on the airline's website for flights on the day of my flight for 9 passengers (Bingo! saw my flight available in the results)
That means that there were only 9 seats left on this flight. Should be able to use this trick on most website's although it is not 100% perfect. There are other reasons why seats might not be available, but this will give you a very good idea.
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