"Number of Seats Left" unchanged after purchase

[vholic]

Hi Student Universe,

I bought a one way LAX-BOS on AA last week. Before the purchase, search results said "7 seats left". After my purchase, it's still "7 seats left".
Is this number correct?

Thanks!

[UA895]

I am not affiliated with Studentuniverse, but the short answer is that the number was incorrect.

AA never displays seat availability above 7. So, a completely empty flight will show only 7 available seats in all booking classes. For most other airlines this number is 9. So, if you see 7 available seats on AA, that is almost certainly incorrect, and the number is actually higher than that.

Here are some of the airlines I'm familiar with and the max. number of available seats they display through the systems:
AA-7
AC-9
UA-9
DL-9
US-9
CO-9
NW-9

Iberia-4
Virgin Atlantic-7
Air New Zealand-7

British Airways-9
Lufthansa-9
Qantas-9

Keep in mind that "available seats" does not just always decrease. The availability is updated several times a day by the airlines and often increases as well.

[phild]

Thank you, and you are correct UA895, airlines will show a number of seats available for a specific class of service, but that does not mean that that is all of the seats available at that price.

Airlines have algorithms that will add a seat to a class of service automatically, at least up to a certain point, and that is not something you can know in advance. Even though it says 7 seats left, the airline may offer many more at that price, or 7 maximum.

Phil
StudentUniverse