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Help us out: your experiences of using two frequent flyer numbers with the same booking

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We have had a LOT of emails, article comments and forum posts in recent weeks from readers who are trying to juggle two frequent flyer accounts on the same booking.

It’s not easy, and to add to the complexity there are two totally opposite reasons why you may want to do it.

We’d like your input if you have been in this situation recently.

using two frequent flyer numbers with the same booking

Here are the two scenarios you could be in:

Scenario 1

You want to earn Avios in British Airways Executive Club whilst using another oneworld frequent flyer programme where you have status for lounge access, free seat selection etc.

Most likely to apply to: people who got Royal Jordanian elite status via the ongoing hotel status match and want free seat selection etc whilst still earning Avios.

Your problem: you need to have your non-BA frequent flyer number in your booking to get free seat selection, but need to change it over at some point to your BA number in order to earn Avios – whilst still trying to get lounge access, fast track security, use of business class check-in desks etc from your non-BA status card.

Scenario 2

You want to earn status tier points in another oneworld frequent flyer programme whilst using your existing British Airways Executive Club elite card for lounge access, free seat selection etc.

Most likely to apply to: current BA status holders who cannot retain their status from 1st April in British Airways Club and are moving to another oneworld frequent flyer scheme where it is easier to earn status (probably Iberia, Royal Jordanian, Malaysia)

Your problem: you need to have your BA frequent flyer number in your booking to get free seat selection via your current status but need to change it over to your non-BA number to earn status credit with your replacement programme – whilst still trying to get lounge access, fast track security, use of business class check-in desks etc on the back of your BA status.

using two frequent flyer numbers with the same booking

In theory this shouldn’t be a problem, but it is

When Amadeus (the back-end ticketing system used by most airlines) was designed, they DID think that this could be an issue.

Your BA flight ticket data contains two fields, which by default are filled with the same number which you added when booking or via Manage My Booking:

  • FQTV: the frequent flyer number you want to use to earn miles
  • FQTS: the frequent flyer number you want to use for claiming status benefits

The problem is that your chance of finding a check-in or call centre agent who knows about FQTV and FQTS, yet alone knows how to amend your data correctly, is low.

I think that Singapore Airlines is the only carrier which allows you to enter two frequent flyer numbers for bookings.

How have you got around this?

Whilst Scenario 2 will be the most common after 1st April, as many readers start trying to earn status in a different oneworld frequent flyer programme, there are currently a lot of readers in Scenario 1 thanks to the Royal Jordanian status match.

If you’re in Scenario 1:

For people in Scenario 1, I have been saying that – at least for short haul flights – you should forget about earning Avios. Put your Royal Jordanian number in your BA booking from the start and keep it there. It will save you a lot of trouble trying to swap numbers over, and the relatively small number of Avios you will forfeit isn’t worth worrying about. You will be earning Royal Jordanian miles instead which can be redeemed on BA.

using two frequent flyer numbers with the same booking

Of course, if you are on a long haul flight then you might want your Avios. At what point do you swap your frequent flyer number for the BA one? After check in? Whilst in the lounge? Could you use fast track security or priority boarding by showing your Royal Jordanian card on your phone whilst having the BA number on your boarding pass?

Let us know in the comments.

If you’re in Scenario 2:

This is a bit trickier. You should be able to get into a BA lounge by showing your BA Gold or Silver membership card on your phone, even if your ‘no status’ Iberia / Royal Jordanian / Malaysia etc number is in your booking.

Can you get away with this at fast track security though? Or when trying to get priority boarding? Do you keep your BA number in your account until the last minute and call BA to swap it from the lounge?

Again, let us know in the comments.

How to change the frequent flyer number in your booking

This is as good a place as any to cover this. Most airlines, including BA, disable the Amadeus functionality which allows you to change your frequent flyer number via Manage My Booking. One that doesn’t is Royal Air Maroc.

You can go on the Royal Air Maroc website and pull up a BA flight booking using the 6-character booking reference. One of the options allows you to change the frequent flyer number.

Thank you for your contributions

We look forward to hearing about your experiences of swapping frequent flyer numbers in the comments. We will run a fresh article next week summarising your feedback.

Category

British Airways and Avios, oneworld alliance partners

Comments (136)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Steve Brooking says:
    14 Mar14 March 07:26

    I am BA Gold but fly frequently with Malaysia Airlines (as I live in Malaysia). Most non-business class MH flights do not qualify for BA tier points so in an ideal world I would use my MH number to gain points but my BA status for lounge etc. I have found that almost impossible: I can’t input two numbers and when I change to BA at check-in I find I am not credited any MH points for the flight. So it’s either lounge access or points…

  • Clive says:
    14 Mar14 March 07:40

    I booked a BA holiday (before the BAC changes) to KUL on QR metal next month and as a OWE I was able to select seats. After the BAC announcement I decided to transition to Finnair Plus and I contacted BA to change my BAEC to the AY one.

    This seems to have worked because I see it when I checked on RAM and the booking has suddenly appeared on the AY app.

    The QR seat selection has still stuck and the travel once done will get me to AY Gold (OWS). I’m flying in Business so fast track won’t be an issue.

  • LD says:
    14 Mar14 March 07:47

    Thanks for the heads up about RAM website. Last trip the BA rep in The Gallaries Gatwick was unable to change the number from RJ back to BAEC after check in. Had to phone BA from the lounge to make the change. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it ourselves next time.

  • ee says:
    14 Mar14 March 07:55

    Watching this closely – we have a BA Holiday booked last September for this coming June in J to Barbados.

    I used RAM to change my Frequent Flier number to my Golden Sparrow one for free seat selection.

    However to get the BA Holiday double tier points, the BA number has to be back in the booking before any travel takes place. My intention is to use the BA twitter team at T-24 and before issuing my boarding pass. I think as a back-up (e.g if twitter is unresponsive due to some variety of BA melt down) we could also get the number changed at the check in desk. But the Twitter route at least leaves an audit trail in case of later difficulties!

  • Will says:
    14 Mar14 March 08:05

    You should be aware that the BA missing points page on the website often does not work for partner airlines. The claim disappears immediately and there is no trace. This happened since September at least.
    You can then call up and make a priority claim (maybe because I have status??) which is supposed to take 5 business days to resolve. After 3 weeks they are often not resolved despite providing ticket number and all booking details.

    I my experience changing FF account on a single ticket can work but eg Qantas does not show FF number on boarding passes and so it is hard to check. I took a look at a screen of my recent trip CDG-JFK-AKL-CHC and there were 10 separate entries but I only changed number once each way. I was then told I should not look at the screen. Clearly trying to hide the errors made at checkin in JFK where they put my number on my wife’s ticket. Still chasing the credit after three months.

  • Damien says:
    14 Mar14 March 08:05

    This’ll be interesting. Will be watching this one.

  • Emma says:
    14 Mar14 March 08:10

    How do I change my FF number on a BA booking on BA website from BA to RJ? This article says you can….

    • John G says:
      14 Mar14 March 08:17

      You cannot on the BA website. But the article does tell you how to do it – via the Royal Air Maroc website.

  • NFH says:
    14 Mar14 March 08:14

    I’m holding back on doing this until we see what tier points earning offer arises on the American Express British Airways credit card, possibly with effect from 1st April 2025. If there is such an offer, then the advantage of crediting tier points to Iberia falls away somewhat.

    I used to do this a lot when Amex Platinum gave Cathay Pacific gold status. I had to phone BA and ask them to put my CX number into the FQTS field, leaving my BA number in the FQTV field. Once I could name these two fields, it made it much easier to communicate my request to BA’s staff.

    • NFH says:
      14 Mar14 March 11:06

      British Airways wrote it its announcement of 31st December 2024 “There will also be new ways to earn Tier Points. From booking holiday packages with British Airways Holidays, making contributions to Sustainable Aviation Fuels (‘SAF’), adding extras to your booking like seating or baggage, or a spend-based offer on the British Airways American Express® Premium Plus Card, giving you more ways to earn than ever before“. When is this offer coming?

      • Rob says:
        14 Mar14 March 11:33

        The rumour is that BA announced this without actually agreeing a deal with American Express, hence no announcement. BA will want American Express to pay it an additional sum per tier point awarded.

        • NFH says:
          14 Mar14 March 11:48

          Thanks Rob. I just phoned American Express and read out the above quote from BA’s e-mail. Amex’s Philippines call centre told me that the offer will start from 1st April 2025. She didn’t think it will need enrolment as an offer and will instead be automatic, just liks the earning of Avios. She said that the offer terms are yet to be announced.

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