Why would you want to change it?Strangely, there is no way to do this online with BA
Sometimes you want to make what feels like a very simple, but it turns out to be deeply complex - or in the case of changing your frequent flyer number on a BA booking - impossible to do online. After digging around online and some trial and error, I've found a way forward.
Why would you want to change it?
There's two obvious reasons - firstly you've paid for a flight and you now want the miles to be registered in another Airlines frequent flyer account. That could be because when you bought the flight, you forgot to add the correct details, or you've decided that strategically you now want your points to go to a particular place.
There's a second reason, and this one was relevant to me recently. I've just bought, via the Royal Jordanian status match, an equivalent to BA Bronze, and I want to change some of my BA bookings so that the Royal Jordanian number is attached to them. That will give me free seat selection seven days out from my flights.
Why do BA make it hard?
I have no idea. There's no option to change the frequent flyer number on the BA app or website. It could be possible with a call to the call centre, but you're looking at a ten-minute phone call, and given that you have to read out your FF number over the phone, there's a risk that the wrong number gets entered.
How to change the frequent flyer number on a BA booking
The answer is not to use the BA website. This thread on Flyertalk was useful as it signposts you to other oneworld airlines. However, none of the ones listed worked for me.
What did work was using the Royal Air Maroc website, an airline that's part of oneworld. On their homepage, they have a Manage Booking box. Add in the booking reference for your flight (For BA this will be a series of six letters and numbers), and your surname, then you'll be taken through to their Manage Booking page.
The Royal Air Maroc Manage Booking page is really powerful. Not only can you change the frequent flyer program for each person on the booking, you can also change the date of birth for each passenger. You can also change the phone number registered against the booking.
