Frequently asked questions

How do I benefit from using Manage My Booking?

As a British Airways customer, Manage My Booking is a self-service online initiative designed to assist you by:

  • Giving you reassurance about your booking by being able to view booking details 24 hours a day at any time up to when you travel for each flight.
  • Eliminating the need for you to check your booking details and request booking services by phone.
  • Reducing time spent in airport check-in queues.
  • Providing travel information relevant to your booking to help you plan and prepare for your travel.
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What can I do through Manage My Booking?

Manage my booking allows you to:

  • View details of your travel itinerary.
  • View your seat and meal requests.
  • Make seat requests from an interactive seating plan.
  • Make meal requests from a list of available special dietary meals.
  • Provide Advance Passenger Information (e.g. passport and other details).
  • Apply for an ESTA if you're travelling to the USA or Puerto Rico.
  • Add an Executive Club or partner frequent flyer number to ensure receipt of Tier Points and Avios.
  • Email your itinerary to colleagues, friends and family.
  • View check-in times and information about Online Check-in and Self-Service Check-in kiosks.
  • Check in for your flight online and print your boarding pass before going to the airport.
  • Obtain baggage information including allowances or restrictions.
  • View city guides and other useful links.
  • Access real-time departures and arrivals information.
  • Change your flights, upgrade your cabin class and claim refunds.
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How do I access Manage My Booking?

To access Manage My Booking, you just need your booking reference and last name. Regardless of where you made your reservation, your booking reference can be found on your ticket (in an area called 'PNR code' or 'Locator') or on your e-ticket itinerary receipt. The reference is a series of six characters containing letters and numbers.

If you are an Executive Club member and you are logged in to ba.com, you will be able to automatically list your booking references, which contain your Executive Club number.

If you are unable to see this reference on any of your documentation, please contact the company from where you purchased your ticket who will have a record of it.

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If my booking contains flights, which are not with British Airways, can I still access Manage My Booking?

You can access Manage My Booking to view any flights on your booking, provided there is at least one flight with a British Airways flight number.

Seat and meal request services, the Advance Passenger Information service, Online Check-in, if available, can only be used on flights with a British Airways flight number.

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If I made my booking with a travel agent, can I use Manage My Booking?

If you have booked through a travel agent and your booking contains at least one flight with a British Airways flight number, then simply use your travel agent's booking reference to access the Manage My Booking service.
There are two key service limitations, which may apply to a travel agent booking: 

  • You may not be able to view all of your flights in Manage My Booking. If this is the case, then this is because British Airways does not own the booking and is normally allowed to view it's own flights plus with preceding and succeeding connecting flights (regardless of airline). 
  • Changes made through Manage My Booking to British Airways flights will normally not be passed back to your travel agent booking.
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Are there any restrictions to which bookings I can access with Manage My Booking?

You will be unable to access Manage My Booking for any bookings that:

  • were made through our Group Bookings team or via a travel agent for a group, which includes any booking for 10 or more passengers
  • are for flights that have been flown or cancelled
  • include hotels, cars, experiences or transfers booked on iberia.com

Please contact us instead.

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If I make changes to my booking, how do I know that my changes have been stored in my booking?

You will be notified of any change to your booking by email, where an email address has been provided.

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If I make seat and meal requests, are they guaranteed?

Whilst we will do all we can to satisfy your request, the delivery of seat and meal requests cannot be guaranteed.

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Why can't I request a special meal on my flight?

Special meal requests cannot be made for travel on any UK Domestic flight. Special meals requests cannot be made on some Euro Traveller flights.

Check where you can request a special meal

If you are travelling on a standby or waitlist ticket you will be unable to request special meals on any route.

Kosher meal requests are not available on all services. Please check here to see where kosher meals are available. Special meal requests are unavailable on all other routes if your flight is due to depart within 24 hours.

Please note: Special meal requests on British Airways flights operated by our partner airlines may differ from above. Flights operated to/from London City airport have complimentary catering.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

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Can you tell me about the service where customers are able to print their own boarding pass?

From selected locations, customers using Online Check-in can print their own boarding pass at home or in the office and go straight to the central search security area on arrival. This then saves the customer visiting a Self-Service Check-in kiosk at the airport to collect their boarding pass.

The Online boarding pass needs to be printed on plain white A4 or letter paper and includes a unique 2D barcode, which will be scanned by airport security staff and checked off against information already in the system. When travelling from the UK, customers will need to provide photographic ID in the form of a passport, identity card or driving licence, along with their Online boarding pass, before they will be allowed to pass through security. At all other airport locations, the passport/identity card check will be carried out before boarding the aircraft.

The technology that is being used, along with the requirement for an approved type of photographic ID, means that customers can be reassured that security is in no way being compromised.

Customers with onward flights
If the Online boarding pass service is not available from the location that your onward journey or return journey departs, customers will need to collect their boarding passes for their onward/return journeys from a check-in or a Self-Service Check-in kiosk where available.

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