Originally Posted by
haasha
Correct.
That would be my understanding too, though I haven't got precise experience of this. However I do know that if you quote your BA number "on the off chance", it is quite probable you won't get anything at all.
A few Flying Blue miles can be useful for some purposes, so it's worth having a wee kitty of them stashed for a rainy day. Note that they are changing their system at the moment (greater availability, lower charges, but more miles required outside Y, to give a brutal summary). However they are letting people redeem at the previous rate if done by telephone by the end of this year.