thank you very much for the prompt and quick responce.The difference in price between BA-AA sites and the travel sites is about 100 pounds,enough to cover my hotel in Manchester the night before i travel to JFK but on the other hand i would not like to risk losing those 280 points.I am thinking of doing what you suggested,book it through one of those sites,give them my BAEC number and then after a few days call the gold member line of BA to look for my booking and then add manual my reservation to their tier point-avios systems.Those are pretty popular sites so i have more chances of succeeding that even if i can see this on travelup site
<< Please note that with regards to assistance, seating, meals and frequent flyer type, the above are only requests to the airlines. We cannot guarantee that your requests will be honored and recommend that you confirm with the airline before departure.>>

So you were correct and i will have to confirm that with BA or AA before i fly.
Thank you again so much for your time and quick responce
Crestfallen