I am new here and I'm sure with all the 'seasoned' f/f's here this question will seem silly but here goes....

I am a member of BA's frequent flyer program and also a member of AA's, though very low miles in each.

I suspect I will be using BA more than AA. Since they are both members of the OneWorld program, can I book an AA ticket but put the miles in my BA account?

Or is it that only when you have enough miles to redeem, that you can use any airline belonging to the OneWorld program?

It is just confusing because on BA's website they say you can earn miles on any of the other airline partners, but I'm not sure how to get the AA miles to the BA account. At present I am yet to book my AA ticket, I was wondering if there is something I should be doing before I book to get the miles on the BA account.

Thank you.

Brook - welcome to FlyerTalk. Yes you can use your BA account number when making the reservations with AA and I know that our more esteemed members will be able to provide step-by-step guidance on the process. Again, welcome to FT!

Welcome to FT, brook.

I'm sure someone with more BA experience will come along and offer more insight.

In the meantime, I will say that you usually can earn miles on one partner when flying another. Just enter the account # you want to earn on when you book the ticket. If the web site does not accept the #, you can call and have it added to your reservation.

Moving your existing AA miles to BA is a bit more difficult, and you will likely lose miles in the process. InsideFlyer offers a mileage converter to help you figure out ways to do this. Depending on how many miles you have, it might be better to 'top off' the AAdvantage account to redeem for an AAward or upgrade.

AA.com does not accept other OW FF #s. If that ticket is booked on line, OP will need to call AA to manually enter the #. This was the case when I booked AA tickets about 6-7 months ago.

There are some exceptions to the usual oneworld rules (about being able to collect miles for one FF program, eg BA, when flying on another OW carrier, eg AA) when it comes to trans-Atlantic flights. I'm not sure what the current rules say, but it may be that you can't collect BA miles flying AA across the Atlantic and vice-versa (i.e. can't collect AA miles when flying BA over the Atlantic). Check the rules for both programs.

Kate has the right of it. AA and BA have an agreement that they will NOT credit each other's programs with US-UK flights. I believe they will on Canada-UK and Mexico-UK.

Thus, you'll want to credit your transatlantic flights to the carrier on which you fly.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, btw!

If flying discount economy class, earning miles and credits towards elite status is anywhere from 0-25% of actual miles on BA while actually flying BA. On AA, all but 1 or 2 discount economy class fares earn 100% actual miles and status towards elite status when flying AA in AA's FFP.

AA will credit BA flights to/from non-US points in North America; BA will not credit any AA transatlantic flights, even those to Paris or Rome etc.

Thank you very much for all the helpful information.

Actually, ALL fares earn 100% miles on AA. Only 5 fares Q,S,O,N,G earn .5 elite points per mile.

From AA.COM:

Tickets between North America and Europe, India, Asia and Latin America booked in O and Transatlantic tickets booked in Q are not eligible for mileage credit.

Ooops, you are correct. I never actually seen those fare buckets on those routes so it slipped my mind.

AA miles are easier to earn than BA on discounted tickets (but note the prior post on fare codes across the pond). On some routes (eg Europe-Africa), it is a lot "cheaper" to buy a ticket with AA miles, esp in premium cabins.
That said, BA has better 2 4 1 type deals (such as the much vaunted BA amex voucher which you can read about on the BA board).
Welcome also