British Airways Booking Reference & Record Locator: How to Find It

• A British Airways booking reference contains six letters and numbers.
• British Airways references do not contain the numbers 0 or 1.
• Use the reference with the passenger's surname in British Airways Manage My Booking.
• Do not enter a 13-digit ticket number in the six-character booking-reference field.

After you have found the reference, follow our British Airways Manage Booking guide for accessing and managing the reservation. This article stays focused on finding and understanding the code.

British Airways describes its booking reference as a series of six letters and numbers that uniquely identifies the booking. The code works with the complete passenger surname recorded in the reservation.

The reference identifies a reservation record; it is not proof by itself that an e-ticket was issued. It also does not necessarily identify the order in a travel agency's own system.

• The booking confirmation email.
• The e-ticket itinerary receipt, where it may be labelled PNR code, locator or booking reference.
• Spam or junk folders and deleted or archived messages.
• The email account used to make the booking.
• A boarding pass, where the reference is displayed.
• The British Airways Club or partner frequent-flyer account, if the membership number was attached.
• Booking details on the ticketing airline's or partner airline's website.

Useful email searches include British Airways, booking confirmation, e-ticket, record locator and the travel date. Check the sender and domain before opening links or sharing information.

A British Airways record locator and British Airways booking reference generally describe the same six-character reservation identifier. Another airline may call its own code a confirmation number or record locator.

One itinerary can carry more than one airline locator plus an agency order number. Codes are not automatically interchangeable, so identify which provider issued each one before deciding that a booking is missing.

• Booking reference: six alphanumeric characters for the reservation record.
• E-ticket number: 13 digits for an issued ticket.
• British Airways Manage My Booking expects the booking reference and surname, not a 125 ticket number.
• A payment receipt or card charge is not a substitute for an e-ticket receipt.

The ticket-number prefix identifies the ticketing carrier, sometimes called the validating carrier. It does not necessarily identify the airline operating every flight on the itinerary.

• A British Airways-issued e-ticket has 13 digits and begins with 125.
• An American Airlines-issued e-ticket has 13 digits and begins with 001.
• American Airlines separately uses a six-letter confirmation code, also called a record locator.
• 001 is a ticket-number prefix, not an American Airlines booking reference.

A valid British Airways itinerary can be issued on partner-airline ticket stock. Do not assume that every itinerary containing BA flights must have a 125 ticket number.

1. 1

   Identify the number you still have

   Check whether it is an agency order number, an airline locator or a 13-digit e-ticket number.

2. 2

   Search the booking email account

   Check confirmation, e-ticket, spam, deleted and archived messages using the airline name and travel date.

3. 3

   Check connected accounts

   Look in the relevant airline or frequent-flyer account if the membership number was attached.

4. 4

   Open the ticketing or partner airline's booking details

   The associated other-airline reference may appear, although this is not guaranteed for every website or booking type.

5. 5

   Contact the ticket issuer

   Ask the airline or travel agency that sold the ticket to confirm the airline locator after verifying your identity.

If the trip was booked through Catchaflight, we can retrieve our own booking records after appropriate verification. If it was booked directly with an airline or another agency, we cannot access that provider's private reservation.

If the British Airways Club number was attached, the booking may appear after login. Otherwise, British Airways directs passengers who cannot see the reference on their documents to the company that sold the ticket.

American Airlines currently describes an eligible travel-credit lookup using either its confirmation code or a 13-digit 001 ticket number. That is an American Airlines travel-credit function, not a way to replace the reference in British Airways Manage My Booking.

• The code belongs to a partner airline rather than the British Airways record.
• The number is an agency order reference or ticket number rather than an airline locator.
• The surname entry does not match the complete surname stored in the reservation.
• The itinerary has no flight carrying a British Airways flight number.
• The booking is a restricted type, such as certain group bookings, or the flights have been flown or cancelled.
• The airline website or session is temporarily not returning the record.

Confirm the code and recorded surname with the ticket issuer before repeatedly guessing. Once they are confirmed, use the Manage Booking guide for access troubleshooting rather than broad booking-management instructions here.

If two family names were entered in the surname field, using only one may fail. Check the family-name portion of the e-ticket itinerary receipt rather than assuming which part the reservation stored.

British Airways says its systems cannot show the spaces or characters separating names, so a correctly provided name may display without a space, hyphen or apostrophe. This display limitation is not a reason to invent new formatting rules.

If the complete recorded surname and verified locator still fail, contact the ticket issuer instead of repeatedly trying different name combinations. For check-in-specific problems after the booking is found, see our British Airways check-in guide.

Consider an anonymised itinerary from Tucson to Dallas–Fort Worth on American Airlines, Dallas–Fort Worth to London Heathrow on British Airways, and London Heathrow to Milan on British Airways. The traveller may have separate American Airlines and British Airways record locators for the same journey.

Someone who booked through American Airlines may first try the American confirmation code on ba.com. If BA does not recognise it, that does not automatically mean the reservation is missing or cancelled; the British Airways locator may be required.

In our practical agency experience, retrieving the reservation on the partner airline's website normally displays an associated other-airline reference. This is useful, but it is not a guarantee that every airline website and every booking type will display every locator.

British Airways says a travel-agent booking reference can be used in Manage My Booking when the reservation contains at least one flight with a British Airways flight number. It also notes that some flight details or functions may be limited because BA does not own the booking.

If the document shows several identifiers, ask the original agency which is its order number, which is the airline booking reference and which carrier issued the ticket. Voluntary changes or cancellations generally belong with the ticket issuer; see our changes and cancellations guide only if that becomes the next task.

• A booking reference is evidence that a reservation record exists.
• It does not by itself prove that an e-ticket was issued.
• Flights may display as confirmed while a reservation is held or ticketing is incomplete.
• A valid 13-digit e-ticket number is important evidence that a ticket was issued.
• A payment receipt or card charge does not replace an e-ticket receipt.

Do not conclude that a booking is unpaid simply because a ticket number is not visible. Ask the ticket issuer to confirm ticketing status when the evidence is unclear.

What we can do

• Explain the different reference-number types.
• Help identify which carrier's locator may be needed.
• Guide a traveller through the appropriate public airline website.
• Ask basic troubleshooting questions.
• Explain which airline or booking provider to contact.
• Retrieve a Catchaflight booking after appropriate verification.

What we cannot do

• Access another agency's private reservation records.
• Retrieve or modify an unrelated booking.
• Guarantee that an airline website will recognise a reference.
• Confirm ticketing without suitable evidence.
• Act as British Airways or present our phone number as official British Airways support.

Contact the airline that issued the ticket, the operating or partner airline when its locator is required, or the original travel agency. Our agency disclaimer explains this role, and our contact page is for appropriate assistance requests.

If paid agency work is requested, review the Fare Disclosure and Post-Ticketing Service Fees before authorising payment.

• Six-character British Airways reference identified, with no 0 or 1.
• Agency order number separated from airline locators.
• British Airways and partner-airline locators checked where applicable.
• Complete recorded passenger surname confirmed from the itinerary receipt.
• Thirteen-digit ticket number kept separate from the booking-reference field.
• Ticketing carrier identified from the ticket prefix without assuming it operates every flight.
• Ticket issuer contacted if ticketing status or the correct locator remains uncertain.
• No booking, ticket, passport, card or itinerary details posted publicly.

For broader information about British Airways flights, fares and connections, visit our British Airways airline guide.