The On Business devaluation BA told you about …. and the secret one they didn’t

If your company is a member of the British Airways On Business programme, it will have received an email on Monday. This explained that Marriott will no longer be a partner and that from the end of the year you can no longer redeem for Marriott Stay Certificates.

(If you don’t know about On Business, I wrote two introductory articles here and here. If you are self-employed – with a Companies House registration number – then you should definitely be a member. Here is a fantastic sign-up bonus as well.)

The Marriott certificates were not a terrible deal, so it is sad to see them go. The certificates have a 15 month validity, though, so any voucher redemptions made now will still be valid at hotels throughout 2014.

That said, I never redeemed my On Business points for one because they were historically far more valuable when redeemed for BA flights.

However …. that has changed for business class flights.

Historically, when you used your On Business points to book a British Airways flight, you would almost always see availability. I booked a return flight from Germany to London at fairly short notice over the Summer, and despite return cash tickets in Economy being over £400 I was still able to make an On Business redemption.

If you redeem your On Business points for Club World or Club Europe flights, though, it is now a lot harder.

Without telling anyone, BA has changed the way On Business redemptions work. Historically, you could book into ‘D’ class, which is not the cheapest level of Club World or Club Europe.

As of a few weeks ago, Club World and Club Europe redemptions only book into ‘R’ class. This is the cheapest available revenue ticket. If all of the super-cheap Club World or Club Europe tickets have been sold for the flight you want, On Business can no longer book onto it.

This fact wasn’t in the latest On Business email, interestingly.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.