Is someone secretly stealing your British Airways On Business points?

A reader dropped me an email to tell me how a number of employees at his Mayfair investment fund had been ‘let go’ recently after it was found that they were stealing British Airways On Business points.

Is anyone stealing yours?

On Business is the British Airways loyalty scheme for small and medium sized businesses.  The only criteria for joining is that you have a VAT number.  I wrote a two-part On Business review here and here.

On Business allows a company to collect points every time one of its employees flies.  The scheme works in a similar way to Avios, except that it is 100% revenue based on the earning side.  The more you spend on a ticket, the more points you earn.  These can be redeemed for free flights or upgrades.

The important thing to note is that you can earn BOTH On Business points and Avios on the same flight.   Signing up for On Business does not impact the ability of your staff to collect Avios points.

But where are your points actually going?

If you or others in your company fly British Airways a lot, it is very likely that you have an On Business account.  But do you know who actually benefits from it?

Would you know if a member of staff had secretly opened an account in the name of your company and was inserting the number into all of your bookings?

When I worked in Private Equity, we had a very clear system for distributing the points.  At our Christmas party, the names of all the support staff were put into a hat and one drawn out.  That person ‘won’ the entire On Business points pot for the year and could book whatever they wanted with it.  It was a decent prize given the amount of travel we did, especially as this was before the last OB devaluation.

If you have never seen a big flight giveaway at your company, you might want to be suspicious.   There is no easy way to check if there is an On Business number in a booking, because if one has been added via a GDS the option to add one will still show in ba.com in my experience – but if you put something in yourself it won’t override what is already there.

If you don’t think that your company is collecting On Business points, perhaps you should suggest they do.  If nothing else, the free flights could be given away at Christmas or raffled off to raise money for charity.  It is a shame to let them go to waste.

The sign-up page is here (click ‘Join On Business’ in the menu bar).  If you are signing up, you will qualify for a special sign-up bonus of triple points for your first six one-way flights within 12 months of joining.  If you say on your application form that you were referred by member OB10171896 then I receive a small referral points bonus – thank you.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

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