Amex makes positive changes to British Airways Accelerating Business credit card

This article is an advertising feature in partnership with American Express

American Express® has announced some changes today to the British Airways Accelerating Business Credit Card which is aimed at sole traders and small businesses. These will take effect from September 2021.

Overall the changes look positive and American Express appears to have come up with a good package.

Let’s take a look at the Card and what has changed.

What is the British Airways Accelerating Business Credit Card?

In 2019, American Express launched a new British Airways Credit Card for SME’s – the British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Credit Card (which I will now call “BA Amex Business” for short). 

The sign-up bonus and the annual spend bonus consisted of On Business Points, which are part of the British Airways small business loyalty scheme, whilst day to day spending on the Card earned Avios. The new package is easier to understand.

The day to day earning rate is improving

There are two ways to earn points with the BA Amex Business Card on day to day spend, with flight purchases at British Airways attracting an extra bonus.

From 1st September 2021:

• You earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend on the Card, plus

• You earn an additional 1 On Business Point for every eligible £1 you spend with British Airways, on top of your standard On Business earning rate (1 point per £1 for Tier 1 members)

On Business is the British Airways loyalty scheme for small businesses.  If you are not a member, please read our full review of British Airways On Business here. The On Business redemption chart, which British Airways does not make public, can be found in this HfP article.

What has changed is the additional bonus you receive when you purchase British Airways flight tickets. This increases from an extra 0.5 On Business Points per eligible £1 to 1 On Business Point.

The annual spend bonus is improving

The British Airways Accelerating Business Credit Card has always had an annual spend bonus, but from September this is improving. You used to receive 3,000 bonus On Business Points if you spent £20,000 on the Card during your membership year.

The annual bonus will now be paid as Avios.

You will receive 10,000 bonus Avios for every £20,000 of qualifying purchases you make on the Card.

You can earn this bonus up to three times per calendar year, meaning a maximum annual bonus of 30,000 Avios.

This means that, if you spent exactly £20,000 or £40,000 or £60,000 on the Card, you would be earning an average of 2 Avios per £1. No other card, either from American Express or elsewhere, can match this.

Is the annual fee changing?

The annual fee for BA Amex Business will be £250 from 1st September. This will apply from your next renewal date for existing Cardmembers.

Here is the current interest rate:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

Bonus: 30,000 Avios

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

• Get 30,000 Avios when you spend £5,000 within the first three months
• Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
• Receive 10,000 bonus Avios for every £20,000 you spend each year, up to three times a year

Other information:

• Earn 1.5 Avios per eligible £1 spent
• Get 1 bonus On Business point per £1 spent on qualifying BA flights
• Annual fee: £250

Representative 106.7% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £250 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 27.6% APR variable.

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will qualify for the bonus as long as you have not held an American Express Business card, including Accelerating Business, Business Gold and Business Platinum, in the previous 12 months.

There are no restrictions if you only have personal American Express cards at the moment, including the personal British Airways cards.

You need to spend £5,000 within the first three months to receive the bonus.

Certain items (the card fee, cash withdrawals etc) do not count towards the £5,000 target – check the card rules for full details.

Learn more about the card benefits +

The card comes with the typical American Express credit card benefits:

Up to 56 days to pay

Up to 20 complimentary cards for your employees

Travel inconvenience cover (with higher payouts if you or your baggage is delayed on a British Airways flight)

Travel accident protection

Purchase protection

Refund protection

Terms and conditions apply to all benefits.

What is happening to the sign up bonus?

The sign-up bonus will switch from On Business Points to Avios from September 2021.

You will receive 30,000 Avios when you sign up for the card and spend £5,000 within 90 days.

Conclusion

These changes to the BA Amex Business Card represent a welcome simplification and improvement to the overall package.

This is especially true if you can trigger annual spend bonuses for spending £20,000+ on the Card each year, and have substantial British Airways spending which will benefit from earning bonus On Business Points.

Cardmembers will receive full details of these changes from American Express over the next few days, with the changes taking effect from 1st September 2021. The sign-up bonus for new applicants will change at that time.

You can learn more about the Card on the British Airways Accelerating Business website.

American Express Services Europe Limited has its registered office at Belgrave House, 76 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9AX, United Kingdom. It is registered in England and Wales with Company Number 1833139 and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.