Making the most of the British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

This article is an advertisement feature by American Express

One valued benefit of the British Airways American Express® Accelerating Business Card is that it offers Cardmembers additional bonuses for spending on the Card.

When combined with the sign-up bonus, you could earn 150,000 Avios in your first year if you spend £60,000, meaning you’d be earning over 2 Avios per £1. No other Card, either from American Express® or elsewhere, can match this.

We wanted to take a look at exactly how this attractive earn rate works and what you could do with 150,000 Avios.

You can find out more, and apply, here.

Important legal information

The representative APR is 108.4% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 28.5% variable.

What is the British Airways American Express 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 Card (which we will now call “BA Amex Business” for short). 

The Card was relaunched in 2021 with a totally new earning structure. The package is a now a lot easier to understand, with the sign-up bonus, annual spend bonuses and day to day spending all earning Avios.

Is there a sign-up bonus?

Yes. The British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card comes with a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus if you are accepted for the Card and spend £5,000 within the first three months of Cardmembership.

You qualify for the bonus as long as you haven’t held a British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card or any other American Express Business Card within the last 12 months.

You WILL receive the bonus if you currently only have personal American Express Cards. This includes the personal British Airways American Express® Cards.

What is the day to day earning rate?

There are two ways to earn points with the BA Amex Business Card:

• You earn 1.5 Avios for virtually every eligible £1 you spend on the Card, plus
• You earn 2 On Business Points for every £1 (double the standard rate of 1 point per £1) you spend with British Airways

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

Earn an additional 30,000 Avios spend bonus

As well as earning 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend, you can also earn 30,000 Avios each (calendar) year as an annual spend bonus with the British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card.

Here’s how this works:

• You will receive 10,000 bonus Avios for every £20,000 of 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.

How you could earn 150,000 Avios in your first year

Combining the sign-up bonus, the day-to-day earn rate and the spend bonus means if you spend £60,000 in your first year, you’ll earn 150,000 Avios. Here’s the breakdown:

• 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus
• 90,000 Avios from spending on the card (1.5 Avios x 60,000)
• 30,000 Avios annual spend bonus

Where could 150,000 Avios take me?

150,000 Avios gives you plenty of very attractive redemption possibilities.

You get the best value from your Avios by using them on flights (see this article here about how best to use your Avios) so here’s a taster of how far you could go with 150,000 Avios*:

• Three economy return flights to Dubai (off-peak)
• One return flight to the St Lucia in Club World (off-peak)
• Three return flights to Santorini in Club Europe (off-peak)
• Two return flights to Johannesburg in World Traveller Plus (off-peak)
• Three return flights to Tel Aviv in World Traveller Plus (peak)
• Three return flights to Malaga in Club Europe (peak)

Who can apply for the BA Amex Business Card?

There are few requirements to get the BA Amex Business Card.  To quote from the Amex website:

• The business has a current UK Bank or Building Society account
• You/The business have/has no County Court Judgements for non-payment of debt
• You are aged 18 or over
• You have a permanent UK home address
• You will pay the annual Cardmembership fee of £250

For sole traders, you can give details of your personal bank account. There is no requirement for your business to be VAT registered.

Conclusion

If you have a small business, the British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card is now a far more interesting proposition following its relaunch last year.

If you can trigger annual spend bonuses for spending £30,000+ on the Card, you should earn 150,000 Avios in your first year, which has considerable value. And, if you continue to spend £60,000 a year on the Card, you will also continue to earn 120,000 Avios each year. This is enough Avios for two return flights from London to New York in economy (off-peak) plus taxes.

The Card has the same fee as the personal British Airways Premium Plus American Express® Credit Card. However, as you can hold both cards, even BA Premium Plus Cardmembers may want to apply for BA Amex Business, pick up the 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus and give the Card a try.

You can find full details, and apply, on the British Airways Accelerating Business website here.

* Examples 1, 3 and 6 are Reward Flight Savers and are British Airways’ best value reward flights. Reward Flight Saver offers customers great value flights with a low, flat fee to cover taxes, fees and carrier charges and a fixed Avios amount. To be eligible for Reward Flight Saver, you need to have collected at least one Avios in the past 12 months. If you are not eligible for Reward Flight Saver, you’ll be shown the standard reward flight price instead with full taxes, fees and charges. To  find out more about Reward Flights and/or Reward Flight Saver, visit here. All Avios amounts quoted were correct as April 2022. Reward Flights are subject to availability and schedules and airports are subject to change

Examples 2,4 and 5 are Reward Flights that are available to any Executive Club Members with an Avios balance. In addition to your Avios, the only cash amount required for Reward Flights is to cover the taxes, fees and carrier charges. Your chosen date of travel will determine whether you pay a peak or off-peak Avios amount. When booking Reward Flights, you can choose all peak dates, all off-peak dates or a mixture of the two. The taxes, fees and carrier charges will vary dependent on airline, class of travel and destination and will be calculated when you book your flights. Travel in World Traveller Plus (premium economy), Club Europe and Club World (business) and First will result in higher taxes, fees and carrier charges. The final fee (i.e. Avios plus payable taxes, fees and carrier charges) will be displayed at the final stage of your booking. 

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibly 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 and will get a fee or commission for a successful application.