MIRACLE! The British Airways On Business website is back after 16 months

Well, miracles can happen. Someone tell Rishi he may still have a chance!

Just 16 months after the website was (allegedly) hacked, British Airways On Business is back online.

You can log in to your account here.

There are two important things you need to know:

• you cannot log-in until you do ‘Forgot your password?’ and do a password reset

• you cannot access the website without using an authenticator app on your mobile phone

If you don’t know what an authenticator app is, it works in a similar way to many mobile banking apps which generate a transaction code. British Airways is supporting Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator and an independent one.

After downloading your choice of authenticator app, you use the camera on your phone (if using a desktop) to scan a QR code that ba.com shows on screen. The authenticator app will then generate a random number which you type into the website.

This seems to be a one-off requirement, but we will see.

No mobile phone? The comments below suggest that desktop authenticators are also available.

The website is fully back for earn and burn

The good news is that the website is back to the, admittedly limited, functionality it had before it went down in February 2023.

To be honest, I can’t tell if my statement is correct or not. Paid flights to Iceland and Sweden from earlier this year show. A couple of flights booked for me by third parties are not there but it is possible that the booker in those cases could override the OB number I put in with their own.

It seems that an On Business redemption I cancelled last year has not been recredited, but I need to look into this more closely.

Online booking for reward flights appears to be working OK.

What is very weird is a tab called ‘Statements archive’. This shows all of my transactions from 2012 to 2014, but nothing from 2015 onwards!

Points expiry is set at 31st December 2024

On Business points expire after three years, with no way of extending them. Expiry was suspended during the time that the website was down but you will see that you have a lot of points expiring on 31st December 2024.

It remains to be seen if British Airways will give a further extension here. Given that it is now late June, giving people just six months to redeem seems tight. Let’s see.

Anyway …. reset your password, download an authenticator app, log in and have a look around.

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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:

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.

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.

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.

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

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.