British Airways rolls over tier status for On Business members – although their points are still stuffed

On Business is the British Airways loyalty scheme for small businesses.

British Airways On Business allows the company booking your travel – which can be your own company if you are self employed – to earn additional points on top of the Avios and tier points earned by the traveller.

You can find out more about On Business on the BA website here.

However, you’ll learn more by reading our comprehensive review of British Airways On Business here.  There is also a referral code in that article to get you a bonus on your first flight.

On Business was gutted in a shake-up a few years ago.  Even British Airways admits that this went too far and a relaunch is currently in development.  You need to spend £30,000 per year with British Airways to reach the first elite tier in the scheme, which is out of reach for the majority of SMEs.

How is British Airways helping On Business members due to coronavirus?

On Business status members received an email from British Airways yesterday.  Non-status members don’t seem to have received anything.

The good news is that On Business is rolling over tier status to 2021.  This will come as a surprise to British Airways Executive Club members, who are now virtually the only elite frequent flyers in the world not to have received an automatic status roll-over.

A status roll-over only helps a very small percentage of On Business members, however, because the spend required to earn status is high.

The bad news is that On Business is not stopping your points expiring.

Unlike the Executive Club, On Business points have a hard expiry date.  There is nothing you can do, even with On Business elite status, to stop them expiring after three years.

When I log in to my account, for example, I see this:

As it happens, I am lucky.  I have a very small number of points expiring on 31st December 2020.  If I end up losing 635 of my 18,994 point balance it won’t be a disaster.

Other people won’t be so lucky.

I fully appreciate that it is only April, so the points will not expire for eight months anyway.  I also appreciate that you only need to book by 31st December 2020, with travel possible in 2021.  However, if British Airways is willing to roll over status for a year, it should also be willing to roll over your On Business points for a year.

What is the position with cancelling On Business redemptions?

If you have an On Business redemption flight booked, the situation is the same as for an Avios booking.

If you are willing to take the hybrid ‘points and cash’ voucher – which I don’t recommend – then you can order it online.  If you want your taxes refunding in cash and the On Business points putting back into your account, you need to brave the call centre queue.

What is NOT clear is what happens if you need to cancel a redemption which was made using On Business points which expired on 31st December 2019.

(EDIT: Reader comments below are that cancelled flights mean your points are returned with an extended 2020 expiry date.)

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

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

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

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

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:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)