ENDS SUNDAY: Huge 60,000 Avios bonus with the BA Accelerating Business credit card

If you run your own business, small or large, time is running out.

You have until Sunday night to pick up a huge 60,000 Avios sign-up bonus with the relaunched British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card.

Even better, even if you hold the personal British Airways American Express credit cards, you DO qualify for the bonus if you have some sort of small business income.

You can sign up here. The deadline is Sunday 14th November.

The card has a representative APR of 96.7% variable, including the annual fee of £250, based on a notional credit limit of £1,200. The representive APR on purchases is 22.2% variable.

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).

It was a confusing package with a weak bonus, paid in equally weak On Business points. The new package is a lot easier to understand, with the sign-up bonus, annual spend bonuses and day to day spending all earning Avios.

Get 60,000 Avios as your sign-up bonus

From 1st September, the sign-up bonus changed from On Business points to Avios.

You will receive 60,000 Avios if you are accepted for the card and spend £5,000 within three months.

This is the biggest ‘open to all new cardmembers’ sign up bonus we currently have on any American Express Business card. The 40,000 Membership Rewards points from American Express Business Platinum card only convert into 40,000 Avios, whilst the bonus on American Express Business Gold card is only worth 20,000 Avios.

The 60,000 Avios bonus is only available until Sunday 14th November.

It will drop to 30,000 Avios from Monday, so you have a lot to lose if you don’t apply now.

Do you qualify for the BA Amex Business sign-up bonus?

The rules for whether you qualify for the bonus are different to all other American Express cards.

You qualify for the bonus as long as you haven’t held any American Express Business cards, including the British Airways Accelerating Business card, in the previous 12 months.

In general, this means that the only people who are disqualified are those who have had Business Platinum, Business Gold, Amazon Business or Accelerating Business in the past year. There are also a handful of niche Business Amex cards out there which will disqualify you. Everyone else will be fine.

You WILL receive the bonus if you only have personal American Express cards. You can apply if you have one of the personal British Airways American Express cards – this doesn’t disqualify you from the 60,000 Avios on this card.

What is the annual fee?

The annual fee for BA Amex Business is £250. It is refundable pro-rata if you cancel.

The annual fee should be tax deductible if you use the card exclusively for business purposes.

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 which includes a promo code for signing up.

Earn 30,000 Avios each (calendar) year as an annual bonus

If you have a lot of spending, the BA Amex Business card now has an attractive annual bonus.

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.

Are there any other benefits?

You also get the typical American Express credit card benefits:

• Up to 56 days to pay interest free

• Up to 99 free supplementary 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

See this page of the American Express website for full details of these benefits.

Who can apply for the BA Amex Business card?

There are few requirements to get BA Amex Business.  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. You do not need to have a dedicated business bank account.

Conclusion

The changes that took place on 1st September turned BA Amex Business from an underwhelming card into a very generous one, at least for the first year.

This is especially true if:

• you can trigger annual spend bonuses for spending £20,000+ on the card each year, and/or

• you have substantial British Airways spending which will benefit from earning bonus On Business points

The special sign-up bonus of 60,000 Avios for spending £5,000 in three months, if you qualify, is worth taking very seriously.

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 cardholders may want to apply for BA Amex Business, pick up the 60,000 Avios sign-up bonus and give the card a try for a year.

You can find full details, and apply, on the British Airways Accelerating Business website here. The bonus of 60,000 Avios could be yours.

Remember that you must apply by Sunday 14th November to qualify – this is not stated on the Amex website, but you need to trust us …..

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. 

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending: