Compare the best Avios business credit cards

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Credit Card

• Up to 1% cashback or 1 Avios per pound spent
• Up to 10,000 bonus points when you spend £5,000 in 3 months
• Up to 20 free supplementary cards
• Up to 56 interest-free days on purchases each billing cycle

Representative example: When you spend £1,200 at a purchase rate of 39.41% (variable) p.a., your representative rate is 39.9% APR (variable).

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If you travel often for business, you’ll probably be familiar with the Avios scheme and with the amazing feeling you get when after months of stockpiling points you can finally go in and book a flight almost for free.

A business credit card that earns Avios points could speed up the process. A lot. Let’s dig deeper.

What is Avios and how can my business benefit from it?

Avios is a frequent flyer programme. You can earn points in a number of different ways, from booking flights with partner airlines to shopping at partner retailers (there are more than 150, from Apple to Domino’s to M&S), to using a credit card that earns Avios points.

Similarly, points can then be redeemed for a number of rewards, from free flights and hotel stays to wine gifts.

You’re probably the best person to judge if and how your business can benefit from Avios, but here are a few thoughts which may point you in the right direction:

• Consider how much you normally budget for expenses. If your team is small and the figure is low, it’s probably not worth the hassle.
• Think of how often you’re on the road. Or rather, on the plane. Most ways of earning and redeeming points have to do with travelling, preferably with one of Avios’ partner airlines.
• If you aren’t running a business of frequent travellers. It may still be worth it, but you’ll have to get creative and it will largely depend on whether you spend at Avios’ retail partners. If you do, why not earn Avios points on your shopping and see if you can turn them into a nice free meal for the team?

How can my business join Avios?

Bad news first: it can’t. Avios is a “personal” frequent flyer scheme: your Avios account only belongs to you, and you’ll be the only person able to use your membership card. So yeah, if different people in your business fly often, they’ll have to open different Avios accounts.

However, that doesn’t stop anyone from earning Avios points during their business trips or from redeeming them for business flights. It just means that points earned by different people can’t be accumulated into a single account.

In order to join Avios, you need to join one of its partner airlines’ clubs. You can choose among British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, AerClub and @MyAirItalyClub. They’re all free, so it all comes down to which airlines you use the most. Once you’ve joined, you’ll be given a card and a membership number that you can use or quote every time you want to collect or redeem Avios points.

How do business credit cards that offer Avios points work then?

We can hear you thinking: if you can’t join Avios as a business, why on earth should I get a business credit card that earns Avios points? Well, that’s exactly the point. These business credit cards let you earn Avios points on all your business spending, no matter what you’re paying for or that you’re actually the person in whose name flights and hotels are being booked.

With those cards, you earn points on the card’s scheme every time you use your business credit card. Those points can then be converted into Avios points and added to your personal Avios account, even though they have been collected on business spending (potentially by different people if you let your colleagues use your card or give them additional cards).

How to compare business credit cards that offer Avios points

Unlike with personal credit cards, the selection of credit cards earning Avios points isn’t exactly huge: basically, you can choose between Capital On Tap and American Express business cards. To make the right decision, you should consider:

• Earn rate. How many points will you get for every £1 you spend? And how many Avios points will the card scheme’s points be worth? For example, you can get an Amex business card that earns you 1 Membership Rewards point for every £1 you spend, and 1 Membership Rewards point = 1 Avios point.
• Annual fee. How much do you need to spend on the card to make it worth it?
• Sign-up bonus. It’s a factor to consider, although it doesn’t outweigh the value of a good card in the long term.
• Foreign transaction fees. If you travel a lot for business purposes, do you go overseas? If you do, you may want to look for a card that doesn’t charge extra fees when used abroad. Capital On Tap beats Amex on this.
• Flexibility. If you grow tired of Avios or realise it doesn’t fit your business, what else can you do with the points?
• Extra perks. Some cards complement the rewards with other nice features, such as lounge access or travel insurance.

Ultimately, it’s all about figuring out how much business spending you need to do on the card, and whether it’ll get you enough rewards to make up for the annual fee.

It’s also worth noting that these cards are all about the rewards but leave much to wish for when it comes to using them for borrowing. The Amex business cards are all charge cards, so you must pay the bill in full every month, while Capital On Tap’s credit cards have quite a high representative APR, so carrying a balance on them will turn out quite expensive.

American Express business cards

Amex offers one business card that earns Avios directly, while others let you collect Membership Rewards Points that can then be transferred to Avios.

Sort by:

Name	Product	Max. intro bonus	Default earn-rate	Annual/monthly fees	Rep. APR	Link	Incentive	Representative example
American Express Platinum Business Card		40,000 points	1 point per £1 spent	£595 p.a.	N/A (this product is a charge card).	Go to site More Info	Earn 40,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points when you spend £6,000 in first 3 months of Card membership. Earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for every £1 spent thereafter.		Compare	loading Fetching your data...
American Express Gold Business Card		20,000 points	1 point per £1 spent	Year 1 - £0, Year 2 onwards - £125	N/A (this product is a charge card).	Go to site More Info	Earn 20,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points when you spend £3,000 in first 3 months of Card membership. Earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for every £1 spent thereafter.		Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Amazon Business Prime American Express Card		£50 Welcome giftcard	1 point per £2 spent	Year 1 - £0, Year 2 onwards - £50 per annum	32.6% (variable)	Go to site More Info	Earn 2% Amazon Rewards on the first £120,000 in purchases each calendar year, 1% thereafter at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Business UK and Whole Foods Market UK, or 90 day extended payment terms on such purchases. Earn 0.5% Amazon Rewards on all other purchases.	Representative example: When you spend £1,200 at a purchase rate of 21.9% (variable) p.a. with a fee of Year 1 - £0, Year 2 onwards - £50 per annum, your representative rate is 32.6% APR (variable).	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Amazon Business American Express Card		£25 Welcome giftcard	1 point per £2 spent	£50 per annum	32.6% (variable)	Go to site More Info	Earn 1.5% Amazon Rewards on the first £120,000 in purchases each calendar year, 1% thereafter at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Business UK and Whole Foods Market UK, or 60 day extended payment terms on such purchases. Earn 0.5% Amazon Rewards on all other purchases.	Representative example: When you spend £1,200 at a purchase rate of 21.9% (variable) p.a. with a fee of £50 per annum, your representative rate is 32.6% APR (variable).	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card		N/A	1.5 points per £1 spent	£210 per annum	80.3% (variable)	Go to site More Info	Earn 1.5 On Business Points for every £1 spent with BA on eligible flights and 1.5 Avios for every eligible £1 spent on credit card. Earn an extra 3,000 On Business Points annually when £20K or more spent by card anniversary.	Representative example: When you spend £1,200 at a purchase rate of 22.2% (variable) p.a. with a fee of £210 per annum, your representative rate is 80.3% APR (variable).	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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Pros and cons of Avios business cards

Alternatives to Avios business cards

Unfortunately, there aren’t any other frequent flyer business credit cards available on the market at the moment, so if you have a different airline in mind, you’re out of luck. However, the Amex cards are still worth a thought because Membership Rewards points can also be redeemed for miles and points with a number of other airlines, including Delta and Virgin Atlantic.

Alternatively, you could consider a cashback business credit card: less fancy a reward, but you get more choice in terms of financial features.

Finally, if you’re looking for a business frequent flyer programme, have a look at British Airways’ On Business scheme. It lets you earn points as a business and redeem them for reward flights, while also earning Avios on your personal account.

Frequently asked questions

• What about the Avios Travel Rewards programme?

  It closed in July 2018. All former members have been moved to a British Airways Executive Club membership. Avios has remained as a currency but doesn’t have its own frequent flyer scheme anymore.

• How much are Avios points worth?

  That’s the million dollar question. It depends on a number of factors, such as what you redeem your points for and, if you’re looking at rewards flights, the airline you fly with, when you want to travel, where to and in which class. You can learn more about how the scheme works on our page about personal credit cards that earn Avios points.

• Do Avios points expire?

  You’ll need to spend or collect 1 Avios point every 36-month-period to avoid losing any points.

• What's a charge card again?

  Short answer: it’s like a credit card, but you can’t carry a balance from one month to the other. Long answer here.