BA Accelerating Business Amex: Avios Rate Cut and On Business Points Axed

If you hold the British Airways American Express Accelerating Business card, brace yourself: from 7 October 2026, both the Avios earn rate and On Business point earning are being cut - and by the sounds of it, the changes are even more significant than those already announced for the personal BA Amex Premium Plus. This is the second major BA Amex devaluation confirmed in the space of a week, and it lands on top of an Avios devaluation in December and a reward flight surcharge increase in May.

The same date that triggers the earn rate cut on the personal BA Amex Premium Plus - 7 October 2026 - is now confirmed as the date that the Accelerating Business card also changes. Two elements are affected: the Avios earn rate is being reduced, and On Business points are being removed entirely. The removal of On Business earning is particularly painful for business cardholders, since On Business points are separate from personal Avios and can be redeemed for reward flights and upgrades for any employee travelling on company business.

On Business is British Airways' small-business loyalty programme, running entirely separately from Executive Club. Every pound spent on the Accelerating Business card has been earning On Business points alongside personal Avios - meaning cardholders were effectively double-dipping on two separate currencies at once. That made the card genuinely compelling for SME owners who wanted to accumulate both personal travel rewards and company reward flights for staff.

Stripping On Business out entirely removes that dual-earn structure completely. You can use the BA Avios flight calculator to get a sense of what your remaining Avios are worth in flight redemptions - but the On Business side of the equation simply disappears after October.

The exact new earn rate has not yet been publicly confirmed in full detail, so we will update this article when the specific new rate is announced. What we do know is that the current card earns 1.5 Avios per £1 on general spend, with an accelerated rate on BA spend - and that both the Avios rate and the On Business earning are being cut.

To put the On Business loss in context: a business spending £50,000 per year on the card would previously have been accumulating a meaningful pot of On Business points alongside personal Avios. Those On Business points could be redeemed for short-haul reward flights at relatively modest levels - for example, a return London to Edinburgh reward flight. That secondary accumulation is simply gone from October. You can check what your current Avios balance might be worth with the Avios value calculator.

The immediate priority is to review whether you have any On Business points balance sitting unused. Since the programme itself is not shutting down - only the card's ability to earn On Business points is being removed - any points already banked should remain redeemable. Now is a sensible time to plan a redemption before you lose the momentum of further accumulation.

Beyond that, it is worth doing a proper comparison of business credit cards to see whether the Accelerating Business card still makes sense in your wallet after October - or whether a different card better serves your earning goals. The Capital on Tap Business card is one option worth considering for businesses focused on Avios earning, with a straightforward earn structure and no airline-specific restrictions.

It is hard to look at this announcement in isolation. In the space of roughly ten months, BA Amex cardholders have absorbed: a significant Avios devaluation in December 2025 that reduced the redemption value of existing balances; a rise in taxes and fees on reward flights in May 2026; the personal BA Amex Premium Plus losing its 3x earn rate on BA spend and being cut to 1.25 Avios per £1; and now the Accelerating Business card losing both its earn rate and On Business earning on 7 October 2026.

Each individual change might be manageable in isolation. But cumulatively, the value proposition of holding a BA co-branded Amex card - personal or business - has materially weakened. Anyone who built a points strategy around these cards in 2024 is working with noticeably different maths today.

From 7 October 2026, the Avios earn rate on the BA American Express Accelerating Business card is being reduced, and On Business point earning is being removed entirely. Both changes take effect on the same date as the cuts to the personal BA Amex Premium Plus.

No - the change removes the card's ability to earn new On Business points, not your existing balance. Points already accumulated in your On Business account should remain available to redeem. You should plan any redemptions sooner rather than later now that further earning from this card will stop.

That depends entirely on the new earn rate once it is officially confirmed. The dual-earn structure - Avios plus On Business - was a significant part of the card's appeal for small business owners. With On Business removed and the Avios rate cut, it will be worth comparing against alternatives using the credit card comparison tool once the new rates are public.

No - Avios already earned and sitting in your Executive Club account are unaffected by this card change. Only the rate at which you earn new Avios through card spending changes from October onwards.

The British Airways American Express Accelerating Business card is facing its sharpest ever devaluation, with an Avios earn rate cut and the complete removal of On Business point earning - both effective 7 October 2026. For business cardholders who chose this card specifically for its dual-earn structure, the post-October product is fundamentally different to what they signed up for. If you hold the card, review your On Business balance now, consider any redemptions before October, and model whether the revised earn rate - once confirmed - still justifies the annual fee versus the alternatives.

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Currensea Hilton Honors Debit Card: 30,000 points after spending £2,500 in 6 months (£1.5/yr)

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