If you are a freelancer, self-employed, or running a small company in the UK, you may have overlooked one of the best travel loyalty programs available to businesses: British Airways’ On Business. It’s a separate program from the usual Avios points. On Business rewards your company for flights you take, even if you are already earning Avios personally.
Why I’m sharing this
A lot of my friends, freelancers or not, are always amazed that I travel all the time. (By the way, it’s not true, I don’t travel all the time, but every winter I get away for 2 months, and this sticks in people’s minds). Flights are not cheap, I try to always play the points game to travel with a discount. Last year, I used my Amex business credit card membership rewards points. For this coming winter, I am using my BA On Business points. I thought I would share the details here and help more people benefit from it.
My booking experience using On Business Points
After slowly accumulating points (just by linking my BA account with my On Business one), I am making use of them.
Here’s what I booked:
- London to Santiago, Chile – 5,500 On Business points + £288.72 in taxes (Economy class)
- Rio de Janeiro to London – 5,000 On Business points + £8.30 in taxes !!! (Economy class)
So two intercontinental flights covering nearly 12,000 miles for less than £300 in total.
That’s the real power of On Business: once you have enough points, taxes are often all you will pay.
What is BA On Business?
It’s a free loyalty scheme for companies based in the UK, EU, Switzerland, Norway, or North America.
You earn On Business points on top of any personal Avios you earn for flights, as long as your company is enrolled and you enter your OB number when booking.
Who can join?
You don’t need to be a big company.
I joined with my UK limited company (you can also use your sole trader info if you’re self-employed).
You’ll need to enter:
- Your company name and address
- A Companies House number or VAT number
- Your personal BA Executive Club ID to link your travel
The application takes less than 5 minutes.
Get 1,500 bonus points when you join
If you are joining, you can enter this referral code at signup to get 1,500 bonus points:
BA On Business referral code: OB14433405
Use this at https://onbusiness.britishairways.com when applying. The points will be added after your first eligible flight.
That’s enough to cover part of a short-haul economy flight, or start building toward something bigger.
Why this matters for freelancers and small company owners
If you are someone like me, a freelance or consultant, you likely book travel and miss out if you are not also collecting business points for your company.
I have earned rewards from flights I was already taking, just by entering my On Business number on the booking. So I didn’t change anything about the way I travel. However, I got two long-haul reward flights out of it. Whoop-whoop!
This isn’t a hack or a trick; It’s just a great program that many solo business owners ignore.
And if you already fly BA, you are potentially sitting on unused value.
If you’re ready to join, go to BA On Business website, use a referral code when you sign up. You can use the code OB14433405 and start with 1,500 extra points (added after your first flight)
And you can also look at Avios via a business Amex. It gives lounge access + worldwide travel insurance. So it works for me as a good combo.
If you have a question about how it works? Drop me a message. Happy days :)