Best air miles business credit card UK

An air miles business credit card can help you manage your small business cash flow while rewarding you with travel perks.

Here we’ll be examining which cards offer the most suitable ways of accumulating business air miles and what other rewards are on offer too. We’ll be looking at a range of products, from charge cards aimed at small businesses to credit cards with corporate level rewards.

And if you are interested in an alternative option to credit cards we'll touch on Wise Business Cards, debit cards that allows you to spend in 150+ countries and earn 0.5% cashback on your spending.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

Best business credit card for air miles

Air miles is an interchangeable name for frequent flyer points, travel points or travel rewards. In most cases, you get points by spending on your business card, with options to boost your rewards in certain ways. You then convert your points into air miles.

When looking for the best credit card for air miles, pay attention to how you can earn air miles, the various limits, plus other important information like fees and charges. Some of the cards in this article also offer other perks like free access to business software.

Air miles programs

Airline	Air mile program
Air France	Flying Blue
American Airlines	AAdvantage
British Airways	Avios
Cathay Pacific	Previously called Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club, now combined into Cathay Pacific’s ‘Membership’
Delta Air Lines	SkyMiles
Emirates	Emirates Skywards
Etihad Airways	Etihad Guest
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines	Flying Blue
Lufthansa	Miles & More
Qatar Airways	Privilege Club
Qantas	Qantas Frequent Flyer
Singapore Airlines	KrisFlyer
Turkish Airlines	Miles&Smiles
United Airlines	MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic	Flying Club

Air miles business credit card: overview

We’re going to look at 3 air miles credit cards, and 2 air miles charge cards across 2 well known providers.

• Capital On Tap business card
• Capital On Tap pro card
• Amex business gold
• Amex business platinum
• British Airways Amex accelerating business card

Bank/ Provider	Fees	Air mile program
Capital On Tap Business Card	£01	Avios1
Capital On Tap Pro Card	£2991	Avios1
American Express Business Gold	First year £0, subsequent years £1952	Avios and Virgin Atlantic
American Express Business Platinum	£6503	Air Canada, Air Europa, Air India, Delta, Emirates, Etihad, jetBlue, Qantas, Qatar, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic4
British Airways Amex accelerating business card	£2505	Avios5

Comparing business credit card with air miles: criteria

In this article, we’ll be looking at how these popular air miles cards compare, based on criteria including:

• Eligibility, paying special attention to earnings and business turnover
• Features and services
• Fees, including foreign exchange
• The Air mile program itself, including how much you need to spend to earn points

Capital On Tap business card

Founded in London 2012, Capital On Tap is associated with high quality technology and integrations designed to make running a small business easier.

Capital On Tap’s business credit card is aimed at small business owners. The minimum turnover required for eligibility is £2,000 per month, which is a little higher than some of the other cards in this review. Sole traders are not eligible for a Capital On Tap air miles business credit card.

Customers can issue cards with personalised usage limits to other directors and employees, earn travel rewards and integrate it with Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and other accounting software.

Over on Trustpilot, the 15k+ customers who’ve left reviews appear to appreciate Capital On Tap, rating it 4.7 stars out of 5. Common themes include easy onboarding and reliable customer service.⁶

Features overview

This card is big on handy features. Customers can take advantage of the following:

• Card Preloading to increase your credit limit and clear pending balances to simplify accounting
• Mobile wallet compatible cards
• 24/7 customer support
• Credit limit of up to £250,000
• Digital receipt storage
• Spending alerts
• Automatic expense categorisation

Fees and eligibility

Fees and charges¹:

• No annual fee
• Uncapped 1% cashback on all card spending
• 14.40% APR (variable)

To be eligible for a Capital On Tap business credit card, you must:

• Be private limited company (Ltd) or limited liability partnership (LLP)
• Have no unsatisfied CCJs against you or your business in the last 12 months
• Be registered with Companies House
• Have a turnover of at least £2,000 per month
• Not be a sole trader, charity, PLC, trust, fund or Royal Charter

As far as using this as an air miles business credit card, the process is relatively straightforward.

This one isn’t strictly an air miles card, but a business card with a points-based travel perks program that also includes lounge access and Radisson Hotels rewards. You can convert your card points to Avios. 10 points convert to 8 Avios.⁷

Capital On Tap pro card - features overview

For a £299 annual fee,¹ customers get everything available on the Capital On Tap business card, plus:

• 10,000 bonus points when spending £5,000 in the first 3 months
• 1.25% cashback on all preloaded card spend
• Unlimited access to 1,600+ airport lounges for the main cardholder
• 2 Free guest lounge passes per year
• VIP status with Radisson Rewards
• Dedicated 24/7 customer service
• 6 months’ free access to Xero for customers who don’t already have a Xero account

Whether or not the Pro version is worth your consideration really boils down to whether you think you’ll take advantage of the premium features such as bonus points and airport lounge access.

For small UK business owners who travel a lot, it could be a relatively simple calculation based on the annual fee vs airport lounge access alone. If you think that’s worth £299 a year and that you’ll use it, then the pro version is probably a worthwhile upgrade.

If you don’t imagine spending as much as £5,000 in the first 3 months, it’s quite possible that everything you’ll need is covered by the free version.

Fees and eligibility

Fees and charges:¹

• £299 annual fee
• 1.25% cashback on all preloaded card spending
• 14.40% APR (variable)

To be eligible for a Capital On Tap business credit card, you must:

• Be private limited company (Ltd) or limited liability partnership (LLP)
• Have no unsatisfied CCJs against you or your business in the last 12 months
• Be registered with Companies House
• Have a turnover of at least £2,000 per month
• Not be a sole trader, charity, PLC, trust, fund or Royal Charter

Amex business gold

American Express is an iconic business card brand with a range of product tiers including charge cards and credit cards.

Before we dive into the Amex Business Gold card, let’s look at the important distinctions between charge cards and credit cards.

Charge cards:

• Typically need to be paid in full every month to avoid late fees
• Have no preset credit limit, but providers like Amex may not approve unusually large payments
• Come with a range of benefits

Credit cards:

• Typically do not need to be paid in full every month, but do have minimum payments
• Have pre-agreed credit limits
• Come with a range of benefits

Amex Business Gold is a charge card, not a credit card. For this reason, it has quite accessible eligibility criteria, no interest to pay because Amex isn't giving you a line of credit beyond 54 days, and no credit limit.

Like many American Express credit cards, you can earn Membership Rewards points, which you can convert into air miles via two programs; Avios, which includes a number of airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.²

With the Amex Gold card, you earn 1 Membership Rewards point for every £1 you spend and 2 Membership Rewards points for every £1 you spend with American Express Travel Online.⁸ You then transfer your points to whichever participating loyalty program you want, be that Avios, Virgin Atlantic or another category entirely.

The Membership Rewards points transfer at different rates, depending on where you redeem them. The good news is, air miles type rewards are typically among the best ways to use your points. With the Amex Gold card, your Membership Rewards points transfer 1:1 to Avois.⁹

So how do customers like Amex Gold?

While there aren’t specific Trustpilot review pages for individual Amex air miles credit cards, the American Express company rating isn’t good. They score 1.8 out of 5 from more than 500 reviews¹⁰. Take this with a small pinch of salt though, as people generally only review their credit card provider when they’re having problems.

Features overview

Customers can take advantage of the following features:

• Full participation in Membership Rewards program
• 24/7 customer support
• No credit limit
• Up to 20 employee cards
• 54 days interest-free period on purchases
• 10,000 extra Membership Rewards points on purchases when spending £20,000 or more per quarter, up to an additional 40,000 points per year
• 20,000 points when you spend £3,000 in the first three months
• 9,000 bonus points if a business you refer is accepted for a card
• Partner discounts
• Hotel discounts and upgrades
• Up to £100 worth of statement credits when you spend with Dell
• American Express experiences, including pre-sale access to popular events and shows
• Emergency card replacement
• Travel insurance
• Purchase protection
• Refund protection

Fees and eligibility

Fees and charges²:

• No annual fee for the first year, £195 after the first year
• The foreign exchange fee is 2.99% of transaction once converted to sterling ¹¹
• £12 late payment fee on balances of more than £12¹¹
• £12 returned payment fee¹¹

To be eligible for an Amex Gold business card, you must:

• Be 18 years old or older
• Have a permanent UK address
• Earn at least £20,000 per year

And your business must:

• Have a current UK bank or building society account

Amex business platinum

The Amex Business platinum is also a charge card. There’s an annual fee of £650³ and you need to earn £35,000 per year. In return you get some extra features and benefits, plus higher spend-related reward thresholds compared to the Amex business gold card, but the two cards are otherwise quite similar.

Differences between platinum and gold:

	Platinum	Gold
Annual fee	£650	£195, first year free
Rewards Points cap	120,000	40,000
Bonus points	50,000 when spending £6,000	20,000 when spending £3,000

Features overview

Customers can take advantage of the following features:

• 24/7 customer support
• No credit limit
• Up to 19 additional Gold employee cards
• 54 days interest-free period on purchases
• 10,000 extra Membership Rewards points on purchases when spending £20,000 or more per quarter, up to an additional 120,000 points per year
• 50,000 points when you spend £6,000 in the first three months
• 18,000 bonus points if a business you refer is accepted for a card
• Global Lounge Collection to access 1,400 airport lounges around the world
• Partner discounts
• Hotel discounts and upgrades
• Up to £150 worth of statement credits when you spend with Dell
• Up to £300 worth of statement credits when you hire staff with Indeed
• Complimentary subscription to The Times
• American Express experiences, including pre-sale access to popular events and shows
• Emergency card replacement
• Travel insurance
• Purchase protection
• Refund protection

Fees and eligibility

Fees and charges³:

• No annual fee for the first year, £195 after the first year
• The foreign exchange fee is 2.99% of transaction once converted to sterling¹²
• £12 late payment fee on balances of more than £121²
• £12 returned payment fee¹²

To be eligible for an Amex Platinum business card, you must:

• Be 18 years old or older
• Have a permanent UK address
• Earn at least £35,000 per year

And your business must:

• Have a current UK bank or building society account

Of all the Amex cards we’re going to look at, this one has the highest potential for air mile accumulation due to the bonus points on offer.

British Airways Amex accelerating business card

The BA Amex is an air miles credit card, so spending and managing it works differently to the gold and platinum charge cards we’ve looked at.

You also have access to an optional feature called Plan It™. With this you pay an up-front fee to spread payments for larger purchases, but avoid paying interest.⁵

Features overview

The air miles are based on the same fundamentals as the gold and platinum. Although this card is more closely tied into the British Airways’ reward programs Avios and On Business⁵. You earn your Avios points directly and the reward structure is slightly different

You can earn 1.5 Avios on purchases and 2 On Business points for every £1 spent with British Airways. For every £20,000 you spend, you can get 10,000 bonus Avios. You can do this no more than 3 times a year.⁵

Fees and eligibility

Fees and charges^5:

• There’s an annual fee of £250
• The card has a representative APR of 106.7% variable
• Purchases and balance transfers attract an APR of 27.6%¹³
• Cash advances attract an APR of 28.65%¹³
• The international, or ‘non-sterling’ transaction fee is 2.99% after Amex has converted the transaction into GBP¹³
• There’s a £12 fee if you fail to pay the minimum monthly payment of £25 within 56 days¹³

To be eligible to apply, you need:

• To be aged 18 or over
• To have a permanent UK home address
• To pay the annual Card membership fee of £250

And the business must:

• Have a current UK Bank or Building Society account

How to choose the right business credit card with air miles?

If you’re considering a business credit card with air miles, identify the criteria that best matches how you run your business. Avoid paying for things you won’t use.

So, if you want points but don’t want business lending, the two Amex charge cards might be suitable. If you want access to additional benefits aside from airmiles, Capital On Tap’s business credit card could work, especially for a small UK business.

Wise Business cards: international expenses made easy

If your business operates internationally and your employees are regularly spending time abroad for work, Wise Business cards could be the ideal alternative to a business credit card.

These contactless international debit cards work for spending and cash withdrawals in 150+ countries worldwide, with no foreign transaction fees or subscription fees.

Whenever someone spends or withdraws cash overseas, the currency is converted at the mid-market exchange rate, with just a small conversion fee to pay.

There’s also 0.5% cashback paid on all eligible spending.

Once you have a Wise Business account, you can order unlimited cards for just a one-off fee of £3 a card. You can add employees to your account, with controlled access - and you get full control over spending their limits.

What’s more, it’s easy to integrate Wise with your accounting tools, and your accountant can view team spending for smarter collaboration.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

FAQs - best business credit card for air miles

How do air miles credit cards work in the UK?

As a rule, air miles should work the same wherever your business is based. The only differences are which credit cards you’re eligible for and which airlines you’ll want to use.

Do I pay tax on the air miles I’ve earned?

In the UK, HMRC doesn’t usually require employees to declare air miles as a taxable benefit. The only exception is if the air miles are awarded as part of incentive scheme, that means the air miles were earned in a way that’s different to how a regular credit card user would acquire them.¹⁴

Can I earn air miles without a credit card?

Yes. Air miles credit cards came after the introduction of frequent flyer programs as an additional way to earn them. You can also earn them the ‘old fashioned’ way by signing up to a frequent flyer program and accumulating points each time you fly. Although, not all airlines have these.

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Air miles are a reward for moving some of your business spending to a credit provider. Accumulating air miles should not be the objective.

To decide which is the best credit for air miles for you, take a look at your business spending habits and identify which cards fit best. Applying for an air miles card and then changing your business spending habits to maximise rewards could cause cash flow problems.

Sources used for this article:

1. Capital On Tap free and pro travel credit cards
2. American Express Goldfees, eligibility, product features, airlines
3. American Express Platinum fees, eligibility, product features, airlines
4. American Express International Airline programparticipating airlines for Platinum card
5. American Express British Airways Accelerating Card fees and Avios
6. Trustpilot Capital on Tap
7. Avios points and redemption information
8. American Express Membership Rewards
9. Amex Avios points conversion
10. Trust Pilot American Express
11. American Express Gold terms and conditions
12. American Express Platinum terms and conditions
13. American Express British Airways Accelerating credit card features and benefits
14. HMRC air miles tax treatment

Sources last checked on 27/06/2025