American Airlines operates a scheme for Small and Medium enterprises called Business Extra. BA operates a similar scheme called OnBusiness. BA are closing the OnBusiness scheme for US companies and folding it in to Business Extra.

AA has announced how it is going to accommodate earning and redeeming in the new scheme.

The Good News is that earnings continue as before with 1 point per $5 spent. You can now also earn Business Extra points when you book direct with BA and Iberia and on AA code-shares with Qantas, Finnair and Japan Airlines.

The bad news is that redeeming on Iberia or BA is going to cost a lot more than if you redeem on AA flights.

First off – you cannot upgrade AA domestic flights booked as codeshares – boo! They have to be booked as AA flight numbers.

A comparison of free flights to or from Europe show the differences in cost:

AMERICAN AIRLINES flights

 

BRITISH AIRWAYS or IBERIA 

 

There are similar differences with other regions. For BA and Iberia you can book awards between North America and Europe, Africa or the Middle East/Indian subcontinent.

You can redeem awards on American to Central/South America, Europe or China/Japan/Korea. These are in addition to US domestic rewards and tickets to Hawaii and the Caribbean.

All rewards can be checked here.