Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Here’s the full BA ‘buy on board’ menu, with pricing, which launches next week

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

‘Buy on board‘ comes to British Airways short haul flights from next Wednesday.  That is, if your flight isn’t cancelled by the strike.

(Don’t forget to claim your 1,000 Avios compensation if you had any short haul flights booked before the 29th September announcement date for travel after 11th January.  You need to drop Customer Services an email.  Note that it is 1,000 Avios per member and not 1,000 Avios per flight.  In theory flight refunds are also available although you will get some push back from Customer Services on this.)

The full menu, with cash and Avios pricing, is now available online.  You can see it here.  

This is what you will be able to buy:

Fresh food

Smoked British bacon roll – served hot – £4.75 / 600 Avios
Aberdeen Angus beef and red onion chutney bloomer – £4.75 / 600 Avios
Harissa chicken and couscous salad – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Farmhouse cheddar cheese ploughmans – £3.00 / 375 Avios
Buffalo mozzarella and tomato focaccia – served hot – £4.95 / 625 Avios
Fruit salad – £3.50 / 450 Avios
Yogurt with summer berry compote and crunchy granola – £1.95 / 250 Avios

Savoury snacks

Cashew nuts – £1.60 / 200 Avios
Wasabi peas – £1.60 / 200 Avios
Lightly sea salted hand cooked crisps – £1.00 / 125 Avios
Sea salt and balsamic vinegar hand cooked crisps – £1.00 / 125 Avios
Oat and barley porridge – £1.40 / 125 Avios
Nut assortment – £1.60 / 200 Avios
Olives basil and garlic olive snack – £1.20 / 150 Avios

Sweet snacks

Milk chocolate covered pretzels and popping candy popcorn – £2.45 / 300 Avios
Soft apricots – £1.95 / 250 Avios
The Whippy One – fluffy light mallow encased in creamy milk chocolate with caramelised walnut pieces – £1.00 / 125 Avios
Mini oat biscuits – £1.10 / 150 Avios
Brownie bar – £1.45 / 175 Avios
Super nut, fruit and seed flapjack – £1.45 / 175 Avios
Milk chocolate mountain bar – £1.75 / 225 Avios
Percy Pig – soft gums made with fruit juice – £1.85 / 225 Avios
Salted caramel hazelnut millionaire – gluten free biscuit – £1.45 / 175 Avios
4 Finger KitKat – £1.20 / 150 Avios
All butter shortbread – pack of two fingers – £1.20 / 150 Avios

Hot drinks

Java Republic regular coffee – 12oz cup – £2.30 / 300 Avios
Java Republic decaf coffee – 12oz cup – £2.30 / 300 Avios
Twinings English breakfast tea – £2.30 / 300 Avios
Twinings Earl Grey tea – £2.30 / 300 Avios
Twinings Pure Green tea – £2.30 / 300 Avios
Twinings Pure Peppermint tea – £2.30 / 300 Avios
Cadburys hot chocolate – 12oz cup – £2.70 / 350 Avios

Soft drinks

Highland Spring sparkling water – 500ml – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Highland Spring still water – 500ml – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Vita Coco coconut water 330ml – £2.70 / 350 Avios
Sprite – 330ml can – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Coca Cola – 330ml can – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Diet Coke – 330ml can – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Fanta Orange – 330ml can – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Pip Organic orange juice – 200ml – £2.70 / 350 Avios
Pip Organic apple juice – 200ml – £2.70 / 350 Avios
Folkington’s Elderflower Presse – 250ml can – £2.20 / 275 Avios
Fruit shoot Orange, low sugar – 200ml – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Appletiser – 330ml – £1.80 / 225 Avios
Fever Tree tonic water – 150ml – £1.50 / 200 Avios
Fever Tree Slimline tonic water – 150ml – £1.50 / 200 Avios
Big Tom Spiced Tomato mix – 150ml – £1.50 / 200 Avios
Folkington’s Ginger Ale – 150ml – £1.50 / 200 Avios
Folkington’s Club Soda – 150ml – £1.50 / 200 Avios
Folkington’s Bitter Lemon – 150ml – £1.50 / 200 Avios

Alcoholic drinks

Bacardi Carta Blanca rum – 50ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Baileys Irish Cream – 50ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Bombay Sapphire Gin – 50ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Jonnie Walker Red – 50ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Jack Daniels – 50ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Smirnoff Red – 50ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
XO Brandy – 50ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Dry River Shiraz – 187ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Shorn Sauvignon Blanc – 187ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Belle Vignes Sauvignon Blanc – 187ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Belle Vignes Syrah Rose – 187ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Belle Vignes Grenache Syrah Marselan – 187ml – £4.50 / 575 Avios
Prosecco Bottega Gold – 200ml – £6.00 / 750 Avios
Heidsieck & Co. Monopole, Blue Top, Brut – 375ml – £16.00 / 2025 Avios
Heineken – 330ml – £4.00 / 500 Avios
Old Speckled Hen – 330ml can – £4.00 / 500 Avios
Magners Original Cider – 330ml can – £4.00 / 500 Avios

The first observation is that the fresh food selection seems pitifully small.  The pricing seems relatively reasonable, however, when compared to the drinks list – £4 for a can of Heineken (sold in a duty free environment, remember) is a bit of a shocker.  £1.80 for a can of coke isn’t going to win BA any friends either.

In terms of pence per Avios, 0.8p per point is not a bad deal. I have done worse flight redemptions than this.  I can’t see a scenario where I would pay cash.

(Technically, you can’t pay cash at all – it is credit cards or BAEC cards only.)

It isn’t clear whether the porridge at 1.12p per Avios is a typo or a special offer for Avios collectors – I am guessing the former.

I am told that BA will be over-stocking for the first few weeks so you should at least get what you want.  Stock numbers will be cut back once the airline has a better idea of what is required.

It remains to be seen if BA will be doing a strict ‘front to back’ service routine or not, because on short routes where you sit could be the difference between getting served or not.  I think one of the big US airlines varies it based on whether the flight number is even or odd.

Club Europe food remains separate.  If you don’t like what is on offer, you will need to pay to take an alternative from the buy on board selection.

Is this going to work or it will be a monumental flop?  We will see after next Wednesday.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (201)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • HAM76 says:
    4 Jan4 January 06:33

    How are other companies handling snack purchases on business trips? Most companies I’ve worked with would either not reimburse such buy-on-board items at all, or treat them as a full meal with a corresponding deduction.

    airberlin was a bit quicker than BA and is running BoB for a few months now. On the flights I’ve been, service was usually finished within a few minutes, because only occasionally someone is buying anything at all.

    • Genghis says:
      4 Jan4 January 06:52

      Part of my daily (apart from if breakfast then that’s separate) limit.

    • tim says:
      4 Jan4 January 07:22

      Airberlin may have been usual because of the famous frugality if the Germans. I hope the Brits are the same and that this experiment fails

    • the_real_a says:
      4 Jan4 January 13:01

      It would be part of the meal allowance for my company. I can roll up a mid morning/mid afternoon snack coffee to meal component – but i have a limit for each meal.

  • Anon says:
    4 Jan4 January 06:34

    These are being advertised as enhancements by changing supplier to M&S, how are the foowing items enhancements???

    Twinings English breakfast tea – £2.30 / 300 Avios
    Highland Spring still water – 500ml – £1.80 / 225 Avios

    It also ridiculous that a CWFirst pax on a one ticket connecting flight has to pay.for water or a cuppa.

    I know the crew have it bad and I know they feel embarrassed, but I’m going to make a polite point and ask for free cold water and aso some hot water on every CW/First connecting flight I’m on. (I intend to bring onboard my own tea bag.)

    The team leaders need to be feeding back how irritating this is and how BA risk losing pax to Virgin/Felta, ME3, AA, Norwegian, and any other airline that flies long haul from the Northern regions.

    • Anon says:
      4 Jan4 January 06:37

      Rob pls edit the typos, still hoping for an edit button!! 🙂

    • Andrew says:
      4 Jan4 January 07:04

      They are going to introduce club on Domestics therefore I’d you are flying on CW / First you will be in Club on the domestic flights.

      • Anon says:
        4 Jan4 January 07:15

        Not seen this, just tried googling it.

        Grateful for a Link to this info/announcement please.

      • Alex W says:
        4 Jan4 January 07:22

        Isn’t that just “Business UK”?

        • Rob says:
          4 Jan4 January 08:24

          No, full Club Europe is about to be launched on domestics. I did mention it briefly in my coverage of the Investor Day presentation. Not much more is known.

          • Anon says:
            4 Jan4 January 08:46

            Fairly shambolic that there’s no info on this when the new “enhancements” roll out next week. What about CW/First flying next week?

            The BA staff I previously spoke to at EC said that everyone has to buy on board on UK domestic regardless of class.

          • James67 says:
            4 Jan4 January 09:17

            How will CE work on domestuc and who will get it? One of the things I don’t get is that when doing a CW redemption from the regions seat allocations on the domestic sector are always amongst the worst possible down the back. Why is it not upfront to reflect CW ticket on LH, and does this mean that on premium cabin redemptions connecting passengers on domestic flights will not get the full Club service?

    • Tom says:
      4 Jan4 January 07:42

      Agreed. I need to go to Milan at short notice next week. Easyjet was £45 at perfect times and to the best airport (Linate). BA’s cheapest ticket was £350 (to the less convenient Malpensa airport), and rising to £600 for other flights.

      BA last minute short haul flights were a shocking deal before.. they’re even more of a shocker now!

    • Ro says:
      4 Jan4 January 08:05

      I thought they were charging for hot water though?

    • Alan says:
      4 Jan4 January 09:55

      Definitely agree re connecting pax – I feel they should provide a scanned deal (drink/snack) consistent with existing offerings for those connecting to CW/F.

  • Peter says:
    4 Jan4 January 06:42

    I’m flying on Wednesday 11th. Will be an interesting experience. Planned industrial action notwithstanding. Perhaps I may need to visit the lounge first.

  • Paul says:
    4 Jan4 January 06:50

    Will this work or will it be a monumental flop………that entirely in our hands. Personally I will move heaven and earth to avoid buying anything but I suspect the supine British public will simply accept this move and will dig deep into their pockets and pay. Like most things in the UK it seems overpriced in any event, but there will the usual “seems reasonable view” which is probably responsible for the enormous level of personal debt in this country.
    I am not persuaded either by the M&S brand which in my view has been damaged by linking up with BA in this way. Not that my views count a lot am sure. Just before Christmas I watched people scramble to buy Turkeys at 3 times the price of Tesco and Asda and the only dessert available (which I was after) had the words M&S written on the decorations. Why anyone would want to advertise a store on their Christmad or any other table is beyond me… but I repeat, what do I know.

    • Jason Hindle says:
      4 Jan4 January 06:56

      Very much in agreeement. As much as I like a drink, when flying, I’m loathe to hand over money to a full service airline.

    • Anon says:
      4 Jan4 January 07:10

      Paul very offtopic, but you may like Prof Steve Keen views on Debt to GDP

  • Jason Hindle says:
    4 Jan4 January 06:54

    Drink prices a tad more than Jet2, who I’ve flown with a few times this year. Good to see they have a half bottle of champers, for those nomads wishing to celebrate the Friday night flight home.

  • James67 says:
    4 Jan4 January 06:57

    I have not even seen my BAEC card in over a decade! Think I’ll pass and get a Boots meal deal before I board. I suspect Boots, not BA, to be the big winner from this change. If BA want to be a LCC I wish they would aspire to being as good as Air Asia.

    • Anon says:
      4 Jan4 January 07:07

      James – interesting you rate Air Asia?

      Considering them from Perth–> Bali & Bali –> KL/Singapore

      • James67 says:
        4 Jan4 January 07:47

        Love them, they have got LCC down to a fine art. Done dozens of flights with them and only ever recall being over 10 minutes late on two of them which were into HKG so usual congestion issues. Great website, edible food to prebook at giveaway pricing, low checked bag and seat selection fees, clean aircraft and pleasant staff and crew, and even a decent inflight magazine. If you go for them pay the small surcharge for hot seats at the front which also come with priority boarding etc. Flexible fares are great value too if you need them i’ve done SIN-DPS twice in SQ J, a disaster both times. I’ve learned in Asia that I can rely on Air Asia, only pass them for great value regionall premium redemptions or inexpensive premium 5th freedom flights

      • Aceman says:
        4 Jan4 January 07:48

        Great little airline, meals were quite cheap too, ordered a while in advance and ordered 3! Turned out almost no one else on the flight ordered a meal so was a bit awkward having 3 to myself! (Bought just to sample since they were all cool Asian dishes). Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more awkward, out comes the stewardess with my full coconut…

        • James67 says:
          4 Jan4 January 08:00

          LOL love it, but you know Air Asia isn’the little. It’seems likely to become the world’s largest airline. There slogan is ‘Everyone can fly’ and they do. On many of their sub 2h routes they are cheaper than the bus when promo fares booked. Reason they don’the sell much food on some routes is because prices are relatively expensive for their poorer passengers who prefer to eat street food or at food centres before or after flying

      • James67 says:
        4 Jan4 January 07:50

        I imagine Perth to Balintore is Air Asia X which I’very never done They have a business cabin with old style angled flats.

      • Ro says:
        4 Jan4 January 08:08

        Another +1 for air asia from me. Agree with everything Janes said. The food was the surising big plus point for me… like 2 or 3 quid for a full meal when you pre order.

        • Ro says:
          4 Jan4 January 08:09

          Sorry *James

          • Genghis says:
            4 Jan4 January 09:34

            +1 for Air Asia. Been a few years since I’ve flown with them but I’ve booked SIN-DPS and DPS-KUL for Easter

          • jamie says:
            4 Jan4 January 11:57

            nice

            did you manage to get F in the a380 for sin and 787-9 for kul?

        • Rod says:
          4 Jan4 January 22:09

          Flown them a couple of times and they were great. Paid £20 for a one way 1h30min flight to Penang 2 weeks before flying, including prebooked food and luggage. Legroom a bit tight if you don’t get the exit or up front seats. Food really good and crew friendly. Despite the range of superb carriers in Asia (CX, SQ etc) the value for money from Air Asia is exceptional.

  • Jane says:
    4 Jan4 January 07:04

    Over my dead body will I Pay those inflated money grabbing prices. I will be Bringing my own grub and a water bottle filled up after security in the terminal !!

  • Nick says:
    4 Jan4 January 07:07

    I can’t figure out if it’s to make more profit or prevent loss by wastage at those prices.

    At least service should be over very quickly as I can’t see much take up on a traditional airline when people soon realise. Had a lovely meal in club last week lounge at T5 and Brussels both very pleasant last week and thank god I did after a 3 hour delay due to fog. I assume EU261 won’t cover fog delays?

    I’m surprised no one has said how much a bottle of champagne is….i

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

NEW: Sign-up bonuses boosted to 3,000 and 18,000 points

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!