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.

  • Julian says:
    4 Jan4 January 09:09

    Hi I booked short haul reward flights using avios before September can i still claim 1000 avios per passenger? Thanks

    • SteveB says:
      4 Jan4 January 21:23

      I asked nicely, but they outright refused my request for any Avios combo because I’d booked a redemption flight not a revenue one. Instead I got a patronising email explaining how this was an ‘enhancement’ and done for the ‘benefit of our customers’ By all means worth a try….

      • Andrew* says:
        5 Jan5 January 10:41

        My daughter and I both got 1K Avios each for redemption bookings

  • John says:
    4 Jan4 January 09:18

    It’s not 0.8p per avios if you would never pay cash.

    I would be happy to pay say £2.50 for a bacon roll but not £4.75. BA is charging 600 avios so that would be 0.42ppa etc etc

    • Barry cutters says:
      4 Jan4 January 12:34

      A friend who works for Ba as a senior cabin crew has told me that before the summer they will introduce a ‘take away’ fridge in the first lounge at Heathrow. Not in club lounge though. This will be a similar offering to iberias offering in the Madrid lounge . Cold salad boxes inc a spork, sandwiches and bottles of water . They are actually pretty good in Madrid from my experience. So good news I’d say. Much better than the 5-8 crisps or 2 white chocolate dipped biscuits . I suspect the only people actually complaining about are the people who take the piss and drink 7 g&t just for the sake of it on a 2h flight.

    • Barry cutters says:
      4 Jan4 January 12:37

      John . I’m sorry but you are being totally unrealistic if you think you are going to get a bacon roll for £2.50 on an international flight. The cafe next door to my office is Over £3.25, and that’s in Cambridge where the elevation is only 18ft , never mind 30,000

      • Genghis says:
        4 Jan4 January 14:15

        No Greggs in Cambridge? 🙂

        • Barry cutters says:
          4 Jan4 January 16:04

          yes but probably not worth driving to the other side of town to save £1 on a bacon roll

          • james says:
            4 Jan4 January 18:57

            At Greggs – for £2.00 you get a bacon roll and a hot drink! So maybe it would be worth the effort
            Unit 2A, 2/14 Fitzroy Street
            Cambridge, CB1 1EW

      • Will says:
        4 Jan4 January 23:24

        On the flip side, the cafe (and staff) in the sky is already paid for so in one way the overheads are not comparable.

        • barry cutters says:
          5 Jan5 January 01:20

          RE Greggs – Its a long way to go from the science park still, especially given our congestion.
          RE Cafe in the sky, fair comment but a businesses overhead doesn’t explain the difference in price . i can buy a pint of beer in one pub for £4, and another in a second pub next door for £6.50. the beer is similar so not a huge difference in cost of production, rents & rates are similar as buildings are next door. But the difference is pub 2 can get away with charging over 50% more, so they do.

          You would think £5 for a bacon roll in greens was expensive , but a £5 bacon roll on a plane is acceptable .

          In my eyes anyway. or maybe iv just had too many £4 & £ £6.50 pints this evening.

    • John says:
      4 Jan4 January 14:26

      How many avios for a sachet of ketchup I wonder??

  • Dmitri says:
    4 Jan4 January 10:03

    what about flights from LCY?

    The websites states: From 11 January 2017 *, we’re upgrading our food offering in our short haul economy cabins (Euro Traveller and UK Domestic) on flights to and from London Heathrow and London Gatwick.

    • Aden says:
      4 Jan4 January 10:15

      London City flights will continue to offer a complimentary for a little while longer. I dont think a date has been set in stone, but is believed to be from the end of March.

      • sideysid says:
        4 Jan4 January 10:21

        Im flying to FLR from LCY beginning of March. I’ve got a booking of 4 seats – 2 business and 2 economy.

        As I understand the CE service will be as it was before but economy will be the free snack box etc but with only be free soft drinks and no alcohol?

        • Rob says:
          4 Jan4 January 11:12

          It was implied that free booze was going from City but I don’t know if it was ever confirmed. It may just have been a BA typo.

      • dicksbits says:
        4 Jan4 January 16:43

        I thought I read it was the summer for STN / LCY…

  • John10 says:
    4 Jan4 January 10:06

    Any chance they’ll give out a cup of hot water for free?

  • Craig says:
    4 Jan4 January 10:43

    Pray this is a big flop. Worst move I’ve seen from BA.

    They charge for hot water too…

    • Paul says:
      4 Jan4 January 18:37

      There have been a lot of poor moves from BA in the last few years, are you honestly saying this is the “worst”?? I really don’t see it.

  • Callum says:
    4 Jan4 January 10:54

    As a non-alcoholic, that seems much better than the current free cup of orange juice and 7 crisps I tend to get now.

    And if you won’t pay the extra to get what you want, I’d question why you’re flying BA in the first place. In fact, I’d go as far as to say for most of you it’s a knee jerk reaction and you won’t stop/reduce flying them at all. For years people have been incessantly whinging about how unbearable everything is yet profits are going up and up – perhaps they aren’t quite as bad at running airlines as you think they are?

    I also find it quite perplexing how the view seems to simultaneously be that few people will pay those prices yet they also won’t have time to serve everyone (though the dozens of other airlines that do this just about cope!) – which is it, it can’t be both?

  • Simon says:
    4 Jan4 January 11:32

    I wonder how these will be loaded, I’m guessing the wastage will be tremendous. Either that or if your flight has had an rotation not involving the correct base, they will be sold out.

    I would have thought something like the Air Asia model would have been better, in that you could pre-order a range of dishes; also means no money handling.

    It’ll be interesting to see what the effect is on profits. I’d reckon the effect on M&S profit might be better than BA’s, the marginal cost to produce a few more sandwiches must be very little.

    • John says:
      4 Jan4 January 12:10

      When it settles down, they’re more likely to run out, especially on late returns to base, than have lots of waste food (to donate to charity, hopefully, using one of the many business-led schemes that have sprung up in recent years).

      Aer Lingus have done this stuff successfully for years, although the Java Republic coffee is currently 3 euro rather than the £2.30 BA will be charging.

      Slightly surprised there’s no full breakfast offer – on EI, it’s 10 euros for a couple of sausages, bacon, black and (rubbish) white pudding, couple of hash browns, tomato, really nice bread, average orange juice and either tea or coffee.

      Also there’s no combo deal to match the 7.50 euro any sandwich and hot drink promo.

      Maybe BA and M&S will expand their menu once they realise how many people welcome the opportunity to buy something hot on board, if they haven’t had time to use a lounge or pop into a cafe on the concourse.

      • Temp says:
        4 Jan4 January 13:05

        Not sure on likelihood as hot food requires ovens, which I imagine they will reduce on SH aircraft when ‘densifying’ fleet.

        • John says:
          4 Jan4 January 13:32

          They have ovens, eg for the bacon rolls but some people (I’m one) want a bit more than a bap, which EI mostly provides.

    • John b says:
      4 Jan4 January 13:59

      Don’t worry, DHL do their short haul catering out of LHR, so it’s bound to be perfect… Cough

  • Adrian says:
    4 Jan4 January 12:07

    It would be interesting if all 200 passengers asked for the “free” cold water, which I understand they have to provide!
    On a slightly more serious note, there may be a short term profit boost for BA doing this, but long term this looks short-sighted. In the past I flew BA for connecting flights as they provided “unwritten” protection if you had any issues, that has gone. Interlining of bags, that has gone. I have to travel 2hrs to get onto London Airways to start with, now it may as well be a LCC from BHX. True or not I always knew that BA was more expensive, but felt I was getting more for my money, now I’m not, so why not just take the cheaper, more convenient flight with a LCC?. BA have lost their way, vision, identity and have done huge damage to the reputation of the company, but I’m not even sure they care.

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.

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!