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Bits: see BA’s new BOB menu, get 25% off Radisson Blu, BA / Avis deal renewed

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News in brief:

Changes to the British Airways buy-on-board menu

British Airways has made changes to their short-haul economy buy-on-board menu – and, if you click the link, you’ll see they don’t look great.

There is a new tapas meat and cheese platter with a couple of crackers, a new roasted falafel and spinach wrap as well as a turkey sandwich. But several (healthier) options have been taken off the menu and if you are avoiding wheat or gluten, you’ll have to be happy with cashews and crisps.

The couscous salad and the fruit salad have disappeared without a decent replacement. You can’t get olives any longer and the sweets selection has been reduced from 12 items to 5.  Yoghurt seem to have disappeared  too.  Basically, if it was at risk of going off, it has gone.

If you want to know what the menu was like before, here is a link to our buy-on-board article in January.

The new menu can be found on this ba.com page.

British Airways short haul food menu

Get 25% off Radisson Blu and Park Inn hotels

Radisoon Blu and Park Inn have launched a half term offer aimed at families.

Club Carlson members can get up to 25% off during the Autumn holiday, free wifi, kids under 16 stay for free in the UK and Ireland and kids under 12 eat for free.

This offer is valid for stays between 16th October and 27th October in the UK and Ireland and stays between 13th October and 12th November in Belgium and France.

The Radisson Blu page to book is here .

The Park Inn page to book is here.

You must book by 24th October to get up to 25% off.  The offer is also available at Radisson Red and Quorvus Collection.

Avis Budget renews British Airways IAG deal

IAG renews its exclusive Avis / Budget car rental deal

Avis Budget Group has renewed its car rental partnership with IAG.

The brands will remain the exclusive car rental partners of British Airways, Iberia and Iberia Express, with Aer Lingus to be added later.  The two brands will also remain the only car hire brands to earn points in any of the Avios loyalty schemes.

In general, I think the Avis partnership has worked well. The ability to earn bonus Avios by paying with a British Airways American Express card is a rare example of partner brands working together.

Regular Hertz renters will have to stick with crediting to Virgin Flying Club, although their 1,000 miles per rental deal is attractive.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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

Avis and Avis Preferred, British Airways American Express, British Airways and Avios, Radisson Rewards

Comments (99)

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

  • the real harry1 says:
    15 Oct15 October 14:41

    O/T pls confirm I’ve got it right

    1. Get BAPP, annual fee is charged immediately
    2. hit spend target & bank the points
    3. downgrade to blue on the phone (keep for Shop Small) & the fee is refunded pro rata

    • Genghis says:
      15 Oct15 October 15:02

      Confirmed.

      • Genghis says:
        15 Oct15 October 15:04

        As an extra little tip, get yourself a supp in the main card holder’s name for an extra SS card (Mrs and I have six BAPPs between us)

        • the real harry1 says:
          15 Oct15 October 15:06

          thanks both

        • Genghis says:
          15 Oct15 October 15:06

          Hat tip to @Alan for sharing that a while back

          • Alan says:
            15 Oct15 October 17:43

            Haha thanks, can definitely be handy for both ShopSmall and splitting costs.

            BTW now you’re expanding your UK tips, Genghis, have you looked at Cardiff too? Had a couple of excellent trips there in the summertime.

        • Barry cutters says:
          15 Oct15 October 15:53

          Sorry if I’m being stupid , but to confirm – I can get a supp card -in my own (main card holder) name . This would be brilliant for me when splitting expenses and personal spend . Reporting back – the groupon offer posted and my Iberia account is now fully working. About to book Lima flights for Machu Picchu in early summer – bargain at 85k.

        • Genghis says:
          15 Oct15 October 15:59

          @Baz Cutters. Yes. I use it to split personal and work as it serves for an easier tick back exercise. Pleased Iberia account activated rather easily. Enjoy!

        • mark2 says:
          15 Oct15 October 16:20

          Also for Lloyds cards, but not MBNA where sup card has same number.

        • Genghis says:
          15 Oct15 October 21:39

          I had an excellent holiday when at university visiting South Wales and camping on the Gower. Was early thirties. Beaches were fantastic. It could equally have been freezing so we were v lucky.

        • Jimmy says:
          16 Oct16 October 11:07

          six, between 2? 3 each then? one main & one supplementary each…whats the third card?

        • Genghis says:
          16 Oct16 October 14:15

          @Jimmy. One main, one supp for partner and one supp for the main card holder x 2.

        • Tom says:
          16 Oct16 October 16:13

          If you get a supplementary card in your own name do you then get a bonus if they offer one?

        • Genghis says:
          16 Oct16 October 16:49

          @Tom. No idea. Give it a go and report back.

    • Rob says:
      15 Oct15 October 15:03

      Yes, works

  • Egg says:
    15 Oct15 October 15:47

    wonder how long before BA stop you bringing food on board

    • Alan says:
      16 Oct16 October 08:52

      I’m surprised Ryanair haven’t done this yet so I wonder whether there is something in the regulations that mean they can’t?

      • Angmo says:
        16 Oct16 October 19:12

        UN Convention on the right to access food. Not all states are signatures but the UK are as I believevare Ireland.

        • the real harry1 says:
          16 Oct16 October 19:27

          BA are also perfectly OK about you bringing your own booze on board – this is legal & permitted

          they won’t be OK about you getting sloshed on half a bottle of Scotch

          however, a few beers or perhaps a bottle of decent wine should be acceptable

          unfortunately the real issue is supply airside – not at all difficult to get spirits in Duty Free – but spirits will be frowned upon/ very quickly removed from your possession for the duration of the flight

          if you go for wine, then white will be unchilled so a bit desperate – red would be OK but try finding DF outlets that sell it by the bottle plus you’ll need a corkscrew

          don’t think you’ll find beer in DF but you might find a bar that will sell you a few tinnies for the journey

          I’ve pondered this problem since BA introduced BOB – obviously pinching something from the lounge would be an option but possibly not a very honest one if done in quantity

        • the real harry1 says:
          16 Oct16 October 19:39

          coming back to UK doesn’t always present such a problem – eg our airport back from the place in the sun sells chilled premium beers for under £2/ half litre in the convenience stores, airside

          shame UK airports don’t do this

        • HAM76 says:
          16 Oct16 October 21:32

          @TRH1 miniature bottles like Gin are actually fine to get through security, if you don’t mind placing them in the plastic bag along with toiletries during the security scan. Judging from the reactions of the security personnel it doesn’t happen often, though.

        • Genghis says:
          16 Oct16 October 22:24

          They’re actually quite reasonably priced. Difficult to get tonic water airside though? Lemon is easy but precut (otherwise where’s the knife coming from?)

  • Jason Hindle says:
    15 Oct15 October 17:59

    I still keep the faith that one of these days BA will make a change that turns out to be an actual improvement for the paying customer.

  • BLT says:
    15 Oct15 October 19:05

    Thanks for the reminders. Worked really well last week on 2 accounts.

  • thehornets says:
    15 Oct15 October 19:18

    Oh, don’t forget to use the hashtag #RewardsPoints

  • Alan says:
    15 Oct15 October 20:05

    Fantastic – thanks again for posting about these (& posting the answers!) – much appreciated and look forward to next week 😀

  • Pid says:
    15 Oct15 October 23:44

    Thank you – how do they know your account details?

  • Anthony Dunn says:
    16 Oct16 October 03:28

    Remarkably straightforward: if I am flying in the Economy section, I buy my own food and drink and before I get onboard. That way, I choose just what I want and have the drink of choice. Most UK terminals have a pretty wide choice of food and drink offerings airside these days.

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

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