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British Airways trialling short-haul food pre-ordering in Europe

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British Airways has launched a trial which allows Economy passengers on European short-haul flights to pre-order food.

The criteria for taking part in the trial seems, ahem, eclectic – the person who sent me the details has no short-haul flights booked at all!  Going through the booking process, it appears to be restricted to one daily flight to Malaga and one to Krakow.

British Airways food pre-order short haul

As you can see from the image above – click to enlarge – you do not have the full choice of the menu and must select from three meal deals.  I am guessing that this is an attempt to increase the average order value.

If you are invited onto the trial, your meal is free so do give it a go if you are on the relevant flights.  It isn’t clear why it was emailed to people who are not on the relevant flights though.

PS.  If you missed it, take a look at our recent article on the top 10 reasons to get the ‘no fee’ British Airways American Express credit card.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (August 2021)

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

There are two official British Airways American Express cards:

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (270)

  • Anna says:
    28 Jan28 January 15:57

    So BA’s IT can cope with pre-orders of food on SH flights but not with pre-ordering a meal in J when travelling to GCM, because their computers think that you are taking two flights due to a re-fuelling stop? I can see this being messy, to be honest!

    • Rhys says:
      28 Jan28 January 16:36

      Shouldn’t be a problem, no short haul flights with refuelling stops 😉

      • Anna says:
        28 Jan28 January 18:38

        As long as they keep giving me 10,000 avios for the inconvenience I’m not too fussed!

  • Liz says:
    28 Jan28 January 16:41

    OT how to you update a credit card on curve – new hilton card has the same number but i need to change the expiry date and security digits – do i have to delete and reenter the new card

  • Tom says:
    28 Jan28 January 17:00

    OT: I’ve just received my SPG card – old version in red. Does that mean that I’m going to receive another one in a few weeks with Marriott Bonvoy design?

    Just wondering as I’m going away for a few weeks in February and I wonder if it will result in my current one being invalid etc

    • BJ says:
      28 Jan28 January 17:47

      No, they are only being replaced on expiration. You might find the omd card comes with a benefit the new card doesn’t have. Be sure to put £1000+ through it.

      • Shoestring says:
        28 Jan28 January 17:49

        no counters to be expected, right BJ?

        • BJ says:
          28 Jan28 January 18:32

          I never got counters with any of my unexpected bonuses. Currently working on my first since late summer so let’s see.

    • Benilyn says:
      28 Jan28 January 18:30

      Old card will be a collectors item, reckon you could make back your membership fee selling it on the bay

      • Shoestring says:
        28 Jan28 January 19:06

        and hang on to the Brexit 50ps for a few years, eh Benilyn? (taps nose)

        • Brighton Belle says:
          28 Jan28 January 20:16

          OT for Shoestring… fixed the Press Reader app properly by using my own library membership card. The Press Reader app has a tool to link you to your own library which they call a hotspot where you enter your library membership card number. The free access runs for 30 days and expires. Logout and login again resets the timer.

          It’s a great tool to access all that paywalled content from anywhere. . On an iPad it’s all very to easy read the newspaper. Ta ever so

          • Shoestring says:
            28 Jan28 January 20:26

            good stuff, if you get tired of the proper newspapers there’s always Viz!

          • Lady London says:
            29 Jan29 January 22:30

            Hum. Wonder if Private Eye’s on there?
            Is this the service that used to be called zinio. It sounds very similar.

  • A270 says:
    28 Jan28 January 18:50

    OT: Booked a Hilton stay 6 months from now but paid by Amex platinum. Transaction is not even showing in pending. I booked their sale rate so was hoping would get charged! I might not have my Platinum in 6 months when I travel. Do I contact the hotel to charge me?

    • BJ says:
      28 Jan28 January 19:00

      Yes, call the hotel directly and ask them to charge it now.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      28 Jan28 January 19:18

      Just contact them. Hotels sometimes “do you a favour” a wait until closer to the date.

    • The Original Nick says:
      28 Jan28 January 20:04

      Call the hotel and get it charged. I done it in December for the Marriott Amex offer.

  • Henry says:
    28 Jan28 January 19:11

    OT the gov have now just said all but essential travel into mainland China is a no no
    (BBC breaking news for source)
    What does this mean for flyers?

    • Shoestring says:
      28 Jan28 January 19:18

      The Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to mainland China amid the coronavirus outbreak .

      The updated travel advice for China from the Government says: “The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Hubei Province due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak. If you’re in this area and able to leave, you should do so.

      “The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China (not including Hong Kong and Macao).

      “The Chinese government continue to impose further restrictions on movement within China in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

      “It may become harder over the coming weeks for those who wish to leave China to do so. If you feel that you may want to leave China soon, you should consider making plans to do so before any further restrictions may be imposed.”

      It comes as Britons in the coronavirus-hit Chinese province of Hubei are expected to be flown home as early as Thursday.

      • Donny says:
        28 Jan28 January 20:02

        Will travel insurance pay out for nonrefundable booking?

        • BJ says:
          28 Jan28 January 20:25

          Depends on the travel disruption element. Premium cover from the likes of LV or Direct Travel Insurance probably will I guess but I’m sure many will refuse.

        • The Savage Squirrel says:
          28 Jan28 January 20:27

          I’m assuming the company with whome the booking was made have refused to refund? If not they’d be the first port of call as many will refund due to exceptional circumstances … and any that didn’t I’d be hitting the complaints dept and unlikely ever to do business with again….

          • Nick says:
            28 Jan28 January 20:30

            No, companies don’t need to refund you (but many will anyway). This is exactly what travel insurance is for… pretty much any policy I’ve ever had would pay in cases where FCO advice was not to travel (assuming policy purchased before the announcement).

          • The Savage Squirrel says:
            28 Jan28 January 20:37

            I agree they don’t NEED to, but as I said it’s the first port of call, many companies have been more than reasonable so you may well be in luck, (and failure to do so would mean no business from me going forward). Also most insurance will require you to take reasonable steps to prevent easily avoidable loss – so your travel insurance will likely want to see this request before they pay out in any case.

  • Mohammed Khan says:
    28 Jan28 January 23:48

    OT

    I’m planning to go Australia. Wanted to know which countries are closest to Australia that BA flies to that has first or business and is the best value in terms of redemption using 241 voucher and also has cheap direct flights to travel on to Australia from? I appreciate this is special situation. Any help would be much appreciated

    • Mohammed Khan says:
      28 Jan28 January 23:49

      Can’t go direct to Australia as availability is v hard to get as we want to go in April

      • TGLoyalty says:
        29 Jan29 January 00:12

        Hong Kong might have good availability soon (thought flights may be cancelled too), KL, Singapore, Bangkok all spring to mind.

        • Lady London says:
          29 Jan29 January 10:31

          There are many more flights from the US direct to Australia now from the West Coast. QF, AA, I thin Star Alliance airlines too. However they are expensive. If paying cash then actually it’s often cheaper to go to Australia from Europe, than it is from Asia!!

          Google flights or Skycanner plus numerous other specialist OTA’s normally have the best prices. If you can leave from, say, Frankfurt, you may find deals. They come and go.
          Good news is that other than Easter, April is not high season in Australasia

          Try China Airlines.
          Or, if wait a week or two, any other Chinese airline.
          You will have to time it carefully while the Wuhan scare is still on and before demand to rebook delayed trips resurges.

        • Lady London says:
          29 Jan29 January 10:31

          There are many more flights from the US direct to Australia now from the West Coast. QF, AA, I thin Star Alliance airlines too. However they are expensive. If paying cash then actually it’s often cheaper to go to Australia from Europe, than it is from Asia!!

          Google flights or Skycanner plus numerous other specialist OTA’s normally have the best prices. If you can leave from, say, Frankfurt, you may find deals. They come and go.
          Good news is that other than Easter, April is not high season in Australasia

          Try China Airlines.
          Or, if wait a week or two, any other Chinese airline.
          You will have to time it carefully while the Wuhan scare is still on and before demand to rebook delayed trips resurges.

          • Lady London says:
            29 Jan29 January 10:32

            Try Scoot (Singapore Airlines low cost) for part of the journey. May help you solve the SIN-AUS leg.

      • guesswho2000 says:
        29 Jan29 January 01:53

        You can go direct to Australia with BA on a 2-4-1, as long as it’s SYD you want to go to. As you note yourself, availability is poor.

        That’s literally the only option using a 2-4-1, BA only fly ex-SYD from Australia. There’s heaps of alternatives to elsewhere (SIN, KUL, HKG, NRT/HND being options) with BA then onward with someone else (MH/SQ/CX/JL/others), which means you can head somewhere other than SYD too.

    • Ian M says:
      29 Jan29 January 01:16

      I’ve flown to Singapore with BA before and then got a cheap flight from SIN-SYD on Scoot. Their Scootbiz seats can often be picked up at great prices. It’s not a flat bed seat, (think more premium economy of a full service airline). But it was fine for that flight (about 7hrs).

    • BJ says:
      29 Jan29 January 04:57

      I believe AirAsiaX are now flying from DMK to Australia. Like Scoot it is not a full flat seat but rather angle flat. The advantage of this over SIN/Scoot or KUL/AAX is that BKK redemptions are zone 7 whereas KUL and SIN are both zone 8. Downside is that BKK is now probably the most difficult Asian route to find award availability on unless you are flying June-August.

    • Harry T says:
      29 Jan29 January 08:36

      May be better to get an exEU cash fare to Australia with Qatar or Finnair, then use your Avios for domestic Qantas flights so you can explore Australia.

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