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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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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (270)

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

  • Stu N says:
    28 Jan28 January 09:35

    OT – we have booked a long weekend to Madrid in June in Business on the BA 777 flights (BA460/461). Our return flight is the new Club Suite layout at the moment, surprised to see that seat on the short route. If anyone is keen to try it on a short haul route might be worth a look at dates.

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:00

      Very lucky, the a350 is on that route temporary for staff training again.

    • Lady London says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:05

      I am feeling very sad for you having to suffer that new plane and its amenities 🙂
      I can console you with the fact that you should not count on it as it’s not inconceivable for the aircraft allocated to your flight to change again.

    • Stu N says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:40

      I’ve worked through the days on Expertflyer – for June, looks like Club Suite on 14-20-22-24-26 at the moment.

      NB as Lady London says, there is a chance of equipment swaps between now and then – it’s always going to be a long haul aircraft BUT could swap between 777s and possibly 787/A350 as well…

      • Secret Squirrel says:
        28 Jan28 January 12:42

        787?
        Never heard of 787 on that route but good if so.

        • Rhys says:
          28 Jan28 January 12:52

          787-10, first one arrives in the next few weeks

          • Stu_N says:
            28 Jan28 January 14:43

            A 787 is rare, they are in short supply due to engine issues. It was a 787-8 when my friend flew last summer, his first trip on a Dreamliner.

          • Rhys says:
            28 Jan28 January 15:12

            Yes, but if BA is flying 787 to Madrid it’s probably the 787-10 for training reasons, just as they did the A350. Scarcity has nothing to do with it!

          • Stu_N says:
            28 Jan28 January 16:00

            Historically I expect it would have been late subs for the regular 777.

            Going forward training on the new 787-10 would make sense, though I’d have thought there would be fairly minimal differences between -8, -9 and -10 versions – just a bit more care when taxiing and try not to clonk the tail off the runway at takeoff.

            (I am not a pilot, as if it needs saying…!)

          • Rhys says:
            28 Jan28 January 16:35

            I believe the Madrid route is attractive because the short flight means you can process crew training at a faster rate.

  • The Streets says:
    28 Jan28 January 09:40

    Curve with Apple Pay is here!

    • Alex Sm says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:00

      Really? Heavy OT but thanks

    • Lady London says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:06

      If Curve does Google pay I might jump…

    • Brighton Belle says:
      28 Jan28 January 12:37

      Well I just added it to Apple Pay and the install told me to verify it via the Curve App. Go there, zilch, nada, nowt to see. Maybe I am just dumb. It might help if there was some guidance what to do.

      • Grant says:
        28 Jan28 January 12:40

        Do it from within the Curve app. It popped up to prompt me as soon as I opened the app.

      • Chas says:
        28 Jan28 January 12:41

        I tried it at the weekend having heard rumours that it worked, and couldn’t progress at all (Apple Pay said card type not supported). I tried again today, and worked first time with no in-app authorisation required. It doesn’t help your situation, but would suggest that they’re still slowly rolling it out. Especially as I’ve not yet seen any official communications from Curve that they now fully support Apple Pay.

        • Michael says:
          28 Jan28 January 12:51

          That would make sense. I’ve tried a couple of times already today – each time without success. Tells me to contact the card provider.

          • Chas says:
            28 Jan28 January 13:12

            I’ve now seen a Facebook post from Curve publicising it, so maybe worth trying again or contacting them if it doesn’t work.

      • Brighton Belle says:
        28 Jan28 January 13:35

        Thanks guys. I deleted Curve from Apple Pay and reinstalled it from the Curve App using the button to add it to Apple Pay. It doesn’t install correctly if you add Curve to Apple Wallet that way round.

        But having upgraded to metal my curve limits are almost maxed out so I will treat myself to a Brazilian Mars bar and that’s me done for a month. Silly really as I’m abroad this week in Rio and Halifax Clarity is doing what Curve should be doing. They do leave money on the table.

    • Anna says:
      28 Jan28 January 13:22

      For those of us who are slow on the uptake (for HFP readers!), what does that mean? What’s the advantage to paying with Apple Pay?

    • Liam says:
      28 Jan28 January 16:51

      I managed to add it to Apply Pay with no issues. No need to do it from the Curve app or to verify it in there. Thanks for the heads up.

  • Gulz says:
    28 Jan28 January 10:04

    I used Official Heathrow Parking in Oct/Nov last year hoping I would get the points… funny thing was that there was no place for my to put my Heathrow Rewards number – so I guessed they’ll link the parking to my Heathrow Rewards using my email…
    Then tbh I forgot about it until this article today. Looks like they didn’t link my parking to the HR account and didn’t award the points… Any ideas how I can get those points?

    • Lady London says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:07

      Send the receipt and your request for credit to Heathrow rewards.
      Apparently they are quite good at paying out the points.

    • Gulz says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:42

      Thanks… doing that now!

      • Rob says:
        28 Jan28 January 11:03

        I did a retroclaim over the weekend and it was approved yesterday, very quick. Just photo the receipt on your phone and send it across.

    • Rob says:
      28 Jan28 January 11:07

      You input the number when you leave the car park don’t you?

      • Gulz says:
        28 Jan28 January 11:13

        Dunno… the attendent never gave me the option. Was my first time parking at the official car park

        • Lady London says:
          28 Jan28 January 11:26

          IIRC if you are driving out via an automated barrier I think the routine was slide your Heathrow Rewards card into the machine before your credit card? Haven’t used LHR main car parks for awhile though.

          • Gulz says:
            28 Jan28 January 12:05

            Mine was M&G, so guessing the attendent should have asked!

          • Sussex bantam says:
            28 Jan28 January 12:06

            I think the OP booked online in which case you enter your number as part of the booking process. It’s not obvious though as

            – you have to expand the “HR member ?” menu
            – it doesn’t prepopulate when you log in like the rest of the data

            It’s very easy to forget but HR are very good at adding points – just email them with the booking reference

          • RussellH says:
            28 Jan28 January 12:38

            Tried that on Christmas Day at the ticket machine at T3 – did not work. But no problems with e-mailing them a photo of the receipted parking ticket.

            And I was meeting a flight from Helsinki, so this is doubly on topic!

            I recommend LHR on Christmas Day – it was quite civilised. No crowds, flights arriving so early that people were coming out of arrivals before the planes were due to land.

      • MrHandBaggageOnly says:
        28 Jan28 January 12:05

        If you pre-book Heathrow Parking online it is between adding your Personal Details and your Car Details. There is small link that says ‘Heathrow Rewards member?’. It’s easy to miss and you have to click it before a box appears for you to add your Heathrow Rewards number.

        • Gulz says:
          28 Jan28 January 12:11

          I didn’t see such a box… I checked, double checked and triple checked

          • Lady London says:
            28 Jan28 January 14:34

            Sometimes website, mobile website and app function differently from each other so quite possibly.

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      28 Jan28 January 11:08

      Love it, back to wombling like the good old days at Tesco!🤓

  • NoelC says:
    28 Jan28 January 10:11

    Which daily flight to Krakow does that BA offer apply to? Its a route I regularly do – I am on the 0810 BA flight next Monday, but I cant see any offer

    • Rob says:
      28 Jan28 January 11:05

      If you weren’t emailed it, you don’t get it. I get a feeling they only want a handful of people per flight trialling it since in reality that is all they would get if rolled out.

  • Benilyn says:
    28 Jan28 January 10:31

    OT: Free h*bc premier credit card, got limit upgraded from low £4k to mid £5k without asking. Still ridiculously low, given what wages you need for prem, Creation/Virgin/nectar owners give me more than double that, and Amex multiples more. Not end of the world, as you can BT to your CC account and churn the limit easily.

    • Andrew M says:
      28 Jan28 January 10:47

      They initially offered me a limit of £750 on the paid card despite me qualifying for Jade! After a word from the branch staff they upped it to a much more usable number.

      • Waddle says:
        28 Jan28 January 11:54

        Weird. When I applied for the paid one they told me 5k was the minimum and I was never going to be offered anything lower.

    • Anon says:
      28 Jan28 January 12:42

      First time I had it they gave a much higher limit even when I barely met qualifying criteria. This isn’t recent though.

      I’m sure if you ask they will raise.

    • Axel says:
      28 Jan28 January 16:08

      Apply for Jade, you get a whopping £6.5k.

      Card and partners card are free which helps for the lounge access etc. The Etihad Gold benefit has been dropped.

  • Gulz says:
    28 Jan28 January 10:57

    Just got an official email from Virgin cc saying that from 17th Jan they have started charging a cash advance fee for Revolut top-ups. They also said that they’ve just been told about it themselves, and will be refunding any fee and charge no interest incurred until today, but going forward cash advance fee and interest will be charged!
    Funny thing my Revolut was closed down by them after multiple warnings for topping up nearly 250k in over a year! So I’m none the wiser!

    • Lady London says:
      28 Jan28 January 11:12

      I think you can say back to them that this is a significant change in features that is to your detriment and therefore as per terms you will require the 30/60 days notice before it is implemented. I’d demand that they send you proper formal email or letter stating a date they to commence this change in accordance with ts and c’s and requirements for notice. Tell them retroactive notice is not acceptable

      Someone posted some excellent wording for this late yesterday.

      If you do any less this then you’re a patsy. Do it promptly otherwise you will be deemed to have accepted

      • Gulz says:
        28 Jan28 January 11:15

        I wasn’t really impacted… My revolut was closed down early Jan, so never got hit by the CA fee

      • Grant says:
        28 Jan28 January 11:16

        To be fair LL, I think Virgin are being more than reasonable here. Revolut have changed the MCC that is used for top-ups (we are lead to believe as a result of ‘discussions’ with Mastercard) and Virgin are simply processing the transaction according to the new categorisation. That kicked in for most on or around 17/01 and without prior warning.

        I see this email as more of a ‘warning’ or ‘for information’ and a guesture of goodwill since their customers have been charged as a result of Revolut moving the goalposts.

        • Lady London says:
          28 Jan28 January 11:36

          Still think notice is required to their users though before this new charge is able to start being made. They are an adult expert company and they wrote their own ts and c’s. They should be made to honour them including relevant notice periods.

          This is not an Act of God that is causing this. They had a specific clause saying customers wouldn’t be charged. If they want/need to change this then even if that statement that they wouldn’t charge had not been there then as this change is significant and to the customers detriment then notice is required. Customer is not responsible for the card provider’s commercial relationships.

          And to advise you retroactively? Shows incompetence.

          • Grant says:
            28 Jan28 January 11:56

            With respect, I think you might be confusing Virgin and Revolut here. If you comments are aimed at Revolut then I agree and apologise, but your initial response seemed to be blaiming Virgin.

          • Simon says:
            28 Jan28 January 12:04

            I’m happy enough. I’ll be getting my cash advance fee back.

          • EwanG says:
            28 Jan28 January 12:14

            I think Virgin are behaving quite reasonably here. They have proactively contacted their customer base after analysing data to see who has topped up with Revolut.
            They have also agreed to waive charges which have been incurred to their customers since Revolut changed the MCC, up until the customers were informed. They are not obliged to do either of these things.

            Compare this with Revolut who are the ones who made their change with the MCC used. What have they done? Updated a page on their website. No comms (push via the app, or via email) about these changes.

            On the other hand a change to a code of how a payment is passed through the system is not, I believe, covered under Revolut’s terms and conditions, so a notice of variation (via email or post, not app) is not required. But Revolut should be far more proactive and clear in communicating the impacts out to their customers, rather than letting the card providers clean up the mess.

          • Lady London says:
            28 Jan28 January 14:31

            Revolut for sure cant do it as they specifically had in their t’s and cs they wouldn’t. They can change their t’s and cs but only with giving notice.

            I don’t have a Virgin card so not aware of t’s and cs on that, that could cover payments to Revolut. If payments were – fairly viewed – cash advances then whatever is in the rs and s would apply. If Virgin had not actually been applying charges they had the right to in their t’s and cs and is now applying them, then you might be able to get a delay based on goodwill or say custom and practice had not been to apply them and request some notice. Quite likely they’ve got a clause in there that makes it more of a goodwill thing though.

            If the charge is appearing on Revolut then till they give notice they haven’t got a leg to stand on.

            The Mastercard thing is a red herring put out by Rev/card co’s. In a conversation last week Mastercard told me they are not interested in such things and the card issuers’ decisions are their own.

          • Lady London says:
            28 Jan28 January 14:38

            MCC code change by Revolut has brought about the charge? Then effectively Revolut is changing their t’s and cs so notice should be given.

          • Don says:
            28 Jan28 January 21:22

            I am disputing this with Barclaycard who have charged me. Could you kindly point me to the clause in the T&C’s, that they will not treat it as cash, that you cite here?

      • Alan says:
        28 Jan28 January 12:18

        Eh? How is it a change in card features? It’s Revolut at fault here for changing their MCC – I don’t see how Virgin are to blame…

        • Lady London says:
          28 Jan28 January 17:33

          My comments are about Revolut who is changing the MCC and therefore their t’s and c,’s. Nice of Virgin to warn their customers but if this change is made, notice is required. The Mastercard reference is a red herring. Last week Mastercard told me they are a platform only, they can suggest how Mastercard is used but all the decisions are made by card issuers

          • jc says:
            28 Jan28 January 18:03

            Revolut and MasterCard are not the only parties that exist in the chain…

          • Lady London says:
            28 Jan28 January 19:25

            ?

          • Callum says:
            28 Jan28 January 20:37

            Utterly ridiculous. Changing the MCC is NOT changing the terms and conditions.

            Neither Virgin nor Revolut need to give any notice at all. In fact, I doubt Revolut would even be required to notify you about it anyway. Given you were initially claiming that Virgin are breaching some kind of regulation before now changing your argument to Revolut, I’m not sure you know much about financial regulations at all – so I’m not sure why you’re talking with such absolute certainty!

          • jc says:
            28 Jan28 January 22:29

            Revolut explicitly promised in their literature (support web site) that top ups would show on your credit card as purchase, not cash advance. This forms part of your contract with them. They absolutely cannot legitimately change that without notice – any more than a company could increase your membership fee without notice (- which, by the way, also isn’t generally listed in a company’s T&Cs. But it’s promised on the website before you sign up, and therefore binding, just like the no cash advance promise.)

    • Alan says:
      28 Jan28 January 12:14

      Yep text I received was as follows. I thought very fair approach from them.

      “Hi Alan

      We need to let you know that Mastercard have recently changed the way they treat top-ups to your Revolut account from your Virgin Atlantic Credit Card. From 17 January, using your Virgin Atlantic Credit Card to top up your Revolut card will be classed as a cash advance. This means there’s a fee for doing it.

      We’ve only just been told this and couldn’t pass on the info any earlier. If you’ve made a Revolut top-up recently, you may spot a cash advance fee in your transactions. Don’t fret. We’ll be refunding that fee and we won’t charge any interest on that Revolut transaction. So you won’t lose out.

      But it’s worth making a mental note that from now on future Revolut top-ups will be treated as cash advances, with a fee for doing them.

      Kind regards

      The Virgin Atlantic Credit Card Team”

      • Anna says:
        28 Jan28 January 13:26

        Is this going to affect all MCs? This would be a pain as IHG is only of limited use with Curve so Revolut top ups are much more versatile.

    • Colin MacKinnon says:
      28 Jan28 January 14:08

      As you know, I warned about the Revolut change affecting Virgin & IHG charges in mid-December.

      Virgin sent me the email today, so I will now be asking them to backdate to mid-December.

      Obviously didn’t do any transactions after then!

    • Mikee says:
      28 Jan28 January 22:01

      My MBNA Horizon card is still showing ” Revolut*1944* Online/phone/mail order purchase” for Revolut top-ups (transaction made yesterday) and is the same as previous transactions on my statement so looks like nothing has changed (so far) on this card.

  • Nick M says:
    28 Jan28 January 12:06

    OT – It may have already been mentioned, but I have just checked my latest Creation statement and have been charged interest on a Revolut top up… fortunately it was only 69p so probably won’t actively pursue it – but good to know that this is no longer a sensible option going forwards…

    • Kai says:
      28 Jan28 January 13:24

      Beware that you may have been charged a cash advance fee too.

    • Anna says:
      28 Jan28 January 13:27

      Several of us have had this. No cash advance fee as yet, and I am paying off IHG as soon as I’ve topped up to avoid the interest charges.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      28 Jan28 January 15:39

      not dead just needs to be managed 🙂

  • Alex says:
    28 Jan28 January 12:08

    OT; email from virgin regarding Revolut

    We need to let you know that Mastercard have recently changed the way they treat top-ups to your Revolut account from your Virgin Atlantic Credit Card. From 17 January, using your Virgin Atlantic Credit Card to top up your Revolut card will be classed as a cash advance. This means there’s a fee for doing it.

    We’ve only just been told this and couldn’t pass on the info any earlier. If you’ve made a Revolut top-up recently, you may spot a cash advance fee in your transactions. Don’t fret. We’ll be refunding that fee and we won’t charge any interest on that Revolut transaction. So you won’t lose out.

    But it’s worth making a mental note that from now on future Revolut top-ups will be treated as cash advances, with a fee for doing them.

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