Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways drops M&S for short-haul economy food – Greggs to take over?

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

British Airways has announced, via The Sun, that it has terminated its contract with Marks & Spencer to provide ‘buy on board’ food for short-haul economy passengers.

In a short statement, BA said:

“We’re off on a new flight path.“

“We look forward to announcing our exciting new buy-on-board proposition with a great British brand that customers have told us they love.”

This is believed to be either Greggs or Waitrose, with The Sun reporting that both companies have submitted proposals.

There could be a link with Avios dropping Tesco, with Waitrose potentially getting the on-board contract and becoming the Avios supermarket partner. This also makes it less likely that M&S/Ocado will get the Avios deal.

But M&S doesn’t really provide BA catering ….

It is a common misconception that M&S actually ‘provides’ the food in short-haul economy. In truth, Tourvest – the supplier – buys a small number of M&S items and adds them to its existing range of products. If you count down the menu, the percentage which is branded M&S product is relatively small.

Whilst introducing buy on board was controversial when introduced, in truth it was a mercy killing for the existing offering. BA had actually fallen behind other airlines – on BA, you would get a drink and a small bag of pretzels. There was no other alternative even if you were hungry. Other carriers, whilst charging, did at least have a full offering.

Unfortunately, BA screwed it up. In various trips with Vueling, easyJet and Ryanair over the past couple of years, it has been clear that all have a far broader range – with better availability – than British Airways. Simply swapping an M&S sandwich for a Waitrose one, both of which are likely to come from the same factory anyway, won’t change that.

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

British Airways and Avios

Comments (187)

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

  • Neil says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:13

    Makes perfect sense that it is now Waitrose! Hence why Tesco was dropped – you can shop and earn points at Waitrose and then spend these points onboard

  • Anna says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:23

    I wonder if they will offer the very popular Gregg’s breakfast combo of bacon/sausage roll plus hot drink for £2.20?

  • Peter Mc says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:26

    The CW breakfast on my MCO-LGW flight back in March could have been a Gregg’s vegan sausage roll.

  • zebrum says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:27

    Remember when Greggs was kicked out of Glasgow airport for not agreeing to charge rip-off prices?

    • BP says:
      26 Oct26 October 10:43

      Yep. There’s been no good places to eat in GLA since the Eat chain closed that branch. A Boots meal deal seems to be the best option.

  • David D says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:28

    Sorry Anna, looks like you have a typo with the decimal point. I think you may have meant £22.00. 😉

  • Oh! Matron! says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:31

    If Gregg’s, may I ask if there’s a low that BA can’t sink to? I don’t want to criticise Gregg’s… It is what it is, but it’s not the quality brand that M&S is

    • Graham says:
      26 Oct26 October 08:46

      Why would it be a low, prey tell? M&S food varies in quality just like anywhere else. Certainly, you can almost guarantee that they will source sandwiches from the same factories as other brands do. I used to work at Lidl head office in Scotland. Their beef is sourced from the same M&S supplier but they’re not permitted to say anything.

      Like it or not, BA are going after a market paying LCC prices and are used to this variety of food. It’d make more business sense in my view than a Waitrose deal.

    • Genghis says:
      26 Oct26 October 09:08

      Some of the current M&S onboard offering is all fur coat and no knickers. Greggs offers decent honest food.

      • Anna says:
        26 Oct26 October 09:30

        Well said, Ghengis! And a bacon roll is a bacon roll whoever is selling it (though always enhanced by a glass of bubbly).

        • The real John says:
          26 Oct26 October 11:01

          Disagree, while the bread doesn’t matter that much, bacon comes in a wide range of quality (and the quality that BA J lounges serve at breakfast is not good, though I still eat them)

          • Anna says:
            26 Oct26 October 11:35

            Gregg’s bacon rolls are better than BA’s. Better quality bacon and more of it.

      • Lady London says:
        26 Oct26 October 13:05

        +1

    • Russ says:
      26 Oct26 October 09:18

      Well Greggs wouldn’t have the same brand impact BA aspires to plus, Waitrose already have a locker grocery pick up facility at airports.

      • Char Char says:
        26 Oct26 October 12:03

        Perhaps you have never flown BA CE, Greggs would be an upgrade for ALL their food

    • Fenny says:
      26 Oct26 October 10:18

      I’d rather eat food from Gregg’s than M&S. At least it’s not pretentious and overpriced. On the odd occasion I’ve had food from M&S, I’ve not noticed it being of higher quality than any other sandwich outlet.

      What I really want is a good solid ham butty on a wholemeal roll without all the mayo and associated other guff. I’m not a fan of salad in sarnies. It just makes it all damp.

      • BP says:
        26 Oct26 October 10:45

        When working in consultancy I got to sample the lunchtime delights of most major supermarkets when out an about on client sites. I found M&S to be far superior to the rest of the supermarkets.

        • Sunguy says:
          26 Oct26 October 10:56

          This definitely **USED** to be the case….. for example, the M&S at Moorgate in London had one of the best hot food takeaways and Ive had from an M&S, it was well portioned, a number of things on the menu, not badly priced (for the city) and alwyas busy….however, from a high about 3 years ago to at least Feb last year, the quality fell substantially – they were forever running out of stuff (like at 11am and no replenishment) and stopped doing 2/3 of the menu. I dont remember the last time I walked into that store and found a cheese and ham baguette available after 11.30am – excuse is always, the sandwich prep folks finish at 11 and there are none left.

          They even have a full weekday every few months where they close the instore bakery for maintenance (given the store is closed at weekends – seems a bit negligent to me).

          Anwyays – rant over…..

          • Lady London says:
            26 Oct26 October 13:08

            That M&S Food at Moorgate must have been a goldmine. I remember it well, always packed. At that time, still did breakfast at Birley’s though – all gone now

          • Alex Sm says:
            27 Oct27 October 16:53

            My colleagues used to walk all the way from Bond St to Marble Arch for their roasted chicken – £5 for half chicken or so! Those were the days!

  • C says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:41

    I’ve said this repeatedly…the branding is irrelevant. BA could regain large amounts of goodwill by adopting the US catering model, offering free non-alcoholic drinks and BOB snacks and other items. With or without that approach, Silver/Gold (and OW equivalent) should get a free fo item. While food sale revenue would go down slightly, this would be a significant differentiator versus the LCCs, likely enhancing ticket revenue. It’s time to think beyond bean counting, and to selling a customer experience.

    • marcw says:
      26 Oct26 October 08:52

      OW and BA frequent travellers, as a general rule, will keep flying BA regardless.

      • Jonathan says:
        26 Oct26 October 10:01

        Not always if there’s other options

        If you also regularly use Star Alliance or SkyTeam airlines, then what’s stopping someone using one of the other airlines in the airlines groups for the same route?

        If I was travelling domestically in US (not going to be happening anytime soon !!) I wouldn’t solely target American Airlines flights, and or Alaska Airlines purely to be earning Avios if other options are available

  • Catalan says:
    26 Oct26 October 08:59

    Whether it be Waitrose or Greggs it’ll still look better than that excuse for a meal we saw pictures of in Virgin Upper Class a few days ago.

    • Ben says:
      26 Oct26 October 09:29

      I thought that looked tasty, it just wasn’t that well presented or photographed.

      • Rob says:
        26 Oct26 October 10:21

        It tasted fine. I can’t remember if I’d eaten any of it when I decided to take the picture!

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.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

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

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

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? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

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!