Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways cuts Club World meal service for departures after 9pm

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

Yesterday we covered the bizarre new breakfast / brunch service that British Airways is serving for lunch on long haul flights departing up to 11.29am.

It pairs a cooked breakfast with wine, a cheeseboard, coffee and liqueurs. Those who have tried it are finding it as odd as it sounds.

On the upside, you are at least still getting a three course meal of sorts. This is no longer the case for Club World departures after 9pm.

BA cuts Club World meal service for departures after 9pm

‘Institutional memory’ is ‘the collective knowledge, experience, and expertise of an organization. It includes the information, processes, best practices, and lessons learned that help an organization function effectively and make informed decisions’.

I mention this because, about 20 years ago, British Airways launched something called ‘Sleeper Service’. It stripped down the Club World business class food service to the bare minimum, on the grounds that most people wanted to sleep on overnight flights and those who didn’t could starve. It was a failure, launching the catchphrase ‘To Fly, To Starve’ and was abandoned. This is despite the fact that it only operated from airports where BA had pre-flight lounge dining.

Multiple rounds of staff departures at British Airways later, everyone who remembers the failure of ‘Sleeper Service’ seems to have left and a version of it is back. This time it is on virtually all routes, irrespective of whether the lounge offers a full meal.

What is now served on Club World departures after 9pm?

The menu has been pared back sharply:

  • appetisers have been scrapped
  • main courses and desserts are massively simplified

Here is an example menu currently in use:

Main courses

  • Butternut squash and coconut soup
  • Grilled tiger prawn salad
  • Chicken and leek pie
  • Cheese and crackers

Dessert

  • Panna cotta
  • Fruit salad
  • Chocolate chip cookies

…. and that’s it.

Bizarrely the menu says at the top:

“Take your pick from an assortment of seasonal dishes. If you’re feeling tired and can’t wait to cosy down, then just choose your main and dessert and a night cap of your choice”.

However, you have no option but to have just a main and dessert because that’s all there is! The appetisers are gone.

This new service has been rolled out on virtually all long-haul routes. The only exceptions are 12+ hour flights. It is, apparently, being used on Cape Town and Mauritius which are over 11 hours.

The airline argues that a ‘one tray’ meal service will allow passengers to get to sleep more quickly. The problem is that British Airways ALREADY offered a stripped down ‘one tray’ option on late night Club World flights. Those who wanted to eat and sleep could have the ‘one tray’ meal whilst those who didn’t could – until last week – have the standard full menu.

It isn’t clear what is offered in First Class. I believe that the menu has also been cut back but bears more resemblance to a proper meal.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 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

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 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Avios! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. 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

Huge 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) and NO FX fees 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 (486)

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

  • johnny_c-l says:
    22 Oct22 October 05:31

    How strange that BA consider cheese & crackers to be both a brunch starter and an evening main, when it is neither.

  • Rob says:
    22 Oct22 October 05:50

    I would love to see the amount saved per passenger from these cost cutting measures. It surely cannot be worth the damage?!

  • JDB says:
    22 Oct22 October 05:53

    The bigger problem with BA’s late departures is the inordinate time they take to get the first drink or food out after takeoff. For EZE or CPT, with departures around 10pm, with the actually airborne time often not being until at least 30 mins later there’s little prospect of anything arriving until midnight, a time when many might wish to sleep. This is only mitigated by the fact that whatever turns up wasn’t worth staying up for, old menu or new one, albeit the now dropped first course was usually the least bad course. Iberia, on its 23.59 departures, really manages to get a move on after takeoff and even serves relatively decent food and good wines.

    • Thywillbedone says:
      22 Oct22 October 07:04

      The major gripe I have with BA meal service (aside from the content) is how early they often start prepping for breakfast …unnecessarily banging and walloping pots and pans a couple of hours before landing …because why should any light sleepers get some sleep while they have to work!!!

      On the subject of the article, why bring on DO &CO to great fanfare if you are going to offer such limited services further down the line??

      • pete says:
        22 Oct22 October 07:34

        what do you expect them to do?

        • Thywillbedone says:
          22 Oct22 October 07:38

          Leave the noisy prep until at most an hour before landing?!! Have never had it on any other carrier …loud prep, even louder chatter starting way before it is necessary.

          • Philip Firmin says:
            22 Oct22 October 09:53

            Totally agree. The worst experience I had with that was in First to Beijing. The slamming of the cupboards and the seemingly non-stop jangling of cutlery a good few hours ahead of landing. The stomping up and down the aisles I’ve not experienced quite to the extent of BA, I can only assume it’s deliberate: Qatar and Cathay were very nice and quiet.

          • HampshireHog says:
            22 Oct22 October 12:00

            The clomping up and down to be fair is only to be expected from the cart horses in sensible shoes they employ.

          • Jetset Boyz says:
            23 Oct23 October 06:49

            They can’t leave it that late… an hour before landing is when longhaul flights usually start securing the cabin for landing.

    • john says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:00

      Not to mention the late CPT flight invariably leaves late!

  • Robert Newel says:
    22 Oct22 October 06:01

    So if I take Qatar instead of BA on my next trip the South Africa, and that seat goes out empty, how much would BA be “saving” with this initiative?

    The extra tier points are quite enticing as well.

  • Patrick C says:
    22 Oct22 October 06:05

    This is only possible due to the near monopoly on NA routes where BA makes its money. he rest is really just for show. On those shorter routes many want to sleep asap indeed. So you can cut back without losing too much. This will obviously crash if the US economy takes a hit or if the CMA finally puts an end to revenue sharing on NA routes.
    Currently it is significantly cheaper to take a flight to literally any european airport and then connect to the US. Often to the tune of several thousand pounds on business class flights. That is really all you need to know.
    But airlines always retry old tactics, same as other CEO’s do. Let’s cut the workforce and then lament that you don’t have talented staff. here it’s the same. Strip it bare until people start thinking that for a £10k business class seat they better get something in return beyond a bus service 😉

  • shanghaiguizi says:
    22 Oct22 October 06:09

    No need to worry JDB, BA have a solution for that; they’ll just not serve you dinner, or any other meal. Have a bag of peanuts or some award winning banana cake and be satisfied.

    • Lee says:
      22 Oct22 October 08:07

      Haha. I forgot that banana cake. Yes…

      • D says:
        22 Oct22 October 09:43

        The artisan banana cake got more clicks for hfp than the recent KUL cancellations I seem to recall.

    • HampshireHog says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:03

      Indeed, they may well start saying there’s no demand for their meagre midnight offerings.

  • NigelthePensioner says:
    22 Oct22 October 06:10

    So why are we all frantically saving up Avios and chasing tier points for this “self flagellation”??
    Instituitional stupidity is what BA have done best since the WW days – surely it’s time for a change again, back to someone who wants to and has the capability to, run a luxury reliable airline travel service.
    Maybe the answer is to get AA to change to Avios and then we have AA for the USA and QR for Eastbound flights!

  • Ian says:
    22 Oct22 October 06:11

    Another cost cutting exercise by BA.

    Just because I am flying after 9pm from Miami doesn’t mean that I want to sleep.

    If I want to drink I will – problem is now there is very little food to go with it.

    I guess they don’t want the crew to work too hard.

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

LIMITED TIME OFFFER: Get 80,000 WELCOME BONUS POINTS (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 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 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 POINTS WORTH UP TO 10,500 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

SPECIAL OFFER TO 14TH JANUARY: Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' 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!