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.

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 70,000 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 (June 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 Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express Credit Card

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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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 points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 0.8 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 Card

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.

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

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 (477)

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

  • AL says:
    22 Oct22 October 11:17

    I like reading your articles. But please make them complete. Has this been rolled out? When is it going to be rolled out? Or When did it roll out? Is it global?

    • Rob says:
      22 Oct22 October 11:30

      It says in the article that it has already been rolled out globally on all routes except 12+ hour ones.

      The only point from your list I didn’t mention is that it started on 15th August, but that’s not really relevant.

      • tony says:
        22 Oct22 October 12:07

        Now that’s interesting as I flew back from MEX on 31/8 and didn’t notice any great difference although it would have been a year since I flew a similar leg with BA. Certainly nothing that would warrant the frenzy that’s being drummed up here.

  • David says:
    22 Oct22 October 11:25

    So I am flying CW LGW to BKK at 21:15 in January and return from BKK at 22:55. Should BA pay compensation as the meals are not as advertised at time of booking? Which lounge at LGW and BKK is recommended for pre-flight dining? Thanks

    • Mark says:
      22 Oct22 October 11:47

      BKK-LGW is over 12 hours so presumably exempt from these changes…. Interestingly the schedule time for LGW-BKK is 11:55. You’ll have access to the BA Lounge at Gatwick which should have a hot food buffet.

    • JDB says:
      22 Oct22 October 16:58

      No, BA doesn’t contract to provide any specific meal content when you book and even if your flight were affected, how much would you expect to be compensated for a missing £3.50. It’s so ridiculously inconsequential but this constant expectation of compensation for nothing is why BA needs to cut costs.

      • JDB says:
        22 Oct22 October 16:58

        Missing first course.

      • LittleNick says:
        22 Oct22 October 20:08

        @JDB They wouldn’t have to compensate so much if they got it right in the first place like other airlines manage! It’s a circular spiral of decline by cutting

    • TGLoyalty says:
      22 Oct22 October 20:45

      What was advertised? A meal or how many courses?

      Do you regularly eat past 10pm when not flying?

  • Swifty says:
    22 Oct22 October 11:34

    Is this a fore runner. This is surely at complete odds with the way the other airlines do things. I want caviar not soup. Damn. That ba amex is getting hammered and now I’ll just get the mr rewards cards.

    • JDB says:
      22 Oct22 October 17:04

      If you were running an airline would you wish to be the leader or the follower? Caviar is considered by many to be an unacceptably cruel product; should BA adopt it in CW? The airlines offering the biggest luxuries aren’t European legacy airlines that simply can’t afford these things. Legacy flag carrier airlines are stuck with totally different cost bases and consumer legislation vs their competitors. You pay for your EC261, higher staff/employment costs and absence of government subsidies etc. in lesser quality. European airlines used to lead the way but can no longer afford to do so.

  • whiskerxx says:
    22 Oct22 October 11:57

    I’m BA Gold

    I only ever fly BA if I have to.

  • Beep says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:02

    I always shed a tear for the people that are forced to fly BA when I read articles like this (so almost every month). I’m sitting in my Qsuite enjoying perfect service from a young and fresh cabin crew, really feeling for you guys being served gruel by an over unionised miserable and lazy BA crew

    • LittleNick says:
      22 Oct22 October 15:09

      BA crew I’ve had may be not the most proactive but never miserable in fairness

      • Beep says:
        22 Oct22 October 15:27

        Every time I fly BA, the younger crew spend most the flight talking to either their off duty colleagues or their mates that they’ve upgraded. The older ones that survive in the job as a result over unionisation are so miserable.

    • Niall says:
      22 Oct22 October 16:01

      BA cabin crew for a long time have been more inconsistent than other airlines in my opinion. Since covid changes when so many left it is overall worse for sure.

      I do think though that when the BA crew are good, it is a massive positive point of difference for BA, with a more genuine and warm service compared with say the competent but less human service of say Qatar.

      Changes as silly as this won’t help this. Irritated passengers make for irritated crew.

  • Mark says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:11

    I agree. Used to do that all the time when they offered it. Virgin does now from most of their departure airports, including additional choices that are not on the onboard menu. I’d rather choose a few days before, rather than be stick with whatever options are left that I may not want. If there’s something decent on offer in the lounge we’ll usually do that just because we’ve then had something.

  • Gillian W says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:12

    This is just ridiculous. We are flying to Sao Paolo next month from Glasgow and dont have very long in Heathrow to eat in lounge and was relying on food on board for the 11.5 hour flight. Also the fact that 2 of the MAIN options are soup, a starter, or cheese how many actual mains will they have on board? Do i need to acquire a good bag from the lounge or is this going to be next step, take aways bags and no in flight food?

    • Numpty says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:24

      might need some tupperware for the lounge and get some chicken curry as takeout (note, there may not be any chicken left in the curry sauce).

      Actually, hope BA arent reading this, it might sound like a good idea to them!

      • Lady London says:
        22 Oct22 October 13:23

        Taking sny food from anywhere onto the flight is a bit fraught, as a lot of foods show u as liquid on the security Xray and will be rejrcted.

        • meta says:
          22 Oct22 October 15:16

          Lounges and restaurants are usually after security.

        • Numpty says:
          22 Oct22 October 15:36

          Once had a ‘debate’ with a colleague who thought all food was banned and would be taken from them at security. After we chatted they decided they would risk taking their Pringles with them on their holibobs, and if they were taken off them i would have to recompense them.

          • Andy says:
            23 Oct23 October 07:45

            So many “know it alls” in airports. Try working in one and / or an airline – then you will begin to learn what is possible, advantageous, plain stupid or unreasonable. It can be a real eye-opener.

    • cc-not-bcc says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:47

      It’s *Paulo*, not Paolo.

    • JDB says:
      22 Oct22 October 17:09

      You can pre-order excellent Fortnum’s picnics for the flight if you are concerned BA won’t feed you enough or the food won’t be good enough. There’s ample good onboard for a 22.20 departure including breakfast prior to arrival.

    • Belsize says:
      22 Oct22 October 17:31

      Last night to GRU there was no chicken pie in club left by row 4!!

      • Gillian W says:
        22 Oct22 October 18:08

        That is terrible. Basically that is the only ‘Main’ course actual option.

  • Sam says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:29

    Hi Rob, when do these changes come into effect as well as the ‘brunchgate’ – I have a flight from Gatwick in 2 weeks time that is just over 11 hours and departing just before 11am. Thanks

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 50,000 bonus points (worth 50,000 Avios) and £400 of 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

Special offer: Get 30,000 bonus Hilton Honors points until 14th August 2025

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 credit card with points which convert to Avios

Get points worth 20,000 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!