British Airways reported to be ending free food in Euro Traveller – good news or bad?
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
There are, I suppose, some people out there who consider a mini bag of crisps (average content – 4ish) to fulfil the dictionary definition of a ‘snack’.
For the rest of us, the ‘free food and drink’ offered by British Airways in Euro Traveller has been an embarrassment for many years. Many of us remember the happy days of the Gate Gourmet catering strike a few years ago, when a lack of food on board meant that status passengers could pick up a (pretty impressive) ‘tuck box’ in the lounge for free to take with them.
A number of speculative articles in the press over the last couple of days suggest that BA has now decided to axe free food and drink in Euro Traveller. I first heard about this from crew gossip a few weeks ago but there has been nothing in writing, and it still appears to be based on rumour – albeit that BA would presumably have jumped on the story when it first hit the press if it were untrue.
Even if it does happen, it will be at least 12 months away. There is nothing happening at even the most high level cabin crew / management discussion groups. More importantly, it would be difficult to implement with less than 12 months notice because passengers with tickets issued before any change would have a contractual right to free food and drink.
However …..
It may all be nonsense.
Not that I’m suggesting Simon Calder (who started the rumour) is getting his information from social networking sites but ….
easyJet make this model work successfully with, generally, four cabin crew. Two prepare and deliver food orders whilst the other two sell drinks and ambient snacks from the trolley. This works well.
British Airways often runs short haul flights with just three cabin crew members, of which one is focussed on Club Europe. That leaves just two people to serve Euro Traveller.
It is not impossible that this would work, but it would require a bit of dexterity. On a busy short flight like Amsterdam it would be virtually impossible to serve a full cabin. You would probably need to make everything paid-for (ie no free drinks either) in order to reduce the number of orders to a manageable level.
Is it a bad idea?
I had a toasted ham and cheese sandwich on my easyJet flight to Paris last month and it was perfectly fine. I think I ended up paying £6.50 for a meal deal which included a coffee and, forced on me because it was effectively free, a jumbo Kit Kat.
I think the majority of hungry passengers would prefer a toasted sandwich to the free BA offering (example pictured above). Drinks are different, of course. All that happen here is that you would be going from free wine to paid wine – a clear drop in standards.
You are also left with the question of what will happen to Club Europe. Will they simply be offered a free item from the paid menu, which at times would be an improvement and an other times a big cut, or would they get a ‘take it or leave it’ meal for free whilst Euro Traveller gets a totally different buy on board menu?
At the end of the day, BA’s obsession with competing with low cost carriers is pointless. Most flights operate from Heathrow and Heathrow is not served by low cost carriers. Airlines operating from other airports have a head start on costs due to airport fees (the Heathrow Passenger Service Charge is now £29.81) so fighting on price will never work.
The risk, as with the cut in Club Europe leg room last year, is that you start to lose high yield long haul business class passengers because they refuse to fly your short haul product for the final leg.
Finally, it is about time that BA stops the myth that short haul flying is unprofitable. The new On Business programme is a revenue based, as we have discussed before.
If you look at how long haul flights with a short haul connection are treated, the points awarded for the short haul are pitiful based on a couple of examples I’ve seen. Logically, this must be the £ number that BA uses for its internal accounting – a number which bears no relation to the value of that short haul flight.
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 (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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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.
TGLoyalty 
Billy Buzzjet 
Rob 
Quark999 
Callum 
Alex 
jhk 
Ian 
Rach 
blackberryaddict 
Greg 
Comments (107)