You can now buy food and drink in British Airways short-haul Economy without pre-ordering

When British Airways launched its revised short-haul Economy catering in January, it came with a catch.

The good news was that all passengers got a free bottle of water and a mini snack. A range of good quality Tom Kerridge products were also added to the ‘for sale’ menu.

The bad news was that EVERYTHING had to pre-ordered. Fancy a cup of coffee on board? Forget it. You had to order it 24 hours in advance (12 hours for outbound flights) or you weren’t getting it.

Everyone except British Airways decided that this was a bad idea. When Rhys flew down to Edinburgh in April, he was the ONLY person – on either leg of his trip – to have pre-ordered anything. Here is Rhys’s review of pre-ordering food in economy on British Airways including a review of his Tom Kerridge pie.

British Airways has now relented.

Starting from 19th July, you will be able to order food and drink onboard. The Tom Kerridge items will not be available, and it remains to be seen if there will be any fresh food at all.

It is a staggered roll out so it may take a few weeks to reach all routes. It will initially launch on 29 routes, including those to Greece, the Balearics, Cyprus, Egypt, Romania, Morocco, Moscow and Jordan.

Ultra short routes such as Jersey and Amsterdam will not receive the service. If you want a cup of coffee on these services, it will still need to be ordered 12-24 hours in advance.

How will British Airways ‘buy on board’ work?

You will be free to continue pre-ordering food and drink from highlifeshop.com up to 12 hours before departure. Pre-ordering will remain the only way to get your hands on the Tom Kerridge menu and certain other items.

If you want to purchase anything onboard, you will need to log in to a new inflight ordering system via your smartphone. You will not need to pay for inflight wi-fi to access this.

Payment will be possible via credit and debit cards or with Avios. The Avios option is a bad deal and best avoided. Cash payments will not be possible. It appears that payment will be made to cabin crew and not online to avoid any stock issues.

So, you see, progress of sorts ….

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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.