British Airways trialling short-haul food pre-ordering in Europe

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British Airways has launched a trial which allows Economy passengers on European short-haul flights to pre-order food.

The criteria for taking part in the trial seems, ahem, eclectic – the person who sent me the details has no short-haul flights booked at all! Going through the booking process, it appears to be restricted to one daily flight to Malaga and one to Krakow.

As you can see from the image above – click to enlarge – you do not have the full choice of the menu and must select from three meal deals. I am guessing that this is an attempt to increase the average order value.

If you are invited onto the trial, your meal is free so do give it a go if you are on the relevant flights. It isn’t clear why it was emailed to people who are not on the relevant flights though.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Tom H says:

28 Jan28 January 05:19

OT: any data points re HSBC WE and Revolut? My last transaction in 15/1 was fine but am now awaiting document verification. Just wandering if it is worth chasing up if there are cash advance charges.
- Benilyn says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 06:42
  
  18 Jan top up, got my statement today, no charges.
- MD says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 07:17
  
  26/1 topped up 4K on it, no charges.
- Liam J says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 08:17
  
  18 Jan top up. Cash interest showing on my 23 Jan statement. First time that’s happened.
  - Benilyn says:
    
    28 Jan28 January 08:46
    
    Wow it’s over? Well over for me anyway, they warned me for excessive top up
  - rams1981 says:
    
    28 Jan28 January 10:39
    
    thanks. I did a small £10 and waiting for my statement. Is there an easy way to check before statement is produced?
Phillip says:

28 Jan28 January 05:19

Up until last year BA operated more frequencies but have now left it up to Finnair to mostly deal with the route!
- ChrisC says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 09:40
  
  If it’s part of the Joint Venture why not leave it up to the partner airline to operate if you still get a share of the revenue?
  
  Means BA have planes, crew and slots to operate other flights.
  - riku2 says:
    
    28 Jan28 January 12:19
    
    There is no joint venture between finnair / british airways for HEL-LHR. There is a JV for europe – japan and europe – north america. A HEL-LHR flight is only part of the JV if there is a connection in LHR to north american long haul or connection to Japan (where you flight over Finland eight hours after you left Helsinki).
    This explains why discount business class tickets on BA HEL-LHR are only valid on the BA flight but any tickets HEL-LHR-USA are valid on any BA/AY flight HEL-LHR.
Si says:

28 Jan28 January 05:33

OT – any idea when next IHG Point Breaks will be published?
- Si says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 05:35
  
  Ignore. Just seen in other article that further news will be coming tomo…?
- BJ says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 06:12
  
  According to LoyaltyL9bby PB may be dead.
Matthew says:

28 Jan28 January 05:33

BA service departs at 0755…
- Kevin says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 06:39
  
  It may vary by day and date. I have a Saturday that departs at lunchtime.
Andrew MS says:

28 Jan28 January 05:52

I am going to book a VS flight today on behalf of a friend and will pay on my Virgin Atlantic + card so will gain 3 points per £ . However, I would like to cancel my card in the next week to avoid the £160 renewal fee . My question is , will Virgin credit cards award me the FC points for today’s transaction when i close my account in a few days ? Thank you .
- Shoestring says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 06:37
  
  should be fine as your miles get sent to your FC a/c monthly with the statement and you must pay off everything within 30 days
  
  Virgin Money don’t make you potentially lose miles a la Amex MR points (with a/c closure) because there’s no similar set up, ie MR points get held at Amex until you decide where to use them; with Virgin miles you get no choice, they are automatically moved to FC
Tom says:

28 Jan28 January 06:08

Shame that finnair is so much more expensive than BA business for the route in the current sale.
- Rob says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 08:27
  
  £680 isn’t a bargain?!
The Original David says:

28 Jan28 January 06:10

I think you mean “long-haul aircraft” rather than long-haul flight. Presumably they’re not going to just take a longer route from London to Helsinki…
BJ says:

28 Jan28 January 06:16

Why do BA need to run a trial on pre ordering food? Why don’t they just do it? Time they sent Alex to KL to learn how to run an airline properly.
- Marcw says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 06:23
  
  Logistics is the main issue.
- NigelthePensioner says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 06:57
  
  I’s not the trial thats the issue, it’s the targets. Targeting BAEC members who aren’t flying on the selected trial routes will mean that there is a low take up when the data is analysed superficially by AC, so BA will be anle to announce that there is no market for advanced food ordering and drop the idea……. One less hassle for them.
  Or could it just be that BA’s IT is based around an Early Learning Centre tablet?
- callum says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 07:00
  
  The same reason anyone does a trial for anything – to make sure it works.
  
  I imagine the key points would be to make sure they can fulfill all the orders, test whether it interferes with the BOB process and see if it affects average spend.
  
  Though I would have thought a much better trial would be to let everyone on the flight use it!
  - memesweeper says:
    
    28 Jan28 January 07:08
    
    — absolutely! pop up a message for everyone on the flight in the app 24 – 48 hours before departure to see if there’s demand or not.
    
    … and I don’t think this will necessarily be just about raising spend… I’d imagine reducing the time taken to do the service on the plane, improving availability and reducing waste would all be possible benefits.
    - Shoestring says:
      
      28 Jan28 January 07:25
      
      I don’t use the BA app & I imagine that’s similar for 75% of passengers
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        28 Jan28 January 07:54
        
        75% seems pretty high In total. Don’t forget just 1 passenger in the group needs the app to change everyone’s meal from the notification they get.
        
        App usage will vary with age in my own age group I’d be surprised if anyone doesn’t have it, once they’ve booked. But I know my parents weren’t really that bothered I had to suggest it a few years back.
        
        Pop up message or email would do? I’m sure it’s to get the mix of meals right and cut waste (their pocket)? It can’t see it speeding up service much.
      - BJ says:
        
        28 Jan28 January 08:22
        
        Not sure it is as simple as age range. I suspect many dislike apps because they often lack the full functionality of mobile sites. Then on apple devices you have the added hassle of different apps for phones and tablets which are not adaptive cross devices like android apps AFAIK.
      - memesweeper says:
        
        28 Jan28 January 08:36
        
        On-device push messaging can grab attention in a way that an email doesn’t. My kids, for instance, never look at email unless they need something they are expecting by email.
        
        Clearly sending an email as well as a push notification will reach the largest numbers, but my hunch is push notifications will generate the majority of responses.
      - Peter K says:
        
        28 Jan28 January 08:47
        
        I agree on apps annoying me because they can’t do everything I want on them unlike an actual website. It means I have to go to two places to do what I want, so I’d rather stick with just one, the website.
- ChrisC says:
  
  28 Jan28 January 12:02
  
  It may be the company that provides the BoB that wants the trial rather than BA.
  
  The BoB is provided by a separate company and just provdes the food and drink on it.
  
  If a CSM gives some one a free drink or sandwich off the trolley BA has to reimburse the supplier for it for example.
  
  Depends on the logistics. Does the supplier print a label off and stick it on the sandwich saying ‘Mr Johnson 26a’ and it’s put in the normal cart hoping the cabin crew see it or will it be stored separatly?