A friend of mine has booked 4 adult economy tickets on a long-haul flight with a 'third-party provider' on a British Airways flight. They are saying that apparently they get a discount on the airfare but as a trade-off they aren't entitled to an in-flight meal and only have a baggage allocation of 3 bags for 4 passengers.

As a fairly seasoned long haul traveller I have literally never seen or heard of cabin crew not serving an in-flight meal to a passenger because of the fare they purchased, nor have I ever booked a long haul flight that didn't include at least one checked piece of baggage for each travelling adult.

I am concerned that my friend may have been scammed or ripped off and that this 'deal' is a hoax. Does anyone have any experience of these sort of deals?