Brussels Airlines

JFK to Brussels on September 3rd in Business class and were seated in 4A and 4C. We boarded the plane and were greeted by a lovely female member if crew who took our glasses and offered us a Kir Royale before takeoff. I noticed that on this run we were only offered the one rather than refills. The flight took off from JFK on time after a long taxi. 20 minutes after the seat belt light was switched off we were offered a drink which was served with a bowl of olives. Probably a figment of my imagination but the drink service didn't seem as generous on this flight and the meal service seemed to have been downgraded - for example there was no Star Chef selection on this flight. The monthly cocktail also has been downgraded to a monthly beer. Menu cards were distributed and an amenity kit with not much in handed out - usefully though it doubles as an IPad holder which is a nice touch. Twenty minutes later the meal service began. Starters were a choice of Smoked breast of duck or Green tea dusted seaweed wrapped scallop. I had the scallop which was terrific. Mains were a choice of Sesame Crusted Beef with butternut squash purée or Herb crusted seared salmon with a tomato courgette gratin or Blue Cheese Gnocchi with sautéed spinach. I had the beef which could have been hotter to be honest but was still excellent. I chose an excellent 2012 South African Chenin Blanc which was recommended by the purser and was a great choice. This was followed by a cheese plate. The meal service took about an hour of the 6.5 hour night flight. After dinner I stretched out in the large lie flat bed and settled back to watch a movie as I thought it was pointless to try and get loads of sleep. Crew came round a couple of times with water. The seat is very comfortable and the massage function nice. There was also a better selection of films on this flight that were more up to date than my previous flight. An hour before landing we were served a continental breakfast of fruit yoghurt and warm bread with fruit juice and coffee before landing in Brussels around 20 minutes early. The crew were lovely on this flight led by a male purser they were warm friendly professional and respectful which I liked. I noticed that the box of chocolates given on the outward flight was replaced by a much smaller packet of Almond Thins. The service offered by Brussels Airlines for the price is brilliant. It takes you back to days when airline actually cared about their customers which I found refreshing and enjoyable.

Brussels to JFK on SN501 on 24th August - we travelled in Business Class - seats 2A and 2C. Upon boarding the flight our jackets were taken and stowed by friendly crew and we were offered pre take off drinks including Champagne and a delicious Kir Royale. The first thing that grabbed me was the size of the seat which has a great amount of space around it and the large TV screen in the seat which is great. The flight took off on time and shortly after pre lunch drinks were served with a smoked salmon and caviar appetiser. The crew distributed the menus with food including dishes created by Michelin Star restaurateur Thomas Locus. The lunch menu consisted of a starter of either Romaine Lettuce Salad served with North Sea shrimp and avocado or Middle Eastern Style Lamb served with baba ghanoush. I had the shrimp it was one of the most attractively presented dishes that I have had in a plane and it was delicious. Mains were a choice of Waterzooi style farm raised chicken with IJsvaller watercress and ravioli with ox heart cabbage or Fillet of Cod with verge sauce and roast potatoes with Rosemary and sugar snap peas or Agnolotti pasta with arugula sauce. I had the chicken which was succulent and juicy and delicious. It's also worth mentioning that my travelling companion had ordered a Lacto Vegetarian meal which as a main was a superb Mushroom and Spinach curry. We were then offered a cheese plate and dessert. There was a decent selection of wines available which were generously topped up throughout the meal. After lunch we settled back to relax for a few hours - the seat extends into a bed which is very comfortable and enabled me to sleep. Crew served ice cream and drinks runs were regularly offered. The big let down was the inflight entertainment which was pretty disappointing with a mediocre selection of film and TV series available - luckily I had my trusty IPad so was able to catch up on some stuff I had downloaded. 90 minutes before JFK a snack was served - this was a goats cheese salad with duck and apricots which was delicious. Crew were lovely throughout and provided a great unobtrusive service. A nice touch was we were given a box of Neuhaus chocolates each to thank us for flying with them. We arrived in JFK 45 minutes early relaxed and refreshed having thoroughly enjoyed the experience before bracing ourselves for the hour long queue at Immigration.

BRU-BCN in B flex economy. I booked well in advance at a low priced one way and did an upgrade bid to B flex. This entitled me to fast lane security and a snack (pizza) on board and drinks included. Additionally you could buy lounge access at another 15 euros which I did. Lounge at gate A section was on the small side but standard snacks/sandwiches provided. Staff onboard/lounge/check in were very friendly and able to communicate in Dutch. Flight was operated with a 319 and I was seated on row 2. Leg-space was minimal and no separation was made on board (1 row c class-1 pax) row 2-3 Eco flex rest economy with BOB. I did find I got value for money especially including lounge access with free wifi. On board magazine and newspaper offered. No taxfree/shopping service. Just 3 crew members. A decent 3 star airline. Flight was delayed by 30 mins.

We flew from Brussels to NYC and it was a very unpleasant trip. The attendant was unprofessional and little help and assistance was given to families. Myself and young child sat at the front while my husband sat at the front. There are many airlines that flight this route and have choices. Little entertainment for young children. We were in transit and not enough time to get to our gate. I would not recommend to family and friends.

A very pleasant quick 40 minutes hop from Heathrow to Brussels seated in rows 1A and 1c - greeted by friendly staff who served a glass of champagne before takeoff take off on time and inflight service was an acceptable continental breakfast for a short flight with champagne - a better option is the vegetarians special breakfast which is a fruit plate. Friendly discreet non intrusive service was good and we landed in Brussels 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

Party of two business class on an Avro RJ from Stockholm-Bromma to Brussels. Facilities at Bromma are quite desolate and overpriced though I don't suppose that's Brussels Airlines fault. However they probably have enough influence to put in some more chairs. Despite the fact that the terminal is essentially a re-purposed hangar it is in a great location and for that reason we were thankful that Brussels Airlines flew there instead of the more crowded and less convenient Arlanda Airport. Once we got on board we were somewhat surprised that the business class seats were identical in their physicality to those in the economy sections. However our fears that we had not gotten what we paid for were lifted once we discovered that the seats were quite comfortable and the legroom between the seat and the bulkhead (The Avro’s sole row of business class seats is the front-most row just behind the bulkhead) was more than adequate and the flight attendants were very attentive spoke decent English and served meals that were in their quality above the normality for short-haul flights. Hot washcloths were available at the beginning of the flight and later on upon request. No "real" IFE but newspapers in a variety of languages were given to the business class passengers as were various magazines some published by the airline some not. I read the New York Times and the Economist both of which were available in English. The airline also had a magazine in English French and German highlighting its various destinations. Overall the experience was very pleasant and we would do it again.

With one exception most aspects of my flight were either good or average. Unfortunately the ill-designed seats on their long haul flight mean that I wont be flying with them again until I am certain that their fleet of Airbus A330's have been replaced. The seats have hard and thick adjustable headrests which appear to have been added as an afterthought meaning that the head is pushed 7cm or so forward of the shoulders. This affected all of the similarly disgruntled passengers in my vicinity with the exception of children not big enough to reach the headrest. If you are planning a trip with Brussels Airlines try sitting with your head stuck out 7cm forward of your shoulders whilst going through the booking procedure and see how it feels. Then imagine how it will feel after 8 hours and book with a different airline. There are about 5 airlines running between Europe and Uganda now and nothing would make me choose Brussels above the others. It is a shame that something so easy to get right as a seat which is the same shape as a human being renders this airline unusable because the rest of the service was fine and timings excellent. The crew were great the food acceptable and entertainment good.

BRU-CPH. Economy flex. Brussels airlines operates this route as a duopoly with SAS and it shows in the fares that are charged. My travel plans depended on the weather forecast in Denmark so I was only able to book 72 hours in advance. The cheaper of the two economy cabins had sold out on all 3 flights. The flexible ticket cost about 3 times the advertised minimum fare. Despite this I was charged 8 euros for paying with a credit card (none of my debit cards were accepted by the airline's web site). The ticket allowed fast track security although as this lane was merged into others there was no advantage. Extra cabin baggage was also allowed but as the ground staff did not enforce the cabin baggage policy this was again no advantage. The flight left 20 minutes late as the handling agent had not loaded the bags in time. The seat had no head rest and felt like it had almost no padding a bit like resting on a leather covered ironing board. There was no magazine in the seat pocket. The advertised free light meal/snack was a bread roll with two slices of cheese with terrible coffee served in a small paper cup. The stewardess even had the nerve to tell me to enjoy my meal as she handed me the bread roll. In my opinion this airline provides budget service at legacy carrier prices.

Malaga -Brussels in business. Flight delayed by 1hr average service not enough attentive to customers needs. Separation between business and economy b flex does not exist no privacy. Food is very average nearly bad and non tasty b flex meals seem better. The quality / price ratio was very bad a return ticket for a 2h45 flight is around 900 euros. Experience is not worth the money spent.

1 August 2014 flight SN3175. Flew this airline from BRU to FCO in Business class. Friendly service nice clean plane relaxing flight all I needed in the end.