Brussels Airlines

Prague via Brussels to Lisbon. We had bought our tickets several months before the trip. During that time the flights were changed at least 5 times. New departure was worse and worse. We chose the flight only because of the time of departure. From both noon or afternoon departures they changed to the first morning flights which was after 6 am from Prague for example. We did not agree they offered us to return money only or to take their stupid early flights. On time when they offered us to return money for tickets the price was about 100% higher. This is the only airline where staff do not say good morning and good-bye to passengers.

Toulouse to Brussels on 4 August 2013 was 3 hours late. I had a b-light ticket so expected no service (I live in Belgium and know the airline). However I found out entirely by chance that there was a delay - SN knew because the delay had started at the Brussels end - but there was no attempt to inform passengers at any time. The monitors announced boarding times and "Go to gate" at the normal time but no staff no plane. No attempt at any time by SN or other staff to inform or provide even water or a snack. When a bored lady appeared at the gate (the plane had landed at last) she treated the passengers' complaints/requests with bored derision. Same thing on board: a free drink as long as it was water or a Coke. I asked for a sandwich. Sure that will be 3 Euros please etc. Avoid this airline.

JFK-BRU upgrade in Business Class. JFK-BRU is a flagship route of Brussels Airlines featuring their new cabin. Seats in Business are excellent full flat bed with a lot of space. Actually gives an impression of more space than on the seats in diagonal you can find in many business class cabins (e.g. Air Canada). Food was very good decent choice of wine. Good to see Belgian items on the menu (even from JFK): spa water neuhaus pralines a taste of home abroad.

BRU-CPH return and BRU-BUD return c cabin 1 row only in all 4 legs either Avro or Airbus! Vile check in although Senator status. They seem to have a problem with lounges access in Europe. BRU lounge in the Schengen Terminal is always full packed and badly serviced! In other capitals the lounges are atrocious! Once on board staff are correct but not top notch. Bar service is ok but food is inedible. Seats need in all services either c or light or eco revamping like yesterday! In fact is the same seat although the policy one in - the middle free. Unfortunately they seem to be going down the drain. Heard they are a lot better with long distance services. Short and medium haul are just a laugh and they are not competitive on prices timetables nor service.

JFK-BRU-JFK in January 2013. Check in very quick both ways. Lufthansa Lounge at JFK was nothing to write home about however the Sunrise Lounge in BRU was very good. Seats are very comfortable and adjust to your body's sleeping position. Single seats in row 1 are best as you get the most room for your legs. IFE was pretty good. Food wise I ordered a special meal (Lacto-ovo vegetarian). Surprisingly the catering was better out of JFK. Lovely mozzarella pearl salad with tomatoes and cheese ravioli among other things plus a beautiful fruit plate and various cheeses for dessert. Standard breakfast tray with a warm croissant and yoghurt etc was simple and tasty. Catering out of BRU was disappointing. Served a vegan meal which did not suit my needs. Despite efforts to find alternatives the only thing that could be found was fruit. I was given an unopened bottle of champagne to take with me and was urged to complain which yielded 2000 miles. Service overall was pretty good. Would I recommend Brussels Airlines? Yes.

Flight b flex BRU-TLS and TLS-BRU. Baggage drop off in BRU complete chaos an arrogant (and rather stupid) young employee of Brussels airlines sent people to the baggage drop off queue for the Africa flights where the line was even much longer. No difference was made between b light and b flex passengers. Flight was OK in old Avrojet. Catering in b flex is a joke the same small pizza on both flights. Once the company named b flex the best economy class in Europe. Forget it. Only plus point: staff are extremely friendly.

We flew from Venice to Brussels this week on SN. The ticket was purchased with United Airlines as a Star Alliance code share (I am Star Alliance Gold). The paperwork clearly said "snack" - which I assumed to be a drink and light snack as Swiss Air provided us a few days earlier on another code share flight. However the flight attendant said we had to pay 3 Euro each for a bottle of water. He said I should have read the SN web site and not the code share ticket information which he said was wrong. Why should code share customers have to understand all this? I really just wanted some water for our child and decided on principle that I wouldn't give 3 Euros. SN is inconsistent with its star alliance competitors in Europe - I would not recommend them if you are buying code share flights.

Flew from Brussels to Kigali on 13 July and found the service to be very good. Food was tasty good selection of movies plane was very clean and seats comfortable. Only downside was the Brussels Airlines ground staff at Brussels Airport who are not very helpful.

BRU-TLV May 2013. C class cabin although using A319 on this route service was really bad food inedible and audio and video a shame. They need to get their act together in order to be a good airline with competitive service and pax satisfaction. Sorry but would not recommend although have reached Senator status.

I had the pleasure of flying SN 515 on 25 June BRU-IAD. From the check-in staff to the cabin crew all were more than professional. The cabin crew were outstanding! Never once did I have to ask or ring for them. The food was excellent and the wines perfect. The real charm was a large box of Belgian chocolates as a gift for being their guest. Highly recommended.