Brussels Airlines

BRU-VIE in C. Dated B737. Clean but with ancient seats. Morning service so breakfast served but nothing to write home about. Professional and efficient cabin crew.

As I was going from Brussels to Cotonou I feared it might be an unpleasant experience. Luckily I was mistaken. Although flights to Africa tend to be chaotic and often delayed this wasn't the case. The flight itself was very pleasant I had a very comfortable seat in Business class combined with an excellent service and great meals. I especially remember the Neuhaus-chocolates and Leonidas ice cream thoughtful little extras. On the other hand inflight entertainment was rather poor but I remain having a positive about the flight.

At Brussels airport I missed my SAS flight to Zurich via Copenhagen. SAS has NO ticket office in Brussels and since I was asked to call a number in Sweden to rebook my flight by phone (what a great service indeed) I decided to cancel the whole thing and just by a new ticket back to Switzerland. I ended up on the 7.10pm flight to Geneva in an A320 with ultra light but confortable seats - leg room was great in ECO. Also the service and the late evening snack was really nice and enjoyable not like a prepacked sandwich or a peace of chocolate.

BCN-BRU Business Class. At the check-in gate they had merged the 2 fast bag drop counters and Business Class together. This was frustrating as most people check-in online these days so I had to wait a good 10 mins despite being a Business Class customer. At the check-in the airline had moved another passenger to their seat preference which resulted in my partner and I not being sat together despite the same Business Class booking. Once on board the old B737 was rather dated and there was no separation between Business and Economy. It felt like being on a Ryanair flight with a clear view down to the back of the plane. The only sign of separation was a small label a few seats back which said B.Flex class (Economy) starts here. The seats were standard Economy in 3x3 configuration. There was no attempt to at least relocate the armrests to use up the middle seat and provide a wider seat. The legroom was decent but it still felt tight. The cabin crew were polite and attentive and made up a bit for the disappointing check-in service and seating. Arrival into Brussels was fine. Though we had to wait about 10-15 mins for out bags to arrive after the first bag appeared on the carousel. This was once again frustrating as Business Class bags should get higher priority and were labelled with this sticker in Barcelona airport. I wouldn't recommend flying with Brussels airlines in Business Class (at least on short-haul). This is clearly not an area of focus for them and would save money and fly in Economy.

CPH-BRU-CTA return on b.flex economy+. Excellent flights and consistency with the product. Great leg room free newspapers catering full bar service and attentive cabin crew and informative cockpit crew.

Brussels from Lome Togo to Brussels in Business Class. After two months I had not been credited for the miles on my MileagePlus account. After complaining to United I found out that Brussels refused to credit the miles to me saying that the flight "is not a valid route." Apparently Brussels claims that they do not fly to Lome. The flight was operated with their plane their crew. They clearly fly to Lome. They should be ejected from Star Alliance.

Brussels to Geneva A319 economy class not much legroom but the empty seat beside me was a bonus. You have to pay for food / drinks but that is the case with many other non low-cost airlines too in economy class (such as Iberia / Aer Lingus etc). Staff were pleasant enough flight landed on time. Return flight from Geneva was in a newer A320 with more leg room. Again the staff were pleasant and flight departed on time and landed ahead of schedule.

Low Cost Service at full cost prices. Brussels Airlines charge you 4 Euro for a Muffin and they are quite rude at checkin and obsessed with their baggage weights. If I would like to fly Easyjet than I also would like to pay their price. But Easyjet service at Lufthansa prices? This is ridiculous.

FCO-BRU-FCO clean refurbished 737 kind crew. Competitive fare (93 Euros return) compared to Alitalia but no snack offered and poor legroom low-cost style.

GVA-BRU-MAN. On time service from Geneva short 1h flight with nothing distinguishing. Pleasant FA's. Disappointed by the lack of onboard service considering it is not a low cost carrier and fare wasn't cheapest. Departure from Brussels slightly early on empty Avro RJ plane quick and easy arrival into Manchester. Overall an average experience.