Brussels Airlines

LHR-Bujumbura. Overall a very poor experience. Service and facilities on the ground in Brussels were very poor. I had to queue at the Brussels Airlines desk for an hour to get a boarding card whilst the sole employee dealt very slowly with the 2 or 3 people in front of me. On the flight seats were uncomfortable with limited leg room and very little recline. The inflight entertainment was near non-existent - at least the screen was so far away that it was impossible to watch. Food was average.

BRU-LFW/ACC-BRU. Mixed experience overall and not up to what I would expect. Online check-in did not work for either leg. Boarding in Brussels well organized in Accra was complete chaos with the airport trying to board three different flights through the same gate at roughly the same time. No information screens or announcements people milling around and gate agents shouting instructions but only managing to add to the confusion. The aircraft interiors were old with no PTVs and just a single screen at the front of each cabin. The food on the flight to Lome was horrible - worse than US-based airlines. The food on the flight back to Brussels was much better. Cabin crew were also variable with a few trying hard while others were disengaged and uninterested. But since the fare was the cheapest by far I got good value for my money overall.

Business Class seats are very average no flat bed position and not very comfortable if you happen to be tall. During our outward bound flight my seat (03C) malfunctioned and became immovable. I brought this to the attention of the crew and without apology was rudely informed that I should choose another vacant seat for the remainder of the flight. I found this unacceptable as there were no free seats accessible for myself and my wife to sit together. Eventually after complaining once more a member of the crew was able to correct the problem by resetting the mechanical unit under the chair. I would also add that the screen in front of my seat was also faulty cabin was dirty and the quality of the food was well below Business Class standard. On our return flight to Kigali before taking off we noticed that both our seats were malfunctioning and once again advised the flight crew. A member of the ground technical staff was called on board and together with the cabin crew attempted to repair the seats without success. At this stage we were politely asked if we would mind moving to the free seats one row behind. We complied with the request only to find that these seats (4A & 4C) were likewise not operational and were finally relocated to 4H & 4K. The crew on this flight were attentive apologetic and informed us that the problems with seats in Business Class are recurrent and assured us that a report would be filed. I personally bore the expense of upgrading our tickets to Business Class in order to enjoy a more comfortable and relaxed journey. Unfortunately this was not the case as we were troubled by the overall poor condition of the aircraft cabin and casual disregard for the comfort and safety of passengers by Brussels Airlines.

Even though I had a low-cost ticket I enjoyed nice service in the old Sabena style on a flight BRU-Nice in A319. I was lucky to book two exit-row seats using online check in so plenty of space. Did not use the meal or drink service. Four stars not five.

B-Flex (the Premium Eco) can be a good deal but be very careful never to take a codeshare flight. I did it with a flight to Lisbon using TAP and I must say that the website of Brussels Airlines is very misleading you would need a magnifier to note that this is a codeshare flight. As a consequence you are denied any of the B-Flex perks: staff at Brussels Airlines check-in does not even recognize you and send you to make the full queue at TAP check-in. You receive no fast track at the security. You receive no preferred seating no snack not even a drink. You are basically a simple economy passenger stupid enough to have paid a B-Flex fee instead of the cheapest economy fare. I got the Brussels Airlines flight on my return and then had nothing to complain I received all the perks and was quite happy of the flight. In my view the Brussels Airlines website is totally dishonest as even their confirmation told me about those perks I was not going to receive on the TAP flight.

Flew NCE-BRU and BRU-NCE b economy flex. Good onboard service with free coffee drinks and snacks Brussels Airport convenient and easy to use. All this with a low ticket price. A good choice also if you want to connect to Africa cheaply.

BRS-BRU return (twice). These flights are operated by bmi aircraft and crews. All flights on time or a little early. Embraer aircraft are a fairly small but I like them particularly if they are not full (only one of these four flights was nearly full); they are light smooth and the leg room is fine for a short flight. My one complaint is the price one of my trips was economy (B.Light) and the other economy plus (B.Light+). Although the latter was over twice the price (and even economy is not particularly cheap) there was virtually no difference in the quality of service - a bit more food and that is it. I believe the hand luggage weight limit is a bit higher but if you check-in online nobody knows. So my advice is buy the cheapest ticket; though as previous commentators have said that is not always possible.

BRU-NCL-BRU in 'b.light economy'. Booked tickets through their website and as usual the cheaper fares were sold out so ended up booking a rather expensive ticket. I used the online check in to Newcastle but when trying to check in online for the return flight to Brussels I got a message 'pick up boarding pass at airport' meaning I had to be even more early at Newcastle airport for the 6.25 morning flight. A positive point is flights between Brussels and Newcastle are operated for Brussels Airlines by BMI who fly Embraers on the route. These may not be the most comfortable planes but a lot better than the outdated AVRO's Brussels Airlines used for this route.

Travelled two days ago with an elderly disabled friend from Oslo to Brussels. The plane was twenty minutes late taking off - which was worrying as we had a short time connecting flight to catch in Brussels. To be fair Brussels Airlines put us in a car and dropped us "near" - their words - to the security check in. In reality it took twenty minutes to navigate through the confusing Brussels Airport and the extremely arrogant Belgian security staff. We just made our connecting flight in time. My disabled companion was extremely stressed and needed his heart medicine more than once.

Brussels to Entebbe via Kigali in business class. Seats standard business no possibility to lie flat and primitive video system (no VOD). Service excellent attentive sufficient number of attendants food extremely good. Wine list small but high quality wines in all a very nice trip.