Review of Brussels Airlines flight Brussels → Manchester in Economy

After an amazing break in Brussels for the Hi Belgium initiative by Brussels Airlines, it was time to head back home to Manchester. I had flown into Brussels on my birthday and as you have seen I was very very happy with the service I received on SN2178 from Manchester.

A whole new world will open up to me after this trip as I had never travelled with handluggage only. Now that I have done this successfully,I am well equipped to pack a bag and fly across Europe,meaning more experiences and more flight reports !

A funny start to the day was this Belgian tv show I happened to stumble on in my hotel room. Basically there is a studio audience and the presenter will pick two people who have to act out a pre determined scene. This one was about a woman explaining to her son that she gets paid to "cuddle" men and he casually asks whey she needed to become a you know what when she could just hug his Dad ! Random !



From my hotel in the Louise district I got the Metro ( underground) to Brussels Midi Station ( Brussel Zuid) to get a train to Brussels Zaventem Airport. En route I got a last look at the Atomium which was glistening like silver on this hot Belgian afternoon ! I arrived at Brussels Airport Station at 1415pm and was checked in by a friendly lady at 1425pm. Now that is what you call efficiency !


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Funny sign " All travellers listen to their music quietly..except those who have bananas in their ears ! Respect. Now that is class.

CheckIn

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Let's Talk Shop at Brussels Airport !

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No matter where you go in the world….there is ALWAYS Coca Cola…even in Brussels Airport !


A good and great way to gather instant feedback from customer !

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Spotting

British Airways G-MEDL A321 BA395 TO London Heathrow ( ex British Mediterranean then ex BMED both BA franchises,ex British Midland International, now BA again ) !

Brussels Airlines A320 OO-SND SN 3819 to Lisbon

Brussels Airlines A319 OO-SSC "Star Alliance" to London Heathrow

Turkish Airlines A321 TC-JTI “Buyukcekmece” as TK1944 to Istanbul

Qatar Airways A350 A7-ALL as QR194 to Doha

Emirates 777-300 A6-ENB as EK 184 to Dubai

Tailwind 737-400 TC-TLE as TI472 to Izmir

Cityjet Sukhoi Superjet 100 for Brussels Airlines EI-FWC SN 2304 from Stockholm – next flight Birmingham

Egyptair 737-800 SU-GDC MS726 to Cairo

I laughed so much at the Egyptair announcement that kept asking for the last passenger to board, a Mr Oof Oosen !


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Also spotted ;

ANA All Nippon Airways 787 to Tokyo Haneda
Iberia A320 ( seen flying over my hotel in the morning to either Barcelona or Madrid )
Lufthansa sharklet A320 to Frankfurt
Ethiopian 787 to Addis Ababa
airBaltic 737-500 to Riga
Helvetic Fokker 100 to Zurich
Dertur 737-800 sharklets
bmi regional Embraer 135 – G-EMBI to Bristol

SN2177 Fast Facts

27th August 2017
Airbus A319-111
Registration 00-SSJ
15 YEARS OLD
Previous flight Bilbao to Brussels
This flight Brussels-Manchester-Manchester
Next flight Brussels to Bilbao

Boarding / Welcome Aboard

At 1605pm I saw an SN A319 from Bilbao hurriedly taxying towards gate 6 ; I don’t know why but felt this was the aircraft for Manchester. I saw on the display screens that SN2177 was departing from gate B10 so headed over there. Just as I took this photo, the smiling groundstaff walked over and I said hallo to them both. I laughed at there being a gate but no aircraft. I advised I am hoping to get a photo of the cabin before seats become occupied and if I could possibly preboard. The lovely young lady said she would ask the Captain. I felt happy at this and it was an indication of SN’s motto “ Going the extra smile”.

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There was then an announcement that SN2177 was now departing from gate B6 ! And lo and behold, the ex Bilbao A319 would be operating the SN2177 to Manchester ( with the same crew who had flown it in from Bilbao ).
The aircraft,and A319 OO-SSJ had just flown in from Bilbao and was operating to Manchester with the same crew.

The male and female ground staff headed down the walkway to the aircraft. When they came back I was told by the lady and I quote “I have asked and they are not comfortable with you preboarding or taking pictures”.

My heart sank. I thought that my blog and flight report will look rather silly without photos and I also felt that the Captain is in a bad mood. Once boarding commenced, I asked the female groundstaff what had happened to make the Captain refuse me taking pictures when on my flight only 3 days ago I even had a photo with the Captain ? She advised she hadn’t asked the Captain but had asked the Chef D’Cabine ( Purser ). I then thought maybe the Purser is in a bad mood and I dreaded boarding the flight.
At 1620pm an automated announcement was broadcast advising that this is a 5 minute preboard announcement only. The announcement then mentioned that special needs passengers and Star Alliance Gold and Biz&Class passengers could come forward for boarding. I was one of the first from Check&Go and had my Boarding Pass scanned and joined a snaking queue to board the aircraft.

Boarding commenced at 1630pm anyway due the ex Bilbao Airbus no doubt being readied. AS mentioned I was dreading boarding as I thought I will see an angry moody Purser, However imagine my surprise when the Purser greeted me very nicely and looked at my boarding pass.


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There was no boarding music again but the cabin again was smart and clean with slimline leather seats. My seat however kept reclining even when I didn’t want it t and I reported this to SN. The cabin was clean and the carpet was very new ; the panels by my feet were cleaner than on sistership OO-SSL a few days earlier.
I entered the aircraft and a very nice Steward by row 10 welcomed me in Dutch and English. We had a quick chat and he was friendly and I took a picture of my seat and the seats behind me which were still free. He didn’t object or make an issue. The Steward asked if I am familiar with the exit row and I joked that I could tell him how to operate the exit door ! The Steward told a young lady next to me that she will need to have her earphones off for takeoff and landing.

Boarding continued and doors closed at 1645pm Belgian time. At 1647pm the Purser made a welcome announcement in English,Dutch and French. A flight time of 55 minutes to Manchester was advised.

Pushback commenced at 1650pm. This time round however the safety demonstration was done via a recorded announcement. The Steward would go to a panel by the L1 door and press a button for each part of the briefing which was done only in English. L1 indicates the first door on the left of the aircraft. R1 would be the 1st door on the right and so on.
Once the safety demonstration was done, a smiling Airhostess signalled to my jacket just as I was about to ask her to place it in the overhead locker.

Takeoff

And so at 1700pm,our A319 gradually began building speed on the runway and departed a very sunny Brussels. As we flew over some nice Belgian countryside, I was grateful for the lovely time I had had in Belgium and I prayed for peace in Belgium especially Brussels. Imagine someone opening their arms and giving you the warmest,nicest hug. That is how I felt. If Brussels was a person,then I would have felt enveloped with warmth and kindness as that is what I encountered everywhere I went and also in Brugges ( apart from nasty Diamond guy).


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A few minutes after take off, the Purser then announced that inflight service would commence shortly and that Check&Go passengers could purchase from the menu in the seat pocket.
The inflight service commenced but just before the trolley was brought out, a lady from 10A got up and went to the Business Class toilet at the front of the aircraft and wasn’t stopped. She then came out and stood chatting loudly to her partner until the crew rolled the trolley back a few rows so she could sit down. During the safety demonstration she had been engrossed in a book whilst her partner was on his mobile. I really have never understood why people choose to go to the toilet the very moment the trolley comes out. Biz&Class and Flex&Fast passengers all got complimentary catering whilst Check&Go passengers had the option to purchase food and drinks and my did the drinks orders gain momentum !.

Inflight Entertainment

was again in the form of b.inspired magazine and once again the cover of my magazine was worn. Cabin Presentation is a massive deal. Imagine you are being invited to someone’s home but it is messy and dirty. That is the impression given onboard an aircraft when cleaning staff do not do their job properly. I did note that all seatpockets had b.inspired, an inflight menucard and safety card. Plus the quirky sick bag which really is cute ! A look inside binspired inflight magazine ( see SN2178 flight report for further magazine features)


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I gave a little note on an SN Post it note with a cartoon SN A319 to the Purser advising I had loved my stay in Belgium, I had had a great first flight and would like a photo with the crew.
She advised she would check with the Captain. She also wished me Happy Birthday for a few days befor and I was deeply touched when the Purser brought me an orange juice and neuhaus chocolates with her compliments !

The Purser then came back a while later and advised that “ I have checked with the Captain and we are honoured that you are flying with us, but he won’t accept a photo opportunity”. I advised that Thursday’s crew had no issue. She advised normally they get an email and it’s not normally a problem but today it is. I felt sad. A Captain had decided that I can’t have a photo and no interest was shown.
The Purser was friendly but I am not convinced she could properly answer how the rules changed in just 3 days. Her English was directly translated from French and she said to me “Respect the rules”. I laughed it off and said I do but was amazed for want of a better phrase.
The Purser then came to me with the manifest ( passenger list ) and confirmed my name by pointing to it. She then said and I quote “ I will report you to our office”. I was alarmed and asked if there was a problem. She said there wasn’t but she will mention that I can now get the chance to make photos in the future. Use of certain words when being translated from French can have a different meaning in English as demonstrated but I got that she didn't mean harm.

This same A319 would fly from Brussels to Bilbao again after arriving from Manchester. So it's whole day was spent between Spain and England and of course Belgium !

We reached the top of descent at 1650pm and the Captain gave an update.

We landed just before 1700pm. The Purser did a welcome in English,Dutch and French. And then to my amazement, a song was played. I couldn’t tell what language it was in and a girl behind me asked someone “ why are they playing a song now”. I also wondered why 1 of 2 flights had arrival music ?

There was a bit of a gap during disembarkation at Manchester and I showed my photo with the crew on Thursday, the Purser was unable to explain any further and said Goodbye. I left the aircraft upset and after telling the Purser I would complain about the Captain. Processes are fine but the fact that someone decides to be difficult is unacceptable. I made a complaint and Brussels Airlines Social Media Team and Customer Relations team did nothing whatsoever to restore my trust in the airline. Whilst waiting for a response from a really useless woman in Customer Relations, I asked one of the ladies of the Social Media team to close my account and she could not have been more happier and efficient to do this. I have not seen someone act so enthusiastic in SN to distance me from the airline but it it is something they pride themselves on and I have lost the points too. As well as respect for this airline.
I am told that these points cannot be reinstated which is a lie as I know they can. Terrible second and last ever flight with SN.
Do not expect good customer service if things go wrong.


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