Review of Brussels Airlines flight Brussels New York in Business

Airline Brussels Airlines
Flight SN501
Class Business
Seat --
Aircraft Airbus A330-300
Flight time 08:20
Take-off 20 Oct 13, 10:20
Arrival at 20 Oct 13, 12:40
SN   #86 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 266 reviews
Bo
By 10770
Published on 23rd March 2014
This report is about the return flight to my outbound trip to Istanbul. The outbound flight report can be found here:
http://flight-report.com/en/report-6393.html

So I spent the last days of my vacation in Paris. Leaving from CDG to NYC, my only direct option on *A would have been the good old United. Though UA is a fine airline, I didn't feel like flying out of CDG T1, which is probably my second least favorite air terminal in the developed world, not far ahead of LGA or the RJ concourse extension at DEN. I tried to book CDG-YUL-JFK instead but adding AC to the fare seemed to skyrocket the fare to 6500+. Anyways, given BRU's close location to CDG, I decided to try SN out of BRU and therefore here is the flight report.

After a fabulous lunch at the Park Hyatt, I got into a taxi to Gare du Nord. Thalys to Bruxelles - Midi was painless. I grabbed dinner in the city and then a quick local train took me to the Sheraton at BRU.

I got up fairly early as I have never been to BRU airport before. Check in was relatively crowded. I was surprised that LH ground wasn't handled by SN.

photo IMG_4176


For my flight to the USA, all passengers have to see a document checking agent before proceeding to the actual check in agent. I was asked the usual security questions.

Did you pack your belongings yourself?
I wish I could afford to have someone else to do that for me.

Ugh….

photo IMG_4166


A quick look at the departure board. There's an array of interesting west Africa bound flights departing BRU.

photo IMG_4184


I don't know much about BRU, but this morning was a pretty busy time.

photo IMG_4188

Non-LH group airline counters are all at the end of the check-in hall.

photo IMG_4196

Airside past immigration is fairly empty. Though still a few hours before departure, the ABJ/ACC bound flights already have lots of passengers in the gate holding area waiting.

photo IMG_0714

SN opened a new Sunrise Lounge in the international area. It looked nice from the outside.

photo IMG_4212

Inside the lounge is bright red, which i found a little bit disturbing I'd say.

photo IMG_4214

Given LH lounges' fairly good food and beverage selection in general, I was expecting a nice breakfast with some cold cuts etc. In reality the below is the entire selection available this morning. It was rather disappointing.

photo IMG_4224

One of the SN wide bodies.

photo IMG_4222

Soon it was time for boarding and I headed to the gate area. Another security check was carried out.

photo IMG_4230

Boarding was orderly. Once onboard, pre-departure drinks were served quickly. A refill was offered!

photo IMG_4238

Had one of the nice single seats.

photo IMG_4236

Seat control panel featured a touch screen. I actually didn't like it much although it looked pretty good. I appreciate physical buttons still.

photo IMG_4234

Now get ready for some German… My AVOD was set in German when I found my seat and I was not sure exactly how to switch languages. A FA helped me out after a while.

photo IMG_4232

The shoe holder was very well though of

photo IMG_4242

Take off gave a nice view of the city

photo IMG_4245

3D moving map was available

photo IMG_4248

About 15 minutes after take off, a FA came by and offered me a menu.

photo IMG_4256

Nuts were served with a snack item. Beverage orders were also taken

photo IMG_4257

Lunch tray arrived at about 11:30am local. The salad looked very pleasing

photo IMG_4262

The first course was scallop over parmesan panna cotta with orange vinaigrette. The other choice was mezze

photo IMG_4266

The main arrived soon after. Pictured below is Chicken Provencale accompanied by lemon ravioli and baby fennel. The other choices were cantonese shrimp or Fettuccine

I was surprised that no red meat option was offered. Compare to Delta's 5 choices in international BusinessElite, SN's offering is a bit lacking

photo IMG_4268

Cheese plate was served as main courses were cleared off

photo IMG_4274

Dessert was a fruit puffy pastry dish. I was happy to see some locally inspired options.

photo IMG_4276

The quality of the green tea, however, was unsatisfactory :/

photo IMG_4278

Snack station was soon set up at the front of the cabin

photo IMG_4284

SN uses the same seat as LX and OS in the LH family. This seat is also found on Delta's 767s and Air Canada's new 777s. American's 767 retro fit project will roll out with this type of seats too.

photo IMG_4288

I napped for a few hours. A post nap snack it is :)

photo IMG_4297

Then I tried to charge my phone. The outlet was not working so I gave up after a trying a few times.

photo IMG_4326

Another look at the seat. Although SN has the same seat in J as many others, I prefer SN's colour and think it is the most relaxing among all. OS's red cabin is just a little bit too busy to my taste.

photo IMG_4306

The second service was provided about 1 hour prior to landing at JFK. The beef was fresh and the salad was appropriate for the time of the day. I prefer this over the afternoon tea served on BA.

photo IMG_4302

After the second service was cleared, the purser came over and gave each passenger a box of chocolate. I have never gotten a whole box of something from an airline. This was certainly much appreciated.

photo IMG_4314

Flying over the tip of long island.

photo IMG_4309photo IMG_4315

Final seconds before landing. View of the residential area in Jamaica, NY

photo IMG_4322

Pulling into JFK T1

photo IMG_4337

A final look at cabin before deplaning

photo IMG_4348

Passing by an AF bird on my way to immigration

photo IMG_4351

Immigration as usual took forever. I was not in the baggage claim area until 2 hours after deplaning.

photo IMG_4362

Arrival announcements

photo IMG_4364

Soon after I got myself on the AirTran. Passing by the sad looking world port. Delta demolished this historical building and will use this location for … airplane PARKING !! ;<

photo IMG_4387

View of the city :)

photo IMG_4397


See more

Verdict

Brussels Airlines

7.9/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering6.0

THE LOFT by Brussels Airlines

3.8/10
Comfort3.0
Meal/catering3.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Services3.0

Brussels - BRU

8.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

New York - JFK

2.8/10
Efficiency2.0
Access3.0
Services3.0
Cleanliness3.0

Conclusion

Overall it was a pleasant flight. SN really needs to improve food offerings in the lounge. If I were on a night departure and wish to eat something before boarding and sleep ASAP I'd be throughly disappointed at the lounge situation. I hope they keep the chocolate gift box as that is enough to get my business from United!

Also, I hope I will get over the fact that the world port is no longer after a while. So far that doesn't seem to be happening though.

Cheers

Information on the route Brussels (BRU) New York (JFK)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 16 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Brussels (BRU) → New York (JFK).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Sabena avec 8.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 8 heures et 21 minutes.

  More information

10 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 103206 by
    Durian 1171 Comments
    Thanks for this report !
    Nobody on FR.com will blame you for not being a CDG T1 enthusiast ;-)
    Imagine if you had taken the suburban train (RER) from Gare du Nord to CDG... the RER + T1 make a nice bundle that make you want to fly away asap !
    Although I like to crack jokes, I would not do it when asked about safety and luggage, especially going the US !
    I prefer the cabin color theme on LX, which I find more elegant.
    There was a FR lately on SN short haul economy class in which they offer buy-on-board, so I guess catering is not the priority of this airline, even in business class. In the starter course, there are 2 scallops, it's enough to put a S on the menu lol.
    The box of chocolate is nice though.

    PS: landing time should be 12:40pm I think.
  • Comment 103218 by
    SMilano 1284 Comments
    Thank's for sharing !

    SN is really better on long haul than short haul !
  • Comment 103222 by
    02022001 GOLD 4367 Comments
    Thanks for this very nice report on SN long haul...
  • Comment 103246 by
    Esteban GOLD 19820 Comments
    Thanks for this FR. SN product looks very nice. I should once give them a try ;)
  • Comment 103262 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6658 Comments
    Nice report! SN offers a pretty good product. I've flown on this seat several times on DL and really like it, though I find it a bit narrow in sleep mode. Too bad the lounge was disappointing. JFK is always such a mess on arrival! I guess it's the case for all the terminals there. Thanks again for sharing!
  • Comment 103366 by
    East African 1575 Comments
    very nice FR, the J class is really attractive
  • Comment 104842 by
    CDG Addict 1630 Comments
    Thanks for this good Flight Report, good flight with SN.
  • Comment 105331 by
    Leadership TEAM BRONZE 5458 Comments
    Thanks a lot for this FR, nice overall product by SN (beside the lounge), only the starter could be improved, and mezze for a NA flight is weird!

    Was the Champagne Rosé only?

    How is the amenity kit?

Login to post a comment.