After a week in the north of Italy (my grandfather was born in the Valtellina before emmigrating to Australia) it was time to continue our holiday. It was a sad moment to leave the family and it brought tears to my eyes. No, that was just the impact of the pollution as my uncle drove us to Linate airport. On all previous occasions I have used Malpensa but Linate is easier for him to drive to / from and it had the best redemption options for Star Alliance to Brussels. But the smog was something else. It reminded me of China one year earlier.
My Singapore Airlines points, so carefully hoarded and measured over the last year or two were quickly snapped up by the computer and in exchange for a king's ransom in taxes, fuel allowance, duties, airline captains annual ball contribution and all the other things they hit you for - surely it would have been cheaper just to buy a ticket. But no - I wanted to use the points.
Wiping the pollution induced tears from my eyes we entered Linate airport and checkin was just about to open 2 hours and 20 mins prior to scheduled departure. Linate is a small airport and quite crowded. But it certainly is convenient to the centre of Milano.
Brussels Airlines has it's own terminology for fare types which wasn't reflected on my e-ticket. My redemption ticket translated to B-Flex (which I only found out after waiting in the non-B-flex line). It also gave one access to fast lane rights through security. But it wouldn't have made any difference as it was painless.
The check-in agent commented to her colleague that she thought the Australian passports were beautiful. I should have asked her why - because they are the same as every other passport - a solid colour cover with a crest on the front. I guess there is an emu and a kangaroo which could be considered cute. I just like the passport because it lets me go to interesting places.
Downstairs the air conditioning wasn't keeping up with the crowds and the unseasonally warm weather. There were lots of business travellers in suits which is to be expected for a city airport. Unfortunately our gate was directly opposite a smoking room. This inside of which closely matched the outside smog.
2 beers for 9 Euro - which is also to be expected for a city airport unfortunately. There were a few bars to choose from and a reasonable collection of shops. Wi-Fi was free for 15 mins which thankfully didn't include the long and complex logon process with Via Milano.
For an 1850 flight, boarding started at 1815 by bus and we were onboard at 1830 but not after one final display of fine Italian driving. Our airport bus driver had a disagreement with with another bus driver who cut him off. Now my Italian is pretty good, but I intentionally haven't learnt any rude words in case I use them in front of my family. So I guess the reason I couldn't understand what our driver was yelling was because he was using words I had not yet learnt. His gesticulation was right out of the Italian driver's manual though. Full marks there.
Entertainment over, we boarded the plane and took our seats at 4A&C. This plane has a 2 - 3 configuration A,C then D,E,F) so we were next to each other. There was one row of Euro business. Newspapers were offered to B-flex passengers and the flight was less than 50% full.
There was an announcement to turn off mobile phones in English, French and I presume Flemish. Passengers seem to be a mix of Italian and French speaking. Then followed a welcome announcement in French, Flemish (I presume) and English. Followed by a recorded Italian announcement.
We started to roll 10 minutes early and there was 1 hour 20 minutes flying time. Take off was to the North and not too long later a very quick dinner and drink service offered a hot pizza in a box which I thought was pretty good. The Italian group behind me agreed it was buona.
I had my first Belgian beer of the trip which was followed by coffee then a rubbish run. All was done by 1925.
The inflight magazine called B-Flex "The best economy in Europe". Based on this flight it's hard to argue. Flight deck announcements were in English only.
Shortly before descent a chocolate was handed out - but we got to keep the wrappers as there was no final rubbish run.
Landed 2008, Gate 2015 with quite a hard stop (maybe just to prove the point that you should keep your safety belt fastened until the light goes out, or maybe the ground crew needed the luggage at the front of the plane).
We were a bit early which pleased a few people with tight connections but at the end of the jetway nobody told the ground staff we were here. So picture a jetway full of incoming passengers, the first few of which were banging on the doors trying to get somebody's attention. Luggage retrieved at 2032 and after a depressingly quiet and wet drive through Brussels we reached our hotel at 2105.