BA 402
LHR – BRU
Seat 5F
Airbus A320 G-EUUY
We got to T5 and headed to what we thought was the right zone, however our check-in agent informed us that if we would have gone “over there” they would have done everything for us since we were in Club Europe. I explained that I hadn’t been to this airport before and she immediately went “Oh Bless You!” She was great fun in the few minutes we spoke to her. We headed for Fast Track security and were through in less than five minutes with no drama and headed for the Galleries South lounge.
There wasn’t much to say about this lounge, we wanted to grab some breakfast but it was crowded and took a few minutes to find a seat. I think it’s a nice place but very crowded, which I can imagine is the normal situation for an LHR lounge. I didn’t get any photographs because of the number of people, but I figure there are enough floating around FT that they won’t be missed. We went downstairs and looked at the shops for a few minutes before heading for our boarding gate.
I knew from reading about “business class” on BA not to expect anything except a free window seat, and that was pretty much accurate. The plane was in decent condition but having standard legroom and small windows made me glad that the flight was only an hour long. Kudos to an excellent crew though.
As soon as we were up they were serving drinks and providing the meal service. I am fairly impressed that BA will serve a small meal on a flight this length. There was a choice of something vegetarian and a cold beef something – I couldn’t quite understand the FA as she was talking very quickly with an accent, and my ears couldn’t quite parse it. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t finish it either. I think I would have preferred whatever the vegetarian choice was.
Landing in a foggy Brussels happened quickly, and we were off to immigration. The agent asked if I was on business and when I told him I was a tourist, exclaimed “Even Better!” while stamping me in. Priority tagged bags came out quickly and we opted to take a taxi to our hotel since we were tired and had luggage – we could “see the city.” It turns out, we could pretty much see several near misses as our taxi driver gleefully got us up to 130 km/h in an 80 zone while slamming on the breaks and driving as crazy as possible. Needless to say, we were glad to be there alive, albeit 50 euros poorer. Next time we will stick to the train.