For our trip to France next Fall we got a killer price and great connections round trip from Portland to Brussels. (and we always wanted to see Belgium. ) Our France itinerary ends in Nice and initially we thought we would take the train back to Brussels. It turns out to be $250-300 each and takes 8-10 hours. I found a direct fight from Nice to Brussels on Brussels airlines for about $100 each. It seems like a no-brainer, but the reviews for Brussels Air are wretched. Does anyone have any experience with them on a direct, relatively short flight like this or any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Chicago
8166 posts
I took Brussels Air from Bordeaux to Brussels in July 2017. I did not notice anything the flight was about an hour. I was on vacation had a good time traveling. What did you read that turned you off? Was it something about a lack of safety on their flights? The route is also operated by Easy Jet. I am sure you can find that Easy Jet has wretched reviews somewhere. That $100 one way does not sound like that great of deal. The price could go down sometime between 9 months from now I would think. since the same route is selling for as low as $40 one way direct
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7889 posts
I don't have personal experience, but I know some Fortune 500 multi-national corporation employees in Belgium who have to use Brussels Air to the USA, to save money. They don't particularly complain.
Don't forget to figure luggage fees and seat assignment fees on bargain airlines (No personal experience with Bru Air!)
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks for your comments. The bad reviews talked about changes in schedule without notification, extremely rude and unresponsive employees, a piece of luggage allowed on one flight but not the connecting flight, etc. I realize that the people who post are often disgruntled, but figured I would check this forum. We were actually looking forward to the train ride, but a direct flight ( which should have less chance of something going wrong) is a big advantage. It turns out that Easyjet does not fly the day we want to go. I kind of rounded up to $100 pp figuring there would be additional fees and/or a requirement to check our bags. It’s still a lot less than the train.
Posted by
Chicago
8166 posts
The bad reviews talked about changes in schedule without notification, extremely rude and unresponsive employees
Yep that sounds like what all of us have experienced on any airline you can name in the World on a bad day, it is often worse for people that travel a lot on business and their employers paid for the flight in economy class. I know I use to work for an airline, just a different perspective.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks all for your comments. First time I used this forum.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
If you haven't already bought your trans-Atlantic flights, consider looking for a multi-destination itinerary, flying into Brussels and home from Nice. It will save time and the cost of that hop back to Brussels. Use a multi-destination search function; these itineraries are not a pair of one-way tickets.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks for the thoughts it might have worked, but we already got that amazing price round trip to Brussels. Our plans are to spend time in Belgium after Nice.
Posted by
Grand Rapids, MI
44 posts
Took a direct 45-minute flight from Brussels to Strasbourg a couple of years ago. (It was booked for us through award travel.) We still reminisce about how gosh-darned pleasant it was. There were like 7 passengers on the flight, making it nearly a 1-to-1 ratio for flight attendants. The gate staff and attendants were all very friendly.
Who knows how representative our experience was, but I nothing bad to say about them.
We were flying with only carry-on luggage, so I can't comment on fees or snafus.