Brussels Airlines | Jason Around the World

EU261 Compensation

Mar 222018

For those who might not be aware, the European Union (EU) has a regulation known as EU261 which mandates that airlines pay you cash compensation for flights to/from Europe that suffer lengthy delays or cancelations. Basically the compensation ranges from 250 to 600 euros, based on the length of the delay and length of the flight. Longer flights (generally intercontinental) receive the higher payments as do ones with longer delays or cancelation.

Sound too good to be true? It isn’t really. I’ve had it paid multiple times. However, airlines being corporations they do devote a significant amount of time/energy to legally trying to worm out of paying you. Some airlines, however, are great about this. I thought I would outline some of my more memorable experiences, and seek your feedback on yours.

Blah, blah, I’m not a lawyer, this isn’t legal advice, and my experiences might not match yours.

Brussels Airlines: My very first experience with EU261 was with Brussels airlines. I had arrived in Brussels on an overnight redeye flight on United, connecting onto a Brussels Airlines flight to Cotonou, Benin. After about an hour of delays, the dreaded “cancelled” popped up on the gate monitor. Brussels was kind enough to send those of us in business class back to the lounge, and showed up shortly with hotel and meal vouchers. 24 hour delay, flight would go the next day. When we got to the gate next day, there was a pre-filled letter for us to add some details, and that was it. They actually encouraged us to apply for, and although it took nearly three months they did pay, the required 600 euros for this delay. WELL DONE! GRADE: A

American Airlines: Long story short, my Chicago to London flight arrived late leaving me only 30 minutes to connect to Accra, Ghana on British Airways. While we were in flight, American had decided FOR ME that this wasn’t enough time, and rebooked me…the next day…IN COACH. As soon as the agent told me this in the jetway upon deplaning I decided to run for the gate. I made it with 100+ people still to board, but they had given away my seat and the flight was full. BA would do nothing. Fought with the American transfer desk for an hour before giving up and going to the lounge where an amazing agent took care of me. American corporate, however, refuses to pay EU compensation, arguing that I “wasn’t late” because my flight was on time. After nearly two years of arguing the best I got was a crummy $100 voucher. I tried appealing it through multiple firms, and none of them could get American to pay. FAILING GRADE, and a large part of why I won’t fly American unless necessary. GRADE: F

United Airlines: London to Washington Dulles, 4pm flight canceled. They offered me coach (I had been booked in first) in a middle seat 15 hours later…easily qualifying for 600 euros. United claimed they were not obligated to pay since they offered me economy within 3 hours. (False, since must be in the same class). They quickly, however, offered a $400 voucher with little argument. Given it was pretty easy to get and I knew I could use it, I took it. GRADE: C

TAP Portugal: Praia, Cape Verde to Lisbon to London to Washington DC. Similar to American above, my TAP flight arrived in Lisbon late, with only 30 minutes to connect. I didn’t find out until boarding my connection to London that they’d already given away my seat and “the computer won’t let us put you back on it.” Similar to American, TAP refused to pay compensation because “we offered you another option” which was in business class and not first. Round and round and never got a penny of of them. Yes, legally the case is air tight, but I’m not exactly about to file a case in Portuguese court for under $500. I have a chain of over 200 emails on this one, and nothing will get them to pay. GRADE: F

SATA Air Azores: my Azores to Boston flight was cancelled, and I was put on one two hours later – not enough to qualify for compensation. However, delivering me to Boston late caused me to miss my connection to DC and arrive DC nearly eight hours late. Instead of paying the required 400 euros, SATA decided (in a chain of over 200 emails) to play lets make a deal. First they offered me a 100 euro voucher. Then 200. Then a free one-way ticket in business class anywhere they fly. After rejecting all their offers the finally offered a “goodwill payment” of only 300 euros. I decided to cut my losses at 200 emails and take it. Of course, when it appeared in my account they shorted me nearly 10% on the exchange rate, but at this point it was enough. So, I got 75% of what I was entitled to with a lot of pain….GRADE: D+

Lufthansa: DC to Munich and then Cairo. Arrived in Munich right on time, departed Munich with a 3 hour 15 minute delay. Arrived at the gate in Cairo precisely 3 hours an 2 minutes late…but Lufthansa was crafty and listed the official arrival time as only 2:58 delayed. It took them a month to answer my email, but when they did all they asked for was my address and promptly cut me a check for the full 400 euros with no questions asked. I assume it will actually arrive. GRADE: A+

Have you applied for EU261 compensation? Did you get it? How easy was it?

DC to Banjul, The Gambia in United First and Brussels Airlines business

Airports, Belgium, Business Class, Flights, The Gambia, West Africa 2015-16 No Responses »

Jan 162016

Couple of days at home after Christmas to get things sorted, and it was time to head out on the more-or-less annual New Year’s Trip. I’m actually super excited for 2016-17 New Years, because I have no plans – nowhere I “have” to go, and I can actually do whatever I want. Pretty exciting after 10+ years of using the long weekends to take advantage and visit multiple countries.

Decided to be a bit economical, and take the Metro to National Airport, and no drama at all…which is much better than my usual commute where 15 minutes frequently turns to 30-45 at least once a week due to broken down trains, smoke in tunnels, you name it, it’s been a problem with Metro lately. Note that this post is going to be mostly photos, because there is only so much you can keep saying about United service.

Instead, this time, the drama was to be with United. No sooner did I arrive at the airport then I got notification my flight would be delayed an hour due to a late arriving aircraft. Of course. Nothing to do with weather in Chicago (for a change in December) it just looked like a crew rest issue turned into cascading delays for little things.

The United Club was open, however, and had this festive offering I haven’t seen before. United Club Eggnog? That just screams salmonella in a jug to me, so I decided to pass:

An hour turned into two, and I finally headed to the gate hoping to have 30 minutes left to make my connection in Chicago. But, there was drama. When I checked in, United was “unable” to assign me a seat. Gate agent confirmed the flight was “overbooked” by two in first, and based on the seat I had originally reserved (and the person eventually occupying it) it was clear I was a victim of a Federal Air Marshal. I was offered “probably” a middle seat in coach – but since the flight was overbooked she refused to even guarantee that.

I reminded her that United’s policy for overbooked first is NOT to just downgrade whoever happens to not have a seat, but to downgrade upgraders first, followed by award tickets, and then order of status/fare. Being a 1K on a paid ticket, there’s no way I should be downgraded. She refused. I asked for supervisor. She refused. I asked for her name, so I could share with corporate that she doesn’t like their policy, because it makes her life difficult when I write them for compensation.

She relented, and called up the two upgraders – both of whom happened to be Global Services. Hahaha. To their credit, they were completely understanding and took the downgrade compensation. I guess when you fly THAT much you tend not to pull DYKWIA stuff. I know it’s only a 90 minute flight, but at the same time, being on a paid first ticket it was the principle of the matter…eventually ended up sitting next to a no-status bro on an award ticket who announced pretty much right away his intention to “get totally obliterated by the time we get to Chicago because I’m going to Vegas.” Maybe the new United policy should be to downgrade in order of behaviour…

United flight 619
Washington DC, National (DCA) to Chicago, O’Hare (ORD)
Depart 13:46, Arrive 15:05, Flight Time: 2:19
Boeing 737-700, Registration N27724, Manufactured 1999, Seat 3A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 123,910
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,162,877

PDB were offered, and we were treated to a nice sunset on the way to Chicago:

Other than that, pretty generic United 737 flight. Snack basket was offered, and when we pulled into the gate there were only 14 minutes to make my connection. We parked next to the United First lounge, and I decided to go there first. Having lost out on my 2.5 hour connection, I asked if instead of running for it they could just put me on the later flight to London instead, so I had some time to get work done. The same fare bucket was still available, and they were happy to make the change. I love this lounge.

Another reason I love this lounge:

Had a small mini pre-dinner while getting some work done. Another reason to like this lounge past Veuve…it satisfies my cheese obsession:

Somewhere around Veuve number three before boarding…

Flight was parked just a couple of gates away from the lounge, and got there just as they started boarding.

United flight 938
Chicago, O’Hare (ORD) to London, Heathrow (LHR)
Depart 21:05, Arrive 11:05, Flight Time: 8:00
Boeing 767-300, Registration N658UA, Manufactured 1993, Seat 1K
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 127,863
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,166,830

Welcome aboard glass of the ever-classy Oscar Cliquot, in fancy Maison Plastique crystal:

Hooray…we get the short rib…again!

Warm nuts, and a rather respectable malbec to start things off. I never understood the obsession with “warm nuts.” I actually prefer them at room temperature – lots of times when they’re warm they verge on hot and feel a bit mushy.

Coconut shrimp skewer and taboleh? Odd choice, but hey, it beats the two tiny shrimp shrimp cocktail they’ve been serving lately.

All was forgiven, because the garlic bread was in plentiful supply tonight…and the salad had tasty olives on it:

Baja Chicken Enchilada soup…a bit strange…and passed on it after a few bites:

Nasty overcooked short rib. I really really need to learn my lesson about ordering beef on United.

As cheese plates go, it was decent. Oddly, it came pre-plated, which was really strange for United. According to the crew, it came that way? Is this a new catering enhancement?

Tonight’s request for “caramel and cherries” netted the average three…which overall is how this United flight was. Average.

Managed a solid five hours of sleep, and woke as we were only about 20 minutes from London. Great view of the Thames this morning:

Took the insanely long walk to the United First lounge, where I was asked why I wasn’t on my flight to Brussels. Um, excuse me? My new flight arrival time left a five minute connection, so there was no way to make it. Seems the agent in Chicago didn’t change my connection when she rebooked me for the later London flight, giving me a chance to make it if my arrival into London was earlier.

The club staff said they’d work on it while I showered, and when I came back 30 minutes later I’d been rebooked on the next departure – on BA! I was pretty surprised they didn’t make me wait an additional two hours for the Brussels Airlines flight, but it was a pleasant surprise! After a bit of rehydration, they offered to drive me to terminal five. Yes, it was no Lufthansa Porsche, but you read that right…United drove me across the tarmac to the other terminal instead of making me use the inter-terminal busses. I was floored…and yet another reason I think the London station remains the finest in the United system.

Having no status with One World, I got the honour of checking out BA’s regular business lounge. It was actually quite nice, I’d say even nicer than Lufthansa’s Senator lounges (note I didn’t even dare compare it to anything United offers) and I was pleasantly surprised. Can’t wait to see the First lounge on my next trip through. This was my first time in T5, and my gate was right near two very important things: Starbucks and the lounge. Enjoyed some Starbucks, and soon, it was time to board:

British Airways flight 398
London, Heathrow (LHR) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Depart 15:15, Arrive 17:30, Flight Time: 1:15
Airbus A320, Registration G-EUYE, Manufactured 2009, Seat 1F
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 128,081
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,167,048

Had a glass of water as a pre-departure, and being only one of two people in business on this very short flight, service was great. She insisted I have champagne for my first BA experience, and how could I say now. Even got my own bottle.

While enjoying my second great inflight sunset in two days, she insisted on a champagne refill. Yes, that meant another bottle.

Arrived to Brussels, and was absolutely wiped out. Additionally, security in Belgium was a nightmare. Apparently the Belgian police had received “very specific and credible” evidence the city’s New Year’s celebrations were to be the subject of a terrorist attack, and everything had been canceled. Trains were also running on a severely reduced schedule. I’d planned to head out and do dinner with friends in Liège, but given the late arrival, lower train schedule, I just couldn’t do it. Managed to stay awake until about 9pm, then absolutely passed out for nearly 10 wonderful hours at the airport Sheraton.

Nice leisurely stroll to the airport in the morning, stopping along the way for some Starbucks of course. Security at Brussels has been massively renovated and upgraded in the last year, and is so much nicer now. No more underground walkway between terminals, and everything is light, airy, and much more efficient. The only downside is the exit-immigration for the G Gates was a zoo today, and I had to wait nearly an hour to clear. Seems every Africa flight was operating today – along with JFK – so there were seven full A330s leaving at the same time. No priority line either, so wait wait wait.

As coffee was kicking in, I enjoyed a few pain au chocolates in the Brussels lounge, and soon it was time to board.

Brussels Airlines flight 203
Brussels, Belgium (BRU) to Dakar, Senegal (DKR)
Depart 11:05, Arrive 16:15, Flight Time: 6:10
Airbus A330-300, Registration OO-SFO, Manufactured 1994, Seat 1K
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 2,778
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,169,826

Rather strange amenity kit, containing quite unimpressive contents:

Wait…they have a beer of the month? Belgian beer on the menu? Wow – awesome and unique!

Although the menu was a bit seafood heavy (which I try extremely hard to avoid on planes) it also looked super tasty, so I decided to go for it and inshallah all would be ok. There were only three people in business today on top of it, while economy was completely full. It was my lucky day!

Wait, there’s an entire beer menu?! Sure, the Stella and Hoegaarden aren’t impressive, but look at all those great Belgian beers. You can mark this down as the first time ever I would get rather happy in business class, and there would be absolutely no wine involved!

Mackerel starter with mixed nuts and raisins, and a Gulden Draak…delicious!

The smoked eel and radish starter, continuing with the same beer. It was 10% ABV so had to pace it a bit. Also, look at that awesome pretzel roll and butter. Mmm…

Decided to go with the scallops main (yes, even more seafood!) and switched to the Julius beer since the menu said it went well with seafood. I absolutely wasn’t disappointed! Delicious!

…and with the fantastic cheese course, the “Forbidden Fruit” beer. The nice flight attendant said “ooooh, this one I know, it has made for many not very memorable nights…I predict you will sleep after this!”

…and finally, I was looking really forward to the rum-pineapple-marscapone baba for dessert, but it was not to be. The chocolate mousse with passionfruit sauce was a pretty darn good substitute, however!

Defying the odds (I had slept 10 hours the night before, after all) I stayed awake and watched movies, and two hours later was ready to take one more for the team and try the kriek. I usually don’t like fruit beers, but this one was pretty darn tasty and went well with some nice Belgian chocolates!

…and, because I couldn’t let the last one go…

Soon we were arriving Dakar on time, and the other three in business class deplaned, giving me a private plane for the onward short flight to Banjul:

Since the flight time would be too short to enjoy a beverage, while waiting on the ground during cleaning, the purser asked which beer had been my favourite, and insisted on bringing me another to enjoy while waiting for the plane to be cleaned:

Soon we were off for the short 25 minute flight to Banjul.

Brussels Airlines flight 203
Dakar, Senegal (DKR) to Banjul, The Gambia (BJL)
Depart 17:25, Arrive 18:15, Flight Time: 0:50
Airbus A330-300, Registration OO-SFO, Manufactured 1994, Seat 1K
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 2,900
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,169,938

Flight was very short and uneventful, was the first one in line to immigration, and I didn’t ask about the visa on arrival, and they didn’t ask for one…so I was stamped in and that was that. In advance, the visa is $100 and visa on arrival is supposedly about $30-40, but perhaps since I arrived behind a large plane full of British tourists (who don’t need visas) they forgot to ask me? Either way, was nice to save the money. Waiting for Jordan in baggage claim:

Exterior of the airport, grabbing a taxi to the hotel:

With that, I’d entered my 186th country, and there were only ten more to go! Now, off to explore The Gambia!

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to Washington, DC via Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines First Class

Airports, Cote d'Ivoire, Flights, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 212013

Got to the airport, check-in was nice and easy, and the line for security and passport control were non-existent. So far, this was definitely the most modern and well-kept airport I’d seen in West Africa. It was clean, good facilities, and everything seemed to, for lack of a better word, work. Wandered around for a couple of minutes, before heading to the lounge.

The lounge was a multi-airline lounge, and it looked like my Brussels Airlines flight would be sharing it with Air France tonight. The attendant brought over a small plate of finger snacks, and offered me a drink. It was warm, so I asked for a bottle of water…when she brought it, she asked for my lounge invite and marked it. Seems you only get TWO drinks, and I’d used one of mine on a bottle of water. Eventually she did say you could BUY more drinks if you wanted, but only two were included. Why can’t Brussels and Air France pay for their business class passengers have drinks? Poor image in my book.

There was one other major shortcoming for the lounge – a lack of outlets. I’d arrived early and managed to get one to charge my phone, but many others were wandering looking for them. I think there were a total of maybe 4 or 5 for the whole lounge. Having consumed my water, free glass of wine…and another glass of wine I sweet-talked my way into, I decided to wander the airport for the 45 minutes left before boarding. It grew old pretty quickly, and I decided to sit at a gate cafe and people watch. You can’t really tell well in this picture, but those are discoball-studded silver stillettos. I know that’s what I always wear to fly. Wasn’t going to post this picture, but it also shows a bit how the airport is really rather nice as well.

Another shot of the gate area:

Soon, it was time to board,which was done through a jetway. A rarity in west Africa!

Brussels Airlines flight 231
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (ABJ) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Depart 22:50, Arrive 07:25, Flight Time 6:35
Airbus A330-300, Registration OO-SFU, Manufactured 2000, Seat 5K

On board, and welcomed with a flight of bubbly…and thanks to a friendly flight attendant a second.

Brussels to Cotonou, Benin on Brussels Airlines and night in Cotonou

Airports, Belgium, Benin, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Oct 172013

So, up the next morning to try again. Hopefully after nearly a 24 hour delay I would finally make it to Benin this time. Unfortunately, I had only planned 36 hours in Benin, which was now reduced to basically one evening. Kind of disappointing, but somethings things just don’t work out. It’ll be an excuse to get back to Benin another time!

Down to the hotel lobby to check out after a good night’s sleep, and had a box of chocolates and an apology letter from Brussels Airlines waiting. Better than a kick in the face I suppose!

Brussels had arranged a special bus for the passengers to the airport, but I wanted to get there a little earlier so just took the regular hotel shuttle. No problems at all checking in, quickly through security, a little bit of caffeine at Starbucks, and soon I was in the lounge waiting for the flight. Now, the flight being over two hours earlier today was nice because it would give me a bit of time in Benin, but bad because I almost felt bad sampling some of Belgium’s finest in the lounge. The guilt lasted all of zero seconds, and it was time to sample! A Leffe Bruin to start:

Followed by a delicious Hoegaarden:

There was a pain au chocolate or two as well, but I must have forgotten a picture. Off to the gate shortly, and time to board.

Brussels Airlines special flight 1255
Brussels, Belgium (BRU) to Cotonou, Benin (COO) continuing onto Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Depart 11:30, Arrive 17:10, Flight Time 6:40
Airbus A330-300, Registration OO-SFW, Manufactured 1994, Seat 3A (solo aisle)

I was excited to be back on this plane, because I really like the configuration…as long as I get one of the solo seats. It’s kind of odd, because the solo business class seats are SO much better than the pairs….unless you’re traveling with someone I suppose. A couple of cabin shots to show how the seats are staggered:

DCA to Cotonou, Benin on United, Lufthansa, and Brussels Airlines in First

Airports, Belgium, Germany, hotels, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Oct 142013

I know there’s been lots of discussion of Lufthansa First on the internet before, so I’m not going to go into painful details here, but lots of folks still like to see meal pics, etc, so I figured I’d do a quick mainly pictures post.

This trip came about thanks to free changes thanks to United premier status, and opening up better and better options up until the day before…when I finally got this routing sorted. The goal was to fly either Lufthansa or Swiss first, and hopefully leave out of DCA which meant a connection or two. Final routing was DCA-ORD-FRA-BRU-COO with ORD-FRA scheduled on the Lufthansa 747-400 hopefully with the new product of flat bed AND seat. Unfortunately 12 hours before the flight, they switched back to the old configuration. Boo hiss – at least I’d have two seats to myself and a great Lufthansa meal.

United operated by Shuttle America flight 3482
Washington, National (DCA) to Chicago, O’Hare (ORD)
Depart 11:37, Arrive 12:30, Flight Time 1:53
Embraer ERJ-170, Registration N649RW, Manufactured 2005, Seat 1A (aisle)

Nothing to say about this flight, it was on time, good crew, and that’s about it. I know some people dislike United Express, but I actually like the ERJ-170s.

Spent a bit over an hour in the United First lounge in Chicago, where I was the only person in it for half the time. As long as they keep serving Veuve I think it’s a decent product. It’s not Lufthansa quality, but perfectly adequate. Especially with the cocktail shrimp!

Lufthansa flight 431
Chicago, O’Hare (ORD) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
Depart 15:45, Arrive 07:00 next day, Flight Time 8:15
Boeing 747-400, Registration D-ABTF, Manufactured 1991, Seat 83H and K (aisle and window)

I was a bit nervous for this flight. I tend not to like early transatlantic redeyes because they make it really hard to sleep. Even though this was 4:45 pm by my body clock, I had doubts I’d be able to fall asleep by 7p and get enough sleep to be functional and happy the next day. I didn’t have to worry, because in the end I got almost 6 hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep.

Despite being the “old” hard product, Lufthansa first is fantastic as long as the crew keeps the heat down which this one did. A few pre-departure pics:

A rose at my seat…

The service cart parked in front of my seat. They know where to keep the champers!

Two trips to West Africa

Airports, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Flights, Francophone West Africa 2012, Ghana, Niger, Togo No Responses »

Sep 162013

I know, I know…I’ve gotten way behind. A few weeks ago I was in Nigeria (country #137 visited) for a few days with a friend and I owe a trip report for that one which I promise to get done soon. All in all, it was a great trip!

Next trip is coming in just a couple of weeks. It started as a trip to see the same friend while he does work in two more countries (Benin and Ghana) and I figured, while in the neighbourhood, I’d see a few more places. Now, it’s turned into a six country trip adding Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Niger to the list. The rough plan is:

One major challenge will be that a couple of the tickets can only be bought locally, so we will see if I manage to sort out all the plane tickets. Of course, there’s also the issue that flights in this part of the world don’t always run so on time, so there will be that too. Also, this assumes I manage to get all six visas on time. It’s also the most number of airlines I’ve ever taken on one trip I think:

Air Canada
Lufthansa
Brussels Airlines
Air Cote d’Ivoire
ASKY
Air Burkina
SWISS
United

Of course, assuming everything works out….that will bring the total country count up to 143 visited…only 53 to go!

West Africa 2012 and first flights

Airports, Flights, West Africa 2012 2 Responses »

Oct 242012

Recently, I was asked to head to Dakar, Senegal for the better part of two months for work. Due to prior commitments, I arranged to do it in two blocks, with two weeks off in between. I won’t bore you with the flights in between (standard DCA-YOW runs on Air Canada) but thought I’d fill in some of the details on Dakar, Senegal including the hotels, restaurants, a few sights, and the flights to get there. I’ll go be going back again shortly, and taking pretty much the same route.

There’s actually a non-stop flight on South African between DC and Dakar, which is a bit odd to most people. Even stranger, is that all but the highest business fares are often sold out months in advance, requiring a full J fare if you want to take it. Forget D/I/Z/etc. Just couldn’t justify that, plus, I actually wanted to rack up some extra miles, so settled on this route. I was going to fly United to Brussels, then Brussels Airlines to Dakar, but wanted to go out of Washington National if possible. United doesn’t allow this – transatlantic fares almost always require nonstops out of Dulles, however, Lufthansa is cool with it. However, they only codeshare on the Newark to Brussels flight, thus I ended up going Washington National (DCA) to Chicago (ORD) to Newark (EWR) to Brussels (BRU) on United, connecting to Dakar on Brussels Airlines. The flight back would be much simpler – nonstop on South African. I’ll explain why I chose this below in the detailed flight sections.

Later, I’ll make a couple posts about hotels, sights, and restaurants, before I head back for the next trip where I’m hoping to hop around to a couple more countries in the region on weekends if possible. Fair warning, this post will be very very full of flight geekery.

Got to the airport about 90 minutes before the first flight to check bags, and encountered the typical surly DCA United agents. I don’t know why, but the United staff here (with the exception of those working the lounge) are always surly. Dulles can be marginally better, but every time at DCA I have a pretty negative experience. Once again denied pre-check by TSA (which I understand doesn’t work with international itineraries anyways) and had a little time to kill in the “United Club” aka former Presidents Club. The agent was very chatty, sharing every thought she had on the merger, how staff were integrating, and basically how senior management wasn’t thinking. Basic stuff like shuffling flight attendants between DCA and IAD in taxis to fill gaps causing long delays, etc. It was an interesting chat, and time to board soon!

United Airlines Flight 833
Washington, DC National (DCA) to Chicago (ORD)
Depart 10:23, Arrive 11:20, Flight Time 1:57
Airbus A319, Registration N822UA, Manufactured 1999, Seat 1E

Nothing exciting to say about this flight. Snack mix, diet coke, and on-time landing. The fun started in Chicago, with the United International First lounge. Always good to get filled up on shrimp cocktail and champagne before continuing on. Pretty standard day, and didn’t have too far to walk to the flight to Newark.

United Airlines Flight 1720
Chicago (ORD) to Newark (EWR)
Depart 13:00, Arrive 16:17, Flight Time 2:17
Boeing 737-800, Registration N77530, Manufactured 2011, Seat 3F

Small snack on this flight, and started off right with a margarita on-board, definitely one of the things from the Continental side of the house that I’m really glad came over to the new United. Small lunch which is no longer memorable, but was some sort of a deli plate with a few decent things on it. I wasn’t hungry after the shrimp so just picked at it, and soon we landed. Boring domestic flights, I know…let’s move onto the prime attraction. Some slightly less common international segments.

United Airlines Flight 960
Newark (EWR) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Depart 18:12, Arrive 7:45 next day , Flight Time 8:33
Boeing 777-200, Registration N775UA, Manufactured 1996, Seat 1A

Lounge…ug. Really, you make international first passengers use the dump that is the “United Club” at Newark. Completely packed with the cattle, it’s hard to get a drink or find somewhere to plug in your computer. Boarding was at least relatively efficient, and the former Continental gate crew at least seem to know there are three classes finally. Then, we boarded, and things got a bit exciting. Earlier in the day, there were only 3 of us in first, with five empty seats. Of course, all eight ended up being taken. The crew (ex-United) seemed to know the party of five (all together) who boarded (surprising since they were boarding in EWR, but who knows), and they rather loudly complained that there were six of them, but one “got stuck in the back because SOMEONE took their seat at the last minute.” Honey, that would be me….on a full business fare upgraded with a global upgrade. If you want your company to stay in business, please don’t complain when full revenue passengers “stick” #6 in your party in business. Very unprofessional. The purser must have seen me make a bit of a pained face, as she actually came over and apologized, and was wonderful the whole flight.

Standard new 777 united first suites, with the standard broken buttons on a couple of the storage compartments. Nothing a makeshift lever wouldn’t take care of. People always seem to ask the latest of the meals, so I’ll post with a few pics here. Started of course with the mixed warm nuts. Nothing special, but way too many almonds for my liking.

To Begin: Warm Appetizer – Vegetable and mushroom-filled pastry and beef empanada with Amazon sauce.

I’ll admit, I have no idea what “Amazon sauce” is supposed to be, and even after eating it I wasn’t sure. Tasty enough, but certainly not what I’d expect in international first. You’ll also notice some coconut-breaded chicken thing. Guess the veggie and shroom pastry was a tease as well. At least there was wine!

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Washington DC to Kigali, Rwanda on United and Brussels Airlines

Flights, New Years 2011-2012, Rwanda 1 Response »

Jan 132012

This ticket was surprisingly the easiest part of the trip to book. Ever since United/Continental introduced one-way awards it’s become increasingly easy to book trips part by part…and availability was good. Getting to Europe was easy…lots of options, and eventually I even got the nonstop to Brussels. However, Brussels-Kigali only had one seat for awards…and we needed two. I booked mine, and we figured worse case we could always buy a London-Kigali Z fare for Matt. However, over Thanksgiving weekend I got an alert from ExpertFlyer that a seat had opened up…and we were all set!

Headed out to Dulles, for what’s becoming a bit of a routine flight for me in my country counting quest. I always used to wonder how United kept Dulles to Brussels profitable, but I’ve been on it so many times now that it’s semi-obvious. Other than all the african connections this flight is always packed. Not too sure who’s on it, but clearly people always are. So, let’s get on to the important stuff – the flight details!

United Flight 950
Washington, Dulles (IAD) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Depart 17:49, Arrive 7:15, Flight Time 7:26
Boeing 777, Registration N779UA, Manufactured 1996
Seat 2J

Pretty routine flight…with nothing overly exciting to say about it. A few unusual notes for regular United fliers: The “warm nuts” were 100% cashews. I wish it was this way all the time, but alas, I don’t think it’s the case. The steak was, as usual, a piece of leather and way overdone, and the salad was pretty anemic and pathetic compared to past offerings. Other than that, it was pretty typical upgrade-class, and not much to write home about. Watched a typically terrible United movie (“Bad Teacher”) and dozed off to a solid five hours before landing in Brussels. A few pictures of the meal:

The so-called “Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes served warm with Bernaise sauce”