We found our experience in Brussels Airlines A319 business class to be pretty basic, with a simple meal on a short flight between Brussels and Zurich.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Cheese and Chocolate in Western Europe
• United Club LAX: Better Than Your Average United Lounge
• A Great Stay Outside the City Center: The Thompson Chicago
• The Beautiful Air France Lounge ORD
• The Best Inflight Service: KLM 787-10 World Business Class ORD-AMS
• Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht: A Great Stay But Now Pricey
• Perfect Dutch Comfort Food at The Pantry Amsterdam
• Smelt It and Loved It: Restaurant Smelt Amsterdam
• Amsterdam with Kids: Plenty of History, Cheese, and Sweets
• Zaanse Schans: You Must See This Idyllic Spot Near Amsterdam
• NS Lounge Amsterdam Centraal: Sadly, Not Much Here
• Eurostar Premier: Better Than Economy But Still Pretty Basic
• Hilton Brussels Grand Place: A Great Location in Central Brussels
• Le Clan des Belges: One of Our Favorite Meals Ever
• Fin de Siècle: Great Food But Can Have Long Lines
• Mini‑Europe in Brussels: Top Highlights From Our Experience
• Belgian Beer World Experience: Surprisingly Fun for the Family
• Brussels with Kids: History, Chocolate, Fries, and Fun
• Winter Wonders: The Wonderful Brussels Christmas Market
• Brussels Airlines The Loft Lounge: Plenty of Drinks and Smurfs
• A Bit Too Simple: Brussels Airlines A319 Business Class (Intra-Europe) (this post)
• Great for Whisky Lovers: SWISS Senator Lounge E ZRH
• SWISS 777-300ER Business Class: A Comfy Seat and Good Service

Booking Brussels Airlines A319 business class

We obviously need a way to get home from Europe. One of the most available ways of getting home that I know of is actually through the Miles & More program. Not as many know about the program and they also don’t partner with most transferable currencies, making it easy for it to fly under the radar a bit. I originally booked the routing as BRU-MUC-LAX, with the first segment on Brussels and the second on Lufthansa.

This booking cost us only 56,000 miles per adult, 42,000 miles per child with the 25% award discount for the kids. Granted, each ticket also came with a €537.90 cash copay, so it’s not completely cheap. But the flights are available and it beats paying cash for them outright, so it could certainly be worse.

However, months after booking, the flight times changed slightly. Lufthansa gave an email notice to us that our connecting flight would instead depart two hours later, giving us a 4-hour layover in Munich. Yuck. But thankfully, they gave a list of alternatives that included United Airlines connecting in the US, Lufthansa in Frankfurt, or SWISS in Zurich. Jenn and I haven’t had a chance to fly SWISS before and that option wasn’t available with points when we first booked our award. So, we switched the flight for free. Sweet!

On the plus side, it also meant we didn’t need to depart Brussels at 6:30AM and instead could leisurely depart at 10AM. We generally hate dragging the kids out of bed for early morning flights and avoid them when we can.

Earning Lufthansa Miles & More miles

If you reside in the United States, there are limited ways you can quickly earn Lufthansa Miles & More miles.

• Apply for the Barclays Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard® credit card (not sponsored) and earn 60,000 miles for $3,000 spend in the first 90 days.
• Transfer in points from Rove, the only bank program that allows transfers to the Miles & More program.
• Buy miles from the program, either through the bundles they release or through ASMALLWORLD.

You might scoff at purchasing miles, but honestly, there are situations where it can be advantageous to purchase. Just don’t go overboard and buy more than you can use.

First impressions of Brussels Airlines A319 business class

After we checked out of our hotel, we made our way over to Brussels Airport (BRU) via train. Thankfully, from Brussels Central it’s a quick journey that requires no transfers. The kids enjoyed one last train ride on this trip.

Once at Brussels Airport, we made our way up a myriad of escalators to find the departures level and where we will check in. Since we’re flying business class on the short hop from Brussels to Zurich, we were able to join the short business class queue. Even if we weren’t, the regular line seemed short this day too.

After clearing security and a stop at The Loft Lounge, we made our way over to our gate. The thing that became clear quickly in this terminal is the love affair they have with cars. Suddenly the devotion to Lexus in The Loft Lounge makes more sense. It was almost a who’s who of cars on display. If only you could take a test drive here while you wait for your flight!

We quickly found Gate A60, where we’ll depart from. It turns out our flight was slightly delayed this morning, but we’re happy it didn’t cause any flight disruptions for us.

Brussels had an interesting way of trying to get everyone onboard quickly. We would scan our tickets and then wait in a holding pen until the boarding door opened. First all of the pre-board and business class passengers were scanned, then the economy passengers. I’m not sure if it’s just because the boarding door took a while to open, but it got a little cramped in the area with economy passengers entering the area. I don’t think it’s intended for the whole plane to fit in the waiting area. But before they could scan all the economy passengers, the door opened and we were on our way.

And do you know what? Though the boarding door took a little bit of time to open, the flight itself wasn’t delayed by more than 3 minutes. They made up for the time with the efficient boarding pen process. So, while it seemed a little cramped in there, it’s great that the efficiency made up for some tardiness.

The Brussels Airlines A319 business class seat

I didn’t get my normal pictures of the airline seat without someone already in them. Maybe something was off with me this morning. So, I’ll have to let Alex showcase the seat itself. You should be able to see from the picture below that the seat looks and feels just like a regular economy seat. It doesn’t have much padding, but with a flight time of about an hour, the lack of padding didn’t bother us.

The headrest is also rather basic. I like it when you can fold out the sides of it to use as a place to rest your head. It’s also nice if it’s adjustable. But, of course, this one has neither feature.

As you might already know, the seats are so similar to economy seats that… they are just economy seats. Even in business class, they have three seats in a row. On intra-Europe flights with other airlines, they might have a hunk of plastic to block out the middle seat, but here there was no such device. That at least gave a little extra room to stretch out.

And since these are just economy seats, you won’t get much recline in your chair. But at least you have plenty of legroom .

And since we’re just flying in a regular A319, everyone has the usual lights and fans above their seats.

I normally don’t pull out the barf bags to look at them, but it actually reinforces what we’ve talked about before. One of the underrated things you can do with these bags is use them as entertainment for your younger kids. It makes for a good source of paper for drawing and coloring. And you could use it as a replacement sock puppet.

Of course, this one went one step further and said you can use it to wrap presents. Maybe–if all the words weren’t there. Not sure who would want a present wrapped in an obvious barf bag.

The food in Brussels Airlines A319 business class

This is where intra-Europe business class has its perks. Even on a very short 1-hour flight, you still get a meal. We weren’t too hungry after the lounge, so we were glad to see the food was a bit more like a snack. The service started with a packaged wipe.

Then came the food and drinks. My seatmate Alex went with orange juice while I went with some bubbly champagne.

Our flight was late enough in the morning (10AM) that we received something more akin to lunch. The sandwich was filled with a salmon cream alongside a cabbage and cranberry salad. For dessert, it was a duet of sweets: tiramisu and a hazelnut tart. It’s best to think of this as more of a snack than a full meal. Don’t board your flight hungry expecting a feast. But getting this on an hour-long flight is still great.

The kids meals on this short flight were simple: some carrot and cucumber sticks, a tomato, and bread with cream cheese in it. There were also some vanilla wafers for a little sweetness. The kids were satisfied with this meal. Eating in the lounge before our flight helps for sure!

Wi-Fi and Entertainment

I have to admit something–I didn’t attempt to access the Wi-Fi at all during flight. So, I can’t speak to anything about its functionality or price. Sorry, about that. I just seem to have not been myself this particular flight.

As for inflight entertainment… there was none. You might have noticed from the pictures above that there are no seatback monitors. On short-haul flights within Europe, you’re going to have to entertain yourself. That’s something we already believe in to make sure our kids are entertained. For me, I can just work on editing or photo organization from all the travel we do.

Not the best to not have entertainment, but at least it’s a short flight?

Service

We didn’t get a chance to connect much with the flight crew on this particular segment. It makes sense given we were in the air for around an hour and the business class cabin was served drinks and food in that time. So, there wasn’t much time for them to lose. They were speedy and efficient and seemed friendly enough, but we didn’t get a chance to connect with them.

Recommendation: Not worth going out of your way for

When we booked business class, we honestly cared more about the route from Europe back to the United States. The intra-Europe flight being in business class was more of a bonus to be honest. The best benefits of business class in Europe include:

• Lounge access at your departing airport
• Included checked baggage and priority services
• A quick meal
• A guaranteed empty seat next to you

And it met those expectations. But if you don’t need those components–such as if you already have elite status that would give you lounge access and checked bags–then sadly, business class in Europe doesn’t give much. It’s not like you’re in a fancy, comfortable seat. You won’t get wined and dined. The upcharge for business class generally isn’t worth it here. But in our case, might as well take it since it was included in our long-haul flight home.

Do you fly intra-Europe business class?

Suggested reading:

• Star Alliance: Rules, Elite Status, and Lounge Access
• Why You Need to Collect Lufthansa Miles & More Miles
• Seats.Aero Review: An Excellent Free Tool For All