Brussels Airlines announces new short haul product

[airazurxtror]

Besides, you needn't be having the absolute lowest fares to attract passengers; what's important is that the spread isn't too big and the product differences between the 2 airlines seem to justify this spread.
This seems to be the case, regardless the period and who has the absolute upper hand at any given time.
But again, don't limit your scope to just the 2 in this discussion: have a look at all the others and their relative positioning in the line up of booking engines: airlines like vueling for instance suddenly have a problem, it seems!

Things are not that simple.
I have had a look at the prices - choosing at random Lisbon as destination and the week 11-17 January.

Brussels Airlines : no 69 euros available; day return from 129,74 to 165,39 euros; longer stays inside that week : from 79,74 to 129,74 euros.

Ryanair : BRU-LIS from 30,59 to 43,85 euros; LIS-BRU from 30,59 to 52,01 euros.
Return from 61,18 to 95,86 (day return possible at 61,18 euros)

Vueling : BRU-LIS from 29,99 to 39,99 euros; LIS-BRU from 29,99 to 49,99 euros (prices for direct flights only - no direct flight on tuesday). No day return possible (only one direct flight daily).
Return from 59,98 to 79,98 euros. Add a 5 euros administrative fee plus 1,95 euro credit card fee.

Thus, more than ever, it's essential to compare prices according to one's own requirement.

[Lysexpat]

I almost never have to take out a ID card when flying SN, a small detail for me, but appreciated as it make me feel welcome on board (rather then being suspected of fraud).

Nothing to do with fraud! It all depends upon the AOC under which the airline is operating. Some CAAs require identity check for all passengers during boarding, others only for passengers carrying hold luguage and some don't require any check at all.
Safety wise, I think identity of those having checked in bags should be verified during boarding.

[tsx]

I almost never have to take out a ID card when flying SN, a small detail for me, but appreciated as it make me feel welcome on board (rather then being suspected of fraud).

Nothing to do with fraud! It all depends upon the AOC under which the airline is operating. Some CAAs require identity check for all passengers during boarding, others only for passengers carrying hold luguage and some don't require any check at all.
Safety wise, I think identity of those having checked in bags should be verified during boarding.

By safety, I guess you mean "Security Theater".
Terrorist blow themselves up for >20 years and wouldn't mind boarding a plane with their explosive luggage.

Gates agent don't have the training, means nor time to distinguish a falsified ID from a real one.
What is done today (in all schengen airports I've been trough) doesn't improve security by one bit.
I also didn't feel any variation based on the company AOC, sometimes based on the country.

It means that, in practice, it is indeed the company who keeps setting the tone.
LCC, or at least the orange one, are more found of checking ID and boarding pass (2 times) then greeting people onboard... and that is a difference, that people may or may not mind.

[White Light]

Gates agent don't have the training, means nor time to distinguish a falsified ID from a real one.

I have never travelled with a false ID or passport, but given your comment, I think the following anecdote is worth mentioning.
About a year ago, I was flying with SN from Geneva to Brussels. I was carrying a valid passport and an expired Belgian identity card which I was going to renew when back in Brussels. Since gate agents were requesting passengers to show an ID/passport together with their boarding passes before embarking, just out of curiosity I showed my expired ID and the gate agent noticed that it had expired and asked if I had another valid identification document, which I had.
Of course, a false ID and an expired one are not exactly the same, however...

[SN_forever]

http://press.brusselsairlines.com/bruss ... w-products

[airazurxtror]

Extracts from the reference given here above :

«Dès à présent, nous laissons nos clients choisir eux-mêmes ce qu'ils désirent et ce qui est important pour eux pendant leur voyage. Avec ‘Check&Go', 'Light&Relax’, 'Flex&Fast’ et ‘Bizz&Class' nous avons développé quatre produits ayant leurs propres prix et avantages.
We laten onze klanten voortaan zélf kiezen wat ze willen en wat voor hen belangrijk is tijdens hun vlucht. Daarvoor hebben we met ‘Check&Go’, ‘Light&Relax’, ‘Flex&Fast’ en ‘Bizz&Class’ vier producten ontwikkeld die alle vier hun eigen prijszetting en features hebben.

A few lines further :

Sur ses lignes européennes, Brussels Airlines propose le choix entre deux classes : une classe affaire avec le produit « b.business » offrant un service haut de gamme avec tout le confort et la flexibilité désirée par les passagers les plus exigeants et une classe économique avec deux produits : un service flexible à prix raisonnable synonyme de gain de temps et de confort (« b.flex economy+ ») et un produit à bas prix (« b.light economy »).
Op haar Europese netwerk, vooral aangevlogen met Airbus A319 en A320, biedt Brussels Airlines drie formules aan: een Business Class product “b.business”, een flexibele reisformule die synoniem staat voor tijdswinst en comfort “b.flex economy+” en een low fare product “b.light economy”.


What is it , four products, two classes, three formules ?
Or - horribile dictu - just amateurism of the media team at SN ?

[Inquirer]

Not really.
The press release is about the new products rolled out soon, whereas at the bottom of it, you see a corporate overview as that is called. I admit it gives a bit of a strange impression at first because at present the 2 are not in line, but it is correct to do it this way in corporate communication as the new 4 class product isn't in the sky yet.
BTW- I like their new look for advertisements. Looks young and fresh.

[Inquirer]

It's how companies communicate.
At my place, we announced a merger with our main competitor, ending the PR with the standard corporate overview in which we take the usual hit at them; until something is secured, it isn't considered in those kind of endings and the usual mantra is maintained.
Just live with it and don't make such a fuzz from it, would be my advise.
Corporate communication always happens in another universe, somehow.

[RoMax]

Until September 20, SN operates with their 3 class concept, it's a bit weird in this case if you also read the 'About Brussels Airlines' section which is standard in each press release, but not completely wrong.

Besides, I don't think that many people actually read that section as most readers of the press release are people that frequently read these press releases and/or know SN already, they do not take the effort to read the standard section which is the same in every press release.

I hope of course that they do change it by September 20, otherwise it would be a stupid mistake indeed (though I don't think many people will ever notice).

[Passenger]

I hope they are more professional on the aircraft maintenance side.

Strange. An error by a PR office is translated as a maintenance risk. But when the crew from a well known Irish low cost carrier isn't permitted by management to load the fuel quantity that will make them feel comfortable, there is no safety risk...

[Pocahontas]

airazurxtror you are stepping out of line here. Sorry but your maintenance remark is really stupid and should be removed. I hope moderators will look more into this BS that's written here. After all, that's what moderators are for, ain't it?

KIND regards

[airazurxtror]

airazurxtror you are stepping out of line here. Sorry but your maintenance remark is really stupid and should be removed.

The clerks that are in charge of the website do a bad job (mistakes like the one I have shown, and in French at least, bad spelling, wrong terms and phrases).
I am unable to judge the technical employees and I said it is to be hoped that they are more professional.
What is wrong with that ?

[tolipanebas]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the 'about us' epilogue of that Press Release on our future product line up, as it describes the situation 'as is', not 'as will be (soon)', but of course if you look with a bad eye to everything coming from SN, you can misread everything, can't you? You'd almost start to think some people are getting pretty frustrated by the fact they just can't find any hidden drawbacks to the check&go tickets and the deal is thus indeed as good as it sounds.

Oh, and what's more, as from tomorrow morning no less that 50,000 additional seats at 69 euro return will be made available for sale throughout our entire European network so you can't even say availability is limited. Now, will you spend the night searching our website for potential typos, or will you book a couple of extremely low fare flights out of BRU, often to places you couldn't go at such rates before, regardless how much annoying discomforts you were willing to accept on the flight there?

[airazurxtror]

Now, will you spend the night searching our website for potential typos

I certainly won't spend the night doing your job !

[White Light]

I neither hate nor love brussels airlines. I fly with them regularly, so I know their products.

When they say "Wiggle your legs on board. Plenty of space for that", it makes me shout. 30 inches is standard in the lower economy segment, but it's unacceptable in business class and in premium economy.
Outside the LH Group, most airlines offer a better seat pitch in business class and in premium economy.

"Zit op een wolk zodra je instapt" (sit on a cloud as soon you are on board). I find their seats on European flights extremely uncomfortable and I'm not the only one.

Since their main competitor in Europe is also very good at lying, there is no reason not to copy a successful strategy. People seem to love it to be taken for a ride when they take a flight.

And something nobody ever seems to mentioned : it is ALWAYS too hot on board SN flights. During my last flight with them, it felt light 30°C in the cabin until I asked the cabin crew if they could lower the temperature (which they did). But it is like that on EVERY flight I take with them. Trying to save fuel, I presume. I'm amazed they don't have any sick passengers on board.

The clerks that are in charge of the website do a bad job (mistakes like the one I have shown, and in French at least, bad spelling, wrong terms and phrases).

Their French (and sometimes even their English) shoud be better, but I have the feeling the French has improved. Anyway, look at notes 8 and 9 (when you click on the red "i") on an extract from LX's web site.

http://www.swiss.com/be/fr/Book/Inbound/sid0r3a

These notes are hardly comprehensible in French and French is a national language of Switzerland (but not really for LX). On that front I think SN is doing better than LX (also on board).

[tsx]

Talking about the difficulties they have to roll out their product properly across the board, the "b.pass" product description still is not updated (name,prices,...) and does not even tell which new class will be used for the flights. It is a kind of a pity for a product that covers a 3-6 months period and cost 700 to 1450€...

After asking them, it looks like it will be "Light & Relax".
This makes it a even more interesting product for commuting, which has no LCC equivalent, especially with that level of flexiblity.

I also wondered why they didn't push more towards "prepaid flying" like with all the vouchers they've proposed in 2013. Were the results so bad ?

[loran4721]

I don't like the their product structure, make their offer more fragmented (in addition to a painfully slow website and at times unreliable/outof service) and, to all useful purposes, it simply masks a generalized raise in fares masked as "lower prices with check&go".

I've read the condition attached to the Check&Go formula and I'd like more detail about:
- (max) size of cabin trolley, meant as dimension HxWxL? Weight limit?
- if I remember correctly (their website is down...) it says "cabin lugguage and carryall". Is there a more detailed definition of "carryall"? A backpack? A small backpack? How small is small?

At the moment, I have been unable to find more info on those two counts on Brusselsairlines website: suggestions?

Thank you

PS: with Check&Go what are the penalties about size and # of pieces/lugguages allowed in cabin? When is a carryall a "carryall" and when it becomes an extra-to-be-paid-for? It's going to be like with Ryanair... unpleasant, even in good faith

[b720]

yes, the website seems to be malfunctioning. Is this a trial period? Many options are not working, e.g. upgrades etc. Why did they not wait another week or so and roll out the whole new product without a glitch? They have almost copy pasted the LX booking engine. I remember LX's was working very well from day 1 after the changes.

[b720]

And the whole bla bla is pure B.S. They have simply rebranded B-lite, and dropped the services maintaining the same prices. Try GVA all the way till next year,.. same prices I paid earlier, but minus the checked in luggage etc.. they could have been more honest by maintaining the current b.lite and b.flex and while stripping the b.lite to the absolute minimun like checked in luggage only for B.flex, seat choice etc.. and thrown in more seats for EUR 99 instead of the much advertised but spooky EUR 69 that one needs to spot through the mist of the flights leaving at the crack of dawn. I am not impressed! However, the booking engine needed a major overhaul and they managed that. It is more transparent, and one can book different fares for the different legs of the journey. For the rest, it is simply too musch sizzle and definitely no steak!

[airazurxtror]

I've read the condition attached to the Check&Go formula and I'd like more detail about:
- (max) size of cabin trolley, meant as dimension HxWxL? Weight limit?
- if I remember correctly (their website is down...) it says "cabin lugguage and carryall". Is there a more detailed definition of "carryall"? A backpack? A small backpack? How small is small?

It's here :

http://www.brusselsairlines.com/en-be/p ... fault.aspx