March 6
- Introduction
- Clipper Lounge, Mumbai CSI Airport Terminal 2
- Jet Airways Economy Class Mumbai to Brussels
- British Airways Galleries Club Lounge, Brussels National Airport
- American Airlines Business Class Brussels to New York JFK and Five-Star Arrival
- American Airlines Premium Check-in and Flagship Lounge, New York JFK
- American Airlines Economy Class JFK to London LHR
- American Airlines Arrivals Lounge, London LHR
- Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, London
- American Airlines Flagship Check-in and Flagship Lounge, London Heathrow
- American Airlines Economy Class London to Chicago
- American Airlines Flagship Lounge at Chicago ORD
- American Airlines First Class from Chicago ORD to Dallas Fort Worth
- Hyatt Regency Hotel, DFW
- Hyatt Regency Hotel, Bellevue
- Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles
- Sheraton Gateway Hotel, Los Angeles
- American Airlines First Class from Los Angeles to Chicago ORD
- American Airlines Business Class from Chicago ORD to Delhi
- Jet Airways Economy Class from Delhi to Mumbai
- Conclusion
The disembarking process from the flight from Mumbai was very smooth. I could hardly believe there was a full 777 being unleashed onto the transfer area in 8 minutes flat.However, the flight itself was delayed due to the late departure from BOM, which meant it arrived into BRU only at about 8:25 AM. What had me worried most of the last night however was the go-slow strike at Brussels Airport by the workers of the handling agency. If it was still going on, it meant my bag was not going to be hopping on to my American Airlines flight. Jet Airways used this particular handling agency, and operations could have been affected.
After I got off the plane, I was expected to join a long queue for transfer security checks, along with the rest of the economy hoi polloi. While I was going to be happily put in my place, this time around, I noticed a special security queue, empty one, for Jet Airways Premiere transfer passengers.
I was going to be travelling on the business cabin with American Airlines on BRU-JFK, and Jet Airways had provided me with a boarding pass for this already in Mumbai, which was supposed to be exchanged with AA stock at BRU. With my pseudo boarding pass for AA, I decided to try my luck with this queue and it worked. So, instead of queuing up for 30 minutes and going through, I took 2 minutes to clear security.
However, there was another round of security which was going to take longer and this was the one with American Airlines itself. Pre-boarding security for flights to the USA are legendary in terms of the interview you go through at the last leg before boarding. At Brussels, I was going to go through the same. I walked over to the assigned gate and there was no wind of a full crew here yet. I queued up for the interview, where I was asked the routine questions, but my only grief was it was taking too long. For a flight taking off at 10, it was 8:55 AM already and I needed to get some emails sent out before I got on the plane, which meant I needed to go to the lounge.
After I got my Boarding Pass, I dashed straight over to the mezzanine floor on the airport, where the lounges were located. Usually, I’d hop into one of the Jet Airways lounges, but this was the first time in my few years of coming here I was going to get to use another lounge. I walked by and went straight to the British Airways Club Lounge, BRU.
After my rude encounter with British Airways in Mumbai, I was zero on my expectations here. I walked by a similar sign as Mumbai which invited oneworld Emeralds (AA Executive Platinum members) to access the lounge.
I walked in and was granted access in no time on presenting my BP and EXP membership card. I needed internet access, which was via the airport ISP, and I was given a small sticker with the username and password I could use to log into the WiFi network.
The club was made on a standard Galleries Club format, and from a British Airways perspective, was servicing short-haul flights to the UK. This meant there was no restaurant, but a lot of snacks and beverages would be provided.
The lounge in itself had a very spaced out look and feel to it, but that could be also the case because of the fact that I arrived there on a Saturday morning.
The view of the tarmac was excellent, however, I was in quite a rush, so did not quite get some time to spend drinking coffee and looking at aircraft movements.
Like I mentioned earlier, the food options were limited to self-service snacks, since most guests would be perhaps heading to London or a UK destination which is stone throw away.
For breakfast timings, the lounge offered a bowl of cereal, fresh juices, milk, yoghurt, smoothies and other dairy products along with fruits. If you wanted to eat something more substantial, you could dig into fresh-baked croissants on offer, or potato crisps.
For drinks, a fully-stocked chiller offered sodas, water, juices, iced tea and 3-4 kind of beer, including some Belgian beer. I also remember seeing a few wine options available, but did not soak in the details just then.
And if you’re wondering if BA cared to offer tea and coffee, yes off course they did!
I hardly spent 15 minutes around here, but I got a good feel of the lounge and looking forward to swing by here whenever I can next as well. In comparison to Jet Airways’ lounge next door, it was definitely roomy due to the traffic being less. However, this was purely made to be a business traveller’s transit lounge, and hence all the bells and whistles were missing. Perhaps a little bit more on the food side would have tilted my view perfectly in their favour.
Have you guys visited this lounge? Do share your experiences…
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