What it’s like to fly Air Belgium business class when you’re expecting British Airways Club World

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

If you are due to fly to Abu Dhabi in the near future, you may be in for a surprise. Air Belgium has been standing in for British Airways due to its problematic Boeing 787-9 fleet.

Reader Gill recently took this service and dropped me a note with her thoughts. The key fact is that, despite flying on what is basically a Finnair cast-off Airbus A340, it is better than Club World …..

The crew are employed by Air Belgium and the cabin is branded Air Belgium
Service is the standard Club World offering
White Company bedding and washbags are offered, as per Club World
The seats are good, comfortable and with a novel massage feature

The crew are “incredibly delightful” – “I got a welcome as a Gold member (can’t remember the last time that happened) and they also came and spoke to me to reassure me that my Gluten Free Meal was on board. They also spoke to each passenger to wish us well and hope we enjoyed our flight before landing.”
Staff numbers seemed a lot higher than on a normal Abu Dhabi run, with six in Business Class

The downsides Gill noted were:

The in-flight entertainment is rubbish – a selection of about 10 films and nothing else (take your tablet and load it up)
The staff were incredibly nervous and slow with the service
For those that like to purchase duty free there is none on board

Gill concluded:

“I would fly this service again and want to reassure people who may feel they are getting a budget airline. It’s not BA or a brand new Dreamliner that’s the real downside, but the staff and their mode of operation really impressed me. I do think that some BA staff could take a leaf out of the Air Belgium staff who were happy to help and really pleasant. They made sure each and every passenger was well catered for. The Air Belgium substitution is not an ideal situation, but its also not to be feared.”

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

John says:

24 Oct24 October 15:12

Unfortunately no 500 Avios offer on my BA Amex 🙁
Rob MC says:

24 Oct24 October 15:48

OT
Norwegian premium. Flying to Orlando in the next month, there is an option to bid to upgrade. Never flown Norwegian premium … Any thoughts on whether £180 is worth the upgrade.. my theory is that as I am flying solo I may get lucky and get/ask for three seats to myself (poor man’s business class)
- Nick_C says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 17:02
  
  £180 sounds like a bargain. BA charge about that for an upgrade from Y to PE. I’ve never flown with Norwegian but their premium looks far better than PE. And bear in mind that £78 is due to the extra APD.
  - Tom says:
    
    25 Oct25 October 05:36
    
    I am a big fan of the Norwegian Premium product. Like a hybrid premium economy/biz product. Very comfortable indeed and so much better than BA or Virgin PE products.
- Bonglim says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 22:06
  
  I would say it is worth it, but I am 6’5″ tall!
  My understanding is that Norwegian Premium is better than premium economy on Virgin/ BA. More like an old school business class (without a flat bed).
  - Rob MC says:
    
    24 Oct24 October 22:42
    
    I’m 6’1 so it would be worth it if I know the plane will either be full. Would be annoyed to pay the money and then forego 3 seats. I guess there isn’t an easy way to check the load prior to my flight.
- Martin says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 23:39
  
  We upgraded on a Norwegian flight from LAX, £180 is well worth it, excellent product.
Whizz68 says:

24 Oct24 October 15:54

OT: When referring from Amex platinum card to a new BA premium card, Does the referrer receive 9000 Avios or 18000 Membership reward points?
Thank you,
- MD says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 16:09
  
  18000 MR points to the platinum for any referral regardless of type.
- Shoestring says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 16:10
  
  18K
- BJ says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 16:13
  
  18000 MR
- Whizz68 says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 16:44
  
  Great, Thank you.
S**mo says:

24 Oct24 October 18:09

OT / Marriott/SPG moment…
Anybody who is going to NFL Sunday received any information yet?

I’ve emailed and had zero response….
- AndyGWP says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 20:10
  
  No. Nothing. Likewise emailed last night. No response.
  
  Annoying as I’m from up north so we are making a long weekend of it and are heading off Friday morning
  - Tthp213 says:
    
    24 Oct24 October 20:30
    
    I’ve emailed a couple of times over the last 2 week’s and got this update today:
    
    The tickets for your NFL London game are being shipped today – but since we are shipping so late we’d like to know if you’d prefer an option to pick up the tickets at will call?
- Scallder says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 22:24
  
  I emailed yesterday and was told they had received the tickets from the NFL but yet to ship and would provide the tracking number. I then proactively said that if be happy to pick them up from the box office/will call but didn’t get a response regarding that and nothing from them today.
  
  If I haven’t heard back by tomorrow lunchtime will email again and defintely don’t want them sent – if coming by courier there’s a high chance I’ll not be at home to receive them and then they get taken to a depot miles away…
  - S**mo says:
    
    24 Oct24 October 23:17
    
    That’s my worry too now!
    Haven’t been provided with a contact number for this event yet either….
Peter K says:

24 Oct24 October 21:48

Just thought of BA are going to be “ripping up” their exclusivity contracts for credit cards as Rob’s mentioned in the comments, thenmaybe this very generous BA Amex offer is to show them how valuable keeping with amex can be?
Graham Walsh says:

24 Oct24 October 22:15

OT Had to fly from LGW this evening to BCN. Used the Fast track, so from the car park to lounge must have be only 10-12 minutes. Really quick. Very impressed with the BA lounge, much nicer and quieter than LHR. Then used Cabify (as recommended here the other day, wouldn’t accept my Curve card, so used Lloyds Amex) and a nice Lexus drove me to the AC Marriott about 10 minutes away. The Cabify are actually waiting on the departures level outside Vueling on level 2 (general taxis are on level 0). Checked in to hotel via app, (Gold status via Amex Plat) and they checked my card etc and he said he upgraded me to a suite. It’s huge, shame I”m here for 1 night. But €18 for breakfast!!
- Peter K says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 22:25
  
  Sounds like a result! The BA business lounge at Gatwick is nice isn’t it. Nicer than any 3rd party lounge I’ve been in (though I’ve not been in a No.1 lounge).
  - Michael Jennings says:
    
    24 Oct24 October 22:34
    
    The BA Business lounge at Gatwick is indeed a good one. The No1 Lounge at Gatwick south – directly below it – is nice also, but the BA lounge is nicer (and also larger).
- Mr Toyoda says:
  
  24 Oct24 October 23:28
  
  Do you know why it’s called Lexus?
  
  Luxury EXpor..t(o) US
  - Shoestring says:
    
    25 Oct25 October 04:20
    
    Good one
    - Mr Toyoda says:
      
      25 Oct25 October 19:05
      
      I’ve been to Japan many times. It’s a fascinating country.
      
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8534294.stm
Claire says:

24 Oct24 October 23:26

Hi,

Question for Intercontinental Ambassadors .. my membership ends Dec 30th 2018, if I choose to renew today do I receive my welcome pack (specifically free night certificate) 4-6 weeks from today or 4-8 weeks from Dec 30th?

Thanks for help 🙂
- Genghis says:
  
  25 Oct25 October 08:09
  
  From when you renew. The BOGOF cert though may have an earlier expiry date depending when shipped (which seems to be just before a month end). As such, I generally leave as late as possible. But I guess you need the voucher now?
  - Lady London says:
    
    25 Oct25 October 10:14
    
    What a load of old cod. Can we please have an ‘enhanced compensation’ level of payout under EU261 where an airline has aggravated their offence by silly denials or non-prompt payment?
    
    If they’d sorted their crew member and had run the flight on time then doubtless BHX wouldn’t have had a lack of ground staff. It’s the airline whonis fully responsible. If the airline thinks some other party was partially responsible for the delay then they still are responsible. It’s the airline’s problem if they think they can recover a contribution from BHX.
    
    Please please persist on this one and let us know when you’ve got your money.
  - Claire says:
    
    25 Oct25 October 14:45
    
    Thanks 🙂 Yes I need it for January, so it suits me that they send it sooner, thanks again for replying 🙂
Claire says:

25 Oct25 October 14:58

I’ve just earned my Lloyds upgrade voucher for spending £7k. It has posted to my avios account in the last couple of days. I have a hotels.com booking which I want to cancel. The booking was made during my last year but if it is refunded now would I loose the upgrade voucher as the refund would be this year and my spend would then be less than £7k?