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

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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 from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 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

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year 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.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (197)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • SG says:
    24 Oct24 October 06:59

    Past few days no points won in Marriot rewards game but just another entry in the mega prize.Wonder if had something to do with getting the first two matches right at first try!

  • Craig says:
    24 Oct24 October 07:06

    The 500 Avios is available on both primary BA cards; myself and Mrs S. Spent on one last night but no, ‘you’ve redeemed your offer email’ for this one.

  • Laura says:
    24 Oct24 October 07:13

    I couldn’t see the 500 points for £5 using the app offers page but found it by logging into the website.

  • Hunter says:
    24 Oct24 October 07:21

    Am I right in thinking that ‘offers’ apply to the primary card only, and not supplementary cards?

    • Mark2 says:
      24 Oct24 October 07:36

      They only apply to the card on whose online account they appear, so supplementary cards may qualify in their own right if you have set up a separate account..

      • Hunter says:
        24 Oct24 October 08:03

        Thanks, didn’t know you could do that. Should I just speak to AMEX to get them separated? Assume that the supplementary holder will then be able to see the card on their app? And assume it still doesn’t affect ability of the supplementary holder to apply as a main holder, without having to wait 6 months?

        • Shoestring says:
          24 Oct24 October 08:25

          They won’t actually be connected, Amex wouldn’t set up primary cardholder & supp under the same password. As Mark2 said, just set up online a/c for the supp with a new password. It won’t adversely affect the supp’s ability to take out a card under own name.

    • John says:
      24 Oct24 October 09:19

      Yes, you just make a new online account (in the name of the supp holder), but in this case only my main cards got the 500 avios offer and the supps didn’t

  • Justin says:
    24 Oct24 October 07:49

    Have had the £5 Anywhere offer appear today, the first one on my BA PP for some time. My Platinum on the other hand has consistently had 20+ offers on it, including one for Morrison’s appearing this morning. I know that AMEX target the offers, but seeing that my BA is my main spending card really surprised with the total lack of anything recently.

    • Alan says:
      24 Oct24 October 08:37

      Thanks just rechecked and see Morrisons on my Plat – 6% off on £50 or more. Will be handy for gift cards, although shame they’ve reduced the earnings rate. In the upside the new in-app vouchers deduct instantly at the till rather than needing printed then used on a future shop.

  • Lesley says:
    24 Oct24 October 07:54

    I rarely look at the offers so it was useful to get the heads up on this one. Founhd a £5 for £20 spend on Amazon while I was there as well.Bound to get used with Christmas coming up.

  • Ian says:
    24 Oct24 October 08:00

    I don’t have the AMEX offer showing. As I only have the free (blue) card, is the offer only available to premium cardholders?

    • Rob says:
      24 Oct24 October 08:01

      Have you looked on desktop? The app only shows a selection of your deals.

      • Alan says:
        24 Oct24 October 08:29

        Although I’ve found the app showed I’d redeemed an offer days before the website did – some classic Amex IT!

      • Ian says:
        24 Oct24 October 17:50

        Yes always use desktop (laptop) as I’d probably be incapable of dealing with the App. Good news is that the offer has just appeared (late this afternoon) so I’ve saved it. Thanks Rob!

    • Shoestring says:
      24 Oct24 October 08:22

      It’s on Blue

    • John says:
      24 Oct24 October 09:21

      You just might not have the offer if you don’t use thec ard. Spending something once a month seems to be enough to get a few offers coming

  • Rob says:
    24 Oct24 October 08:09

    No, but these things are really slow. I also know now how hard IHG found it to get a new issuer – it is very possible that Hilton cannot actually find someone willing to issue a card for them.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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