Opinions on Air Berlin?

[zachary.august]

Hello!

I'm looking at booking some travel in Europe in 2013 and AB is one of my options How would you say they rate? Do they have J?

Thanks

 

[samh004]

From recent threads here it seems they're stuck at their old airport (had planned to make a big move by now) and there are lounge issues, might not even recognise CL see similar threads below.

It appears they only have J on their A330's, with some A332's having a newer product. Though OW members have access to XL seats (exit row and presumably bulkhead) on their other aircraft, such as A320, 737-800 etc.

I haven't flown with them though.

 

[zachary.august]

From recent threads here it seems they're stuck at their old airport (had planned to make a big move by now) and there are lounge issues, might not even recognise CL see similar threads below.

It appears they only have J (C) on their A333. Though OW members have access to XL seats (exit row and presumably bulkhead) on their 738's.

Thanks for the help! Much appreciated. Unfortunately, the only OW flight from Berlin to Paris is operated by AB and I like to try and stay as loyal as possible. I can imagine them not recognizing CL. Oh the Horror!! I may have to look into LH :O Or I could just put up and shut up

 

[Economy_Gold]

Keep your expectations low! No Business Class with AB within Europe, only on inter-continental flights.
Regarding lounges, as OW elite you will have some lounge-access in TXL (BA or AF lounge, your choice, I recommend the BA lounge), but not to the "exclusive waiting area" from AB and the lounge you can use is far away from the AB gates. I am not sure about Paris.

 

[Kendall Roy]

Set your expectations low and you'll be fine.

From the old Berlin airport, they wouldn't even recognise OWS/OWE when it came to the "exclusive" waiting room.

 

[samh004]

Thanks for the help! Much appreciated. Unfortunately, the only OW flight from Berlin to Paris is operated by AB and I like to try and stay as loyal as possible. I can imagine them not recognizing CL. Oh the Horror!! I may have to look into LH :O Or I could just put up and shut up

Their website isn't the nicest to use, but their seat maps suggest a short flight will have limited XL seats.

airberlin - Flights to Berlin and Dusseldorf | airberlin.com - airberlin.com

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hello!

I'm looking at booking some travel in Europe in 2013 and AB is one of my options How would you say they rate? Do they have J?

Thanks

google 'passenger opinons Air Berlin' and you'll get the skytrax site. Plenty of reviews there.

 

[tombob]

Flew Air Berlin TXL - MUC in Y mid December. On time flight, newish 737 ( 700? ), efficient crew who served a little snack ( warm pretzel shaped bread roll - not bad ) & beverage. Paid $60 AUD ( inc 23 kg luggage ) so certainly value for money.
Overall, completely acceptable for short flights

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

I have flown 5 short haul sectors on AB. You are looking at JQ style low-cost service, forget about your OWE benefits, to AB they mean nothing, although you can usually pre-select row 1 or XL seats if you get in soon enough.

Lounge access in TXL is not worth the bother considering it is not even in the same terminal from which you will depart. Just take a magazine and sit in the zoo with everyone else, or check in at the latest possible opportunity, as airside at their terminal it is woeful.

Generally the aircraft (providing they are not 'operated by Germania or TUIfly') are new and clean A320s, and the cabin service is efficient. There is no meal onboard unless you pre-purchase it. You will get a snack and basic drink however.

You will find it hard to find a J service on that sector, maybe with AF?

As the other posters have said, keep your expectations low and you will be fine. As I say, AB is just for getting from A to B.

 

[tyrolean]

I like AB. There are quite OK. They are usually cheap and offer a standard.

Short haul flights are Economy only.

As QF-Plat I always got Seat 1C. In most times the seat next to me is empty (for 60-100 Euro per Segment quite a good value!!).

Sometimes you can reserve your seat online on qf.com. If that does not work, you just call.
You get Fast-Track and Lounge Access as OW-Saphire/Emerald.

They have those "Exclusive Waiting Areas". These are no lounges - they offer coffee and soft drinks.
But on most Airports they use Lounges

If you fly from TXL you can either use the BA or the AF Lounge.

If you are Gold or Higher on QF and do not hold a *A Gold Status I highly recommend using AB in favour of LH!!!

If you hold a *G Status decide after price and timing of the flight.

LH does not offer a proper Business Class (only middle seat left empty), but you pay at least 4 times more.

 

[tyrolean]

Lounge access in TXL is not worth the bother considering it is not even in the same terminal from which you will depart. Just take a magazine and sit in the zoo with everyone else, or check in at the latest possible opportunity, as airside at their terminal it is woeful.

Generally the aircraft (providing they are not 'operated by Germania or TUIfly') are new and clean A320s, and the cabin service is efficient. There is no meal onboard unless you pre-purchase it. You will get a snack and basic drink however.

You will find it hard to find a J service on that sector, maybe with AF?

As the other posters have said, keep your expectations low and you will be fine. As I say, AB is just for getting from A to B.

Not true. All Lounges in TXL are in the central area. (LH, BA, AF and the Airport Lounge) 5 Minute walk to all gates! You can use the AF or the BA Lounge in TXL. I use the lounge in most of my flights. If you arrive by taxi tell them to drop you off at the Main Hall (Haupthalle) for the use of the Lounge. Those "Exclusive Waiting Areas" are no lounges - they offer very basic service and you can only use them if you hold an AB Status or a Flex Ticket.

AB offer Prio-Checkin and Fast Track for all OW Elites. But: There is no proper Fast Track or Prio-Boarding for any Airline in TXL - that is due the old airport layout!
On my last 15 Flights I had 14 with an empty seat next to me and 14 seated in 1C.

On longer flights you can Per-Order good meals for a few Euro - which are quite good.

Seats are more comfortable than the ones on LH.

 

[Berlin]

Always liked AB even in the pre-One World days. Definitely a class above the usual low cost carriers, give you a nice little snack and drink in Y and most planes are fairly new-ish. Always found the crews friendlier than LH but it's really hard to be worse than those old dragons on LH :shock:

Now, Tegel is a bit of an issue: I would recommend using the BA lounge if you happen to depart from the central terminal. If not, then you'll have to leave enough time to make it over to one of the "temporary" terminals which are just horrid- I particularly liked the one which was simply a huge metal hall with some Dixi toilets when it opened but I believe they've installed some proper washrooms there now. As a Berliner, I will always have a special spot in my heart reserved for TXL, but that aside, the actual operation at the moment is chaos. Worse hit seems to be AB so you can prepare yourself for lengthy bus rides to and from the planes which are parked far out on the field and considerable delays getting your luggage etc. You might be lucky as well but better prepare for the worst- I had a 90 minutes wait for my luggage last year and it's not that unusual atm.

 

[smit0847]

Having booked a flight on AB KEF-TXL just last week I was surprised to see it is basically a low-cost airline.

I though OW was only full-service, premium airlines?!

 

[Jmrocky]

Did a flight recently with AB in the EU, clean and newish A319, friendly staff and a nice snack for a 1.5 hr flight. I couldn't complain but my expectations were low. If you're expecting a true business class standard prepare yourself.

 

[A330]

I flew AB ORY-TXL last year in June. Plane was a 738 and almost completely full. The cabin crew were nice enough, no need to speak German as they are fine with English (though not French). The free water / pretzel was a surprise as I was expecting nothing. You can purchase an XL seat online for €10. My exit row seat had plenty of leg room but it's such a short flight you probably don't need it anyway. On arrival you also get a small "thank you" chocolate. TXL is pretty bad, the AB terminal is like a shed and its a long walk to the main terminal.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Having booked a flight on AB KEF-TXL just last week I was surprised to see it is basically a low-cost airline.

I though OW was only full-service, premium airlines?!

haha! just like jetstar? (or rather QF code-shares on jetstar)

 

[Bugalugz]

I flew quite a bit with Air Berlin, being QF gold we got into the lounges where we could, but as has been said you can't get into the relaxation areas at the gates.

We were lucky had a few flights on brand spanking new Boeing BSI 738's and some of their older planes and all are in good nick and comfortable for the 1-2hr flights.

TXL is the let down a real eye opener and takes you back to the nostalgic days of flying, thats for sure. The airport was certainly not designed for todays issues (security, lounges, space etc) and if you go the remote terminal you have to trapse over to the main terminal using a dodgy walkway and a ****load of steps.

Only special treatment as QF Gold was being able to select seats via Qantas and get the XL seats, it won't let you select them on the Air Berlin website and will charge you but free through Qantas. Though myself and mate only ever picked Window and Aisle seats and middle was always empty even on a Berlin-Munich flight, we had the only seat left on the plane between us.......coincidence or luck, who knows.

But they are perfectly acceptable and are as good as some of the "full service" airlines in Europe anyway.

 

[Robert Qld]

TXL is the let down a real eye opener and takes you back to the nostalgic days of flying, thats for sure. The airport was certainly not designed for todays issues (security, lounges, space etc) and if you go the remote terminal you have to trapse over to the main terminal using a dodgy walkway and a ****load of steps.

.

My one defining memory of TXL in the middle of the obnoxiously crowded and half-staffed LH check in lines was an abandoned or forgotten bag and for or five guards staff around it basically scratching their proverbial balls wondering what to do. Eventually one simply picked it up and carried it away! (Everywhere else would've mostly like had a sniffer dog or bomb squad out! Lol)

 

[burrco]

My Last time on Air Berlin was pre-oneworld - it was basically a standard intra-europe flight. It is certainly a lot better than some of the supposed full service airlines on the route, such as Air France. Of course the civilised way is train from Berlin to Koln, a few days recovery time in Koln and then the TGV to Paris.

Love TXL and will be sad to see it go, not many airports where you can get off a plane and be curbside in minutes.

However given the new airport is potentially still years away, maybe AB should re-activate the mighty Templehof.







When I went there the front doors were open, so being a dumb foreigner who has no idea what Eingang Verboten! could possible mean, I wondered on in. It was still in pretty good nick - so a few Air Berlin banners, reclaim the runaway and Ernst's your uncle.

 

[tyrolean]

Having booked a flight on AB KEF-TXL just last week I was surprised to see it is basically a low-cost airline.

I though OW was only full-service, premium airlines?!

They are as good as their competitors.

BA has single class flights on their domestic routes.

With IB you have to buy everything - even water - in Euro-Economy. WIth AB you get drinks and a snack for free.

All Euro Carries sell a separate cabin with just empty middle seats as "business class" for enormous prices.
AB has the Flex ticket with a guaranteed empty seat next to you (and access to their "exclusive waiting areas"), but as OW-Elite you get the seat blocked in most cases and all the other "perks" like fast track or seat reservation.

So you get a "Business Class Light" feeling for a dirt cheap eco price. I consider that real value for money.

As told: On longer routes just pre-order their gourmet meals.