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Air Berlin May Be on Their Way Up, but Thumbs Down for Now

Where: Berlin, Germany
May 8, 2012 at 12:35 PM | by | Comment (1)

For a recent trip to Germany, we flew from New York-JFK to Berlin-Tegel on Air Berlin. We were intrigued by the underdog airline from the jump. In the past we’ve seen some good fares from the carrier, and now, with AB joining the oneworld Alliance in March 2012, we were curious to see if it indeed belonged with the Big Boys. But after this experience we’re now wondering, is Air Berlin really still just a budget long-haul airline?

The Company Line: Air Berlin, Germany’s second largest airline, is trying to compete with Lufthansa for business with its 7.9 million customers. Their official literature states the airline is “clearly” number one in Berlin. We’re still blinking back the shock on that ditty. And wonder if Lufthansa is really worried.

Most Likeable: The Crew. Not to be pervy, but on our flights from JFK to Berlin and back, we were dazzled by the young, handsome male flight attendants’ spiky-shiny hair and buff bods. They’re sexy and maybe they know it? We liked their willingness to OD on official Air Berlin gear, from wings down to the apparently unisex thin red-belt for their sleek trousers. The women were sharp too, rocking black and red complete with vampy lipstick. Nonetheless, we didn’t see anyone pre- or post-flight wearing the chic red leather gloves shown as part of AB’s official flight crew uniform. Dangit.


Can you comfortably watch that screen? Neither can we.

Annoying But Tolerable: Chances are, unless you’re flying business (we weren’t) or are on one of the six new Airbus A330 planes equipped with new seats and individual televisions (we weren’t), it’s all community TV, baby. So, if you’re far away from said shared screen in, say, window seat 23K looking to the tiny screen in center aisle row 17, serious squinting may be in your future. And hopefully no one’s big head will block your access even more. Sharing is common on the 2-4-2 configuration of the aircraft used for long-haul flights and will be until the system-wide overhaul is complete. That’s supposed to be this summer, but we're doubtful seeing as less than a half-dozen of the planes have made the switch since November 2011.

Perhaps this explains why Air Berlin puts out a boatload of magazines (German-language) and newspapers for preboarding passengers—their programming right now is balls. On our outbound flight, the “entertainment” consisted of ancient Cheers and Friends episodes, a random cartoon, and movies Happy Feet, and We Bought a Zoo. If there was more, we missed it in favor of popping a rogue Ambien to quickly remove us from the misery.Lesson: bring more non-electric reading material than you need (there aren't any power outlets—yet).

Saving Graces: Thanks to Air Berlin's new membership within oneworld alliance, members can earn miles on the airline. Those with elite status can use the lounge at the new Berlin-Brandenburg airport opening June 3rd [Update: the opening may be delayed until August!]. Then there is the efficiency factor when it comes to check-in; smartphone users can log on to mobile.airberlin.com and boarding passes will be sent directly to their phones.

Just Unacceptable: The bootleg charges on Air Berlin are boggling. Passengers have to shell out between 10 to 60 euros each leg to pre-assign a seat, depending on length of flight and if you want more leg room or an exit row. That means adding at least $40 more to tickets already being sold for a hefty $1,150 for a June JFK-to-Berlin jaunt.

Another nickel-and-dime issue? Charging long-haul customers 3 euros for earbuds (yes, for that awful programming). And, finally, requesting that passengers shell out 5 euros each for any other alcoholic beverage ordered outside the single cup of wine or beer given at dinner. Even when our flight was delayed almost 5 hours, you’d think they’d go easy on the misc charges. But nein. Didn’t happen. And that about sums up our Air Berlin experience—what we were expecting, just didn’t happen.


How Air Berlin's new A330s will look.

Disclosure: Flights were provided to Chanize as a guest of Air Berlin. Quite obviously, all opinions expressed are her own.

[Photos: Air Berlin, Chanize Thorpe]

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Return to » Air Berlin May Be on Their Way Up, but Thumbs Down for Now


nickel-and-dime?

Anyone who has ever flown with UA or US in economy will know that US airlines are experts at the nickel-and-dime approach.
starflyergold on May 9, 2012 at 1:34 PM #Permalink

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