Background
I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to the glamorous world of airline premium cabins, AirBerlin (AB) isn’t exactly the carrier that aviation geeks are smacking their lips over flying. Considered by many to be a glorified low cost carrier and toward the bottom of the quality barrel among its oneworld brethren, there are likely much better uses for my award miles than redeeming on this airline.
Yet I’m a bit of a strange bird. As a oneworld loyalist I’ve set some goals for myself, one of which is to fly in the premium cabins of each alliance member. When I booked my most recent oneworld explorer award I aimed not only to experience some fun destinations but also to add a few new premium cabins to my list. AB’s recent addition to the alliance made it an ideal fit for getting back to the US from Europe without incurring the dreaded British Airways (BA) fuel surcharges.
With this in mind, I added a flight with AB from Berlin Tegel (TXL) to New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) in business class to my itinerary. I was originally booked to depart from Berlin’s new Brandenburg facility, but as many folks now know, that airport has turned into quite a hot mess for all parties. With Brandenburg out of the picture for years to come, my flight was shift back to TXL and this is where our story begins…..
Check-In
Stuck with the antiquated TXL, AB’s check-in service is a mix of a few nice features as well as a handful of glaring negatives.
My flight today was departing from Terminal A. The terminal itself is in the shape of a hexagon and features a long, winding hallway where all shops, lounges, airport facilities, and check-in desks are located. While many airports centralize their check-in desks in a single location, the shape of this facility at TXL means that airlines conducted check-in for each flight in front of the departure gate. So you enter the terminal, use the monitors to locate your departure gate, and walk down the lengthy, neverending hallway to your gate to find the desks where you will be allowed to check-in. The limited space means there is essentially no “airside” at TXL. Security is conducted at each boarding gate (similar to Singapore or India), as is immigration, and passengers are held in a small room until boarding commences.
For this flight I was able to locate the departure gate for my flight with little issue, and despite the crowds attempting to check-in for the flight in the narrow hallway, I was able to locate the premium cabin check-in lane and found it completely empty. The agent (who exhibited what I would consider a typical efficient yet mildly unfriendly demeanor common among service staff in Germany based on my time there) processed my check-in quickly. I offered up my suitcase to be checked, and inquired about the possiblity of putting one of my carry-on bags in some plastic for protection and checking it as well. The agent reached into her desk and came out with a very large, clear plastic bag which I placed my carry-on into. It was secured with baggage tags and sent on its way, while I was handed my boarding pass and directed to the BA Terraces Lounge to relax before my flight departed.
Unfortunately the BA lounge was quite a hike away from my departure gate.
Hexagon-shaped Terminal A.
The design of the airport means that you’ll be doing quite a bit of criss-crossing and backtracking while checking in, looking for the lounge, duty free shopping, or even looking for a restroom. A decidedly annoying experience.
The one benefit to this lay out would for those passengers are not interested in experiencing the airport or lounge and simply want to enter the airport and board their flights. The design of the airport in this regards is excellent. Realistically I could have arrived at the airport, checked in to my flight, and gone through immigration and security in approximately 10 minutes. From curb to a seat in the waiting area in no time. For the business traveler on the go, or for folks without lounge access or shopping to do, this airport is probably the best laid out offering I’ve seen in a major urban center.
Lounge
My researching into AB’s lounge offerings at TXL indicated that they had a use agreement with Air France’s lounge for premium cabin customers. As I hinted at above, that seems to have changed recently as the check-in agent specifically invited me to use the BA lounge and made no mention of any option to use the AF offerings.
The BA lounge is located on the 2nd floor of the terminal across a walkway from the Starbucks. When I entered the lounge I was a little surprised to see that there was no one manning the desk to check my credentials. I waited for a few moments before stepping a little further into the lounge to see if I could flag down any staff. I was quickly noticed by a gentleman in a nice suit who rushed up to take my ticket and welcomed me into the lounge.
BA Terraces TXL entrance.
My first impressions of the space were very positive. It’s certainly not as spacious or luxurious as the BA offerings in London, but it seemed to fit the bill for the traffic and clientele in TXL. The lounge is located in one of the corner points of the Terminal A hexagon and is shaped a bit like a check mark, with a fairly short section along one side of the hexagon, and a slightly longer leg heading along the other wall of the terminal. Furnishings and fixtures were typical of many BA European lounges – blond-ish wood with various shades of blue and beige upholstery. There’s an oddly placed fountain in the short leg of the lounge, which was nice to look at but still seemed a bit out of place on the 2nd floor in an airport lounge.
I was entering the lounge at the very tail end of breakfast, so I quickly dropped off my coat and bag and perused the food offerings. The spread was what you’d expect – a few pastries, various fruit juices, a few types of cereal/muesli, yogurt, and a giant bowl of hard boiled eggs. I grabbed a glass of grapefruit juice, a yogurt, and a big bowl of muesli.
About 40 minutes after sitting down, the lunch time selection was brought out. It was at this point that I noticed that the same gentleman who had checked me into the lounge was also making the catering changes. It seems that BA’s TXL lounge only has one person on staff who is responsible for taking care of everything. No wonder I had to go track him down to confirm my entrance into the lounge – he’s busy bussing tables, refilling the fridge, and making sandwiches!
The lunch offerings were, again, nothing special and pretty standard for BA’s lounge offerings within Europe.
Wine offerings.