keitherson

Hands down, I liked it. There are both really good and bad things to Air Berlin. Coming off from an Emirates business flight the day before, my expectations were also pretty tempered.

(1) DUS airport: it's crap. Connecting transfer desk could not issue boarding pass, and tells me to just go to the gate to get it printed (which is only staffed 60-90 min before departure). That meant having to clear out of the Schengen area without a boarding pass, as well.

(2) the DUS AB lounge: also pure crap. Bad lighting, crowded seating, line-up at reception because the desk is shared with another side-by-side contract lounge. For breakfast, no hot food, all cold snacks only.

(3) the A332 business class seat: loved it. Very roomy, 1-2-1 staggered configuration, good ergonomics. The in-seat lighting was great, as was the seat comfort. This felt much roomier than the Emirates A380 business class seat, with less space wasted for things like the useless mini-bar.

IFE was average. not that many selections of movies. Excellent wi-fi, but bandwidth capped. Amenity kit was quite forgettable.

(4) business class meals: unexpectedly, some of the best I have had for airplane food. The selection was closer to restaurant quality than many airlines I've ever had, such as the Caesar terrine appetizer. They were creative, and for the main course there were at least 4-5 choices on the menu in addition to extra ones the crew could offer. I had the fish on creamed sauerkraut for my main, which was a really risky choice for the airline to offer and for me to order!

This was in contrast to many airlines which always, always have only "safe" meal options which are plain and boring.

The liquor selection was a bit weak, with lower-end shelf for booze. Wine selection was decent for business class. I LOVED that they offered a rose wine on board, which is rare for airlines.

(5) service: very attentive, and surprisingly, the FAs were smiling and very helpful. Always asked if I needed anything else after meal service, helped me reset IFE after some problems, and were generally all-around very pleasant.

It's not a perfect airline, and it's losing millions of Euros everyday, but I was happy with flying AB. I hope they can keep the great aspects of the airline in their transformation.

seawolf

It's not the airport that is crap. It's AB that's crap and can't print a BP for the flight. An alternative is to check-in on a smartphone to get a mobile BP.

TPJ

Sounds like a fairly typical C-class experience. I agree - F/A's really offer great service. It is a pity they lose money, while LH with their terrible standards of service make a small for.

keitherson

Can't mobile check-in for US bound flights I think

seawolf

You wrote DUS-RTW. Isn't RTW some airport in Russia? DUS to US flight are eligible for online check-in.

keitherson

Sorry it was RSW*

I have not been able to mobile check-in for any AB flight that is US-bound. I have only been able to mobile check-in for intra-Schengen flights so far.

seawolf

Ok RSW. For US-bound flights, you can online check-in but not mobile check-in.

pdquick

This is consistent with my recent experience in AB business class between SFO and DUS. Great flight attendant service; some of the best business class meals I've had; not the top end of alcohol offerings, but good enough; limited IFE but for me, good enough; and nice seating. I didn't deal with the transfer desk at DUS because my BP was issued at check-in at TXL (both flights listed on one BP, actually). My domestic connection from TXL parked off-gate at DUS, so we had to bus into the Schengen terminal, which made the connection t the non-Schengen terminal a bit tight, so no lounge experience at DUS for me. But I was offered a beverage as soon as I sat down on the plane.

My outbound SFO-DUS flight was less memorable because I spent most of it asleep, but it was pretty standard business class service.

The only truly bothersome thing that happened was that on my outbound flight SFO-DUS-TXL, I got a text message saying my DUS-TXL flight was delayed. So I spent a little extra time at the lounge. When I got to the gate, it turned out the fight was departing on time and they were in the process of pulling my luggage from the plane. I was sternly lectured about arriving on time, and then allowed to board the plane to the silent stares of everyone on the flight. We pushed back on time, but we were ALMOST late because of me, which in Germany is as bad as actually being late.

So if AB sends you a text saying your flight is delayed, go to the gate anyway.

When I Travel The World

How long was your layover in DUS, I'm flying ARN-DUS-LAX and have just 50 minutes for my connection and I hope its long enough.

pdquick

80 minutes

When I Travel The World

Yikes, yours is a lot better than the 45 minutes they have given me. I feel its a bit wrong for them to sell a ticket with such a short connection in some ways.

sdix

45 minutes is tight. Just did SFO-DUS-BCN and back and we parked at a remote stand and bussed to the terminal. This took quite awhile (after what seemed forever taxiing around DUS airport)

gkl

DUS is quite easy to transfer. When you transfer from B to C there is no extra security, just passport control. I did a 45 minutes connection without any problem.