yvrcnx

I am planning a trip with the family this summer from YVR on LTU to DUS, from there to Vienna for a couple of days, back to DUS and from there to Greece, probably Heraklion and Athens or Mykonos and Athens.
LTU/Air Berlin have good fares and so it seems that will be our choice.
I know LTU isn't the best in economy but we are all not to tall people so it should be o.k.
My question is, how reliable is Air Berlin with regards to on time performance and customer service if things go wrong as they do sometimes?
We will also take the grandparents this time and want to do our best so things go smooth and if they don't we'll be taken care of.
I appreciate any information, opinion and suggestion.

The other option we have is LH, AC and within Europe we would probably add OS and maybe LX, however their fares are much higher especially intra Europe - almost double.
I am willing to pay the extra only if there would be big difference in service and customer care over LTU/Air Berlin.

Rambuster

I think you should be ok in terms of on time performance.
LTU are however a charter airline historically. The seat pitch is quite poor, but I guess this is the case for most whY seats.

For the European shorthaul I would go on price and schedule and if AirBerlin are cheapest go with them. They are quite good on the shorthaul.

billp

LTU long haul is fairly comfortable for the price, at least it is on the TXL to BKK route which I've flown a number of times. Air Berlin's short haul flights in Europe are great! Comfortable aircraft, on time, cheerful service, not to mention super prices.

yvrcnx

Thank you Rambuster and Billp.
I really appreciate your information. I did some research in the meanwhile and it seems that Air Berlin is exactly what you have just confirmed; reliable, good service and great prices airlines.
The reason I had asked about LTU is that they have a frequent flier program together with Air Berlin, or maybe it's Air Berlin that took on LTU recently.
There are nonstop flights out of YVR to DUS from April to October which are great and priced a few hundred dollar below the other cheapest option on AC or LH. And DUS is the closest airport to where I would have to go.
However, I haven't heard to many good things about them.
Is it true that they have 9 seats across in their A330 compared to the usual 8 across?

I am considering taking LTU to Germany and join their frequent flier program as we would do this trip as a family on a regular basis and there FF program seems simple and quite good. Even the mileage you get on the intra European flights are quite generous.
The greatest plus are of course their prices and also the nonstop option, whereas with LH or AC it would have to be via a city in Canada, the nonstop LH flight is priced very high on a regular basis and always fills up.
With a 6 year old nonstop is always better then having to connect and still fly for many more hours.
Thanks again.

JudyJFLA

Hello,
Yesterday Mom and I flew Air Berlin from Berlin to DUS. The plane (737) had leather seats and actually had free beverage service, unlike Transavia Air that we had flown around on the past few weeks. Customer service in Berlin was not that great, with us running around from gate A2 to C terminal to check bags, back to A2 then a gate change to A13 which the A2 agent was unaware of. A13 gate was the only one in 4 flights to actually weigh our carry on (5 kilos allowed, we had 8) I said we were intl and I could go put on all the clothes in the bag and then she could re-weigh it, she finally gave me a dirty look and let us through.
LTU's Airbus 330 from DUS to Fort Myers was actually much better than expected. Seating was 2-3-2, 52 rows and although a bit tight on the knees was decent for the 10 hour flight. The seat came with a inflatable pillow, pillow case and blanket, along with a zipper bag with a toothbrush, paste, earplugs, and socks/eyeshade. The food was hearty and everyone received the same thing so service was swift. Beef chunks, potato salad, chocolate, roll, and 2 meals served, along with never ending drink service.
I was happy with the flight and would use them again. The Air Berlin segment was min 1000 miles and LTU 4000+ miles.

Rambuster

TopBonus - AirBerlin's FFP - has recently been "enhanced" making it less generous than before. They do now however have a new reward option where you can pay the taxes of a reward flight with miles too.

Integration of LTU's booking engine into AirBerlin's IT system has been causing trouble and has lost the company a lot of revenue. The share price is at a historic low due to all the integration issues of DBA, LTU and soon to come Condor.

All in all, Air Berlin is a good airline on shorthaul. I have travelled in LTU's "First" cabin longhaul and strongly recommend not to book this cabin. I cannot comment on the whY cabin as I enforce a strict no economy policy for longhaul on myself !

captainiglo

One thing to consider when booking LTU in Y => They offer for 40-60 EURO oneway 'XL-Seats' that are basically the exit row seats.....
Even with that according to your post you are cheaper than other airlines plus you have guaranteed extra legroom seats...

yvrcnx

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that. Is there an option to book these seats when seat selection is made or do you have to call in and aks for this specific seats?
It would definetly still be cheaper then the LH or AC option.

Do you know if the A330's for the YVR flights will be refurbished soon with new seats and AVOD?