I don't fly One World at all internationally so I thought I would ask for some advice here.
I am looking at award travel to Berlin, and I have two options:
Den-Mia-Txl. With the Intl portion obviously on Air Berlin. This is way out of my way, but I only need a single connection
Or
Den-Ord-Dus-Txl. This is on AA in biz from Ord-Dus. Less miles on an airplane, but one more connection.
Amazingly the total travel time is exactly the same at 15H 35M.
I know what to expect from the AA 767 transatlantic flight, and I know it will be fine.
I am a little nervous about taking Air Berlin on a long haul flight, there are very few reviews online about their product, and most are from their old biz seats.
I have not yet flown AB, but plan to do so next month on AA saver awards: JFK-TXL-STR and MUC-DUS-JFK. The few comments I have seen are favorable about AB's product, especially on transatlantic flights. Especially if you are travelling in the winter, you are less likely to encounter weather-related delays with one change in MIA than with two changes in ORD and DUS.
"Lie flat" but the slope looks pretty steep. I guess about the same as on AA. More miles; one stop less; (slightly) longer TATL flight i.e. more sleep time: you may want to try AB.
The other thing to consider aside from the extra connection, is that DUS-TXL would be economy only, whereas DEN-MIA-TXL would be in a premium cabin the whole way.
The other thing to consider aside from the extra connection, is that DUS-TXL would be economy only, whereas DEN-MIA-TXL would be in a premium cabin the whole way.
Agreed.
At least one AB plane has the new EY-type seats. Depending on when you fly, there could be more AB planes with the new seats.
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You might want to check the airlberlin topbonus Forum, and especially this recent thread: airberlin Business Class, with some links to external sites. IMO DEN-MIA-TXL is the onnnly way to fly* on this trip.
It sounds like the hard product is pretty similar to today's AA product, albeit with two-three prong A/C power and USB, better IFE, etc. at your seat.
The other thing to consider aside from the extra connection, is that DUS-TXL would be economy only, whereas DEN-MIA-TXL would be in a premium cabin the whole way.
big deal! DUS-TXL is an hour on the air, lack of business for this flight wouldn't be a consideration for me at all. but I like better DEN-MIA-TXL (less connections).
Several hundred or more in fuel surcharges? Just a hunch.
Difference was very slight when I priced it out on aa.com. In any event, when spending nearly $6k on airfare a few hundred wouldn't be the make or break for me if the schedule were significantly better.
Several hundred or more in fuel surcharges? Just a hunch.
Difference was very slight when I priced it out on aa.com. In any event, when spending nearly $6k on airfare a few hundred wouldn't be the make or break for me if the schedule were significantly better.
The OP is not spending $6K on a ticket; the OP is interested in an award ticket, not a cash ticket.
The price differences for cash tickets across carriers will often be negligible, due to competitive pressures. But on an award ticket using AA miles, the cost difference between using or not using BA for TATL segments will be substantial.
The OP is not spending $6K on a ticket; the OP is interested in an award ticket, not a cash ticket.
The price differences for cash tickets across carriers will often be negligible, due to competitive pressures. But on an award ticket using AA miles, the cost difference between using or not using BA for TATL segments will be substantial.
Ah, missed that part. I assumed since the OP seemed to have a lot of options on routing that this would be a paid ticket. I may still pay the BA charges in the interest of convenience, but would depend on the final bill for each option.
Thanks for the input everyone. Sounds like the AB biz class is at least on par with AA's current product.
I think I would have been willing to pay the fuel surcharges to fly BA (They are about $350 each way), but there was no availability in J for the dates I need.
I would love to have the new AB seat on my flight, but they did not give any time frame on the entire fleet in their news release. Anyone have any ideas?
My guess is it will be a while until the get them on all their aircraft. They just finished one refurb, so I can't imagine they will be rushing into it.
I would route the AB option. I just flew AB CUN/DUS/TXL in Y - I don't think they have very high frequency from DUS-TXL so if your AA flight was late it might be a while until the next flight. AB flight was fine, nothing special, nothing horrible.
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