airberlin topbonus - Air Berlin Top Bonus

Unfortunatly this will be hidden in the "Other Programs" thread but I would like to start a discussion on

Air Berlin Top Bonus

After the "merger" with DBA this appears to be a really interesting program.

- You need 15 domestic flights to get one domestic flight free.
- These 15 flights can be in any booking class
- As long as a flight is available you can get it as an award.

I had a few flights on DBA in November and most of these were in the 40 to 60 Euro range, lets assume 50 (For more I will normally find a E class ticket on LH). This makes it 750 Euro for 15 flights for 500 miles each. And even the cheapest AB intra-Europe flights for 29 Euros earns 1000 Miles. You can use the free flight in high season for eg. a 175 Euro ticket - a good earning and spending ratio. LON - PMI - SPAIN - PMI - LON earns 3000 miles and can be unbelievable cheap and I prefer to tranfer through PMI compared to MAD or BCN.

Furthermore they have a good bunch of hotels in the program, one group even with 500 miles per night. The Credit Card is not bad either. 7500 Euros spend for a free domestic flight - much better than LH and a signing bonus of 5000 miles for 40 Euros, not bad either.

I agree with you, but what really puts other airlines like LH to shame is that not only do they not charge any fuel surcharges for award tickets - they also pay the taxes ^ ^ ^ . If I was based in Germany AB would be the way to go!

Did anyone got miles credited from a DBA/DI flight after November 1st? I made a couple of flights but no credit to my Top Bonus account until now.

Did anyone got miles credited from a DBA/DI flight after November 1st? I made a couple of flights but no credit to my Top Bonus account until now.

I sent in my stubs, now waiting to see what happens.

The online retroactive credit works within a day or two....

I have had no flights post to my account either... actually nothing has posted, as I also wanted my Shell Clubsmart points to be converted into Top Bonus (or Flop Bonus?)

The online retroactive credit works within a day or two....

Which online retroactive credit? Was this a feature of dba?

So far, I've only flown point to point on Air Berlin and have always gotten my miles without problems.

I'll be flying STN - TXL - HEL and return soon.

The Top Bonus pages say you get 1,000 points per international flight in Zone 1.

Does that mean I'll get 4,000 points for the return trip, or just 2,000?

Reading the conditions of the program, it appears that there is no difference between Status and Bonus miles. Did I miss something?

More specificially: Can I just transfer 50,000 Amex points to receive 40,000 TB points and become Gold level with all its benefits at the next status check at end of each month? And then use the points for some flights??

Sounds too good to be true...

Which online retroactive credit? Was this a feature of dba?

Pardon, but I believe you understand FT as a moderated google. Simply visit AirBerlin's website and you find it exactly there where you would look for it:

topbonus -> sammeln -> nachträgliche meilengutschrift -> airberlin / dbA / Niki

So far, I've only flown point to point on Air Berlin and have always gotten my miles without problems.

I'll be flying STN - TXL - HEL and return soon.

The Top Bonus pages say you get 1,000 points per international flight in Zone 1.

Does that mean I'll get 4,000 points for the return trip, or just 2,000?

4000

Pardon, but I believe you understand FT as a moderated google. Simply visit AirBerlin's website and you find it exactly there where you would look for it:

topbonus -> sammeln -> nachträgliche meilengutschrift -> airberlin / dbA / Niki
Entschuldigung, aber Ich benütze normalerweise das Englische Version und da gibts leider keine Formulär... (Eine email addresse nenne Ich nicht "online".) Ich erwartete nicht die Versionen unterschiedlich zu sein.

Thank's and excuse my grammar! :D

Ich erwartete nicht die Versionen unterschiedlich zu sein.

They two versions are not different, you can find the info in the English version as well by following the same route Flying Lawyer gave ;)

They two versions are not different, you can find the info in the English version as well by following the same route Flying Lawyer gave ;)
I don't want to start arguing, but to inform the FT community that the versions are indeed different. [RANT]And I urge anyone that wants to give their "knowledge" on this subject to first take a look at the actual web pages in question. Even better, I post the contents here. First the English version (after selecting Air Berlin):
Subsequent credit note for miles
Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG
Saatwinkler Damm 42 - 43
D-13627 Berlin

If you have any queries, please contact our Service Centre by telephoning +49 (0) 1805 737 888, send a fax +49 (0) 30 41 02 10 03 or e-mail: serviceteam@airberlin.com

Please submit your boarding passes and the passenger coupon (remaining part of the ticket). If you booked directly via Air Berlin, then your booking reference number will be sufficient.


« back Thats it. No electronic form, just an email address.

Then the beginning of the German version:
Kontakt Formular

Betreff: Top Bonus-Programm / Nachträgliche Meilengutschrift

Ihre Nachricht:

Anrede Frau Herr *

Name *

Vorname *

E-Mail *

Telefon

Top Bonus-Nummer *


Buchungsnummer


Sie haben Ihren Flug direkt bei Air Berlin, dba oder NIKI gebucht?
Wenn Sie über eine Buchungsnummer aus der Air Berlin-, dba- oder NIKI-Buchung verfügen, dann füllen Sie bitte das oben stehende Formular vollständig aus und klicken Sie auf "weiter". Die fehlenden Top Bonus-Meilen werden Ihnen dann nachträglich gutgeschrieben.



Form with mandatory fields to speed up the handling process. Following the exactly same path as with the English version.

These pages are also visually badly designed. The title NACHTRÄGLICHE MEILENGUTSCHRIFT and FLUG are in the same font and size, which makes it hard for a first timer to understand that FLUG is a subtitle to NACHTRÄGLICHE MEILENGUTSCHRIFT and that you should click the gifs beneath to continue with the mile claiming process. [/RANT OVER]

Ok, to not let the main topic slide away. I used the German version of the online retroactive credit form as shown by my personal google moderator, Flying Lawyer, yesterday. I received an immediate email response asking me for some "geduld". Ten hours later (on this same day, a sunday! :eek: ) received another mail containing a pdf with my account status and with the missing points credited. ^

Reading the conditions of the program, it appears that there is no difference between Status and Bonus miles. Did I miss something?

More specificially: Can I just transfer 50,000 Amex points to receive 40,000 TB points and become Gold level with all its benefits at the next status check at end of each month? And then use the points for some flights??.

And even better... since all miles seem to count for the status, this would the only FFP (afaik) where I can get a status without actually flying. Can anyone confirm this, or otherwise destroy my illusions?

It works - my account states per today:

Your current Top Bonus Tier: Air Berlin MasterCard Gold

And I did not fly that much but ordered a couple of Focus subscriptions.....

Ok, to not let the main topic slide away. I used the German version of the online retroactive credit form as shown by my personal google moderator, Flying Lawyer, yesterday. I received an immediate email response asking me for some "geduld". Ten hours later (on this same day, a sunday! :eek: ) received another mail containing a pdf with my account status and with the missing points credited. ^

Sounds like a bad design but good service.

To be honest, I really like this airline.

On the DUS - TXL route they now use a huge A320 operated by BlueWings with a huge seat pitch. I booked a couple of flights for 29 Euro oneway, out at about 4pm and back 10am the next morning. Great to see my friends in Berlin or to go to the opera.

They give you free wine, a free playboy and free crisps. No need to fly LH for 99 Euro return plus a free glas of water (Though, I still use the LH lounge in TXL. DUS has a DC lounge close to the AB gate).

And the best of it: They promoted me to Gold because I like to read FOCUS (and ordered some subscriptions) and they give me 625 miles for that 29 Euro ticket - for 12 flights a get a free domestic flight (even on a 170 Euro fare). Great deal and by far better than the 185 miles on LH (you need about 100 flights to get a free domestic flight)

Sounds like a bad design but good service.

To be honest, I really like this airline.

On the DUS - TXL route they now use a huge A320 operated by BlueWings with a huge seat pitch. I booked a couple of flights for 29 Euro oneway, out at about 4pm and back 10am the next morning. Great to see my friends in Berlin or to go to the opera.

They give you free wine, a free playboy and free crisps. No need to fly LH for 99 Euro return plus a free glas of water (Though, I still use the LH lounge in TXL. DUS has a DC lounge close to the AB gate).

And the best of it: They promoted me to Gold because I like to read FOCUS (and ordered some subscriptions) and they give me 625 miles for that 29 Euro ticket - for 12 flights a get a free domestic flight (even on a 170 Euro fare). Great deal and by far better than the 185 miles on LH (you need about 100 flights to get a free domestic flight)I like it too.

I've been on the same or a similar plane by BlueWings (although in full AirBerlin colours). It even had personal LCD screens with something that looked like credit card readers but for some reason IFE was not on. :confused: Not that I care about advanced IFE, but there was supposed to be some nice pieces on the classical channel. (Maybe I should ask about compensation to my 29€ ticket because of non-functioning IFE :D )

You're right about the excellent value, although not all tickets are 29€ of course. The FA's are IME great too. I've now been on two DBA flights as well (now owned by AB). Although the service is good as well, I really hope they would convert to the AB planes (brighter cabin layout, nicer colours, better seat pitch).

The DC lounges are sometimes real lifesavers, too bad the TXL one is now closed.

And they work the seating arrangement with the middle seat being free and fill those up last.

Very convinient.