so what's the best lounge to go into arriving into TXL on AB and waiting for a connection.

Since you are flying to KRK, your flight will leave from Terminal C and there is a recently opened AB lounge there. This would be a better option for you than AF or BA lounges which are landside in Terminal A.

I'm not flying to KRK, the OP is, I'm flying to MUC I don't know if that makes a difference. I saw the landside lounge, which is a priority pass lounge. But not sure wanna go out and come back through security just to visit it. I would if it had showers, but it does not. I arrive TXL at 9:45 and leave 12:55 to MUC. Too much time.

AB's domestic flights tend to leave from Terminal A which has security at the gate. Unless your connection is Terminal C–C, you will have to go landside anyway.

If you have status with an Oneworld airline you can use the BA and AF lounges. They're both okay but in no way spectacular; I personally prefer the BA lounge. Otherwise the PriorityPass lounge is your only option.

I went looking for the showers when I passed through TXL today and they're still there but downstairs from the LH lounges, not the BA/AF ones. Here's a photo of the door:

I've flown AB into TXL from Warsaw, and that was my introduction to the grimness of the C terminal.

I'm now about to take a long-haul trip, Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi via TXL. I'm guessig the FRA flight uses A but I'll need to get to C via landside, security and passports.

There's not an awful lot of time - could somebody be kind enough to outline the efficient way to do this. I'm a OW emerald travelling in Y, if that counts for anything in the security lines.

I believe you have a fair chance of avoiding Terminal C this time round.

Yes, FRA flights usually dock at A and when I pass through the teminal, I have only ever seen AUH flights going from A0/A1.

So you can use the AF or BA lounges, both of which are landside in the main Terminal A building opposite Starbucks.

I believe that the situation has changed. All AB flights to AUH now leave from the non-Schengen section of Terminal C (gates C80-C89).

The arrival of the flight from FRA could be in terminal A or in terminal C depending on where the airplane is going next. It seems more likely that the flight will arrive in the Schengen section of terminal C.

If transferring C -> C it is important to stay landside and follow the "transfer" signs. This should get you into the C departure hall without a security check. Follow the signs to gates C80-C89 which will lead you to passport control. The lounge is right before passport control to your left.

If transferring A -> C you cannot avoid leaving the secure area. You will have to walk about 5 minutes to terminal C. When entering C you will have to clear security and then walk to lounge and or gate as above. OW status will give you access to the priority security lane.

OW emerald status should allow entrance into the lounge in terminal C. Don't forget to check upstairs if the ground level of the lounge is busy.

Yes, think you're right on that one. How strange. I have been doing weekly commutes TXL-FRA on LH for about three years now and it always appeared to me that the mid-day AUH flight and the evening one were gating up at A0/A1 whenever I walked past there on the way to/from the bus stops.

But you are right about it now seeming to be C departure (just checked on TXL site and C88 is indeed the departure gate for all flights this week.

Bad luck OP - it's Terminal C for you again, although there is a new AB lounge there!

You raised my hopes then dashed them!

I'm sure Terminal C is fine, although what I saw of it on my arrival from WAW didn't raise hope in my heart that one day I might find myself there again.
At least the C lounge is on the right side of security ...

The big hope Is that the FRA flight docks there. I'm OW Emerald: I'll get the pilot to do just that 😁

You'd think when they opened a new lounge they would've thought to make showers

The new lounge is really just fifteen or so shipping containers (but quite nice considering that; I didn't actually notice until I saw it from outside), and all of Terminal C was meant as a stopgap until BER opens, so I'm happy that there is a lounge there now, never mind showers. I understand where you're coming from, but I also understand why they're reluctant to make any significant investments.

Just to complete things - FRA TXL AUH was a C-C connection at Tegel. And yes you need to have your wits about you to spot the staircase leading to airside connections.

The oddness was FRA TXL operated by Alitalia aircraft and crew. An AB-AZ marriage was never going to be a happy passenger experience. We ended up leaving late, then abandoned for 20 minutes at our distant parking spot at Tegel, waiting for stairs, then buses.

So no time for the Tegel C lounge experience :D

The good news is that the new airport will have showers in the lounge. They realised this oversight in the original airport design, and having been working for the last 7 years [and probably the coming 7 years too!] to correct this oversight.

While I could very well imagine that they will actually manage to install showers within the next seven years, there's no way that the plumbing will then be able to handle the additional load. But on the bright side, anticipated costs for required reworks will only be 90% of what it would cost to completely rebuild the airport.

https://i.giphy.com/media/Kerg053G7ZJUQ/giphy.webp

I still want my shower when I get off my 11hr flight from San Francisco.