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AB / airberlin "Air Berlin" award issues (by 28 Oct 2017 winds down ops)

Old Oct 22, 2016, 9:28 pm
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Last edit by: JDiver
Currently (24 Sep 2017): airberlin has filed for insolvency, and announced they will wind down all operations by 28 October 2017. As of 15 Oct 2017 discontinued all long haul operations. Link to Forbes Magazine article.

Previously:

NOTE: change may be in the air.

Originally Posted by spongenotbob
http://aviationweek.com/awincommerci...ses-us-partner
http://www.aero.de/news-25278/Americ...ir-Berlin.html
http://www.tt.com/home/12164834-91/a...nes-bangen.csp

The end is nigh...

Should be interesting for those holding award seats on airBerlin... (that would include me).
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AB / airberlin "Air Berlin" award issues (by 28 Oct 2017 winds down ops)

Old Feb 6, 2016, 4:28 pm
  #76  
 
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Originally Posted by Adam1222
I said likely, not always. Given the number of one world transatlantic gateways served out of TXL by other OW carriers (3) v. Those served by AB (6), and the difference in frequencies, I stand by that.
OK, but I also stand by my strong belief that most people who are flying to TXL, using AA miles and not using AB are not going to be flying the 1 DfW-FRA flight, or the 1 JFK-ZRH flight, or the 1 PHL-MUC flight, or the 1 PHL-FCO flight (2 in the summer when there is a CLT-FCO flight) but rather the over twenty flights a day to London on AA/BA or the more than handful of flights to MAD on AA/IB. Of course AB connects TXL to more cities, but in terms of the largest OW gateways, there are other choices such that the loss of AB award space is not detrimental to those who wish to connect in my opinion.

I think perhaps the bigger problem with AB not being available is when one needs to fly between cities on the continent and going through LHR, MAD, or HEL (which are on the "edges") would add a lot of extra time.

Last edited by flyingeph12; Feb 6, 2016 at 4:39 pm
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Old Feb 6, 2016, 9:02 pm
  #77  
 
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Originally Posted by flyingeph12
OK, but I also stand by my strong belief that most people who are flying to TXL, using AA miles and not using AB are not going to be flying the 1 DfW-FRA flight, or the 1 JFK-ZRH flight, or the 1 PHL-MUC flight, or the 1 PHL-FCO flight (2 in the summer when there is a CLT-FCO flight) but rather the over twenty flights a day to London on AA/BA or the more than handful of flights to MAD on AA/IB. Of course AB connects TXL to more cities, but in terms of the largest OW gateways, there are other choices such that the loss of AB award space is not detrimental to those who wish to connect in my opinion.

I think perhaps the bigger problem with AB not being available is when one needs to fly between cities on the continent and going through LHR, MAD, or HEL (which are on the "edges") would add a lot of extra time.
I don't think it's so clear to any of us that BA business class is any better than AB business class, especially given the exorbitant fees involved. (And we've already all seemingly agreed that IB isn't any better than AB.) Connecting in LHR to an AA flight will also cost more in fees and surcharges. I stand by my strong belief that most people will fly TXL-JFK, TXL-ORD, or TXL-MIA when available rather than spending hundreds of extra dollars to connect in Heathrow and fly in the not as good seats on BA.


But let's get back to the topic of this thread:
There is obviously something weird going on in that neither BA nor AA have any access to AB award seats. If you have no interest in flying AB, ok bye. If you have info as to what's going on, please share.

Last edited by Adam1222; Feb 6, 2016 at 9:19 pm
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Old Feb 7, 2016, 5:25 am
  #78  
 
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Originally Posted by fly747first
Not direct, I meant in general. Unless it's an urgent work matter, I would take a connecting flight over non-stop on AB since its J product is quite sub-par.

Further, the OP did not state he was only interested in non-stop options, not sure where you got that from.
I didn't say the OP was interested in only non-stop options. Your statement was "AB isn't really a great airline, there are much better oneworld partners", and I was pointing out that yes, in many situations a direct flight does in fact have its own and very valuable utility. If it means the difference between two flights and 3 to get back to a US non-hub city then many people will give that a thought regardless of the product.

And the 4-across J product is really that sub-par compared to un-retrofitted AA aircraft, BA CW on old 747s, and the ancient 6-wide on the 340s that IB loves to pull out of the hangar without warning?
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Old Feb 7, 2016, 5:33 am
  #79  
 
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Originally Posted by arlflyer
And the 4-across J product is really that sub-par compared to un-retrofitted AA aircraft, BA CW on old 747s, and the ancient 6-wide on the 340s that IB loves to pull out of the hangar without warning?
For me, AB is perfectly fine, but I am short and skinny. For someone tall, though, I can see how AB would be very uncomfortable, even more so than the subpar products on other OW carriers.
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Old Feb 7, 2016, 8:58 am
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Originally Posted by flyingeph12
For me, AB is perfectly fine, but I am short and skinny. For someone tall, though, I can see how AB would be very uncomfortable, even more so than the subpar products on other OW carriers.
Yeah, for sure - I'm 6'2" and I've mentioned that I like it for westbound but wouldn't like it as much if I wanted to sleep. However I don't sleep on planes period so it doesn't come into play too much for me. Big sleepers might want to look elsewhere - though as has been mentioned in this thread, the options are still limited. Now if EY/QR/CX started tagging on an ORD-TXL or something then there would be no discussion.
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Old Feb 9, 2016, 10:13 am
  #81  
 
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How to Search for airberlin Awards on AA miles

Hi,

Haven't seen this posted elsewhere...

Can you look for AB awards on the AA site?

If you can, I can't see them... and when I look for partner awards I'm drowning in BA award options... with a fuel surcharge.

Any help appreciated. Sure was easier to find awards under *A and the old US....

Alphaguy
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Old Feb 9, 2016, 10:19 am
  #82  
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Yes, AB awards are displayed on aa.com, but they have been reported as extremely scarce recently. Check alternative possibilities:

Partner airline awards now bookable on AA.com (AB, AS, AY, BA, HA, QF, RJ)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...iscussion.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...es-2015-a.html

All have wikiposts with useful information.

Last edited by JDiver; Feb 9, 2016 at 10:24 am
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Old Feb 10, 2016, 12:32 pm
  #83  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
Yes, AB awards are displayed on aa.com, but they have been reported as extremely scarce recently. Check alternative possibilities

All have wikiposts with useful information.
I think scarce would be an understatement... looking out of BOS and JFK its like staring at a big empty bucket....

This avoid the surcharge game almost makes me want to go to United...
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Old Feb 18, 2016, 10:40 pm
  #84  
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Originally Posted by Adam1222
But let's get back to the topic of this thread:
There is obviously something weird going on in that neither BA nor AA have any access to AB award seats. If you have no interest in flying AB, ok bye. If you have info as to what's going on, please share.
Any new insight on this? AB award flights ALWAYS displayed on AA.com and BA.com. Now I see nothing. Do they exist if you call?

God knows, the last thing oneworld needs is even fewer fuel-surcharge-free award seats to Europe. Their absence is particularly problematic for Avios, as AB offered a rare opportunity in that program to fly surcharge-free across the Atlantic.
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Old Feb 20, 2016, 10:43 pm
  #85  
 
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Yeah, what the f*** is going on. I want to book TXL-KEF on AB but see no award space on either AA.com or BA.com. It is available on AB's website.

I did some tests by checking the TXL-ORY route (since TXL-KEF is not checkable on Qantas.com).

- It is available on AA.com, BA.com, QF.com up till Apr 30.
- It is wide open on QF.com beyond Apr 30. But no award space shows up on AA.com or BA.com for any date after that.

Previous threads report BA and AA availability on AB drops off a cliff around Mar 5 or Mar 30. It looks like that is now Apr 30.

I don't understand what the hell is going on and why QF still has access to space but BA and AA don't.

I would like to book an award to KEF in June using AA miles (not from the US) before the Mar 22 devaluation and this really throws a wrench in the works. KEF is hard enough to get to as it is.

I know people have gotten the OneWorld liaison involved in the past. Can someone help?! Clearly we are all in the same boat...
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Old Feb 20, 2016, 10:45 pm
  #86  
 
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Cross-posting from the other thread going on this. Something is definitely funky with AB availability via AA and BA. I suspect it's an IT issue since the space shows up on QF.

I want to book TXL-KEF on AB but see no award space on either AA.com or BA.com. It is available on AB's website.

I did some tests by checking the TXL-ORY route (since TXL-KEF is not checkable on Qantas.com).

- It is available on AA.com, BA.com, QF.com up till Apr 30.
- It is wide open on QF.com beyond Apr 30. But no award space shows up on AA.com or BA.com for any date after that.

Previous threads report BA and AA availability on AB drops off a cliff around Mar 5 or Mar 30. It looks like that is now Apr 30.

I don't understand what the hell is going on and why QF still has access to space but BA and AA don't.

I would like to book an award to KEF in June using AA miles (not from the US) before the Mar 22 devaluation and this really throws a wrench in the works. KEF is hard enough to get to as it is.

I know people have gotten the OneWorld liaison involved in the past. Can someone help?! Clearly we are all in the same boat...
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Old Feb 21, 2016, 9:16 am
  #87  
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Originally Posted by abcx
Yeah, what the f*** is going on. I want to book TXL-KEF on AB but see no award space on either AA.com or BA.com. It is available on AB's website.

I did some tests by checking the TXL-ORY route (since TXL-KEF is not checkable on Qantas.com).

- It is available on AA.com, BA.com, QF.com up till Apr 30.
- It is wide open on QF.com beyond Apr 30. But no award space shows up on AA.com or BA.com for any date after that.

Previous threads report BA and AA availability on AB drops off a cliff around Mar 5 or Mar 30. It looks like that is now Apr 30.

I don't understand what the hell is going on and why QF still has access to space but BA and AA don't.

I would like to book an award to KEF in June using AA miles (not from the US) before the Mar 22 devaluation and this really throws a wrench in the works. KEF is hard enough to get to as it is.

I know people have gotten the OneWorld liaison involved in the past. Can someone help?! Clearly we are all in the same boat...
Has anyone called AA to see if the agents have AB inventory? I was going to try that this week.
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Old Feb 21, 2016, 9:17 am
  #88  
 
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Originally Posted by iahphx
Has anyone called AA to see if the agents have AB inventory? I was going to try that this week.
Yes, they can't see anything.
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Old Feb 21, 2016, 12:17 pm
  #89  
 
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Oddly, AA can see Niki flights. So there is availability on the twice weekly (or whatever it is) VIE-KEF flight past 4/30, although not sure how to get from TXL to VIE.

BA is another option to KEF.
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Old Feb 21, 2016, 12:26 pm
  #90  
 
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Niki, which is owned by AB but AA can see their flights, flies between TXL and VIE.
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