Air Berlin New J Report, JFK-DUS
Jul 13, 2013, 9:40 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHF,ORF
Programs: AA Gold, MR Plat
Posts: 467
Air Berlin New J Report, JFK-DUS
I was in need of a comfy seat for a hop over to BCN for the 4th of July holiday weekend, and after exploring my options, the only really feasible one (without paying massive YQ) was AB using AA miles. I booked this award a few months ahead of time, and read up on the various AB J products. Periodically I checked the seat map and to my surprise, a few weeks before the flight it changed to the new J layout. Knowing that there was always a possibility of an equipment swap, I tried not to get too excited, but as the date approached with no change, it seemed like I would be in luck.
I flew up to JFK from ORF in the afternoon, unfortunately, AA could not print my boarding passes for AB, although they did check my bag all the way through. I headed to the AB check in desk once on the ground at JFK and was checked in quickly and told that I would have use of the AA Admirals club. I also noticed that they were selling upgrades for 740euro. I proceeded through security and made my way to the lounge for a few hours.
After settling in to my very private window seat, I was greeted by an FA with the option of juice or prosecco, and a menu. I went with the prosecco. Shortly thereafter I was greeted by the flight's purser. She was extremely friendly and gave me the option of being woken up for breakfast or opting to sleep as much as possible. I decided that sleep would win out on this short TATL. She also asked what I would like to drink after takeoff, and took my dinner order. I asked what types of beer they had, and she said, almost apologetically, that they only had Warsteiner. I said that would be fine.
I should mention that the window seat was so private, that I had a hard time getting a good shot of the whole thing.
While settling in, I noticed that the provided headphones had a strange 3-prong plug. They were a noise cancelling type headphone, but had no batteries, so that function would not work. After seeing the strange plug, I didn't even think to try my own headphones, so I can't say whether they would have worked. In addition to the headphones, a small amenity kit and slippers were provided. I found the slippers a nice touch, as I could shuffle my way to the restroom in those during the night rather than putting my shoes on.
It didn't take long for me to realize that the headrest really hit me in an odd way in the full upright position. I could grab it and slide it up and down, but it would not stay in any position other than the original location. Once off the ground, I adjusted the seat to my liking, but during taxi/takeoff, I found the headrest position to be uncomfortable.
Storage was another issue. There was a small cubby under the footrest that I slid my backpack into. Other than that, there was just a magazine pocket that could accommodate a water bottle if stretched a bit.
The entertainment system was turned on once as we were taxiing out, but strangely the remote was not working. It was a two sided remote as you can see in the photos below. The square button on the silver side turned out to be a kind of touchpad mouse that you could slide your finger over in order to make the cursor move around the screen. The screen itself was touch enabled, so I just used that function to make my selections. This was a bit of a pain during the meal, having to lean over the traytable, without dipping my shirt into my food, but I managed. The remote did finally work once I woke up just prior to touchdown.
Shortly after takeoff the FA delivered my previously ordered beer and some mixed nuts to munch on.
Here is the menu for the flight:
Next came the appetizer, I had requested the shrimp. This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The veggies had some marinade, but the shrimp were very plain and not terribly tasty.
For the main course I ordered the lamb. This turned out to be ok, not fantastic, but decent for airplane food. I also had a glass of the Italian red wine.
For dessert I had the mocha mousse, which was pretty tasty. All together, I think the meal finished about 2 hours into the flight.
After the meal, I changed into some more comfortable sleeping clothes, and reclined the seat into the flat position to get a few hours sleep. The FA brought me a nice fluffy blanket, and a decent pillow. I'm 5' 11", and I found that even when I slid myself as far up the seat as comfortable, my feet were rather restricted in the cubby hole. I tried this position for a bit, but couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to try laying on my side which worked better. Although the seat was flat, it seemed to be rather lumpy due to the fact that the multiple sections of the seat didn't quite align perfectly. It wasn't the greatest sleeping surface, but I did manage to get a few hours shuteye before the FA woke me up about 20 minutes from landing. Just enough time for me to change back to my street clothes.
Overall I thought it was a decent product. I am not a connoisseur of these things and don't have a whole lot of premium cabin experience to compare it with, so take that for what it's worth. I would fly it again if it was the best option for my needs, but would not seek it out specifically. The one thing that did shine throughout the flight was the friendliness and attentiveness of the FAs.
I flew up to JFK from ORF in the afternoon, unfortunately, AA could not print my boarding passes for AB, although they did check my bag all the way through. I headed to the AB check in desk once on the ground at JFK and was checked in quickly and told that I would have use of the AA Admirals club. I also noticed that they were selling upgrades for 740euro. I proceeded through security and made my way to the lounge for a few hours.
After settling in to my very private window seat, I was greeted by an FA with the option of juice or prosecco, and a menu. I went with the prosecco. Shortly thereafter I was greeted by the flight's purser. She was extremely friendly and gave me the option of being woken up for breakfast or opting to sleep as much as possible. I decided that sleep would win out on this short TATL. She also asked what I would like to drink after takeoff, and took my dinner order. I asked what types of beer they had, and she said, almost apologetically, that they only had Warsteiner. I said that would be fine.
I should mention that the window seat was so private, that I had a hard time getting a good shot of the whole thing.
While settling in, I noticed that the provided headphones had a strange 3-prong plug. They were a noise cancelling type headphone, but had no batteries, so that function would not work. After seeing the strange plug, I didn't even think to try my own headphones, so I can't say whether they would have worked. In addition to the headphones, a small amenity kit and slippers were provided. I found the slippers a nice touch, as I could shuffle my way to the restroom in those during the night rather than putting my shoes on.
It didn't take long for me to realize that the headrest really hit me in an odd way in the full upright position. I could grab it and slide it up and down, but it would not stay in any position other than the original location. Once off the ground, I adjusted the seat to my liking, but during taxi/takeoff, I found the headrest position to be uncomfortable.
Storage was another issue. There was a small cubby under the footrest that I slid my backpack into. Other than that, there was just a magazine pocket that could accommodate a water bottle if stretched a bit.
The entertainment system was turned on once as we were taxiing out, but strangely the remote was not working. It was a two sided remote as you can see in the photos below. The square button on the silver side turned out to be a kind of touchpad mouse that you could slide your finger over in order to make the cursor move around the screen. The screen itself was touch enabled, so I just used that function to make my selections. This was a bit of a pain during the meal, having to lean over the traytable, without dipping my shirt into my food, but I managed. The remote did finally work once I woke up just prior to touchdown.
Shortly after takeoff the FA delivered my previously ordered beer and some mixed nuts to munch on.
Here is the menu for the flight:
Next came the appetizer, I had requested the shrimp. This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The veggies had some marinade, but the shrimp were very plain and not terribly tasty.
For the main course I ordered the lamb. This turned out to be ok, not fantastic, but decent for airplane food. I also had a glass of the Italian red wine.
For dessert I had the mocha mousse, which was pretty tasty. All together, I think the meal finished about 2 hours into the flight.
After the meal, I changed into some more comfortable sleeping clothes, and reclined the seat into the flat position to get a few hours sleep. The FA brought me a nice fluffy blanket, and a decent pillow. I'm 5' 11", and I found that even when I slid myself as far up the seat as comfortable, my feet were rather restricted in the cubby hole. I tried this position for a bit, but couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to try laying on my side which worked better. Although the seat was flat, it seemed to be rather lumpy due to the fact that the multiple sections of the seat didn't quite align perfectly. It wasn't the greatest sleeping surface, but I did manage to get a few hours shuteye before the FA woke me up about 20 minutes from landing. Just enough time for me to change back to my street clothes.
Overall I thought it was a decent product. I am not a connoisseur of these things and don't have a whole lot of premium cabin experience to compare it with, so take that for what it's worth. I would fly it again if it was the best option for my needs, but would not seek it out specifically. The one thing that did shine throughout the flight was the friendliness and attentiveness of the FAs.
Jul 14, 2013, 7:01 am
#5
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: BER
Posts: 512
Nice report. I agree with you that the seat is not perfect, but AB offers a decent product for the price paid. As a side note: I think the third prong on the headphones is for power supply, so no batteries are needed for the noise cancellation to work.
Jul 15, 2013, 11:58 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
Jul 22, 2013, 8:41 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: TK*G (E+), IHG Plat Ambassador
Posts: 7,884
While settling in, I noticed that the provided headphones had a strange 3-prong plug. They were a noise cancelling type headphone, but had no batteries, so that function would not work. After seeing the strange plug, I didn't even think to try my own headphones, so I can't say whether they would have worked.
PS. Nice report...