Airberlin

[needforspeed]

We travel ones a year to Europe with the family always with Emirates, i bumped into the web-site of Airberlin, besides a direct flight they are about 200 euro a person cheaper.

Advice needed from people traveled with airberlin.

Thanks a lot,

NFS

[yantzen]

Many times with Air Berlin BKK-DUSS v.v.. Only good memories!

[gougouluxembourg]

It depends where in Europe you are going too. Sometimes air berlin is cheap, sometimes Gulf Air, Emirates, Air Cairo are cheaper, used all of them and all ok too.

For finding cheap Flights i use flugsupermarkt dot com and found a Flight with Condor, Phuket (i live in Krabi) to Frankfurt for 347 Euro oneway all fees includet.

Edited November 27, 2010 by gougouluxembourg

[HollandChampion]

Stick with emirates! AIr berlin is a low budget carrier, you get what you pay for.

I made the mistake to fly with air berlin in july.

- NO personal entertainment screen. IMO a personal entertainment screen is a must on a long-haul flight (about 11 hours from/to DUS/BKK)

- Bad service

- No possibility to charge your notebook

- Small/hard seats

- Bad food

- You've to pay for the use of their headphones

- You've to pay if you want something extra to drink

Air berlin? NEIN!

[falang07]

c'mon, it is just 11 hours of your life, can not you just listen to mp3/relax/read something? if it is way cheaper, I better spend those 11 hours without the personal entertainment screen and saving some bucks (actually I prefer to just sleep)

[thepanom]

I did fly with air berlin last year one way Dusseldorf to Bangkok, at that time there one way price was euro 300 cheaper than any other airline.

The service was ok, food was very good!!

For me air berlin is ok!!

[needforspeed]

Stick with emirates! AIr berlin is a low budget carrier, you get what you pay for.

I made the mistake to fly with air berlin in july.

- NO personal entertainment screen. IMO a personal entertainment screen is a must on a long-haul flight (about 11 hours from/to DUS/BKK)

- Bad service

- No possibility to charge your notebook

- Small/hard seats

- Bad food

- You've to pay for the use of their headphones

- You've to pay if you want something extra to drink

Air berlin? NEIN!

NEIN it will be, stay with Emirates.

Thanks,

NFS

[falang07]

the choice is yours, I prefer to save 300 euro...

[HollandChampion]

c'mon, it is just 11 hours of your life, can not you just listen to mp3/relax/read something? if it is way cheaper, I better spend those 11 hours without the personal entertainment screen and saving some bucks (actually I prefer to just sleep)

I get bored easily and the problem is i can't sleep in an airplane. Listening to mp3 sure for 1 hour and then i keep watching the clock for the next 10 hours. I think it's all about your budget, if you are on a tight budget then yes maybe it's better to choose air berlin. I don't mind the 300 euro extra so i prefer emirates.

The TS also mentioned he's taking his kids with him. I don't know how old they are but if they are under 12 a personal entertainment system is a must. Also for the sake of the other passengers... You really don't want your kids to get bored on-board, screaming and running around.

[klauswernst198]

If you travel with family (No entertainment for the kids) or a Thai wife (very german or european food) Air Berlin is not a good Choice.

But if you travel alone and you normally like to sleep on the plane they are a very good choice since Passengers normally are not very noisy and the Service is efficient as fast without trying to wake you up every few hours to offer you something. I think it is the only airline where you can sleep undisturbed for 8 hours. Another Plus is Dusseldorf Airport since it is quite small and used by many low cost carriers you can connect fast and easy to you next flight. Something you could only dream about in the other main hubs.

[siam2007]

If you travel with family (No entertainment for the kids) or a Thai wife (very german or european food) Air Berlin is not a good Choice.

But if you travel alone and you normally like to sleep on the plane they are a very good choice since Passengers normally are not very noisy and the Service is efficient as fast without trying to wake you up every few hours to offer you something. I think it is the only airline where you can sleep undisturbed for 8 hours.

yeah you can happily sleep for 8 hours BECAUSE YOU WON'T BE OFFERED ANYTHING TO DRINK OR EAT !!!!!

this Airline was always a Budget/Holiday-charter Airline and somehow is until today.

Congrats to the ONE WORLD GROUP to add such a new "honorable PREMIUM member".... HO HO HO

okay, to be fair, the facts:

GOOD

- Duesseldorf or Berlin-Tegel Airports are much smaller than FRA and easier to deal with (particularly with kids on tow)

- Aircraft is relatively new and safety-standards are good

- Quick connections to be had to other European or domestic German destinations

- almost only Airline from Europe to BKK where you can book inexpensive ONE WAY - Tickets (Kuwait Air only offers cheap one-ways ex-BKK, but not Ex-Europe)

BAD

- Cabin Crew could DEFINITELY do with some courtesy or friendlyness - Lufthansa is "Asian Hospitality" compared to the AirBerlin Crews. In fact, AirBerlin had the most arrogant and unwelcoming crew I ever experienced on a BKK-Europe flight, somehow like a "you got the cheap fares and is that still not enough or what the heck u want more on board here?" - attitude

- Seat Pitch VERY NARROW

- Seats hard as a rock (as some already mentioned here)

- only BASIC catering is free, pay for the rest (well, u have read what I said about the "Budget Airline"-thing) - even have to pay for headphone-use ! on a Longhaul flight ! HO HO HO

- No screen on your seat (though for me that's not a big deal, but for many of course is)

- expect them to be the MOST STRICT AIRLINE on the planet when it comes to Excess-luggage (don't dare to check in 21 KG instead of 20!)

NEEDFORSPEED, WHEN is your actual departure date ?

If it's not during main holiday season, you should be able to find plenty of cheapo-promotions from the likes of Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Oman Air. No need to book too early !

Verdict:

you don't make the biggest mistake of your life when flying AirBerlin if u can save 200 Euro or more, but I would definitely NOT recommend them. And I have been flying 12 different Airlines on the BKK-Europe route in the past 10 years, usually thrice per year.

.

Edited November 30, 2010 by siam2007

[klauswernst198]

If you travel with family (No entertainment for the kids) or a Thai wife (very german or european food) Air Berlin is not a good Choice.

But if you travel alone and you normally like to sleep on the plane they are a very good choice since Passengers normally are not very noisy and the Service is efficient as fast without trying to wake you up every few hours to offer you something. I think it is the only airline where you can sleep undisturbed for 8 hours.

yeah you can happily sleep for 8 hours BECAUSE YOU WON'T BE OFFERED ANYTHING TO DRINK OR EAT !!!!!

this Airline was always a Budget/Holiday-charter Airline and somehow is until today.

Congrats to the ONE WORLD GROUP to add such a new "honorable PREMIUM member".... HO HO HO

okay, to be fair, the facts:

GOOD

- Duesseldorf or Berlin-Tegel Airports are much smaller than FRA and easier to deal with (particularly with kids on tow)

- Aircraft is relatively new and safety-standards are good

- Quick connections to be had to other European or domestic German destinations

- almost only Airline from Europe to BKK where you can book inexpensive ONE WAY - Tickets (Kuwait Air only offers cheap one-ways ex-BKK, but not Ex-Europe)

BAD

- Cabin Crew could DEFINITELY do with some courtesy or friendlyness - Lufthansa is "Asian Hospitality" compared to the AirBerlin Crews. In fact, AirBerlin had the most arrogant and unwelcoming crew I ever experienced on a BKK-Europe flight, somehow like a "you got the cheap fares and is that still not enough or what the heck u want more on board here?" - attitude

- Seat Pitch VERY NARROW

- Seats hard as a rock (as some already mentioned here)

- only BASIC catering is free, pay for the rest (well, u have read what I said about the "Budget Airline"-thing) - even have to pay for headphone-use ! on a Longhaul flight ! HO HO HO

- No screen on your seat (though for me that's not a big deal, but for many of course is)

- expect them to be the MOST STRICT AIRLINE on the planet when it comes to Excess-luggage (don't dare to check in 21 KG instead of 20!)

NEEDFORSPEED, WHEN is your actual departure date ?

If it's not during main holiday season, you should be able to find plenty of cheapo-promotions from the likes of Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Oman Air. No need to book too early !

Verdict:

you don't make the biggest mistake of your life when flying AirBerlin if u can save 200 Euro or more, but I would definitely NOT recommend them. And I have been flying 12 different Airlines on the BKK-Europe route in the past 10 years, usually thrice per year.

.

You get what you pay for.

I guess the day Easyjet or Ryanair do long haul flight you will start to realize the luxury of Air Berlin because Air Berlin is a low cost carrier so you can only compare them to other low cost carriers

Since flights are overnight I think that to be able to sleep is more important than entertainment. Anyways they always give free newspaper and magazines so for the case you get bored try to read something.

As for the seat I think they are not bad but just average. I have flown with 10 different airlines from Europe to here. And I would say that if you are the type pf person who sleep on a plane they are the best.

Because there is nothing more annoying than continues movement of people on the plane and continues wake up calls for a snack a glass of water or duty free or refreshments.