Air Berlin Passenger Reviews and Air Berlin Customer Trip Reports

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Air Berlin Passenger seat recommendations

Air Berlin Economy class seat reviews

Air Berlin Business class seat reviews

Air Berlin Business Class Lounge Reviews

Air Berlin Aircraft Seat Maps and Cabin Layout Plans

Airline Reviews

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CPH-DUS, CGN-LPA in April 2013. Flights on time, decent service with a snack and non-alcoholic beverage CPH-DUS. CGN-LPA a filling sandwich served with same beverages as above. Both flights were good, service efficient but a little mechanic. Air Berlin-chocolates given upon disembarkation of each flight. All in all a decent product in today's aviation market.

When we booked the return flight from Europe on Air Berlin as a part of our round trip booking through American Airlines, we were told that the Air Berlin flight from Berlin on business class would have lie flat seats (not true and the seats sere very uncomfortable). We were told that the connecting Air Berlin flight in Berlin would not require that we go through security again (not true). The food and service in business class were very poor. The cabin was hot and the attendants either could not adjust the temperature or did not pursuant to our request. The Air Berlin website cannot be negotiated to see the seat layout and select seats, hence, we had to rely on the Air Berlin representative telephone conversations as to location of seats. Our seats were changed 3 times without any notice. Sound quality of the entertainment system is very poor. The information regarding status of the flight and time of arrival on the entertainment system was grossly inaccurate.

LHR to Phuket. We were worried about travelling with this airline following the reviews on here however our flight to Phuket was on time and food and in flight entertainment was ok. So far so good. Our return journey was a different story. We arrived at Phuket airport to be told we couldn't check in as the AirBerlin plane hadn't arrived or even set off for us. Various options were thrown around including another night in Phuket returning on the next Airberlin flight. After being left in the dark for some time we were then booked on to a Qatar airlines flight which first flew to Kuala Lumpur then to Qatar where we then boarded a flight to Heathrow. In total we were delayed by 8 hours. The manner in which we were left in the dark at Phuket was very worrying and it seems from the reviews below that this is not rare for this airline.

ZRH to TXL to MIA. First leg in Economy Class (Air Berlin does not offer Business Class on short haul). Flight on time, friendly Crew and nice snack. Second flight in Business Class. Crew friendly, greeted passengers by name. Seat not fully flat but angled cradle style, but had a good sleep. Entertainment AVOD, however no current blockbusters, selection of films rather poor. Meals just okay, everything is on the tray (starter, cheese, dessert) except the hot meal, which was served seperately. Why don't they serve the cheese and the dessert not separately as they used to? Arrival in Miami a few minutes late, immigration took 40 minutes, Air Berlin staff in the baggage reclaim area assisting passengers.

MIA-DUS, Seat 22 A+C. Check-in hectic but quick, boarding slow, typical for USA. Seat small and very uncomfortable with little leg room, a no go for a 9.5 hr flight. Service sloppy. Drinks ok. The only good thing was the price, cheap as this airline has now become. Next time I will use another airline.

Travelled from Abu Dhabi to Phuket on 28th April. After reading the comments on here before my trip, I was very apprehensive about the flight, but the service was good, food was good too. The only problem was the leg room, which was a bit uncomfortable, but I would certainly do this flight again.

DUS-MIA-DUS in economy on the A330, new seats finally with IFE. About 12 movies (some in Arabic), episodes of US sitcoms and music styles. Seats small and with legroom only for people under 1.80metre. I got row 33 next to the toilet, unreclinable. Food ok. Generous dispatch of beverages (wine or beer for meals) bottle of water before the night. Friendly staff on both legs.

Do not travel with Air Berlin if you are over 6 feet tall. Leg room is unheard of, and it is just very unpleasant for flights of 3 or more hours. Cabin crew are helpful, planes are fairly new and I would probably fly them again within Europe if prices are reasonable but never again for long haul! Food not terrible nor great either. Also keep in mind that the seats themselves are very small and luckily it was me and my wife traveling together or else it would be a very uncomfortable experience to be pasted up to a stranger. We are both very skinny people and yet we were all up in each others personal space. I took carry on bags and did not checked anything in due to hearing all the horror stories of lost baggage and I recommend you doing the same if your trip is short enough but keep in mind it needs to be under 10kg.

Trip from Abu Dhabi to Phuket. The plane is new, the overall look is ok, entertainment is ok as well (just a few movies and all in English and German). But, leg room is ridiculously small, the seats are very hard and the food is just ok. Adding to this a very unpleasant crew. I will avoid flying Air Berlin on long distances in the future.

2 domestic flights in mid-March (FRA-TXL, TXL-MUN), as prices were very reasonable. Flights themselves were unremarkable, and indeed, I was surprised that snacks were handed out on such short flights (1 hr 25 mins). Biggest complaints have to do with having to take a bus to/from the gate out to the planes. Additionally, the boarding process and check-in area for domestic AB flights at TXL is horrible! AB ground staff are rude and unhelpful. Ticketing/check-in/boarding area for Tegel is one of the most inefficiently planned and run CFs that I have ever had the displeasure to experience. Combine that with no train line to the airport (just a severely overcrowded and unpleasant bus route to get to Alexanderplatz or Hbf). Will avoid flying out of TXL at all costs.

Flew Abu Dhabi to Phuket . Flight was most uncomfortable hardly any leg room, seats uncomfortable, rude cabin crew, awful food. Seat back television broke down a couple of times and had to be restarted. Would never travel with them again.

Phuket to Abu Dhabi on 17th March 2013. Booked as part of a codeshare return flight with Etihad. Having read previous reviews on Air Berlin I was not looking forward to this flight sector. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how polite the cabin staff were. The plane was clean and tidy and the overall comfort was not much different to Etihad. The meal I had was typical Plane fare and a little less presentable than Etihad but edible non the less. The seat back TV did not have as much to choose from compared to say Eitihad or Emirates but fine for a 6 hour flight. Flight was on time.

Connecting flight from OSL through TXL to FRA. Flight from OSL delayed. Connection in TXL to FRA could have been reached, but Air Berlin did nothing to support connecting passengers (direct bus transfer) and even after running to the gate, boarding was denied with the aircraft still at the gate! Re-booked to next flight to FRA more than 3hrs later. No support whatsoever. After finally reaching FRA, suitcase was still in Berlin. Today (2 days later) the luggage still hasn't arrived.

Flight Munich-Fuerteventura-Tenerife (back: TFS-MUC). Poor service: only a sandwich although we were onboard for more than 5 hours (with one stop in Fuerteventura, where we had to stay on board). From the 5 meals you could buy there were only 2 available (cost more than 10€). On the way back our video monitor didn't work, and we only had 1 music channel working. Worst of all: very unfriendly crew. We flew already with TUI-fly and Condor (Thomas Cook) to the Canary Islands and had a much better service and friendlier staff on board. I won't say: never again, but if I can choose between Air Berlin and another airline, Air Berlin will be the loser.

GDN-TXL-TFS-TXL-GDN. In general not bad flights for quite competitive price, although with some disadvantages. The main of them is Terminal C on Tegel Airport which is dedicated mainly for Air Berlin short and medium distance flights. It's overcrowded and not sufficient for big amount of departures. In result both our departures from TXL were delayed. The other disadvantage is poor in-flight entertainment. On mid-range flights it's limited to some sitcoms and one movie presented on ceiling monitors. Amount and quality of food is not sufficient for over 4 hours long flight. Fortunately, we didn't experience any rudeness of cabin crew, as some other reviewers did. In fact, we found almost all of members of crew polite and attentive.

2 flights - Abu Dhabi to Phuket return. Insufficient leg room, rude staff. We were stranded in Phuket on the return leg due to a broken aircraft. No one from Air Berlin appeared to know what was going on - we eventually left Phuket 25 hours late. Put up overnight after almost a full night at the airport in the most basic of hotels. Then our bags got left in Abu Dhabi. Will never fly with them again.

TXL-MIA-TXL, Economy Class, January 2013. Outbound flight on time, however the waiting area was short of seats (old Tegel airport). After takeoff a snack was offered with soft drinks and one hour later they started to serve breakfast. Portion was ok, taste ok, offered drinks twice during breakfast plus coffee, tea after. Mid- time offered a snack with drinks and a bottle of water. Staff were helpful and smiley. The dinner shortly before landing was good (pasta or chicken). Even served hot towels just before landing. The cabin seemed to be freshly refurbished, new touch screen monitors, with many movies, music and games for kids. The seats were small as always on any economy transatlantic flight. Not bigger, not smaller. On the inbound flight we had the same experience. I'm happy we chose Air Berlin and the price was very reasonable.

Jan 9 2013, Budapest to Bangkok on Air Berlin / Etihad. Budapest staff were helpful and the flight to Berlin went well. Air Berlin flights from Berlin to Abu Dhabi and from Abu Dhabi to Berlin on Jan 31st were horrifying. Each way it was a 6.5 hr flight in cramped seats with bad food and rude service. The stewardesses were virtually snarling. The food was almost inedible The seats were unusually small. The worst flying experience we've had. The Etihad part of the flights was excellent with great food, pleasant service, and comfortable seating.

TXL-MIA-TXL A330-200. Very mixed box this time. After a good experience on an Air Berlin transatlantic flight lately, I was looking forward to my flight to MIA. Outbound: 1 hour delay, due to late arrival. Crew very reluctant and surly, Purser seemed unprofessional. Meals explicitly smaller than on last transatlantic trip and not sufficient for a 10.5 hr flight. No snacks in galley, some cookies handed out but only once - if you slept at this particular moment you missed your chance. Inbound: Food portions seemed larger though taste was dull. Crew very friendly. Friends of the crew (or maybe colleagues) were moved up front to C or were given nuts and chocolate bars - again: no snacks for normal Y passengers. At the beginning of the flight we experienced heavy turbulence but captain talked passengers through it. All in all both trips felt more like a vacation trip to Ibiza or the Turkish Riviera rather than a transatlantic flight of a want-to-be full service Oneworld airline.

Flew Abu Dhabi to Phuket. As it was almost impossible for me to fit me knees into the seating area, they fell into the aisle when I finally dozed off slightly. I was abruptly awoken by a male flight attendant who knocked me with a trolley. I awaited an apology, but instead was yelled at for having my knees in the aisle. The other flight attendants did their utmost to make us feel as uncomfortable and unwelcome as they possibly could. It was as if they were going out of their way to be rude and unfriendly. Our return flight (mid October 2012) which we were dreading, was delayed by over 2 hours. No staff available in Phuket to advise what would happen with our connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to London. When we finally boarded we were again met be extremely rude and unfriendly cabin crew. Flying Ryanair would be considered an upgrade from this. AirBerlin are definitely the worst airline we have had the displeasure of flying with, and it is unacceptable that they are part of the OneWorld alliance. If you like flying low cost airlines with appalling service then you will love AirBerlin.

Been flying with them at least 8 times a year. Overall the planes are pretty good and the staff are usually friendly. The food is not as good as other airlines and they have been cutting down on the food: The Berlin - Tel Aviv flight would usually have a warm meal, now you just get a sandwich. If that saves money, fine for me because better meals can be ordered at extra cost.

Business trip from Stansted to Dusseldorf. Outward trip went fine. On return, checking in at Dusseldorf was told flight was cancelled. No explanation given. Re-booked on BA flight that evening but this landed in Heathrow and my car was left at Stansted. Air Berlin failed to transport me to Stansted.

DUS-GWT on Dash8Q400. Fight was good, on time and staff were friendly. The croissant was cold and not very tasty but I don't need a snack on a 50 mins ride. GWT-DUS on 737-700: old plane, bad seats (seat in front of me was broken), although staff were friendly and flight was ahead of schedule. Enough for a domestic flight about 55 min.

We flew from Abu Dhabi to Phuket on 11 December and returned to Abu Dhabi from Phuket with Air Berlin on 27 December. Flight out delayed by a few hours and all the crew had to say was that it wasn't their fault. Eventually there was an announcement that we were going to be given a glass of water! On the fight back one of the cabin crew plonked a meal in front of my husband who asked if there was a choice. The flight attendant told him there was only chicken left. No drinks service before our meal and the food wasn't up to much. Not all the crew were surly but most made you feel that you were a nuisance - even though we didn't ask for anything! Very poor service.

Flew code share (I thought I was flying Etihad) from Abu Dhabi to Phuket. All in all quite poor, flying in business class, poor food and seat, no lie flat, very uncomfortable, bad choice of movies. On the return leg they did not have enough food so I did not eat a main dish, cabin crew apologised but did not offer any options. On the whole I found the crew to be quite rude and unhelpful. I will not use Air Berlin again and would not recommend them.

Three flights in the last 2 weeks between ZRH and BER. All flights arrived 5 to 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Seating very comfy for these flights, free snack and soft drinks served. However: The biggest plus are the Flight attendants who all were extremely friendly with a lot of smiles.

Flight AB7417 from CUN-DUS on 29th Dec 2012 on A330-200. Called their serviceline to reserve seats for my wife, when checking in I was told, there were no records. In the end got a 4 seater for me and my wife, with the comment, that they would not be able to guarantee until boarding would be completed. Since plane was only 70 % full, it finally worked out. Lounge access: Although clearly mentioned on their homepage for their Gold Members, no voucher for their contract lounge, later in the lounge sent away due to I could not provide them with a voucher! Onboard, IFE not working properly, even reading lights could not be operated. When asking one FA to help, she was very annoyed, telling me she has other things to do. Finally she helped by resetting the lights. Food was not nice either. No drink rounds during a 9 hour flight with exception of meals. No amenity kits, not even a small one for a night flight. No personal welcome or care for their status pax, at least not for me, whereas they seemed to be very caring about one more status pax 2 rows further front. Out of more than 30 long-haul flights in 2012, this was by far the worst. Never had such an unprofessional, unfriendly experience and will avoid for future trips! They might be acceptable for a short hop within Europe, but their long-haul product is really bad, both for the ground handling as well as on-board.

Düsseldorf to Fort Myers, return 3 weeks later. The food was good, no complaints. Flight service staff were very good - ground service staff not so. The in-flight entertainment was very good. There was a problem with one monitor. The problem had not been fixed on the return flight - we had the same seats on the same machine! My problem is with the reclining seats. They are very peculiar in that in the full sleep position the body is in a decline, the legs and feet are lower than the upper body. A very odd position that I found most uncomfortable. The seats looked a bit worn for newly installed seating. Late night check-in in Düsseldorf left something to be desired. There were 4 counters open, and just a handful of passengers checking in. The Business counter was dealing with a rather lengthy problem so we went to one of the economy counters. The woman at this counter practically snarled at us. For these reasons - poor service by the ground staff and the office staff I would hesitate to fly with Air Berlin again.

TXL-AUH AUH-TXL. Staff were surly and unhelpful. We were travelling with an 18 month old and they gave the bassinet seats we had requested/reconfirmed to two men instead of us. Food was terrible, service was non-existent. Plane was old and poky considering length of flight. Never again.

We flew from JFK to Tegel. The flight was over an hour late taking off and no explanation or apology was given. No dinner provided and a very poor explanation given for this ie there was a potential for clear air turbulence although during the flight we experienced little turbulence. Breakfast was provided but it was cold and of very poor quality. My wife had no audio for her in-flight entertainment and staff were unable to rectify this. All reading lights that were switched on were unable to be switched off so it was very difficult to get any sleep. The seats were uncomfortable and tended to tip you forward. There was no information provided about destination time or weather and the travel map on the in-flight entertainment did not work. Also no one could provide information about our next flight out of Berlin in spite of us having a forward booking e- ticket indicating that there was a service to be operated by Air Berlin. The general demeanour of staff was surly or apathetic. Without a doubt we would never choose to fly Air Berlin again.

My outbound flight to Rome was delayed by almost 10 hours. Customer Service at JFK comprised a few hapless girls who did not bother to try and book any of the passengers on alternate flights. My return flight from Venice was rescheduled from 1.55 in the afternoon to 8.00 in the morning, an incredible inconvenience requiring getting up in the middle of the night to reach the airport 3 hours before an international flight. These matters were made worse by the almost total disregard for the passengers or their schedules. Since my return to New York, Air Berlin Customer Service has evaded replies to my letters for more than a month. It is bad enough for an airline to be sloppy. Fortunately most of my travels go smoothly. Inevitably I've occasionally travelled with a poor or weak airline. I will never fly with them again.

Air Berlin carrier for Etihad Abu Dhabi to Phuket December 2012. Crew surly and uninterested, food and seats terrible, no space. The flight was so bad I checked all my onward travel on arrival in Phuket and was prepared to pay for other flights if Air Berlin were the carriers for any other legs. If you have booked with them or will have a leg of your journey with them, be warned and do something about it now.

FRA-TXL-AUH-HKT-AUH-TXL-FRA. Surprisingly good experience compared to European competitors. FRA-TXL and TXL-FRA flights excellent - complimentary food and wine on a 50 mins domestic flight. TXL-AUH (22.11.12) - enough legroom on A330, personal display and professional, friendly and smiling crew. Cabin was in perfect condition. Food was tasty with choice of pasta or beef and drink runs about 4-5 times. Same experience on flight AUH-TXL (07.12.12) with meal and snack on a 6.5 hr flight, wide choice of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, too. Unfortunately moving map was out of order. The captain kept us informed instead. However experience on both flights AUH-HKT, (26.11.12) and HKT-AUH, (06.12.12) was not really the same as mentioned above. Flight crews looked a bit nervous and tired, only 1 drink run. What I dislike at AB is that although they have a very good IFE system it gets boring watching the same movies and listening to same music on each and every flight with them. Especially if you have 4 long hauls in 2 weeks. Either update it monthly or by leg! The second complain is TXL as a transfer airport-it looks appalling and awful in every sense. All in all above average experience. Would fly them again.

Booked XL seats on the flight from Tegel-Miami, but the seats was not XL. They were by the door (entrance door and emergency exit) which has a very big bulge on the door, with makes the legroom (for your left leg) smaller than an ordinary seat. I asked the steward about this, and he was somewhat surprised that the seat was sold as XL. On the way back we ordered XL seat for my son. He got an ordinary seat. On the way back we also booked reserved seating for me and my wife to make sure we did not get bad seats. We got seats by the toilet which were impossible to recline. All together we have paid about 200 euro for nothing.

JFK-TXL-CPH and CPH-DUS-JFK. Inadequate legroom for a 5'9" tall person meant my knees touched the seat in front of me on the overnight to Berlin from JFK. On the way back from Dusseldorf, a 6'1" guy sitting next to me couldn't fit in his seat without sitting bowlegged and the elderly woman in front of him couldn't recline. Aside from the DUS-JFK meals, which included various unidentifiable items and cold chicken nuggets, other amenities were fine, but I will never fly them long haul again. On a positive note, domestic European transfers had more legroom than the transatlantic flights.

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