This is the second report in a series covering my trip to Europe and Africa around New Year's. The trip involved three nested itineraries (which turned into four). A OneWorld roundtrip itinerary from the US to Milan, a Tunisair roundtrip itinerary from Milan to Tunis, Tunisia, and a Star Alliance roundtrip itinerary from Tunis to Windhoek, Namibia. The return portion of the Star Alliance itinerary would turn into a one-way itinerary on Qatar Airways due to South African Airways delays, horrible customer service by South African Airways and United Airlines, and a cancellation of the remainder of the Star Alliance itinerary. I submitted a claim to World Nomads travel insurance for the Qatar Airways ticket I had to buy, but they rejected it. According to them, that expense isn't covered under the terms of the policy. Obviously, I believe it is covered and am appealing. I do not recommend using World Nomads travel insurance. I've bought five travel insurance policies through them; this is the first time I had to make a claim and it's not a good process.
The OneWorld itinerary was an open jaw from Chicago to Milan in Economy, and Milan to San Diego in Business. The total cost was 63,000 AAdvantage miles and $84.10. Normal cost would be 70,000 miles (20,000 for the outbound in Economy and 50,000 for the inbound in Business). However, I was able to get 10% back thanks to my Citi AAdvantage MasterCard.
————— Tunis to Istanbul (Turkish Airlines Business) ————— Istanbul to Kinshasa (Turkish Airlines Business) ————— Kinshasa to Johannesburg (South African Airways Business) ————— Johannesburg to Windhoek (South African Airways Business) ————— Windhoek to Johannesburg (South African Airways Business) ————— Johannesburg to Lagos (South African Airways Business): Cancelled Flight ————— Lagos to Istanbul (South African Airways Business): Cancelled Flight ————— Istanbul to Tunis (Turkish Airlines Business): Cancelled Flight
———- Tunis to Milan Malpensa (Tunisair Economy): No Show
——————– Johannesburg to Doha (Qatar Airways Business) ——————– Doha to Milan Malpensa (Qatar Airways Business)
—– Milan Malpensa to Miami (American Airlines Business) —– Miami to Chicago O'Hare (American Airlines First) —– Chicago O'Hare to San Diego (American Airlines First)
After arriving back at the airport during my layover I stayed in the main terminal for a while to kill some time at a coffee shop.
Then it was time to head over to Terminal C where my flight to Milan Linate was actually departing from.
After security, there's a giant waiting area for several gates with a couple shops and restaurants. Overall not a very comfortable place to wait.
The boarding process wasn't actually that bad because the flight wasn't very full. Everyone just got in one giant line and we walked out to the plane after having our boarding passes scanned.
I snapped these pics from my original assigned seat but I ended up moving to 2F since the first few rows were completely empty. The airborne portion of this trip was fine. I don't remember there being any sort of service, but that may have been because I was sleeping and this was a very short flight.
The weather at Milan Linate was extremely foggy.
We took a bus to the terminal and were deposited straight into the baggage claim area since our flight originated in another Schengen Zone country. The bag I had originally checked in Chicago came out just fine and I took the #73 bus towards the city.
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Verdict
Air Berlin
5.6/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering5.0
Berlin - TXL
4.6/10
Efficiency7.5
Access4.0
Services3.0
Cleanliness4.0
Milan - LIN
4.6/10
Efficiency5.0
Access4.5
Services4.5
Cleanliness4.5
Conclusion
Standard short haul European flight. However, the time spent at TXL during the layover wasn't very comfortable. As discussed in the prior report, Berlin really needs to get Brandenburg back on track and open soon. My arrival into Linate wasn't bad. Getting on the bus to downtown was slightly confusing but I made it.
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Great tarmac shots of your plane. The cabin looks clean. There aren't many AB reports out there, so AB might be LCC type on intra-European network since there was also no J cabin.
THis kind of airport would force anyone to turn up at the last minute only for check in An empty flight always promises more comfort in Y especially if you plan a wee nap. Any route map shown on the ovehead screens?
Hey East African, thanks for reading! I believe the dropdown monitors did have a breadcrumb style route map, but I don't remember for sure, I took advantage of the empty cabin to grab a nap!
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77 reviews
6 Comments
TXL looks like a Costco on the inside.
Great tarmac shots of your plane. The cabin looks clean. There aren't many AB reports out there, so AB might be LCC type on intra-European network since there was also no J cabin.
Yeah, I was happy no one barked at me while I was snapping pics with my Sony camera out on the tarmac.
Also, I should've noted this flight was actually operated by TUIfly.
THis kind of airport would force anyone to turn up at the last minute only for check in
An empty flight always promises more comfort in Y especially if you plan a wee nap. Any route map shown on the ovehead screens?
THanks for this flight report and also thanks for the brief explanation of World Nomad service.
Wow, Berlin airport looks like an unfinished warehouse. Very rudimentary to put it nicely :) No wonder people are going gaga over BBI delay.
Was the recline good? The leather seats look nice though it seems seat pitch is rather tight
-Bombieflyer-
I actually didn't recline my seat because I was lucky enough to have a whole row to myself, so I just laid across!
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