Are either of these worth getting excited about? I'm off to Berlin with work in a couple of weeks, flying in the cheap seats. The timing isn't great, as it's time for our annual household Amex Gold Card switcheroo with my wife referring me, so I am reliant on the Lounge Club card actually turning up before I leave. My question really is; are the lounges at either end worth busting a gut to visit. The outbound from BHX is a Monday morning, so probably happy enough not to explore the finer vodkas on offer, but coming back on a Friday afternoon is a different proposition I visited a BHX lounge *many* years ago on a business trip. It was my first experience of business class travel, and remember being very excited about free booze, but don't remember much else about it.
I haven't been to the one in Brum, but Mon morning doesn't sound inspiring! Berlin - I'm not sure which lounge Lounge Club has access to, but I've been to the Air Berlin one (which I think is actually an Air France Lounge, ironically enough), and it wasn't great That said, Friday afternoon/evening - as long as there's drinks and something to snack on you can't go too far wrong I suppose!
The lounge at TXL is "Berlin Airportclub Lounge". It's landside, which I don't like the idea of. New Amex turned up; Loungeclub within 28 days apparently Might give them a call to see if it's likely to be here, but doesn't look worth worrying about.
All the lounges at Berlin TXL are landside, the airport just isn't big enough for any to be airside! It was built in an earlier, less airport-stressful time... Each handful of gates have their own security, right by the gate, and non-Schengen ones have an exit immigration check too. The gate staff can see you while you're in security or immigration, so they shouldn't close if they can see you stuck there. In the BA lounge, they'll announce when you might want to leave, and when you need to be setting off. It's pretty much always timed right to get you to the gate just when boarding starts
Thanks, I'm reassured about the landside lounge setup, but having just spoken to Lounge Club, it seems very unlikely that my card will arrive before my Monday morning flight. Oh well, just have to make sure I get a receipt for the beer at the airport
It was built for an earlier time, and was supposed to have been closed about 10 years ago... For plane to taxi time, it's almost as good as LCY, and handles more flights! Public transport connections aren't too bad - no ubahn/sbahn as it's supposed to be closed by now, but frequent buses the short hop to both, and the sales desk for buying tickets is good http://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...stic-airport-became-a-6-billion-embarrassment is quite a good article on the issues with the new one. I'd also recommend https://jonworth.eu/touring-the-berlin-brandenburg-airport-no-closer-to-the-answer/ (written by a friend of mine living in Berlin), for photos and a sense of the head-in-the-sand behaviour from the staff there
Arrival experience was pretty good, and you are right; I was in a cab very soon after landing. For departures, it's pretty miserable. The Brandenburg story is hilarious, I had no idea. Thanks for sharing.
