[AMcWhirter]

Well David I go back even further when it comes to Berlin.

My first flights were in Dec 1970 and Jan 1971 with PanAm which in those days flew B727s on internal German routes. So I flew from Frankfurt into Berlin Tempelhof in the days when that city centre airport was the main gateway (Tegel hadn’t yet opened).

Yes I have heard good reports about the train link between Berlin and Copenhagen. Good rail links for Berlin are a must as air passenger numbers continue to grow but without any increase in aviation capacity on the ground.

[DavidGordon10]

Trumped! I never flew to Templehof, but I think Tegel was pretty new when I first went there. My per diem was enough to pay for champagne all the way back to London on BEA.

[fatbear]

Alex

Tegel was being used by Dan Air, Laker Airways and Modern Air in the early 1970s for Berlin charters flights whilst Tempelhof was used by Pan Am and BEA/BA for the German scheduled flights.

I believe the “new” terminal opened in 1974 after which Pan Am and BA moved most of their flights to Tegel

One tip when flying BA from Tegel. Whilst the flights usually leave from gate 5, you can avoid most of the queues for security/passport control by going through gate 4 as this is a shared departure area. The BA lounge is quite a reasonable one by outstation standards too.

[AMcWhirter]

Brusselsregular – Apologies for the error. I associate Tegel with the new terminal (ie the existing one which originally opened in 1974) forgetting, as you rightly point out, that some other carriers were using this airport at the same time that Tempelhof was operational.

And now I remember that AF used to fly from Paris into Tegel with its Caravelle jets because they were unable to land at Tempelhof’s shortish runway.

[fatbear]

I thought AF flew into Tegel as the Airport was in the French sector of Berlin, although the length of the runway may have been the real reason !

[DavidGordon10]

This thread has caused me to look up the history of Tegel, which is well worth reading in Wikipedia. It has also caused me to correct my memory of when BEA merged with BOAC, which was earlier than I had remembered. However, my memory of what the doughnut terminal was like at TXL is clear, and it must have been very new when I first went through it.

[canucklad]

Morning David
I do remember my frustration with BMI and BMI baby.

I used to regularly use the Cardiff service !

When you take into account, that in most cases the fares were greater or at least comparable than BD’s fares to LHR.

I was only able to access the EDI lounge if the desk was manned by someone who recognized me as a Sunday night regular!

My BD pal explained to me that the policy is dictated to by the other members of Star alliance who don’t want their brand associated with Low cost.

My advice, put you’re gold card in a recorded letter to the CEO, citing your disappointment and jump of allegiance to BA, mention the comments here and await a reply.
If it’s satisfactory then you can always order a replacement.

As I’ve mentioned before, we’re the consumers yet we don’t exercise our most “dangerous” right often enough !
Sadly we allow corporations to bully us and accept their doublespeak excuses , and with a shrug of the shoulders await the next deterioration in service

[Senator]

canucklad, whilst you make some interesting points, I don’t think Rikard Gustavsson, the CEO of SAS cares if an EuroBonus member bails because the Lufthansa Group has decided to a) move production of Intra-European flights to a different, autonomous carrier in their portfolio and b) not enrol this carrier into Star Alliance.

If I was in Rikard’s shoes, I would not worry either as this is completely outside his control.

However, if I was a long-standing Miles & More status holder, and addressed the departing Christoph Franz, it would be a different matter.

[canucklad]

Valid point Senator, had forgotten it was a SAS GC

Change advice to new LH chap (without the card) and why not cc in whoever is the top dog at star!

[JohnHarper]

David, thank you for raising these issues.

Even though I’m a SEN I have decided not to try 4U on a forthcoming trip to TXL. I had my reservations but you have confirmed that it is not a good idea.

[DavidGordon10]

John, as a Senator I think you wil be OK, it is just us lowly other Star Alliance GC holders who are out in the cold…..

That being said, I am in First on LH to the USA in a couple of months, so I may be feeling more positive then.

[JohnHarper]

David, I think I would be OK from a lounge access point of view but to get a bit more space on board the fare is in the silly zone.

I can buy C on BA for quite a lot less and while it’s not great at least the middle seat will be free.

[DavidGordon10]

A year-on sequel.

As I checked into the LH lounge in T2 this morning (flying Swiss, OK with an SAS gold card) one of our American friends was going pop at not being admitted. He had been booked by United through London to Hamburg – and just gobsmaked at the idea that, despite his UA gold card, this meant he could not have a quiet hour in the lounge waiting for his connection.

I explained my reasons for never again flying Germanwings, meanwhile the charming lounge attendant was handing out complaint cards as though this was her daily routine when discussion of Germanwings comes up.

Of course the problem is that LH crew are paid at levels that are just not sustainable in the present world of aviation – so Germanwings had to be invented.

[AMcWhirter]

Hello DavidGordon10 –

Thanks for the informative post. I remember writing about this issue when it was first announced that German Wings would be absorbing all Lufthansa’s non-core routes.

I hadn’t thought about the problems which might arise at LHR. And likewise it would also affect UA Gold Card holders flying German Wings between other European arrival points for its flights and those non-hub German cities not served by Lufthansa.

[JohnnyEnglish]

I can almost understand a non-alliance subsidiary preventing lounge access if the flight was booked with them directly. However, I had a situation a couple of years back when as Star Gold I was denied access to the lounge in CPH because I was flying with an SAS subsidiary, Wideroe. This was despite booking the flight through the SAS website and with an SAS flight code. Denying lounge access smacked of deception to me…

[Author]

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