With Germania from Berlin to Tel Aviv – My Flight to Sin City

This August, I had another very special goal on my schedule: I was invited to Israel for a month. For the flight there I chose the airline Germania, which among other destinations offers flights from Berlin to Tel Aviv. The city contrasts with Jerusalem – the Holy City – and is therefore often referred to by locals as Sin City.

Germania – Where, Who, What, Why?

Germania is one of the rather unknown German airlines, although it’s been launched in 1979. With only three machines, they started at the German airport of Cologne/Bonn and now have 36 machines (as of July 2018). The fleet consists mainly of the Airbus A319-100, but also the Airbus A321-200 and the Boeing 737-700, and ticket prices for one-way flights start at 59 euros and include destinations in the Mediterranean, Northern, and Eastern Europe, but also the Middle East. When I was looking for a flight from Berlin to Tel Aviv, I came across Germania quite quickly. I admit I had read the name of the airline occasionally when I was traveling in Southern Europe and looking for flights back to Germany but never booked a flight at the end. This should change now and I took my first Germania flight on July 30th.

Getting to the Airport

My ticket included a Rail & Fly ticket. I was able to book every train on the day of my flight.

But beware: You really have to book the train! The Rail & Fly ticket itself does not entitle you to travel!

With your booking code, you can easily select the desired train in the corresponding input mask and you will then receive your train ticket as usual. I always do this via the App DB Navigator to save paper. This also worked wonderfully with the Rail & Fly. For a moment, I had been worried that the ticket would only be valid for the train and I would have to pay extra for the TXL Express Bus – a normal bus in Berlin with a stop at Berlin Tegel (TXL) airport. However, this was not the case.

A little tip: The TXL Express bus is not an airport shuttle as you may know it. It is a normal bus of the Berlin public transport system and offers no additional space for your luggage. It is, therefore, best to plan waiting time and drive one or two buses later in case you travel with a lot of luggage. But don’t worry: the bus leaves every six to seven minutes.

Baggage Drop-Off, Check-in & Boarding at Germania

The bus will leave you at the terminals A and B. Unfortunately, the check-in counter of Germania is in Terminal C, so you have to pass terminals A and B on the left and cross a pedestrian bridge into the neighboring terminal. It’ll take about five minutes. Unfortunately, the counter hasn’t been open yet when I arrived, although I wasn’t there so early, so there was already a long queue. In the end, however, everything went smoothly and with my passport – without printed confirmation of my ticket – I got my boarding pass.

Then you have to go back over the bridge again and into terminals A and B, where interestingly enough there were no security controls at first. I went looking for my gate and found the controls I’d already missed. Meticulously both my hand luggage and I were searched, but in the end, I was allowed to join the others who were waiting for boarding.

Although the boarding took place with a little delay, it was quick and smooth. We were taken to the waiting position by two buses. Then the friendly staff greeted us.

The Flight With Germania from Berlin to Tel Aviv

The flight itself was without complications or turbulence. The only problem was a passenger complaining about her seat, whose tilt function was jammed. She started complaining loudly, but the flight attendant remained calm and asked her to excuse the inconvenience. I suggested to swap with her but she didn’t want to. Well, even the best flight attendants can’t do magic.

My personal flaw was a blanket. It would have cost 6 Euro extra and it was really cold on the plane. I now fear that I can no longer avoid making a blanket part of my basic equipment for hand luggage. With other low-cost airlines such as Scoot, these also cost extra. So when I’m flying to Singapore next month, I can’t forget them under any circumstances.

The food and the beverage service were perfect and I got two drinks as usual: Tomato juice and Coke. I know it doesn’t fit, but what am I supposed to do… Everyone has their vices.

Arrival in Tel Aviv And Final Thoughts

After the landing in Tel Aviv, I was unfortunately interrogated relatively long by the officials about my stay in Israel. A four-week vacation seems suspicious, and that this was my third trip in 30 months, as well. Perhaps the problem was also that I answered truthfully questions about countries in which I had been, and thus also affirmed that I have visited the Westbank / Palestine during my past visits.

After three hours of waiting in the waiting area cooled down to arctic temperatures and several interrogations with the same questions, my passport was finally passed into my hand with the entry permit. My suitcase was waiting for me next to the baggage claim belt, while the sun was rising over Tel Aviv.

I would fly with Germania again at any time and look forward to testing more routes with this great German airline. Who knows, maybe next time I’ll fly to Tehran with Germania? Iran has long been on my bucket list…

Stay tuned!