Lounge Tegel

Getting up at the ungodly hour of 4:20 am, the kids and I took the Regional Express back to Berlin Brandenburg well ahead of our flight up to Copenhagen. Having never flown out of the airport before, I did not quite know what to expect in terms of queues and, seeing that easyJet had a whole bank of morning departures, including one to Rovaniemi for those who missed the Santa season, I thought it better to be safe than sorry. Once at the airport, however, it took only a few minutes to check my bag, and we were through security in no time.

Having had my American Express Platinum card for a year now, the economics of it, compared to my former life on the frequent-flyer hamster wheel, still astonish me. The fact that I can book any ticket with any airline – in this case a €25 fare with easyJet – and still enjoy an abundant breakfast in the "Tegel" lounge for myself and one guest is simply unbeatable, especially considering that SAS was €100 more per person this morning.

Now, leaving the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft behind, we have twenty minutes until landing in Copenhagen, where the forecast promises heavy snowfall and weeks of cold winter weather. Later in the afternoon, we will take the ferry over to Helsingborg and then the high-speed train to Gothenburg – but first, time to see a bit of the Danish capital.