How to get to Tegel airport early in the a.m.?

Stacie, is it really necessary to be there three hours in advance? Unless somebody can advise you re public transportation, the easiest way would be to order a taxi the night before for about 5-5:15am. The hostel staff should be able to help you with that. Tegel isn't all that far from the hostel address. Have the taxi company phone number handy in case the cab is a no-show. If the U-Bahn runs that early and Bus 109 does, too, you can take the U-Bahn to Zoologischer Garten (Zoo) and pick up Bus 109 to Tegel. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a timetable but maybe the hostel can help you out there. Also, the Grand Hotel Esplanade is just down the street from the hostel on Luetzow Ufer - maybe they have a shuttle going to Tegel.

Is your first destination another city in Europe? If so, you probably only need to be there 90 minutes in advance so check on that. I left from Tegel last week and made the mistake of arriving 2.5 hours early. Most of the counters for intra-European flights did not even start check-in until 90 minutes prior. You could use a kiosk to check-in, but I was mad I got up early. It is a small airport and security is right at the gate. You can check the transit schedule for Berlin. Here is the online schedule, but I bet your hostel could also help you with any questions. www.bvg.de/index.php/en/index.html There is a bus from the Hauptbahnhof to Tegel.

You can search for travel times at www.bvg.de in English. I did a search for travel from that address to Tegel arriving at 4:30 on Monday morning and got: Night bus N2 from intersection of Luetsowstrasse and Potsdamer Strasse at 3:46 to Zoo Station, then bus X9 to the airport arriving at 4:15.

Thanks Anna, Laura, and Philip! I will be flying to Dusseldorf and from there to Atlanta so not having to be there that early is awesome! I will check in to the cab and buses. I have to admit that even though I'm in my 40's, the thought of public transportation is a little daunting as there is no public transportation where I live. I have used subways/trains/buses/taxis only a couple of times but I'm game to try:) I plan on asking for help at the hostel, but I've contacted them a couple of times and they have not replied:( Who knows? I may change and stay at another hostel. The one Rick recommends, "The Circus Hostel" sounds cool.
Again, thank you for your help!

Hi, Stacie, we just returned from Berlin on June 2. Our flight from Tegel left at 6 am (to AMS then to the US). We had a taxi pick us up in the Tiergarten area (our apartment owners ordered it for us) at 4 am. It cost a little under 15 Euro. We arrived at the airport and none of the airline employees were there yet. We could have easily left 30 minutes later and probably even an hour (but I would not have been totally comfortable with that). The area that we stayed in was residential, but I could see a busier street (not a major one, but a bit more used than ours) two blocks from our apartment while we waited for our taxi and there were taxis on that street at 4am that we could have "hailed". Also, in Prague, I went online and "ordered" my own taxi. This worked very well, but we did use our cell phones to make the connection so this might be important. I didn't check, but I am pretty sure that you could do the same in Berlin (order your own taxi online) which might be easier than phoning them.