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Iberian Airlines -anyone with experience?

Iberian Airlines -anyone with experience?

Old Aug 26th, 2005, 06:05 AM
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Iberian Airlines -anyone with experience?

Hi All...in 10 days we are flying Iberian from JFK to Madrid and then 10 days from then, flying from Madrid to Athens...we are going Business Class (courtesy of AA points!). Our flight back to the US is on BA/AA.

I have heard many really bad things about Iberian Airlines, however, much of it is fairly old and (hopefully) outdated. I read on a Fodors thread (from 1999) that their airplanes are NOT smoke-free. Is this still the case???

Any tips, info, cautions, etc. about this Airline would be helpful.

Thanks
marcy
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 06:18 AM
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I can only comment on a recent flight on Iberia within Spain. The equipment was as would be expected. Staff was helpful. Check-in was easy. Luggage got there. The plane was smoke-free.

No food was served.

OK, it doesn't necessarily represent what will happen to you on YOUR flight but neither will much of anything else IMO.

Business Class and on points?? GO for it.
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 06:28 AM
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I too have cashed in AA points for business class JFK to Madrid (and on to Rome 9 days later on Iberia). Let us know how it is. I was told that Iberia now surpasses AA for quality in business class. Have you looked at all the stuff on the Iberia website including details of the business class seat? They also have a "help yourself anytime" snack bar and bar set up in business. I'm not sure why that's supposed to be better than someone waiting on you, though.

I'm 99 percent positive that it is all non-smoking.

All I can say is it's GOT to be better than our last BA business class flight!

You did get your seat assignments, right? AA seemed a little unsure if they were doing it right, but I called Iberia direct and they were able to check it out. The AA rep thought all the seats in Business from Madrid to Rome were "individual" and booked us in seats front and back of each other. The Iberia rep explained that they use a three and three seat configuration for that flight, but the center seats in both groups are blocked off, so she moved us to two of three seats with the center seat empty.
If you are unsure of your seats, call Iberia and check it out before you get there.
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 06:46 AM
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all IB flights are smoke free.
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 07:00 AM
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I have flown them quite a few times and have never had any problems at all.They always seem to have good fares so I will continue to use them. (In fact looking at a flight to Europe next June as I type)
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 07:49 AM
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I've flown Iberia twice in the last 6 years. They're no better or worse than the rest of them. I would fly them again since they seem to be competitive.
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 07:50 AM
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Iberia transatlantic business has improved tremendously over the last year or so. You will like it. Intra-European business class is nothing special. You basically will be sitting in economy seats with the middle seat open. Better food. Don't forget to ask for invitation to the airline's business lounges.
IB ground crews and FAs are still about 50/50 at best. When they're bad, they're really bad. It should not be much of a problem on the international route, but intra-European routes are when IB does not shine. Hopefully you will get nice crew.

Have a great trip!
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 08:17 AM
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well i cant comment on the quality on their planes or stewardesses cause i never got on the plane.my iberia flight was cancelled (but nobody came to tell us this at that time).iberia left us in the dark what happened,wondering if we were at the right gate or not.the computer monitor instead of showing 'delayed' or 'cancelled' just blinked "info at 19:00",even though it was well past 19:00 (19:00 was incidentally the time of the flight). then one of their staff came ("bullethead") who proceeded to explain that the "plane didnt come". i suspect they didnt have a full flight and found it cheaper to cancel, if destroying customer relations can be considered cheap. Bullethead said we would have a meal and another flight would be leaving soon.three hours later (no meal or info forthcoming) at 22:30 we got an announcement for a gate change for a 22:30 flight. Bullethead appeared and told us we need to go back outside & around to the check in desks to check in for this flight(not iberia),and that we should better run! and run we did! We had to go through security again too. Finally we got on the plane and breathed a sigh of relief.

Now i understand that many airlines are also guilty of cancelling, but that doesnt make it acceptable,right? and it could have been handled better too.
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 11:39 AM
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that is what i was talking about.
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 12:06 PM
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Used them in May. Was very unimpressed.

They got us in late and did a poor job or directing us to a connecting flight. Then took forever to get us on another.

Felt like I was flying on a discount carrier instead of transatlantic.
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Old Aug 26th, 2005, 12:30 PM
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This is all so interesting. Usually people say to check on FlyerTalk. When I was ready to book by flight, I went there and did an hour or so of searching. It was apparent that the overwhelming opinion was that Iberia Business Class is GREAT, including many comments that it surpasses AA, which I really like. So I booked it.

But then so far everything people here have said about Iberia, I could say about my two experiences with BA also, and some people rave about BA business class -- so who knows?
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Old Aug 27th, 2005, 10:01 PM
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I just flew Iberia in June, Madrid-Chicago. I booked through Expedia (flew into London and then did various budget airlines to get to Italy and then to Madrid)and flew economy. It was the best deal for me, but I had memories of cancelled flights years ago and was a little concerned.

Check-in in Madrid seemed crazy when I walked into the airport but once I moved away from the first counters the lines were much shorter. The flight was fine. The service was actually quite good. Seats were crammed, but you may fare better in business class. The food was okay, and the wine as well. The plane was packed, but all in all I was pleasantly surprised.

Yes, it was all non-smoking.
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Old Aug 30th, 2005, 06:32 AM
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We have just returned from our first experience of iberia business plus travel.

we had volunteered to be bumped off ib flight from ord to mad.
they directly gave us the upgrade and in the end did not need our seats. we were also given a pass to the delta crown room, which was a really nice place to spend the two hours til boarding.

the full reclining seats are great. the even have massager in them. each passenger has a personal movie screen with choice of 12 films and several series and games.

the food was just o.k., though.
the three large shrimp appetizer was good. but the duck and the filet were pretty dull. the vegetables rather insipid.

a dessert tray was brought around with ice cream , tiramisu, and a selection of cheeses. the cheeses were the best part of that.

warm moist towelletes were passed a couple times during the flight.

breakfast was a warm mini croissant and some type of sweet roll, butter, jam, fruit and yogurt.

it is such a quick flight going east.. we landed 7.5 hours later.

main conclusion is that airplane food is getting worse everywhere.
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Old Aug 31st, 2005, 03:33 AM
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Thanks everyone for you input. We are fortunate that we are a) in Bus. class; b) NOT checking any luggage; c) don't need to connect from Iberia to other flights. Hopefully, our flights will be safe and comfortable. I will update this thread when I return from our trip and let you all know!
Marcy
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Old Aug 31st, 2005, 05:39 AM
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I took Iberia to Barcelona a while back and had a rough time of it. We took of in a major thunder storm (I still don't know why it wasn't called off and delayed). The first hour was really rough and at one point we dropped quite some distance. In the cabin they had on the movie screen inflight info (air speed, time of arrival and unfortunatly an altimiter) which indicated exactly how much we dropped. Everybody was screaming, including the flight attnts.
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Old Oct 20th, 2005, 04:54 AM
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Hello all...for those of you who may remember, I was in Europe for the first time last month. Thanks again to all of you for your suggestions -we incorporated many of them into our plans.

Everything worked out just fine! I even have to say that the Iberian flights went just fine. Everything was on schedule and we had no problems. All flights were on time and we had none of the hassles that I have read about. Contrary to what I had read, the meals were not "self serve" and although not gourmet, were certainly very edible. For our overnight flight, we were given very nice little packages with all sorts of goodies - far better than others i have received from other airlines in my trips to Asia. The seats in Business Class were not as comfortable as we would have expected, but that's about the only thing that we could comment on. The flight crew did not always fall all over themselves to be charming on the flight from JFK to Madrid, but in contrast, the flight attendants serving us from Madrid to Athens were probably of the nicest and most attentive I've ever flown with.

So all in all, I can understand why people aren't breaking any speed limits rushing to fly with them, I can honestly say that Iberian was fine for us.

Happy Travels!
marcy
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