I recently booked a flight on American only to find it was an Iberia flight on their rickety old planes, with their rude and conceited stewardesses and flea market cheap check-in I was stuck and had to leave and want to warn you that you may think you are flying the Paradise Express-AMERICAN and instead booking with IBERIA- hell on wings! Make sure when booking with AA they will put you only on AA flights-they will tell you it is the sme service but it is not-be afraid or be prepared.

Iberia has had a bad service reputation ,even among Spaniards for many years! Since AA owns part of Iberia, they code share, meaning an AA ticket with an AA flight number could put you on an Iberia crewed plane.

Any American Air flight with a flight number above 6000 is a codeshare or oneworld parnter flight. For United it is 3000 and above for codeshare/star alliance flights so always check your reservations to see what number.

Any feedback on Sabena or Air Littoral? I have a flight from Munich to Nice: Sabena flight operated by Air Littoral.

Sabena and Air Littoral have been fine for me. Smallish planes (not props -- these have "real" engines), decent staff. Sabena and Air Littoral are big here in Europe. Air France uses Sabena and Air Littoral for their operators too.

I am booked on an "AA" flight to Spain - and its on Iberia. As far as I know, there are no direct AA flights to Madrid out of the US except Miami. As I don't live in Miami, I have one choice for a direct flight to Spain using AA - on Iberia. Is it just the service that was bad or should I worry about the plane? Help - I'm a nervous flyer.

Iberia has a pretty good safety record so I wouldn't worry about their airplanes albeit that they do fly a number of quite old 747's. As for the surly personnel & poor service, just grin & bear it! <BR>The Iberia pilots have just announced which days they will be striking from now thru the end of summer. Make sure your flights are not on those days!

I just recently returned from flying on Iberia airlines. My experience flying with them was one of the best experiences I have had with airlines and I have flown on several occasions. The flight attendants were very professional and courteous, the food was average, and the airplanes I flew on were very clean and appeared to be in good shaped. I flew on six flights with them (from Chicago to Barcelona round trip as well as from Barcelona to Paris round trip). All six flights were fantastic. Sorry guys, Iberia gets my vote!!

After all this "Iberia bashing" in these boards, I must say I like Iberia and I always try to fly with them. Maybe the flight attendants are rude for american standards but I think their service is OK. Whereas in other companies the mayor aim is having more benefits, Iberia being "state owned" until very recently doensn't care that much. An airport worker told me that many airlines allow planes to take off with minor mecanical problems, thing that Iberia never does until everything is solved.

I vote for American ove Iberia any day. I, too, thought I was flying AA & wasn't. I think the comments about the rude flight attendants are correct. The problem I had was they spoke everything in Spanish - then attempted a poor translation to English and if you dared to ask a question, you were treated like you were bothering them. Ho, and I was flying Business Class! The layover in Barcelona was supposed to be 45 minutes - turned into over 4 hours (sitting on the plane the whole time!) Actually - I think I'll fly Delta ...

Thanks for the info on Sabena and Air Littoral!

John, How do you find out which days the Iberia pilots will be striking? <BR> <BR>Thanks.

The first strike day is scheduled for June 19 according to a newspaper report. There are a total of ten days throughout the summer on which the Iberia pilots said they will strike. Because of the movement of aircraft internationally,frequently overnight, the strike could effect flights both the day before & the day after the official strike days. <BR>Both Iberia management and AA have been given these dates, so it behooves anyone with tickets to fly at those times to call those airlines and get re-scheduled on flights for alternate dates or on non striking airlines.

Has anyone been on an Iberia flight to Madrid from Newark Airport, recently?

Continental Airlines offers non-stop service from Newark (NYC) to Madrid daily. <BR>Iberia's scheduled service is from JFK (NYC).

While we're on the subject of air travel in Spain, does anyone have any info/advice regarding GB Airways (which is apparently a British Airways subsidiary)??

John, thanks for the correction. I meant to write Continental Airlines from Newark Airport to Madrid. I would like to know if Continental gives better service than Iberia airlines. Or, are they about the same? Thanks for your input.

I have flown on both airlines to Madrid from the US. Continental definitely provides far superior flight service and gives you neither a hassle nor cold indifference, but does extend free courtesies if any unpredictable events occur (such as missed connections or weather delays) <BR>Believe Continental has won many airline & travel industry awards in the last few years for their international service.