Myer

I'm considering flying Iberia from the U.S. to Spain.

I've read some negative comments here.

Has anybody flown Iberia lately and what were your impressions or issues?

Thanks.

cparris

I flew them last Aug. The seats are close together so you don't have too much leg room, but otherwise everything was fine... no delays

ThinGorjus

The air hostesses wear a horrid brown jumper that does nothing to aid to their physical attractiveness. The planes are old and in need of a good wash up. The food is on par with that of a mendicant's charity hall. But, it does get you to where you are going, and on time. Remember, sweetie, you get what you pay for. If you want better, fly first class.

Tere

My son flew Lisbon to Brazil with Iberia 3 weeks ago and said it was the worse airline he ever flew. The food was awful and almost no space to put legs between seats.We are flying with Air France to Brazil next July.

LolaLasagne

I flew London-Seville with them last month and had no complaints. Flight left on time, everyone very polite and they even gave us newspapers! Believe me after years of flying Easyjet, this was a nice change.

Bootman4U

try www.airlinequality.com for a much much larger and perhaps more representative sampling of opinion on which to base a decision which consists of a big chunk of most folks' travel budget.

CharlieB

Myer - I second Bootman's suggestion. isn't it a touch more meaningful to get a compilation of thousands of opinions than the dozen you might get on this site. According to "airlinequality.com" Iberia is rated 3*(average) along with Air France, Delta, Continental, ElAl, TWA, and United. 4* airlines are AA, BA, Lufthansa, KLM, Alitalia, and Aer Lingus. The only 5* transatlantic carrier is Singapore Airline (JFK - FRA). As far as distance between seats, Iberia uses 32", while most European carriers (BA, AF, KLM, LH) only allow 31". Only AA and Olympic have 33-34" spacing. So Tere, I'm afraid you will find your flight even more cramped than your son's.

Mariarosa

CharlieB - Another way of looking at the question is which airlines earn less stars than Iberia's 3 stars.

Here are the airlines that earn 2 stars:

Air Afrique (ceased operations)
Air Algerie
Air Kazakhstan
Air Zimbabwe
Armenian Airlines
Azerbaijan Airlines
Cameroon Airlines
Ghana Airways
Iran Air
Lithuanian Airlines
Pulkovo Airlines
Sudan Airways
Syrian Arab Airlines
TAAG Angola Airlines
Tajikistan Airlines
Transaero Airlines
Turkmenistan Airlines
Ukraine International
Vasp Brazilian

Basically, earning 3-stars means that you won't be comfortable but you will probably arrive safely.

Myer - a tip about Iberia. Check where the flight originates. The worst flights I have taken have been on Iberia - but they all originated in South America. So by the time the flight connects in the USA, the bathrooms are smelly, children are cranky, people are packed like sardines (since many seats have already been filled in other countries) etc., etc. On the other hand, my in-laws took a flight on Iberia, and they thought it was comparable to Alitalia, but the flight originated in the US (and Alitalia does not get remarkable ratings either).

Maribel

Myer,
Mariarosa makes a fine point about looking at the airlines scoring below Iberia. What a list! It made me chuckle.

I recently flew Iberia for my Andalucia trip (and survived to tell the tale), but only because it was free, and I had plenty of time to make the long trip rather than take my usual US Air non stop since I'm on sabbatical.
I redeemed American ff miles, but American didn't have seats available (and I booked 11 months in advance!) so they sent me off on Iberia via Miami to Madrid and Madrid-Chicago on the way back (was scheduled to fly back via Miami but had to change the dates at the last minute, and the Chicago flight was the only one with an available seat, which turned out to be much more pleasant).

About the Miami flight:
The carry-on limit is particularly stringent, because the plane has the tiniest overhead compartments known to man, like those on a Spanish bus. There's no way carry on luggage for 3 people could ever fit in that miniscule space. It's an ancient aircraft (don't recall what model), but it was clean enough since it originated in Miami. Most of the passengers are Spanish speaking with many large groups. The boarding procedure gives new meaning to the word chaotic, as everyone boards at once rather than by row (even coach and 1st class at the same time), and some passengers were issued the same seat, causing even more confusion. There are 2 daily flights (I took the earlier one), and the crew says there's never an empty seat on either. I can't fault the meal (served by the flight attendants in those "horid jumpers"-they take them off afterwards), and wine in coach was free. 2 movies are shown, one American and one Spanish film. I finally got to see Los lunes al sol, which won several Goyas, the Spanish Oscar, including best film, I think, of '02, so that made me happy. I was also given Spanish and US newspapers, so I got up to date with current events via El Mundo, El Pais and La Vanguardia, which would have zero appeal for one who doesn't read Spanish. Because the seat pitch is so very tight, it's a very uncomfortable ride, but since I have American Gold status, I was given a bulkhead seat. We arrived at Barajas on time, actually a bit early.
My Madrid-Chicago return flight, which departs from the new A gate area, next to US Air (on which my better half flew back Envoy class-grrr!), was more comfortable. Newer aircraft, normal overhead compartments, more room, same inflight service, better meal since it was catered in Madrid.

So, I would fly Iberia transatlantic again but only if it were free and if I had plenty of time to take that very circuitous routing rather than my great non-stop. In June we've redeemed miles for our US Air non-stop in Envoy class. Hurrah! But we will fly Iberia from Bilbao to Madrid to connect on the way home because it's a better connection than the Spanair flight, which I much prefer.

I think bobthenavigator took the same Miami Iberia flight the day before I did, so I hope he sees this and chimes in.

Maribel

Hi Myer,
I read on your other thread that you had bought your tickets and are Spain bound!
Yeah!
Just want to advise you to reach Barajas in plenty of time (2 or better still, 2 1/2 hrs. before) for your flight back to Miami. At Barajas have a new (since Nov. at least) security procedure for all US bound flights. You don't stand in line at the counter, but rather go with a security agent to a back room where you're required to put carry-ons through the detector but also completely EMPTY the contents of your checked bags. Yes, you need to unpack every single item, they sift through the contents, put the empty bags through the detector, then you must re-pack, then they give you your boarding pass and you head straight to passport control. I was lucky since there was only 1 couple ahead of me and the whole procedure took about 20 min, but when my husband did it later (for his US Air Envoy class non-stop), the line had grown to about 40. You can imagine how time-consuming this can be.
Just wanted to give you a heads up!

Hope your travel plans come together smoothly, and if I can help, just yell.

Myer

Maribel,
It's good to see that the Spain expert is still around.

Thanks for all of your help on this on-off-on-off-on first trip to Spain.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some good photos on my travelwalks.com web site (non commercial).

By the way, a few people have asked why I have a web site if it doesn't really do anything except display travel photos.

Well, I selected the name just for the heck of it. Actually, I'm a computer system developer and some of my work is database work on web sites.

Hidden in the back I do my testing and development work where others can't see it. What you see is only the (a) front.

Also, I didn't book the Iberia super special. I paid about 250. more (in total for both) and booked American non-stop to and from Madrid (from Miami) with a going connection on to Granada arriving 1:30PM.

Maribel, actually I have a few questions I'll put on a new thread.

cooter

Myer, I know you are all set with your planns, but, in case this thread is useful to anyone else, I'll post. I've flow with Iberia twice in the last two years US--Spain roundtrip and several times within Europe. A couple of family members have also flown them very recently. In general, my experience is that they are about the same as any other transatlantic airline in coach: limited space, somewhat surly flight attendants, limited space, etc etc. Still, they've always gotten me and my luggage where we needed to go on time and together. Food has always been decent, even on Barcelona--Madrid flight.

cooter

Maribel:

Yikes. I haven't flow out of Barajas straight to the US since last September; more recent flights to the EU from Barajas were normal security. Do you know if these new policies were/are permanent? Seems like it could have a huge impact on when you have to get to the airport, as well as on our habit of packing until the suitcase is about to burst...

Gaia

Yes I have flown with Iberia from Quito to Madrid 2 months ago - not better or worse than any other European airline.

Maribel

Hi cooter,
It appears that these new procedures are indeed permanent, not just when the US is in orange alert, because we flew after the downgrade to yellow. It's a royal pain, as you can imagine and took us completely by surprise. It's a good thing they didn't make me stand in a 2 hr. line at the Iberia counter then when reaching the agent, tell me about the new screening procedure. When I asked an Iberia employee where the Miami flight check in counter was, he sent me off with the security agent all the way to the far end of terminal 1, quite a walk, then to the dreaded back room. And I was lucky. My Madrid-Chicago flight was only half full! Just imagine how long this takes with a full flight. Could really cut in to your duty-free shopping time, and forget the VAT refund line!
My advice is to make sure to arrive at Barajas at least 2 1/2 hrs. early these days, until someone tells us they've yet again changed the policy.

cynthster

I flew on Iberia round trip from JFK to Madrid, as well as a domestic flight from Granada to Madrid earlier this month. As was noted by others, I got where I was going and back safely and that's what counts.

However, what brings me to this forum is Maribel's comments about your arriving at the Madrid airport early to go through the very unpleasant security check that left us with such a bad taste in our mouths. My traveling companion and I felt that our being picked (not everyone on the flight goes through this ordeal)was due to the fact that we were early and there was time. Our companions in misery were a bunch of 20-yr. old college jrs. returning home from studying in Spain. We are senior citizens! We stood in line one hr. and during this time were told nothing as to what was to happen once we got to the scanning devices! Our plane tickets were held hostage! It wasn't until one of the college girls came out and told us what the drill was! All luggage ( carry-on and to be checked) was put through the scanner, and then the checked had to be opened and everything totally removed so the empty could be rescanned. We cannot figure out what the reason for this is except to harrass Americans (since no Spaniards on the flight were in our line). We have considered writing a letter to Iberia (with a copy to the US Consulate in Madrid)complaining about the undignified and unprofessional behavior afforded us by Spanish security.

Maribel

cynthster,
In my security screening, the couple in front of me were Spaniards as well as others behind me in line. I wasn't aware that some passengers were chosen for this ordeal and that others were not. What I was told by the Iberia agent is that all passengers boarding a US bound flight with checked luggage were required to go through this new screening/security process. As was your case, my passport and ticket were held by an agent during the time I unpacked and repacked my checked bags, and my husband could not accompany me to the "back room" because he was on a different US bound flight. Iberia did not alert me to this new procedure ahead of time, so this came as quite a surprise to us as well.

quepasa18

When I flew Iberia from Madrid to Chicago in March, I went through the whole unpack the bags ordeal. The security guy there said this was mandated by the United States and that there were American security people there overseeing it. So it is not Iberia's fault nor is it some conspiracy to harrass Americans. It's mandated by the US government, not anyone in Spain or at Barajas Airport.

Now, as for the flight itself, I found the food to be just fine and the staff friendly enough. The biggest problem is, as many have said, there isn't much leg room at all. But, the ticket was cheaper than I could get anywhere else and that's the most important thing to me.

Anne

cynthster

Maribel, have you ever wondered why your husband was denied the pleasure of this baggage search? Perhaps this experience happens only with Iberia flights!?? Too bad you couldn't have given him custody of all the to-be-checked luggage. I guess you would have if you had known what was to happen to you and that luggage. No one ever opened my carry-on, by the way. I'm hoping someone will respond to my initial message and tell me what the empty luggage as opposed to full luggate was supposed to disclose.

Maribel

cynthster,
Please let me clarify what I posted above! My husband was not denied the pleasure at all! He was indeed subjected to the new security procedure! What happened is that we were on separate flights on different airlines going to 2 different destinations.
I was traveling on Iberia through Chicago at 11-ish, while he traveled Envoy Class to Philadelphia on a later US Air 1:40 p.m. flight. Because each airline has its own screening room, he was screened in another part of the terminal by US Air in a room also used by Delta, Continental and American. All passengers on his flight were screened regardless of nationality or class of ticket. The agents there allowed only 3 people to be screened at a time. When he exited his screening room, there were 30 people waiting outside to be screened. The process for him was the same as for me, unpacking his checked luggage, sending them empty through the metal detector, then repacking.

Just to reiterate what Anne has correctly told you, this procedure is not an Iberia-only mandate for their American passengers, but instead it is required of all airlines in Madrid for US bound flights, mandated by US Homeland Security (this is what my husband was told by the US Air agents).