Iberia airline question 2
 

I read the recent postings about Iberia- I have 3 flights on Iberia while in Spain- Madrid-Barcelona/ Barcelona- Sante de Compestella (excuse my spelling), and Porto, Portugal to Madrid. Should I be nervous about unexpected cancellations or other unreliable issues? If so, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Jill, Fly SpanAir. They are more reliable and their people will treat you with dignity and respect. <BR>Ron

Is Iberia really that bad? I have already purchased my tickets...I wonder if they are refundable-

Hi Jill! If you do a search on this website, you'll see that I am no fan of Iberia. Both their international and their Spain flights were terrible. In '88 we were flying from Stockholm to Madrid in SAS and then Madrid - Palma de Mallorca on Iberia. There were 4 of us, including my grandparents, who were in their early seventies at the time. When we checked in with SAS in Stockholm we were confirmed on our Iberia flight to Palma. However, a few hours later, when we arrived to Madrid, we had been completetly taken out of the flight by Iberia. We had to stand in front of the Iberia counter for 2 hours, until they finally gave us the boarding passes. <BR> <BR>I have also travelled on Iberia on international flights, in 1985 and 2000. They have been the worst flights I have ever taken in my life. They have never honored my "reserved" seats. This is because they don't seem (still!) to be fully computerized, they always have to go to the "back" to get the tickets. Also, many of their flights originate in South America, and go to various locations in South America before they get to the US. By the time they get to the US, their planes are mostly full. I traveled mid-week in March and the plane was full, so I cannot imagine one of their planes in the high season or over the weekend. Unfortunately I have nothing good to say about them. The planes are old and uncomfortable, the food is terrible, the flight attendants are rude, don't expect to be served a cocktail, etc. However, surprisingly, my in-laws thought they were OK, when they flew with them in February of this year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that their flight originated in Chicago. Maybe you can get your travel agent to find out where the flight originates, and make sure to triple-check your reservations.

Thanks for the info. I have purchased my tickets over here already thru a travel agent, and have them in hand. I hope I don't have a problem...yikes...

You guys think you have it bad in the States! We flew Iberia from South Africa to Madrid early in July. We confirmed early the morning before our evening flight. Arrived at check-in and waited and waited and waited. Iberia had apparantly booked enough people to fill a 747, but had only sent an Airbus with about 100 seats less. The result was that we only flew out 24 hours later and not direct, but via London. Our holiday was cut by a day and a half. <BR> <BR>On the way back we had a connecting flight from Seville (Sunday) to Madrid and I asked to be pre- booked on the Madrid - South Africa flight. Good thing, because not only was the flight delayed by 8 hours, but we met people at the airport who were overbooked on the Friday flight and now had preferance on the Sunday flight. A couple that flew with us from Seville, and didn't pre-book had to wait for the Wednesday flight. <BR> <BR>In Iberia's defense, on both occasions they did put us up in 4 star hotels and paid for all the meals and we had no problems what so ever with the two domestic flights that we had.

I know Europeans who refuse to fly Iberia, no matter what. My one and only experience years ago was terrible: dirty, rickety plane; rude attendants; food even more inedible than the usual airline fare. Check-in was a joke, too. The only flight worse than the Iberian one was the Panama Airlines flight from Panama to Miami. Absolute hell. Life is too short. Book on another airline.

the last time I changed my itinerary on Iberia it cost me $125 to change

I flew Iberia Chicago to Madrid last November, and had no problems. The food wasn't great, but edible, the stewardesses were polite if not friendly, and service was comparable to most US airlines. However once I got to Spain I used Spanair. Very pleasant and on time. I would say stick with what you've got, and learn from it if the experience isn't pleasant. But don't worry about it ahead of time.

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I had a similar bad experience with Iberia on a short flight from Madrid to Sevilla. My connecting flight from Paris was a bit late, and I ran thru the entire Barajas airport to get to the Iberia gate. I got there 15 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart only to be told that my reservaiton would not be honored and that the plane was already full. There were six other passengers on that flight that they also did this to. As a result I had to go to their ticket counter and literally waited 20 minutes before being attended to and placed on a flight which left 3 hours later. As a result, I will avoid using Iberia in the future.

A different take: <BR> <BR>I just returned from Spain, where I took four flights on Iberia, and they were all fine. <BR> <BR>All flights were in-country (from Barcelona to Bilbao and back. from Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca and back). I had no problems whatsoever. <BR> <BR>One tip I might pass on though: it looks to me like folks in Spain check in a lot earlier than Americans. I arrived at the airport 1 1/2 hours before my flights and the lines at the counter were already long -- in other words, folks were checking in that early. So it might be worth it to get to the airport a little earlier than you normally would in the States. <BR> <BR>Good luck.

We have flown Iberia once from the US and we arrived in Madrid unscathed. I would not fly it again from the US but we have flown several times from Madrid-Malaga and reverse with no problems. All flights were on time and the aircraft was nice. Since you already have your tickets just hope for the best; you may have no problems at all. Have fun in Spain1

Jill, <BR>We flew Iberia within Spain last October and had no problems whatsoever. We flew Madrid-Barcelona/Barcelona-Granada & Granada/Madrid.Guess we were lucky...the flight attendants were quite good and the planes were fine. <BR>Lisa

Jill, <BR> <BR>I have to agree with Lisa. I just got back from flying with Iberia and had no problems whatsover. I flew with them round trip from Chicago to Barcelona via Madrid as well as from Barcelona to Paris. Very good service and on time flight departures and arrivals. I will definitely fly with them again.