Hi Fodorites:

What can the forum tell me about Iberia airlines? We are flying to Madrid (Business class on award miles) and can't decide if we should fly non-stop to Madrid via Iberia or fly AA, connect in London and then to Madrid.

I've heard some bad things about Iberia, but I'd rather get my information from Fodors.
Thanks.

I've never had a problem with Iberia. And the Madrid airport is a marvel.

Its much like AA, with a few spins. My wife thinks they are sexist(much of Spain she feels is that way), lots of Spanish spoken, and they offer free wine & beer on trans atlantic flights(AA no longer does). Other than that, its just another airline.

We liked the Iberia business class more than AA. The seats are similar, but the food is better IMHO. If you get on a non-stop flight, it is far better than changing planes and terminals (T3 to T5) in London. The change will cost you several hours and is, under the best of circumstances, tiresome.

If you fly on Iberia, you will be in a plane that boards at the mid-entrance between business and economy. We get seats as far forward as possible because that limits the number of persons who have to walk past our seats. The bulkhead seats have cutouts for floor storage and we try to get those if at all possible. If you can't get your preferred seats from AA, you can call Iberia in their Chicago office to get a seat assignment. I think they start doing that about 8 months before the flight.

IMO, it is not better or worse than any other airline.

I have flown many times with them to Madrid and have not had major problems except one in which I was partially responsible:

They kicked me out of a flight because I was late checking in... 2hrs 45 mins before the flight instead of the required 3hrs. They were severely oversold. I spent 2hrs and 30minutes on the standby line trying to get my seat back followed by a mad dash to the gate (I made it).

This happened the last week of July which is the absolute peak season for starting vacation and the etire airport was a madhouse, not only Iberia.

I still fly with them.

I would fly practically anything (except a third world airline) to avoid connecting in London.