Iberia stinks.
Jun 19th, 2004 | 11:31 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Iberia stinks.
Just got back from Italy and have some new hotel reports for interested folks. But first: Iberia. Avoid at all costs.
Just to give you some background info, I'm a young, independent traveler who has been all over the world and is rarely ruffled by airport or other beaurocratic screw ups. In other words, if I'm complaining, it's not because my food is a little cold. Take it from me, Iberia stinks.
I booked two tickets on their web site from NYC to Rome, going through Madrid. When my boyf and I got to the airport, we were told the plane was 3 hours delayed. The Iberia assistant manning the lines--you know, the ones who are supposed to make announcemtents and, I don't know, HELP people, just said the flight was late, get in line. When we got to the ticket counter an hour later, they told us we should've come to the front of the line directly because we could've been put on a direct flight. The ticket agent blamed us for not jumping the line even after we told her there was no way to know. She then worked for 30 minutes to get us a new flight on Alitalia. P.S. Alitalia is wonderful.
At the Rome airport heading home, we find out that my boyf's ticket was cancelled (mine was not). The agent was so incredibly rude and mean about the whole thing, even though we had done absolutely nothing wrong.
First, she repeatedly told us we must have bought the tix at a travel agency, even though I had the e-ticket confirmation from Iberia.com in my hands. She then informed us that the rules for our fare said that no changes could be made, and because the Iberia agent in NY changed out first leg, their system automatically cancelled my boyf's return trip--not mine. "You'll just have to buy another ticket," she shrugged. Mmm, not exactly. Her boss stepped in and was equally unpleasant.
After 30 minutes on the phone to Madrid, the agent tossed us a new ticket as if we were putting THEM out and sent us on the way.
Although I had prebooked seats on their web site, we ended up with the worst seats: all the way in the back, in the middle section, can't recline.
Long story short: the Iberia staff I dealt with in 3 countries were mean, arrogant, and unhelpful and consistently made us feel like we screwed up even though it was all them. The reports of no drinks on inter-country flights is true. On my 2 hour flight from Rome to Madrid, I asked for a glass of water and was told I'd have to buy it unless "it was a medical emergency." No lie. On the 8-hour flight from Madrid to NYC, the beverage cart came around twice, with each meal. At baggage claim, the flight attendants (5 of them) were so eager to get their suitcases, they literally knocked children and adults out of the way to get their luggage off the belt.
from the ticket agents to the flight attendants.
Just to give you some background info, I'm a young, independent traveler who has been all over the world and is rarely ruffled by airport or other beaurocratic screw ups. In other words, if I'm complaining, it's not because my food is a little cold. Take it from me, Iberia stinks.
I booked two tickets on their web site from NYC to Rome, going through Madrid. When my boyf and I got to the airport, we were told the plane was 3 hours delayed. The Iberia assistant manning the lines--you know, the ones who are supposed to make announcemtents and, I don't know, HELP people, just said the flight was late, get in line. When we got to the ticket counter an hour later, they told us we should've come to the front of the line directly because we could've been put on a direct flight. The ticket agent blamed us for not jumping the line even after we told her there was no way to know. She then worked for 30 minutes to get us a new flight on Alitalia. P.S. Alitalia is wonderful.
At the Rome airport heading home, we find out that my boyf's ticket was cancelled (mine was not). The agent was so incredibly rude and mean about the whole thing, even though we had done absolutely nothing wrong.
First, she repeatedly told us we must have bought the tix at a travel agency, even though I had the e-ticket confirmation from Iberia.com in my hands. She then informed us that the rules for our fare said that no changes could be made, and because the Iberia agent in NY changed out first leg, their system automatically cancelled my boyf's return trip--not mine. "You'll just have to buy another ticket," she shrugged. Mmm, not exactly. Her boss stepped in and was equally unpleasant.
After 30 minutes on the phone to Madrid, the agent tossed us a new ticket as if we were putting THEM out and sent us on the way.
Although I had prebooked seats on their web site, we ended up with the worst seats: all the way in the back, in the middle section, can't recline.
Long story short: the Iberia staff I dealt with in 3 countries were mean, arrogant, and unhelpful and consistently made us feel like we screwed up even though it was all them. The reports of no drinks on inter-country flights is true. On my 2 hour flight from Rome to Madrid, I asked for a glass of water and was told I'd have to buy it unless "it was a medical emergency." No lie. On the 8-hour flight from Madrid to NYC, the beverage cart came around twice, with each meal. At baggage claim, the flight attendants (5 of them) were so eager to get their suitcases, they literally knocked children and adults out of the way to get their luggage off the belt.
from the ticket agents to the flight attendants.
Jun 19th, 2004 | 07:10 PM
#4
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 558
Likes: 0
CarlyJ: Your complaints are legitimate. Your treatment was shoddy. I had a similar experience on Alitalia several years ago and while we return to Italy, we do not fly Alitalia. I am not so desperate to save a hundred dollars trhat I will put up with that kind of nonsense. We plan to go to Spain in the next couple of years (other locations beckon before), but we will not consider Iberia.
I hope your trip was a wnderful one beyond the flights.
I hope your trip was a wnderful one beyond the flights.
Jun 20th, 2004 | 12:05 PM
#5
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,476
Likes: 0
Unfortunate experience and as you can see someone had an equally bad experience with YOUR "wonderful" Alitalia.
If we heeded every warning from everyone who had one bad experience with an airline then there wouldn't be many airlines left to fly on, would there?
If we heeded every warning from everyone who had one bad experience with an airline then there wouldn't be many airlines left to fly on, would there?
Jun 20th, 2004 | 12:35 PM
#7
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,755
Likes: 0
..interesting issue about having reservation cancelled..recently i was flying to the europe.(but not on iberia)..when i arrived at the airport for departure, they asked whether i would like to switch to another flight using a partner (code share) airline..they said i would be doing them a favor as the flight was overbooked and the flight available on the code share was a non stop and i would arrive earlier..it was a nobrainer as far as i was concerned..and had a great faster flight on the partner airline...when i was at the airport to return home, i was obviously booked on the first airline (ie my reservation had not been changed)..when i arrived at the gate, they had no reservation for me..fortunately the ground attendant, immediately realized that the computer had cancelled me as I was a no show on the first trip.... it was a glitch made by failure to show that i was "transfered" to the partner airline..to make a long story short, she found a seat and i arrived home on time..it did teach me a lesson..i will question the groung crew if i get involved in a reschedule to a partner..i wonder if this happened to carly too..
