IBERIA review :  9 April 2009 : by S Akanda   (USA)

BOS-MAD-IST round trip. Their tickets were the cheapest that let me travel to Turkey with a stopover in Madrid. The journies turned out to be okay. The stewardesses were quite helpful and cheerful - only few speak English. But the ground crew were horrible - they worked as if they were doing us a favour by letting us on the plane - both in Boston and Madrid. The food was so-so, but worst was the IFE. This must have been one of the oldest A340s out there and just had bare bone TVs on the roof. They need to improve this part of the equation to be able to compete with the industry.

IBERIA review :  7 April 2009 : by James Qurashi   (Switzerland)

With a trip departing from GVA to SJO with the transit via MAD I had my expectations given the reviews already written. They proved not far from reality. The trip from GVA to MAD was fine, late one hour but this could not be helped, that day there was a transport strike in France and the air traffic controllers were also playing their part! This late arrival could not be helped and I certainly don't blame Iberia for that. What I do find extremely annoying is the security measures that are in place when you have to perform a transit. We had according to normal schedule just over 1.5 hours between our arrival and the departure of the flight to SJO. Arriving at MAD we only had 35 mins! Passengers from our airbus 320 and another flight all tried to pass through TWO lines of security (X-rays) to gain access to the terminal in order to proceed to our gate. This was ridiculous and from what I gathered Madrid Airport is known for these bottle necks! After dashing to the gate and getting on board our A346 we departed 40mins late, which is not too bad. The flight lasted 11 hours in which I probably saw the air hostesses 5 times, 3 times were times when they served meals which I suppose does not count. Apart from that no presence at all! They were not rude and I wouldn't say unfriendly as they did smile, it just seemed that they were not concerned. The seats in C class were worn and the entertainment selection was lacking any imagination, 8 films to chose from on a 11 hour flight and half of them were really not worth it. There were only 2 or 3 box office hits. Nothing special! The power socket on my chair crashed after 1 hour so I couldn't recharge my laptop and it appeared that this happened to most of the seats! The return flight was slightly better, the seats were cleaner and in better shape. The service on board was more or less the same and the food had not improved. Iberia has the monopoly from Europe to South America and it knows this! The C class is certainly not up to standard with BA or LH! If you want to fly C class long haul, don't aim to fly with IB.

IBERIA review :  6 April 2009 : by C Greenwood   (UK)

Heathrow to Quito via Madrid and pleasantly surprised to have been upgraded to business plus on the Madrid/Quito leg of the journey so had excellent food and service and seats which reclined to the horizontal. Staff attentive and pleasant and there were a few reasonable films to choose from. On the return journey, Lima to Heathrow via Madrid, we were in economy where food was fine and staff were efficient if a little unsmiling. The small video screen was quite far away therefore difficult to see so we didn't bother. All our flights were on time and no luggage was lost. What a relief.

IBERIA review :  30 March 2009 : by J Meijer   (netherlands)

AMS-MAD and back in economy - was pleasantly surprised by the legroom - I am 1.97 tall, but my knees did not hit the seats in front of me. Both flights on time and nearly full; catering was expensive and limited, but for the rest everything was okay. Online check-in worked good.

IBERIA review :  26 March 2009 : by R Morgan   (UK)

Ticket booked on line, web site is misleading as it claims that a limousine service is available - this is not true. Dublin to Buenos Aires via Madrid Business class. DUB–MAD an A321, food and wine was ok, service good. Lounge in Madrid was almost empty however good choice of food and drink. It was a pleasant place to wait for the overnight flight. Separate boarding facility for business in Madrid onto an A340–600. The new clamshell seats were the highlight I could recline and go to sleep. Food good; portions were not too large and choice of alcohol also good. The socket for the entertainment system only worked on one channel, choice of entertainment reasonable. The socket looked as if it could take noise reducing head phones. The reading light was hanging down from the seat by its wires, let hope the rest of the maintenance checks on the aircraft are more thorough! Cabin crew efficient but humourless. EZE was busy, long queue for immigration; airport building was spacious and pleasant Return flight a crowded lounge in EZE. A340–600, separate boarding facility for business in EZE. Good food and drink, better cabin crew, seemed more cheerful and interested. Again the socket for the entertainment system only worked on one channel, seems to be a common problem. No noise reducing head phones.Smooth transfer in Madrid, had to dump the wine we bought in the EZE duty free as there was not enough time to check it in for the Madrid to Dublin flight. No separate boarding for business in Madrid.

IBERIA review :  17 March 2009 : by Enrico Simeone   (Belgium)

BRU-MAD-MVD return C class. ALL of the flights were a painful experience. Short Haul is better than long haul. Long haul Business seats are ageing very quickly and staff, food and service in general are just not acceptable to minimum standards. Cabin Staff are rude and unsympathetic, no matter what class you are flying. Don't give a damn attitude.

IBERIA review :  10 March 2009 : by A Inchley   (UK)

San Jose to Heathrow via Madrid. First flight was delayed 28 hours due to technical difficulties so put up in a cheap hotel without luggage or toiletries. Had no contact at all from anyone from Iberia and precious little information. When we got to Madrid the 100 or so Brits on the flight who had missed their connection by a day were sent to three different desks where the staff were rude and unhelpful before getting another hour delay on the flight back to London and having a total delay of 31 hours without a single apology from anyone at Iberia and now I can't even find an e-mail address to write to complain. Disgusting!

IBERIA review :  6 March 2009 : by M Sabue   (Spain)

MAD-VIE-KIV-VIE-MAD. IB website unfriendly and useless, unable to see my reservation or use web check-in despite traveling in Biz class (apparently you need IB FFP or by the ticket through internet). Outbound flight delayed for two hours. IB Customer Service Representative at the airport, rude and unhelpful as always. FA were OK, food was okay nothing special. No IFE, video or any sort of entertainment on the flight. Inbound flight to MAD, unable again to use web check-in, ground staff average, Biz Class FA were OK, food OK. No IFE.

IBERIA review :  3 March 2009 : by Miles Canne   (Spain)

MAD-LHR-MAD Turista. Comfy leather seats on spacious A321 with lots of legroom. Free international newspapers, a nice touch which seems to have disappeared on most other airlines. But badly let down by seriously bad inflight catering charged at seriously over the top prices. FAs struggle to communicate in Spanish, let alone other languages!

IBERIA review :  28 February 2009 : by L Lim   (Hong Kong)

Zurich-Madrid-Johannesburg business class. ZRH MAD in a A320 exceeded expectations mainly because the dinner was actually warm and tasty. Seats were Lufthansa style - economy seats with the middle one left empty, but no movable arm rests. Friendly service. MAD-JNB seats were angled lie flat on an A340 and just OK - not as good as Qantas but better than LH and AA. Food was OK rather than good. AVOD film selection was just 12 films and disappointing, but there were continuous loop channels showing other films. My seat's headphone socket was awful with continuous bad contact until I held the plug in the socket for 5 mins. Service on the second leg was much worse than on the first, and felt like the crew were "ticking the boxes". Both flights were punctual.

IBERIA review :  27 February 2009 : by C Migas   (Canada)

LIS-MAD-RAK on A320 which were clean and relatively new. Positive experience as flights were only slightly delayed. Delays seems to be the norm with this airline. Did not appreciate having to purchase water on an international flight. Make sure you have lots of connection time in MAD as its massive. Managed to take carry-on so there werent any problems with lost luggage. Would consider them again if I didn't have to connect or check luggage.

IBERIA review :  18 February 2009 : by R Siveter   (UK)

I'm not sure Iberia should be a 3 star airline. I had a bad experience from start to almost finish on my return trip Heathrow - Washington via Madrid. I say "almost finish" because the last leg from Madrid to Heathrow was thankfully code-sharing with BA which made it a blissful end to an otherwise annoying experience. First we were delayed by two hours on the tarmac due to "technical difficulties" on the way out of Madrid with little in the way of apologies once we took off. I was later told by a fellow passenger this was likely because of industrial action and not anything wrong with the plane. The movies were a joke - of the approximately 12 to choose from, I recognised none - and I like movies! This wasn't simply that they had Spanish arthouse films, it was that they had bad straight-to-TV films from 10 years ago (judging by the clothes). They clearly paid as little on their film budget as they could. The food was not great considering it was meant to be business class. And I just didn't get good vibes from the cabin crew - it felt a little more forced than with other airlines. The seats weren't flat beds for the overnight return, which I could have forgiven if everything else was good. And to top it all off, when I got to Madrid early from my overnight from Washington and went to use the showers in the business lounge, they were freezing cold. Upon reporting this, the lady at the desk dismissed it saying "oh yes, we know that - they've run out and it takes an hour to reheat"! So why didn't you tell me that before you gave me the key then - unbelievable service!

IBERIA review :  16 February 2009 : by J Messner   (USA)

DCA-JFK-MAD-AMS/ BRU-MAD-JFK-DCA. It was very short notice: I had to buy the ticket only four days before an urgent business trip. For $506 R/T, it was incredibly good value. I found Iberia to be perfectly good. Clearly not a 5-star airline, but it does not pretend to be. The food was quite good. Admittedly, I can't comment on their ability to lose luggage, since I didn't check any. I would agree that the seat pitch is a little tight and the lack of PTVs is a little antiquated. They provided a great service, with friendly staff, clean planes, near- seamless connections, and of four Iberia flights, 3 were on time and one was delayed by an hour (followed by profuse apologies by the crew and a full explanation of why the delay occurred). I would not hesitate to fly Iberia again.

IBERIA review :  16 February 2009 : by V Schreibke   (Guernsey)

LHR-MAD-SCL. We arrived at Heathrow early for 18.50 flight to Madrid and Iberia staff authorised (without us asking) us to change to an earlier flight to Madrid to give us a better connection time. Our bags were checked in all the way to SCL. The plane left on time and the staff onboard were pleasant and good with the kids (age 5 and 7) - they were given crayons and a puzzle sheet. The plane from MAD to SCL left 50 mins late and the lack of personal entertainment in seats would be my complaint. The food was more than acceptable, staff were polite and great with the kids. We landed 30 mins later than our anticipated arrival time and all our bags arrived with us. All in all I would travel with Iberia again, they were significantly cheaper than the alternative airlines and we had a pleasant flight.

IBERIA review :  8 February 2009 : by John Fairclough   (France)

BCN-LHR economy. Despite booking on BA's website, this flight was operated by Iberia. Whilst BA is far from perfect, Iberia service puts their shortcomings into perspective. They had cancelled the previous flight, so our flight was full to bursting with dismal legroom. My wife and I were unable to sit together. I assume the A319 rostered was not the normal plane used, as it too left an hour late. Why is it every time I've flown with IB they are late? One clear difference between BA and IB is that you have to pay (and handsomely) for any sort of refreshment - much of which is inedible. Whilst BA economy offerings are not cordon bleu, at least they are free. If BA are using IB as "codeshare partners", then to my mind they should at the very least have consistent standards. Next time I fly BCN-LHR, I'll make sure it's on a BA plane.