IBERIA review :  5 February 2009 : by M Fernandez   (Spain)

MAD-MEX-MAD. Check-in fast, flights on-time. The crew did their job and little more, but some were friendly and talkative. Cabin clean and well maintained, as well as the toilets. The legroom was ok (I'm 6ft tall) although the seat was a little uncomfortable with no adjustable headrest in the MEX-MAD leg. IFE was inadequate (no PTV's) and the movies that were shown were very boring. Another thing that they have to improve are the meals, the quantity and the quality were very poor, I think that they haven't changed the menus in economy in 10 years. I hope that Iberia will improve its service because they can be a far better airline in long- haul flights - their Business Class is better for example. I give them 7 because of Madrid Airport, punctuality and because the product is not much worse than Air France or KLM.

IBERIA review :  3 February 2009 : by C Nguyen   (UK)

Our flight was operated by Iberia and was delayed nearly 24 hours. During the delay, Iberia staff did not offer us explanation to what were happening, no food, no accommodation, and no care. They however did offer us rudeness, unprofessional response, deny care to us. Now we managed to get back home with another flight. We want Iberia to write to us giving reason why our flight delayed. We phoned, emailed, posted of their official website, but we have no response from them. This is the worse airline I have ever been flight with. Try to avoid Iberia if you can.

IBERIA review :  30 January 2009 : by A Walker

SCL-MAD-TFN. Check in at Santiago Business Plus line (AA Exec Plat.) quick and courteous. Given an upgrade to Business class. Meals of excellent quality, and can't criticize the flight attendants. Those I spoke to were happy to communicate in either English or Spanish. Lie flat seat doesn't reach horizontal, and found it uncomfortable in the sleep position - I'm 1.9m tall. Thin blanket, can't compare to the duvet provided on AA. Both flights on time. Luggage didn't arrive at TFN, 1 hour 50 min connection time should have been more than enough time to do the transfer. Several hours later the online lost luggage report indicated that the bag had been found, and a phone call to TFN confirmed it was on-flight, so after 12 hours I had it. Colleagues who fly through Madrid often tell me this is not an uncommon experience, and judging from the number of bags being processed at TFN lost luggage compared to the number of daily flights they must lose about one bag per flight, not very good. I tried calling the Iberia lost luggage number a few times, never got through.

IBERIA review :  28 January 2009 : by M Canales

Thanks to alll the comments about Iberia that we read here - we have now decided not to fly Iberia for our upcoming trip to Europe. It had seemed a very convenient way to get there due to the SJU-MAD direct flight, however, we'll rather fly to Miami or JFK and travel to Europe from there, rather than risk missing connecting flights - or worse, our luggage.

IBERIA review :  27 January 2009 : by Nicolas Clement

MAD-IAD and BOS-MAD. Checked-in at the Business class counter having read the comments before (just smile and ask politely, should be ok) but still quite rude, even when speaking spanish (she did not try to speak english). In Madrid the T4S is a long way from the general T4 terminal but path is clearly indicated. Boarding nothing special. Food simply terrible (packed our own sandwiches). No rounds other than 2hr after take off and 2hr before landing. Lights are old-style which are turned on fully bright at wake up for breakfast. Seats were hard, good recline but it went up gradually all the time. Not a single smile from anyone. Almost a feeling of a low-cost long-haul carrier. To fly in Economy only on rock bottom fares with convenient routing I guess.

IBERIA review :  26 January 2009 : by B Howlett

I could write a book with all my problems I had with Iberia from waiting in ques for 3 hours, to missing luggage for 12 days! No help or compensation for onward flights and nothing for the loss of my bag and essentials! But after reading the other reviews I think that many people unfortunately know exactly what they are like as an airline. I also never want to fly with them ever again and much prefer to go with a budget airline if I have to and at least the staff are usually much friendlier and cheerful!

IBERIA review :  25 January 2009 : by R Precious

London-Madrid-Las Palmas. 24 hours to get to Las Palmas business class, Iberia, really poor service, worn out planes, extremely rude staff. Never will I fly with this company again. Complaint lodged in Madrid and once home, no response or even an acknowledgement

IBERIA review :  24 January 2009 : by P Barbieri

I'm writing again to give an update on my post of 16 Jan 09. I have finally received my luggage from Iberia, but it took 5 days from the day I arrived in London. It was in Madrid for 2 days and they took 3 days to get it back to me once it was received in Heathrow. I had to call them several times to find out what was happening. Some of the staff can't even speak in their own language, it's that bad. Even though I always called the UK number, I was always addressed in Spanish and one of the times I asked if I could speak in English I had to wait in the queue for someone else. I could write several posts about how rubbish the customer service is and all the other things that went wrong when we travelled with Iberia, but to resume it: they are the worst airline company in my opinion, 10 times worse than a budget airline.

IBERIA review :  24 January 2009 : by Partha Mohanram

Iberia "business class" from Lagos to Madrid and "business plus" from Madrid to JFK. The first flight was a disaster. By leaving a seat empty between two ordinary economy class tickets, Iberia calls it business class. The seats are horrible. Flight attendant was rude (probably did not want the Lagos route.) The lounge in Madrid is not 24 hours. Our flight landed at 4am but I was told the lounge opens only at 6am. Had to hang around and eventually went into Madrid for a few hours. Business Plus was ok - seats are not as nice as BA but nice enough. Staff nice. The food was a disaster. I asked for a special meal (asian veg). All I got was mushrooms. It was so bad that the purser felt told me that he was going to write a complaint and encouraged me to do the same. If you fly business class anywhere and you get a "deal" on Iberia - remember, you get what you pay for. I have learnt this the hard way. No way Iberia is a 3 star airline - they should be lucky to have 2 stars.

IBERIA review :  22 January 2009 : by David Blake

Heathrow - Barcelona return. Flight out was OK, but return flight was late leaving and there were further delays on arrival at Heathrow. Concerned that meal was not included in price of flight and what was available was pretty poor and exorbitantly priced.

IBERIA review :  21 January 2009 : by Juan Astorga

Nightmare airline, the worst of the worst. After waiting more than 4 hours, they canceled the flight (it was 3 am). We were sent to a very far away hotel (1 hr drive). The plane left the next day at 3pm (2 hrs later than planned). The planes are old, toilets dirty from the beginning of the flight, entertainment horrible (one small screen far away) and the service does not help either. I will never flight Iberia again in my life.. On the way back home to Sweden they lost my luggage, I got it 3 days after.

IBERIA review :  17 January 2009 : by C Vecchione

Iberia is the worst airline I have ever flown. I am writing this from Barcelona. My luggage has been lost for over 5 days now. I flew from NY connected flight at Madrid then to Barcelona. I was able to speak to someone twice from Iberia who told me that the luggage is now in Barcelona awaiting authorization. Authorization? I will be here for another 3 days. Hopefully, I will receive my belongings. I was told Iberia will reimburse $50 a day for clothing and hygiene products. That's going to be interesting considering their customer service stinks. Pay the extra money and take a quality airline.

IBERIA review :  16 January 2009 : by Daniel Rodriguez

CPH-MAD-MVD A340-400 Economy Class. Iberia is selling that they have refurbished their long- haul fleet. Business Plus seats are upgraded, however, the economy section of all A340-400 only received new upholstery. Therefore, you are still sitting for a 12 hour flight without personal TV, on a very old seat. In fact on my flight from Madrid to Montevideo, some of the passengers had no electronics installed in their seats. Therefore, they could not listen to the movie or radio. Their seat back had also problems while trying to get in a more comfortable position.

IBERIA review :  16 January 2009 : by R Jervis

In a few words, a total shambles from start to finish. OK, there had been the worst snow storm in Madrid Airport's history the day before, but the service was just appalling. Our flight from Las Palmas to Madrid, was delayed by 4 hours on 10th January. We missed our connection to London, which resulted in us missing the last plane home. Arrived in Madrid at 8-45pm. Waited in a queue for 5 hours at Iberia Customer Service desk, which displayed "Here to Help you", and when I got to the desk, they closed it. There was a near riot and then blatant queue jumping. Military police were called and were pathetically heavy handed. No water or seats were offered to customers during the five hours. A passenger actually collapsed at the desk and they did nothing, not even ring for an ambulance. Passengers were forced to help the elderly passenger - appalling. After they closed the desk they forced us to go to check-in for another hour to change our tickets. It was now 3am. Then another hour to queue for a hotel room (which was shortest hotel visit I've ever had - 2hours) We had to be back at the airport at 7:30am for the 8:45 flight to London. Another delay caused by the most laid back staff in history, no wonder this company is losing money. Dreadful customer service and an embarrassment to the Spanish people.

IBERIA review :  16 January 2009 : by P Barbieri

I had the worst travel experience ever flying with Iberia this Christmas. I went to Sao Paulo, arrived in the airport 5 in the morning for my flight at 7.30 am but the plane didn't leave until 1pm (my flight had been cancelled and I had to wait for another one). Arrived in Madrid about 5pm and missed the plane that left at 12pm to Sao Paulo, so had to reschedule for 12am. Spent over 1 hour in Madrid just to reschedule the flight. I was supposed to get in Sao Paulo on 16 December evening, but only got there next morning. The staff were extremely rude, and after a delay of 6 hours we were expected to pay for refreshments in the plane. I was delayed 2 hours on the way back, nearly missed my connection and almost gave myself a heart attack trying to reach the boarding gate that was nearly 30 minutes away. Arrived in London and my suitcases were missing. This is the third day I'm back and still no sign of them, apparently they are still in Madrid. When I reported them missing I wasn't given a reference number so I couldn't check their status online, so I had to keep ringing them to use their awful automated system that hangs up on you most of the time. I spoke to somebody in the reservation department and asked her to put me through and she said she couldn't and that I had to go through the system - when I said the system hangs up on me she replied "a lot of people say that but there's nothing I can do, I'll give you the number to the Spain head office", which of course was a premium rate number. I spent over 1 hour just trying to get through to somebody to track my luggage. They are so rude is unbelievable. Iberia motto seems to be "It's not my problem, there's nothing I can do, complain to somebody else". I'll never ever fly with Iberia again, even if they offer the cheapest flight, I'd rather pay £200 more and save the headache.

IBERIA review :  14 January 2009 : by A Schneider

The worst airline I have ever had. I was flying Chicago to Seville via Madrid. The flight was delayed 2 hours from Chicago to Madrid. So, I missed my connection to Seville. They rebooked for another flight to Seville and it was delayed for 3 hours. It would have been much faster and cheaper to take a train from Madrid to Seville. On the way back I had a flight from Madrid to Chicago. My flight was cancelled. It took me 5 hours to stand in line to rebook my flight. No hotel accommodations or food checks were offered. I was in the airport for almost 30 hours. Even though we finally were boarded on the plane, we were waiting for another 4 hours before takeoff and 2 hours when we landed. I heard some people were asking for food and their request was rejected. Very arrogant personal.

IBERIA review :  13 January 2009 : by Claire Bamber

Our flights were delayed both ways, the return journey being 5 hours! They left my boyfriends luggage in Madrid on the way to South Africa and both our luggage in Madrid on the way back to London! Its now been 3 days since I arrived back in London and I still cant get hold of Iberia luggage department as they cut me off every time I try and phone them! All I know at this point in time is that my luggage is in Madrid and was supposed to be sent back to London yesterday. This information was given via text but if you text them on the number that they give on their website they dont text you back! When we were delayed in Madrid for 5 hours, they kept telling us that we would get new information every 15 minutes but we never got that information nor did we get an explanation as to what the delay even was!! After 3 gate changes we eventually boarded they plane only to wait another hour and half before take off! Not once, even when we were all sitting on the plane did they even apologise for the delay, let alone offer us a complimentary glass of water! I think their customer service is disgusting. They were the cheapest airline when I booked my ticket to South Africa but even if they are the cheapest again I will never fly with them again!

IBERIA review :  13 January 2009 : by M Preyer

ZRH-MAD-GRU business class : very poor airline! On the way to Sao Paulo over two hours delay in MAD (technical problems) - on the way back more delay in GRU and MAD, two plane changes because of technical problems - eleven hours at MAD airport. No support in the airport - really very poor. I wrote an email to Iberia, no response!

IBERIA review :  13 January 2009 : by Lars Schmidt

Iberia - never again ! FRA-ACE via MAD return in Economy. FRA-MAD A319 very little legroom. MAD-ACE A321 legroom ok. The flight was delayed by more than 2 hours without any notice. - Nobody was able to give you any proper information why and how much delay we have to expect. Nobody was able to speak English. Announcements were made in Spanish only. After arrival in ACE one of four bags was missing. The member of Iberia handling service in ACE was very helpful while making the complaint. From my hotel I tried to reach Iberia and I tried to talk to them in German or English - nobody is able to speak German or English. And by the way, you can feel happy if someone is answering your call. The hotel staff told me that this is a normal practise. ACE-MAD A321 The flight was only one hour late, so we were able to reach our connection to FRA. No announcements were made. You just saw the boarding time on the screens. But there was no aircraft. MAD-FRA A319 Flight delayed by 45 mins without any info. Only the departure time on the screens changed every 5 mins. The crew on this flight was helpful and announcements aboard were made in Spanish and English and the main also in German.

IBERIA review :  13 January 2009 : by M Buitendach

First and last experience with Iberia. Flew to Johannesburg via Madrid return. Flight delayed from Johannesburg to Madrid. Inflight journey was awful with rude staff who only offered 1 refreshment over a 9 hour flight. Arrived late at Madrid where I was due to board a connecting flight but was told I had to go to police as I did not have a Spanish visa. I explained that I was not stopping in Madrid and was in transit. Still I was ordered to go to security by a staff member who spoke no English at all. After another security check I was sent to a different boarding gate to find that our connecting flight would be delayed by 4 hours with absolutely no explanation or reassurance. Finally we connected to London Heathrow where my baggage was then lost. I filled in the claim forms and have been waiting for 4 days now. I was given a contact number to call if my luggage did not arrive after 1 day. The contact number is voice automated only and does not work most times. I have tried calling various Iberia numbers only to be told every time that there is nothing they can do to help me.

IBERIA review :  13 January 2009 : by E Amiri

JFK-MAD-GVA economy. This is the worst airline I have ever flown. Imagine flying with Iberia through MAD where the biggest snow storm in decades has hit! Crew does not speak English - very reluctant as well. Customer Service is awful. I had a 12hr delay at MAD because of the storm and Iberia's disorganization. A food voucher was given to one specific pizza store. I took a picture of the line of passengers waiting to get a slice of pizza and a fanta. I cant describe how ridiculous it was. Finally, 1250 delayed to 1800 from MAD to GVA. We get on the plane and eventually take off at 1930. We arrive at GVA and are informed that the luggage wasn't boarded on the plane? Please people, please, forget the 100-200 dollar price difference if you're taking Iberia because of the better fare - it is not worth it.