IBERIA review : 27 August 2008 : by N Dillon

Customer Rating : 2/5

I must say this was our worst airline experience. Most disappointing was the A340 used to and from Boston - very outdated. The upholstery was peeling away from some of the seatback tray tables exposing the bare metal. The members of the flight crew that we encountered were not at all welcoming and portrayed themselves as not wanting to be there. The entertainment system consisted of hanging monitors and my headphones did not work on either flight. On the plus side, the airline was on time and they offered free newspapers.

IBERIA review : 27 August 2008 : by H Henderson

Customer Rating : 2/5

LHR- MAD- PMI. Booked flights almost 6 moths in advanced, and no matter how much we tried could not book seats, we phoned every number possible and Iberia were most unhelpful on the phone. Eventually we found the online check in, but could only book seats one day prior to our flight. The plane from London was one hour late, with no explanation, and was incredibly cramped (A320), I doubt it was the 31in seat pitch Iberia claimed. Had to pay 8 euros for a sandwich! and the seats were very uncomfortable. Because of the late departure, we had to run the entire length of Madrid airport, and managed to get to our plane, which was slightly more roomie (A321). Landed in Majorca on time. The return trip was the same, left Palma slightly late, and again had to run to the other end of the terminal, as you know T4 is about a mile long! Then found out our plane was delayed an hour, no explanation again. This plane was more comfortable (A321) and spacious than the outbound, but still no free drinks. At London we waited about an hour for our bags, then an announcement was made for us to go to the Iberia desk, our bags were still at Madrid. We were promised our bags would be delivered next day, no such luck.

IBERIA review : 23 August 2008 : by Christoph Deyhle

Customer Rating : 1/5

Frankfurt via Madrid to Sao Paulo and return. FRA-MAD, which takes 2.5 hours no drinks and foods are served. However, you can buy a tin of Coke for 3 Euros and a very small sandwich for 8.5 Euros. (Even Lufthansa, which is not known for the best service, is serving drinks on a domestic flight taking less than one hour) The seats are as comfortable as a wooden garden chair on both routes (FRA-MAD and MAD-Sao Paulo) and have no adjustable headrest. Entertainment is with one or two movies on 3 screens inside the aircraft - very poor for an intercontinental flight. If you ask a stewardess for a glass of water for example, you`ll be told that they`re busy at the moment and that you have to wait until dinner. Water is served between the meals only twice. Last but not least, at the moment, I am waiting for my suitcase, which was left in Madrid, due to the very short time between the arrival from Sao Paulo and the connection to Frankfurt.

IBERIA review : 23 August 2008 : by Stuart Reay

Customer Rating : 4/5

Nice-Barcelona & Barcelona-Paris Orly. Generally very impressed. Both flights on time, Great leg room and friendly staff. We got great fares. Food for purchase on BCN-ORY and wide variety and good prices.

IBERIA review : 20 August 2008 : by David Russell

Customer Rating : 3/5

LHR-MAD-MIA and return economy. LHR-MAD was ok - already aware of the catering costs so had food and drinks already to take on board. Crew were ok but leg room was very poor indeed. In Madrid were bussed from the aircraft at T4 to T4S no problems at all. Flight from MAD-MIA was operated by a tired Airbus 340 and the IFE was basic, but it worked - refreshments were ok. On the return the flight was operated by American Airlines MIA-MAD. Flight ok again aircraft a Boeing 767 was showing it's age with again very basic IFE but again worked ok. Refreshments and meals were ok but be warned you have to pay for alcohol. Crew average. Hassle free connection for the MAD-LHR sector, back with Iberia for this one again same comments for outward leg. They did manage to split myself and the wife for both flights on the return each being either side of the aisle and that was checking in at MIA four hours before departure.

IBERIA review : 14 August 2008 : by Steve Garrod

Customer Rating : 1/5

LHR to MIA via Mardrid. We checked in at LHR with BA as it was a codeshare with them. However, they could not check us in for the onward leg from Madrid. We arrived in Madrid to find that my wife and myself where offloaded as the tickets had been released to standby passengers - but my kids (13 & 9) were on! We were eventually all offloaded and advised that we would be put in a hotel. I asked for my cases but was told that this would take a couple of hours and that the hotel had everything that we required and was assured that our cases would travel with us the next day. The following day we double checked that our cases where on the "new" flight and was told yes they were. We then got on the plan to find that we had not been sat together. After discussions with passengers around us who were in the same predicament we all moved around. During the flight my kids did not get their pre- requested kids meals and the flight crew were rude and unhelpful and the inflight entertainment was dire. At our destination our bags failed to appear in the luggage hall. I then found out that they had arrived on the original flight the previous day and that I needed to go to the Iberia desk - this was over 1.5 hours after we landed. The Iberia desk denied all knowledge at first and stated that I should go to lost and found. On my insistence they double checked and then led me to an office behind the scenes where our cases sat. We then found that the cases had been opened by the US TSA - understandable I guess as they arrived on their own - with Iberia present but one of our specially purchased TSA locks was missing. Due to the route we had chosen to try and keep the flight cost down we had, by the end of our holiday, flown on 4 flights with Iberia. On not one of these were we sat together by the check in staff - on one flight my kids were on a row of 3, my wife on another row of 3 and myself on the next row of 3 - but nobody else was sat on any of the remaining 5 seats! On the flight back into Heathrow there was so little legroom that I couldn't actually get my legs behind the seat in front - I am tall but usually manage. This does not even cover everything that went wrong. We found Iberia totally inept, they lied to us and gave poor service both in the air and on the ground. My wife summed it up when she said "Never Ever again, even if I am in a coffin, will I fly Iberia!"

IBERIA review : 14 August 2008 : by Val Manni

Customer Rating : 1/5

By far the most unfriendly and unprofessional flight attendants! NEVER AGAIN. We paid 2700euros to fly from Athens via Madrid to Cancun. our flight from Madrid to Cancun was operated by Iberworld - had to pay for our drinks, there was no leg space. My husband is over 6ft and when we asked for an exit they refused it by saying that their system allows them to give exit rows only for the last passengers to check in - where is the benefit then to check in early?! I agree with other reviewers that they do not like speaking English and that with people that speak Spanish are far more polite than the rest.

IBERIA review : 13 August 2008 : by D Coster

Customer Rating : 3/5

Madrid-London Heathrow. Punctual and clean aircraft. Hardly room to read a newspaper. Booked with British Airways but thought Iberia would be of same quality. However, legroom was much worse in this A320. They claim 31 inches but it is the lack of space between you and the seat at head level which made it feel cramped. Another small point was the need to pay for everything when BA included a soft drink and sandwich for nothing. Not much more than a budget airline really.

IBERIA review : 11 August 2008 : by Markus Haerin

Customer Rating : 1/5

Madrid - San Jose. It is hard to beat the unfriendliness of Iberian flight attendants. If you can define a minimum of service, then we found it in this flight. After a horrible meal staff retired to the galley where they barricaded themselves with the trolleys to shield from any passenger who may dare to ask some water or any other minor favour. The so-called snack was thrown at you at last minute during the long awaited descent.

IBERIA review : 11 August 2008 : by Louis Pranlas

Customer Rating : 1/5

Fiumicino to Mexico city via Madrid. First flight was normal: quite big seat in the economy and crew was friendly although, if you want something to drink or eat, you have to pay. Second flight was one of the worst flights : crew doesn't want to speak english, only spanish, meals terrible, and there are not personal tv screen and during the flight they keep the big common screens off. Beside this, the economy class seats have no space for legs. I advise to avoid Iberia.

IBERIA review : 31 July 2008 : by Bruno Leunen

Customer Rating : 1/5

BRU-MAD-UIO-GYE-MAD-BRU : the service is lousy. The staff unfriendly, uncooperative, not wanting to speak anything but Spanish, even though they know you do not speak it. Too bad they do not have real competition to South America. Lets hope that the merger with BA will work so that they might improved. One can only hope !

IBERIA review : 31 July 2008 : by Joris Van den Berghe

Customer Rating : 2/5

BRU-MAD, then to Seville return. Prices for drinks onboard were reasonable, but FA's unfriendly. I had to translate orange juice to 'zumo de naranjas', otherwise the FA wouldn't have understood it. On the BRU-MAD flight I hadn't any room left for my legs (Airbus A320), though it was slightly better on the regional flight with the Airbus A321. Seats were fine and quite comfortable. Flights on time. The unfriendly attitude and behaviour of the crew ruined my two first experiences with this Spanish airline.

IBERIA review : 30 July 2008 : by João Hormigo

Customer Rating : 4/5

I have been flying almost every week with Iberia, from Lisbon to Madrid and from Lisbon to Warsaw via Madrid. The flight attendants are quite friendly, and most important there are no delays.

IBERIA review : 29 July 2008 : by D Vandegeerde

Customer Rating : 3/5

Brussels to Valencia return, via Madrid. FA's were kind and professional, and seats comfortable. Just wish they'd offer a free drink on the 2-hour Brussels to Madrid flight ; the food for sale on board is a bit expensive.

IBERIA review : 29 July 2008 : by David Lunn

Customer Rating : 4/5

Heathrow to Gran Canaria via Madrid. 30 minutes at check-in which is pretty normal peak time. They loaded professionally, not like the mad rush on EasyJet or others. Adequate space and friendly cabin crew. Connection from Madrid Terminal 4 to 4S took 20 minutes (from exiting plane to gate) and signage and airport seemed excellent. Second plane only 15 minutes late and baggage unloaded in 20 minutes. Would use them again and would recommend. There were also no charges for putting bags in the hold. Having read some of the Iberia reviews on this website I had prepared myself for the worst - the journey was a pleasure.

IBERIA review : 7 July 2008 : by A Ghanem

Customer Rating : 4/5

IAD-ATH via MAD. The outbound flight went smoothly. FA's were nice. When I got to Madrid, the directions were clear and I was able to make my 1 hr 40 min connection within 40 minutes. Iberia staff from MAD-ATH was nice. However, it took off 30 minutes late due to the fact that someone couldn't clear security and the bags needed to be removed from the plane. The airline checked my luggage all the way from IAD to ATH and all of it arrived. On the way back, Iberia staff was nice on the ATH-MAD flight. Polite staff, good food, and free wine was part of Iberia service.

IBERIA review : 7 July 2008 : by Michael Fadjar

Customer Rating : 4/5

Algiers - MAdrid vv and Madrid - San Sebastian vv in economy. Short flights, around one hour each leg. On such short duration, I found the service quite good: polite cabin crew and flight information given regularly by the pilot. Planes were A319: clean and quite OK for short range. The downside is "no food & drink offered" policy, unless you pay. For one leg price that Iberia charged for Madrid - San sebastian (EUR 250), no food on board is completely unacceptable.

IBERIA review : 3 July 2008 : by B Stevens

Customer Rating : 4/5

Business class Madrid - Havana. Comfortable seat sitting up, less so lying down. Hate the angled flat seats that most long-haul airlines have installed nowadays. Food mediocre. Wines good. Service acceptable. IFE of no interest to me (but it appeared very comprehensive and hi-tec) I travel business/first class solely for the solitude of the cabin environment and was rather upset that Iberia had upgraded half the cabin from economy due to overbooking! I fly around 10 times a year within Europe with Iberia and the product is excellent. Rarely full cabins, decent food and wine, FAs guard the curtain to prevent people crashing the business cabin or go to the front toilet. Service is very Spanish, ie. a bit abrasive but efficient. Ground services for business class passengers in Madrid are excellent and the lounge is one of the best I know.

IBERIA review : 2 July 2008 : by Mike Sheil

Customer Rating : 1/5

London to South Africa via Madrid. On arriving to Madrid we made our way to our departure gate, then saw on a screen that our flight was delayed - for seven hours! There was no information, no announcements, no Iberia staff to ask. One of us went to a different terminal where there was an Iberia desk, and after an hour returned to tell us we would be put in hotel. All this had taken hours because there were no announcements and no information. We then dutifully headed off to the new terminal, and when bearing in mind it was now past 1am and we had security checks between each terminal, we were pretty pissed off. We bumped into fellow passengers who were also wandering round confused. Finally, we found a woman from Iberia, who refused to speak to us. Opposite was a second Iberia desk for 'ticket sales' At 2am on a Sunday night, this was staffed by three people. Naturally, they had no customers. When I asked them for help, to organise for us to reach this alleged hotel, they refused. There were quite a lot of customers around, completely confused, and told different things. The Iberia desk for customer services had a queue of twenty, and no staff, despite the 'sales' staff sitting idly just opposite. No one knew what was going on. We went to the desk downstairs which again, was unstaffed, and when someone did turn up they told us to go back upstairs. Finally, we found a very rude woman who told us there was a woman outside, by a bus. We asked her to take us to this bus - she simply refused. By now we were a group of ten, and we wandered outside together. Someone had to go round every bus until he found it. We dutifully boarded, still not having had any explanation or apology fro anyone at Iberia. We had no idea what arrangements were. After twenty minutes, we left, and we arrived at the hotel (a convenient half an hour away) at 3am. The full bus unloaded, and checked into rooms where we had a discomforting two hours sleep. Bearing in mind that we'd landed into Madrid just after 10pm, and that our plane had been cancelled by 12, we didn't get much sleep! The whole thing was completely farcical. Each and every staff member of Iberia I spoke to was at the least dismissive, and at worst rude. They refused to explain, and to apologise. They refused to listen and refused to help. Simple requests like 'could you contact someone who does know?' were refused. It was a wall of silence. Iberia refuse to deal with any request by phone saying one has to deal through the web site. A total shambles - rude, incompetent and totally uncaring about an elderly blind passenger.

IBERIA review : 2 July 2008 : by S Arfarakh

Customer Rating : 3/5

LHR-ATH via MAD. £290 was the cheapest fare at that time. 1 hour delay in LHR without any excuse and no food from LHR to MAD! The food MAD to ATH is not good and the quantity is small. A 3 star airline.

IBERIA review : 27 June 2008 : by Imran Yousaf

Customer Rating : 2/5

Lon-Mad-San Jose. We used Iberia economy for our long haul return flight to Costa Rica on our honeymoon. The food service was good as we were given the option of vegetarian and Halal food which was refreshing, but the stewards could have served with half a smile at least. Overall a bit of a deflated feeling using this airline hence will avoid for the future

IBERIA review : 24 June 2008 : by A de Vicente

Customer Rating : 2/5

MAD-TXL-MAD. On the outbound flight, we were lucky to get our seats at the emergency exit through the online check-in option. Luggage drop-off counters had such long queues it was frustrating. Expensive food for sale on board. I think they should provide a free meal on this 3-hour evening flight. We were starving when we reached TXL. New A319 aircraft. Crew young and nice but looked tired. We didn't manage to get the emergency exit seats for the inbound flight but had already printed our boarding cards. We asked the check-in counter manager if there was a luggage drop-off counter. She replied we had to wait at the horribly long general queue. When we reached the counters, the very nice agent said we should have gone straight to the counter to drop off our bags! She couldn't believe it when we explained her boss had instructed us to wait with the rest of the passengers. A320 looked older than the A319 but was OK. However, we were very shocked at the limited seat pitch. I just couldn't fit in the space. Crew young but looked unhappy and uninterested. Next time I will take easyjet!

IBERIA review : 24 June 2008 : by K Maloney

Customer Rating : 1/5

MAD-LIM A340-600 : awful to say the least, the food was below average, passengers had to fetch their drinks during the flight. No individual personal screens on a 12 hr flight - limited to a few small screens for the whole plane. Seats were ok, passengers very happy to arrive in Lima and get out of the plane.

IBERIA review : 21 June 2008 : by M Cooke

Customer Rating : 3/5

London to Madrid and then on to Sao Paulo. The flight times were altered and the check in clerk do not mention at all. Spent 2 hours wandering around Madrid airport with no sign of any help from Iberia, finally found a bus that was laid on to help passengers stranded. The hotel had no knowledge that passengers were coming. Plane clean, seats comfortable with ok leg room. Have complained to Iberia but its difficult to get any satisfactory answers

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