SPANAIR Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

12 January 2006

Belfast - Palma Mallorca on an extremely old, smelly, MD-83 for a cramped 2 hour flight. Had to pay for everything, even though the ticket was £300! Crew could speak only basic English, and I felt as though they were extremely annoyed at having to give service to a plane full of Irish people.

Spanair review - by Matteo Bertoni

1 January 2006

MAD-LPA return. First leg in business avant class was very nice with a good meals selection and comfort on board their A320. Return leg was MD83, very old and tired interior, economy class, but good service. On both legs crew was kind and helpful with passengers.

Spanair review - by Paul Budd

19 December 2005

Madrid - Malaga on MD83. A gratifying experience with Spain's second airline. After booking only two weeks in advance and travelling during a Spanish National holiday week (Puente!) I was amazed at the cost of the ticket (region of 65GBP return), which undercut Iberia by some 30GBP. Check- in was a doddle on both trips because I got to the airport early and secured my exit row, which rewarded me with some three feet of leg room. Acres more than business class on any European flight. The MD83 was in reasonable shape and although was ageing slightly - seemed very comfy none the less. Boarding was even easier than check in as we were transported in groups of 50 or so by bus to the stand. Greeted by flight purser and a team of attractive smiling young FA's. Unlike what you get on Iberia. One drinks round was made on the 50 minute flight with water being offered free of charge, unlike Iberia. One could also buy snacks but no one seemed too bothered. Unfortunately we arrived some twenty minutes late and subsequently were presented with a discount voucher of 15% for our next trip (very impressed). Luggage came out instantly as we reached the carousel at Malaga airport. Spanair really have taken the initiative when it comes to domestic flights, they are showing up Iberia (who have lost the plot), and with cheaper ticket prices, better service and courteous staff, Spanair is the airline to fly when possible!

Spanair review - by Huw Davies

23 October 2005

Cardiff to Ibiza. Flight from Cardiff was fine though the cabin staff were very cold to the passengers acceptable as they were not unfriendly. The MD83 was ok nothing special food was quite acceptable no complaints. Ibiza to Cardiff - 2 hour delay, which I would have had no problem about normally but we were called to boarding then left to stand in a queue for 1/2hr before telling us there would be a delay. Once on board the plane was not very clean and certainly not to a standard you would expect from a large airline. The Stewardesses were not friendly at all. Food was handed out to only a few people and no explanation was given to the rest of us even though we had paid for the service. The last straw was when an older lady who came on with a stick obviously struggling to walk had been to the toilet, when 1 seat away from her seat she was met by the stewardess’s bring the trolley back, instead of them moving the trolley 3 feet so the lady could sit in her seat they made her walk back (though obviously struggling) so they could get the trolley back to park it.

Spanair - by Stephane Bercher

2 October 2005

Madrid-La Coruña. Checked in at the kiosk near the airport's metro station. Very easy to use and got my boarding pass in under 2 minutes. Flight boarded on-time (by bus) but as 3 passengers were missing, staff had to look for their checked-in bags and we left with a delay of 25 minutes due to this. The crew apologized several times and offered discount vouchers valid for future purchase of a domestic flight to make up for the delay. Now that's what I call customer service! The aircraft was a MD81 on lease from parent company SAS and was well kept inside and out. The seat pitch was spacious (I'm 183cm tall and my knees didn't touch the seat in front, even when reclined). Cabin crew was helpful and very friendly, and spoke excellent English. My only gripe with Spanair is that all catering in economy must be paid for. To be fair all other Spanish airlines do the same. At least Spanair does it with a smile. The fare was excellent value for money at 77 euros round-trip, taxes included. Iberia was 10 euros cheaper but after so many bad experiences with them I swore never to use them again unless I have no other option.

Spanair - by D Fay

24 September 2005

In June I booked a one-way from Malaga-Barcelona for travel in early Sept - for less than the equivalent train fare. In August I received an email saying that the flight had been cancelled and we had been transferred to a flight 6 hours later. I phoned their call centre in Spain and asked to move to an earlier flight instead. This was done swiftly and efficiently. The flight was pleasant: the crew were friendly and the MD-83 seemed freshly fitted out. On board refreshments were reasonably priced, a lot cheaper than Iberia or Ryanair. The only downside was that at BCN we had a very remote stand resulting in a slow bus journey to the terminal and a long wait for bags. There were a lot of Spanair aircraft around us on the apron so this seems to be their policy. I'd recommend them as quicker than the train and cheaper than Iberia.

Spanair - by Bertoni Matteo

30 August 2005

MAH-MAD and MAD-VGO. First leg was a shame in terms of cabin staff attitude and efficiency. Found the staff very unprofessional and seem scared about passengers going in the toilets and seating near the emergency exit: a real mystery!! In flight service minimal, with catering to pay. Second leg was better, with /A a bit older and more kind and professional. I really think that Spainair shouldn't have entered in Star Alliance, because she has nothing to compare to other airlines in the group, and travelling with JK is the worst way to fly in Spain and Europe/Spain.

Spanair - by Adam Marleigh 

15 August 2005

MAD-AGP with Spanair. I was flying on an employee pass with a friend of mine. We wanted to fly direct LHR-AGP but had to go via MAD. We got checked in straight away by the check-in agent (not JK staff, a handling agent I think) Got on the plane having had a sandwich and a drink in the airport. The staff on board were a bit stand-offish until they realised I could speak Spanish and then were nice. Seats comfortable, we left late due to congestion in Barajas but the pilot was (suprisingly) witty about it and delivered us just about on time. Not bad service - I'd consider Spanair again.

Spanair - by Olivier Sécache

12 August 2005

Two flights in July MADBCNMAD and MADVLCMAD. Old MD83, cabin looks sad. To BCN : 15 min. delay. back to MAD, 2 hours delayed without any explanation until the captain gave us an explanation once onboard - no discount voucher despite their quality policy. Unpleasant service / staff and bus to the aircraft (long way ) are not suitable for such short haul flights !

Spanair - by Stefan Neuhauser

25 July 2005

Madrid-Vienna in July 2005 in business class: the MD-87 looked rather old, my seat was broken and all the overhead lights were all out of order throughout the whole flight. After boarding we received a glass of orange juice, after take off an aperitive with assorted nuts (peanuts included) was served. The dinner "Rioja style" (menu card included) was superb, service well above average for a 3 hour flight. Despite it was an MD-87, there were small screens and a film was shown. A colleague of mine travelled in economy on the same flight and complained. In economy everything had to be paid, there was no service whatsoever. Spanair even charged 5 EUR for the headphones! Frankly, I do not understand the policy of "Star Alliance" (of which Spanair is a member) to accept such a mediocre service in economy. As a business- passenger I would gladly forgo coconut-shrimps in Rioja-sauce as an entree and serve economy-pax sandwiches and free drinks. Come on "Star Alliance"!

Spanair - by Peter Smith

6 June 2005

I had a round trip ticket on Lufthansa MAD-MUC-BKK-SGN-BKK-FRA-MAD. Everything was typical Lufthansa service until I got back to Frankfurt and found that I had a Spanair flight FRA/MAD. To start with we stood on the bus for ten minutes whilst they finished cleaning the plane, which had spent the night there. There was no complimentary breakfast on the two and a half hour flight, although there were barely 15 passengers on board. When we arrived at MAD, we waited 22 minutes in the plane whilst Spanair tried to locate stairs and bus to take us on a ten-minute drive to the airport building.

Spanair - by Jesper Markussen

17 February 2005

Copenhagen - Gran Canaria with connections in Barcelona on the outbound flight and Madrid on the inbound. All four flights in Business Avant-class which was very very good. A preflight drink before takeoff, then snacks with drinks before dinner, which was a three course meal served individually with complementary drinks including cava. The meal was topped with coffee and digestives. Free earphones and plenty of room (only two pax in a three seat row), blankets, pillows, magazines and newspapers. And not to forget: a wonderful attentive crew. They even offered tax free purchase in the outbound leg to be picked up on the inbound. Just perfect - I will certainly recommend Spanair to anyone, and I will certainly use them again on my next Spanish destination.

Spanair - by Enrique Gallar

5 January 2005

A disappointing 4day new year trip. HEL-CPH-MAD. I spent a full day waiting for a delayed bag that did not make the connection in Copenhagen for two flights! In addition to lost bag the service was poor, and meal had to be paid for on CPH-MAD! Flight attendant even forgot to serve my paid meal! Many passengers complained as that was not indicated at purchase time. My guess is that Spanair's justification for such cost savings is competing low-fare air companies - but my ticket price was far from cheap league. I wonder why Star Alliance has allowed Spanair to join - I never had any problems with SAS or other Star Alliance members/partners.

Spanair - by Paulo Lopes

20 October 2004

My flight from Madrid to BCN was in a dirty and run down MD 83. Almost no leg room in a VERY crowded flight. A very rude Spanish crew. The announcements were only in Spanish. No food or drink at all. And the air conditioning system was not running properly, so we felt very hot(!) in some parts of the flight. It was only 55 minutes, but a very bad experience. I do not recommend Spanair, and it is one of the worst airlines I've experienced, as bad as Iberia.

Spanair - by Sophie Blomgren

12 July 2004

I was booked on a flight from Alicante via Madrid to Stockholm on the 30th of June and our flight was delayed 24hrs because of technical problems with the plane. The Spanair personnel in Alicante made the situation very confused for all us and all Swedish families gave up trying to find a suitable solution so we all bought Sterling tickets home the same night. I have tried to contact Spanair in Sweden, SAS customer relations gave me an non existent e-mail address to customer service in Spanair and their website only contains tel no to selling office that you have to wait for 30 minutes before answering, and not helping out. I wish to make an oficial complaint and can not find an easy way to contact customer relations in Spanair. I have never met such a confusing organisation and no standardised routines for customer complaints seems to be available, easily accessible from the web-site.

Spanair - by Alvaro Macarron

8 May 2004

I flew MAD-BCN-MAD. On the MAD-BCN leg, the MD-83 looked a bit run down and I was shocked at the extremely poor legroom in economy class. I could hardly bear it, so I really wonder what I would have done if it had been a longer flight! For the return flight I showed up at the airport early enough to get a seat at the emergency exit row. Regarding the cabin crew, they were young, good looking, very well groomed, nice and attentive but they did not have a chance to offer any service: we only got a piece of candy in a 50 minute flight!

Spanair - by J Madsen

22 March 2004

MAD-LPA and LPA-BCN. Finding a person in Madrid who could issue a boarding pass was a huge challenge (transit passenger). They couldn't do it in the lounge due to technical problems and the Spanair counter was abandoned. After a 15 minutes wait a person showed up. First leg in economy was extremely cramped. Service and food OK. Our departure from LPA proved to include the same kind of problems with the ground staff. The check-in agent didn't inform us that we needed an invitation to the lounge (Star gold card holder). Therefore, we once again needed to contact the staff in the departure section. This time we had to wait twenty minutes by the counter for a person to show up. When boarding we were upgraded to biz. Service and food were very satisfying. Spanair serves the worst red wine I have ever tasted (usually I love Spanish wines). I noticed several passengers who gave up after a few sips. Spanair is a very OK airline but they certainly need to improve their on ground service.

Spanair - by Kate Evans

18 March 2004

Alicante to Madrid - for 35 euro. Good deal, cabin crew very sweet to my small child. Flight too short for any refreshment, but they gave my child a puzzle and lollipop! Even hand delivered the tickets to my home in Spain and got US Airways miles to boot.

Spanair - by Martha Ahearn

22 October 2003

We called Spanair a minimum of 8 times for info on luggage weight restrictions between Barcelona and Madrid - no definite answers. As for fares on the shuttle , times etc. between the two cities, we were quoted "anything between $25.00 to 75 one way and every 15 minutes". We waited 1 hour and 45 minutes, and paid $ 150 per person that was not what we budgeted for. We used everything from their 800 numbers in the US and the web site. It has the worst customer service we have encountered

Spanair - by Steve Fenton

20 October 2003

Superb value for money and great service. I was trying to book on line and ended up ringing the help desk. The guy there was very helpful and explained I can book in the UK and pick up my ticket at the Spanair desk in Madrid. He also advised me that he could hold the flight for three days before I had to confirm, this is not normal with on - line booking so a great added extra as far as I was concerned. Ticket desk very helpful and check in as always very smiley and happy to see you. Flights both ways on time to Bilbao and back to Madrid with great service on board. They beat Iberia hands down in every aspect and hop they go from strength to strength.

Spanair - by Todd Nimkittikul

5 September 2003

I recently flew Frankfurt to Madrid with Spanair and I have mixed feelings towards this airline. I flew them on a domestic route (Barcelona - Madrid) a few years ago, and the flight attendants were pleasant, friendly and polite. On this particular flight, male flight attendants were more pleasant than female crew. While the food was nice (Cold cuts, some sort of beans for appetizer, dessert, a roll and spearmint was a nice touch at the end), the crews serving them couldn't care less. The female crew were so stressed out they did not smile once during the entire 2 hour flight. The seats were comfortable, the food decent, but the drawback of the flight was the flight attendants! May I add that Spanair offer the best tea service in the sky? The flight attendant poured hot water into your cup, then you choose between 5 - 6 different tea bag selections (english breakfast, black tea, green tea for instance) and it comes with sugar, lemon or milk.

Spanair - by Steve Fenton  

29 August 2003

Having used them a few times last year I booked them over Iberia due to the terrible service I have had on numerous occasions from them. I found the website very easy to use and when I called them they told me they would even allow you to make telephone reservations and hold it in the system for 3 days whilst you confirmed other arrangements. The flights I took last year were very good and the service provided a pleasant experience. The biz class was simply a 2 -3 config and when it was a 3 they made sure the middle seat was free. Food was good and lots of offers for extra drinks during the flights.

Spanair - by Alan McClure  

23 July 2003

I flew Valencia to Munich on Spanair and was pleasantly surprised by the service provided. Soon after take off the best cold lunch I have had on a short haul flight was served followed by a full bar service. When this was completed there was another full round of drinks offered. For the next hour FA's walked through the aircraft regularly offering tea coffee or any other drinks requested. This was my first flight on Spanair and now that they are part of the Star Alliance it won't be the last. The only downside is no business lounge at Valencia for gold card holders

Spanair - by Lanny James  

21 June 2003

The customer service of the lost baggage department of this airline is perhaps the worst service I have ever received. Not only has my bag been lost for a week, no one can seem to find or give me an idea as to when it will show up. I also blame Air Canada, as that company, a member of the Star Alliance, is the airline that booked me with Spanair in the first place. When I called Air Canada from Spain to see if they could help me, they were less than enthusiastic. No wonder the airline industry is in a messif this is the best customer service that they as a collective group can offer.

Spanair - by T Schlacher  

15 August 2002

While Spanair may be more of a charter service, this doesn't give them a free licence to offer sub-quality service. To illustrate - our Sunday evening flight Vienna to Madrid was 6 hours delayed at the start. This can happen, but what made it bad was that no information whatsover was provided - people were left standing for the whole time starring at a display board which changed the estimated departure time every 30 minutes. The Austrian Airlines ground staff were under resourced and no Spanair representative was available. After 3 hours the last food outlet closed and then there was no food on the plane! Naturally everybody missed their connecting flights in Madrid.

Spanair - by D Howard  

13 August 2002

I agree with all the below. I was very surprised when I took a flight with Spanair from Frankfurt to Madrid. The service very good. Pillows and blankets if required were offered to all passengers and drinks followed. The meal was very nice with hot bread and the crew very friendly. Hot towels and sweets offered prior to arrival. I wish them good luck with star alliance and hope they don't fall over within the alliance. A lot better than Iberia!

Spanair - by Chris McAuley  

28 November 2001

I flew Spanair from Liverpool to Palma on an MD-83. I have to say that I have travelled with a lot of charter airlines and this service onboard exceeded all of them by far. We took off 10 mins early and landed over 30 mins early. The cabin crew were friendly and very smartly dressed. All the announcements were in English and very clear. The inflight entertainment was excellent. The meals were all hot and of very high standard and served within half-an-hour of takeoff. All the children on-board were given activity packs. After the meal they came around with hot towels and gave out pillows and blankets to anyone who wanted one. The cabin interior was very well maintained and the seating very comfortable with plenty of legroom. This has been the best charter airline i have flown with and the service far exceeded Iberia! I would definately recommend flying with them!

Spanair - posted by Craig Martinez

28 November 2001

I flew Spanair on a short domestic flight and the service I received in the air was much better than that on the ground. At Barcelona Airport, Spanair operates out of Terminal B with the other Spanish carriers. Check in for the early morning flight didn't open until about 1.5 hours before departure, which I thought was cutting it a bit too close. There were three agents checking in passengers for my flight as well as a departure for Madrid. Both flights were scheduled to leave almost simultaneously. The computerized reservation system was working, however, the machines that printed boarding passes were not - so each agent had to hand write boarding passes which took a very long time. My boarding pass was misprinted when the agent wrote my destination was Madrid rather than Bilbao. I had to wait in line again, for about 15 minutes, to receive a corrected one. Service in the air was much better. We departed on time, and for what was to be an hour flight received breakfast and hot chocolate / coffee. Inflight PA announcements were in English and Spanish, and the crew very professional and friendly. We arrived on time at Bilbao. The early morning return flight was the same. Very professional attitude among the crew, breakfast and beverages, and hot towels.  I would highly recommend Spanair for domestic flights within Spain. Its professional and courteous service gets you from Point A to Point B, at a usually lower fare than the Spanish national carrier.