Spanair review - by P Torrents

16 May 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BCN-MAD-BCN. One of those trips that made me remember why I lost my Gold to Silver status last year, not flying with them as often as I used to. Checked in with my cellphone the previous day, printed my boarding card at the airport and boarded normally the MD87 only to find out that they had changed the plane from the originally planned B717and my emergency seat was gone, so was forced to wait in the rear end until boarding was completed and take the first available seat which was a middle one, what else could be! Printers for my boarding card were out of order and plane was delayed with more than 2 hours so was offered a seat in a later flight which would leave earlier than the one I was booked in, but a new plane from the original MD83 to an A321, made me lose the emergency row seat I had booked and forced me into the narrowest seat I have been in with this carrier. Overall, an experience to forget and to remember why they are not my first option anymore.

Spanair review - by Steve Blood

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BCN to CPH: I said I wasn't going to fly Spanair again but I had to, to get to Seattle via Copenhagen with SAS. This time I got to fly business class because the deal on the ticket. Sitting at the front of the Airbus 319 you get to see how Spanair crams in extra rows by not having a forward storage cabin for staff equipment, so staff use the overhead bins to store their luggage - so much so there wasn't much room left for passenger luggage! I don't get it. They expect biz class customers to have less luggage space than flying economy? No wonder SAS wants to sell them, and no wonder no-one wants to buy them.

Spanair review - by Paul Jacobsen

3 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ARN-BCN in economy. Flight was on-time and operated by A320. The cabin is bright and airy; seats are comfortable with quite a generous legroom. But for a flight lasting more than three hours, it is irritating to have to pay for food and drinks on-board. 5 euros for a sandwich and 9 euros for a warm breakfast are clearly a rip-off. Cabin crew was smiling and friendly. Spanair can be compared to a low-cost airline, but with better legroom.

Spanair review - by J Law

2 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BCN-AGP with AeBal Aerolineas de Baleares aircraft - nice 717 plenty of legroom. Flights on time boarding swift, and nice cabin crew, friendly and talkative. Selection of drinks and snacks offered but for a 1hr 20 min flight cup of coffee was enough and only 1 euro.

Spanair review - by C Hirschfeld

2 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

PMI to BCN on a very clean and comfortable B717 operated by AeBal Aerolineas de Baleares 20 minutes delay, no on board service or in flight entertainment.

Spanair review - by O Anklin

28 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Zürich-Copenhagen and return for SAS in Economy Class. Very narrow seats, no space for legs. Old plane. Not really what you expect from a SAS flight.

Spanair review - by Harun Rathore

28 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BIO-BCN in business class. I was originally booked on Lufthansa from BIO via FRA to TXL. LH flight was cancelled because of a technical problem, and rebooked on Spanair in business to BCN and on Air Berlin economy to TXL. The flight left BIO 15 minutes ahead of schedule and arrived at BCN more than half an hour early. That was the positive aspect of the flight. The negative ones were cramped seats in business despite the middle seat being empty on the MD82, the service was minimal for business class: one free drink, a bocadillo (sandwich) and a kitkat bar. Certainly not the best member of Star Alliance.

Spanair review - by Walter Szwender

26 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Unbelievably frustrating, especially dealing from Canada. I received an email informing me that my connecting flight from MAD to AGP was changed to an hour earlier so that I would miss the incoming from TFS. Tried calling their reservation line but was told by a recording that it was not in service. Their number in the US was not valid from Canada. Tried their UK number but after waiting on hold for 30 minutes I gave up. Have sent an email and am still waiting for a reply and still do not have a valid connecting flight.

Spanair review - by H Stewart

25 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I should have realized if Spanair can't get their website up and running properly what does that say for their operations. Flight out of Barcelona was delayed by 2 hours with only one announcement. Boarding was a complete joke as the staff allowed people to rush to the gate resulting in an utter chaotic scene. No apology of delay once on board. The aircraft was old and dirty. FA's had no personality and beverage service was rushed. I should mention they had no ice because of the delay it had melted. That's a first. By far the worst airline in the Star Alliance group.

Spanair review - by J Steele

30 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Manchester to Copenhagen. I found the legroom manageable for the journey time. Served a sandwich and tea, crew were quite pleasant.

Spanair review - by Steve Blood

9 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I now refuse to use this airline. It's not worthy of a 3 star rating. Leg room is horrible on the MD planes, the web site always has problems, self-service check-in desks at Barcelona airport frequently don't work and to top it all, I upgraded a flight to Madrid recently, didn't get a ticket, was booked on a different flight in economy instead of Avant, and when I wrote an email of complaint it took Spanair 4 months to respond - but of course no refund of my upgrade fee.

Spanair review - by Luke Smith

23 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Granada to Barcelona, Economy. Late-night flight was nearly empty, but on a full flight, the leg room would have been tight and uncomfortable. All food and drinks on board were for purchase. On- time arrival, and the bags were already waiting at the carousel in Barcelona. Check-in and on-board staff were friendly, which was a nice surprise. The business class seats on this plane looked the same as the economy seats.

Spanair review - by Margaret Tolan

9 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Madrid to Alicante with Spanair on one of the old MD83 planes - it was horrendous - we were deafened with the noise from the engines - I can honestly say I have never been on a flight which was so uncomfortable for the ears. Thank heavens the flight was only an hour. I would be very reluctant to use Spanair again as they have quite a few of these planes in their fleet.

Spanair review - by D Little

27 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

MAD-FRA, on an A320. I have never seen so many seats put in an A320. I'm not that tall and my legs would not fit. Spanair is part of Star Alliance, and I do not know how. They are not up to the level of other member airlines. Half the flight was charted out, and for some reason they got to board first. This was a mess at MAD airport. Gold lounge at MAD was good. Very old and not very clean A320, charged for headseat to watch the movie. Ads on the head rest and overhead bins - tacky. Never will fly them again.

Spanair review - by Steve Blood

9 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Spanair's IT systems are incredibly poor. I flew to Madrid from Barcelona recently and paid the 24€ for an upgrade on the outbound flight. I was unable to check in on line and despite having an Avant ticket, the phone check in service booked me in economy which I only discovered when I got on the plane. For a refund you have to email customer service but no response yet three weeks later, and no indication of when I will get one. So now I'm in Zurich. I flew here with Swiss, everything went great, checked in on line, flight took off on time - excellent. But my return flight is a code share with Spanair - I can't use the Swiss web site to check in on line and Spanair only allows check in from Spanish Airports. This airline lags the rest of Star Alliance in terms of customer usability. Their planes are also very old, the seats have not been refurbished for years and so it can be very uncomfortable to sit for more than an hour or so in one of their seats in any section of the plane. Let's hope the new owners invest a little money in making this a better service.

Spanair review - by Tom Hicks

6 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Barcelona to Madrid on MD-80. It was stifling hot in the plane until we had been flying for about 45 minutes. There was nothing coming out of the air conditioning vents when we were on the ground and a bare puff of air when we were airborne. The service was okay. You got a typical Spanish sandwich and a drink. It was only a 50 minute flight so no complaints other than the air conditioning. We were a little late taking off but that seems to be standard no matter which airline you fly

Spanair review - by V Manuel

23 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Barcelona to Ibiza in business class. Plane a very old MD-83 and rather dirty. Very little overhead storage as FAs had taken up space prior to passengers boarding. Short 50 min flight but couldn't end soon enough as FA's ignored passengers and talked among themselves. Snack consisted of a stale bun with a dry piece of sausage. Refreshments were no better. Asked for ginger ale or club soda and was told they ran out. Asked for tomato juice told they don't have any. Not what you expect when flying on a premium fare. If it weren't for the fact Spanair was a Star Alliance member I would have never used them and will not in the future.

Spanair review - by Bjorn Sjögren

12 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Stockholm - Palma de Mallorca on MD83 in C class. One hour delay due to late arrival from previous flight. Nice FA's. Spanair is making a point of having Scandinavian speaking FA's on flights to/from Scandinavia. Excellent meal service.

Spanair review - by M Halbeisen

7 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

ZRH-MAD-SCQ return. Aircraft clean and friendly fa's. Small Snack offered ZRH-MAD, which is ok, comparing when you fly Iberia you have to pay for all you eat and drink onboard. Domestic Flights with no service but okay, as the flight time to SCQ was only 45 minutes. Last flight sector SWISS was operating carrier in codeshare with JK and you just feel the difference when you board the aircraft.

Spanair review - by Jesper Jensen

25 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Copenhagen-Malaga-Copenhagen in business class. Check in fast at both ends. Pre take off drinks, with newspapers and magazines. To Malaga cocktails was offered and then a very good four course lunch and coffee. To Copenhagen breakfast with a hot course, cheese and fresh fruit, and warm bread and croissants. There were no carts in the business class cabin, trays and drink orders were carried from the galley to the passenger. An inflight movie was shown in both directions. One of the best business class experiences I have had on European flights.

Spanair review - by William McMurray

11 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I now realise that the comments relating to the elderly MD83 aircraft used by Spanair are fully justified. The aircraft was well worn and cramped, cabin crew were indifferent and pre-paid meals did not all materialise. Having tried the food and found it to be very poor, there was no point in trying to obtain missing meals. Adding a 2 hour delay to the outbound flight which had already been changed twice and a 1 hour wait at Palma for luggage to appear, I would be reluctant to fly with Spanair again.

Spanair review - by N Barnsley

8 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Madrid-Frankfurt-Madrid. Economy class. Chaotic check in at Madrid T2 and 45 minute delay without explanation, in fact no announcements from the flight deck on either sector. More leg room than average on the old, shabby but clean A320. Polite and efficient FAs, announcements made in Spanish, German and English and IFE was excellent for a short haul flight: sky map plus Spanish and English movies and several music channels. Free plastic cheese and ham sandwiches and dreary coffee, but 5 euros for a wine and 3.50 for a very small beer. Overall, not bad.

Spanair review - by Daniel Katz

24 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

CPH-MAD-CPH economy. Outbound flight was a nightmare, with 2 hours delay, and a fully booked old, old MD83, which was terrible noisy. The service onboard does not exist, I do not expect much, when I pay €150 for a return flight, but water for free would be reasonable. The return flight was on a A320, which was better, but the seat pitch is a disgrace, I am only 176cm "tall", and when the chair in front of me reclined, my legs had no space at all, and people were standing up a long a time during the flight, due to this non existing seat pitch. Spanair is nothing more than a no-frills airline, disguised with its membership of Star Alliance.

Spanair review - by David Chown

24 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

San Sebastian to Malaga via Madrid and return. Outward flight schedule was changed days before flight so that I would have arrived two hours later - no good for my appointment and had to change it to fly from Barcelona!! Return due to arrive at San Sebastian at 1930. In fact it was rescheduled to leave Madrid an hour earlier and arrived at 1815. no one told me this at Malaga but luckily I saw the departure screens in time at Madrid! Actual flight OK, and vouchers for discounts on future flights given to us because of delays.

Spanair review - by T Neyrinck

15 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

FRA-MAD in Economy on A321. Very tidy plane, nice FAs, free sandwich and beverage, left and arrived on time. So everything okay except for the extremely tight seat pitch, the worst I ever experienced in Europe or US. Luckily the plane was only 30% full and I could occupy 3 seats, but I can't imagine being squeezed in a non-aisle seat for more than 45min. Won´t fly them again; such a shame as everything but the seat pitch was excellent.

Spanair review - by Natalia Yakusheva

15 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

TFN-BCN-LPA. It was the end of January and tickets for these direct flights cost me 150 euro in booking 1 month in advance. Before it was 115 euro. On Tenerife one out of two auto check-in didn't work and I had problems with understanding how to use this machine. The Spanair worker came to me and explain everything. After this I gave my luggage to the counter avoiding staying in the line which disappeared very soon. During the flight I was surprised that food is not free although the price for tickets wasn't so cheap. I tried to order some food but I wasn't lucky - FA's ignored me. For my height (1.90m) it was a little bit inconvenient to sit in very compact seat. The decision was to put my legs in a corridor. After the flights I didn't have any problem with checked-in luggage.

Spanair review - by Eduardo Gómez

26 March 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

BCN-MAD-BCN. The outbound flight in a comfortable Airbus A320-200. The flight pretty empty allowing passengers to have more than one seat for them. It is interesting as their A320's are fitted with 180 seats making the seat pitch really tight. A slight delay of 20 mins but with no incidence. The return leg is done in a worn out MD-83. The aircraft looks old and cramped. Seat pitch once again is too tight. In both cases the service is good (catering to be paid) and check in and luggage claim very fast. The use of T3 in Barajas in Spanair's flights to Barcelona makes it really comfortable. Overall value is positive taking into consideration that I paid 58 € for the whole trip. I will fly with them again.

Spanair review - by Jacek Krupa

1 March 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

MAD-LPA-MAD very old and noisy MD83. On the first flight we had seats in the last row just next to the engines - incredible noise. Very little leg room and very uncomfortable for an almost 3 hours flight. Very good in-flight service - flight attendants responsive and helpful.

Spanair review - by P Herman

10 December 2006

Madrid-Barcelona in economy return, outbound on A320, inbound on a very quiet MD83. Check in a breeze at both ends, and being able to avoid the complexity and lack of metro access of T4 in Madrid is reason enough to fly them. Separate check in at T3 for Barcelona bound passengers, and quick walk to the gate. Likewise, arrival at T3 is painless. I must say seating in economy is cramped! I'd say the pitch is about 30', which is bearable for a 1 hour flight, but it wouldn't for a medium-haul flight. Business class didn't seem to have much more room, if any! Iberia is much more roomy and comfortable in my experience. Luckily, Spanair flights seem invariably half-empty, making the aircraft roomier than they should otherwise be. Buy-on-board service available, but considering the fare I paid I feel I could've been offered something for free. Candies are distributed at the end. I would fly them again for Star Alliance miles and to avoid T4 in Madrid, but not for service or comfort.

Spanair review - by Ian Graham

10 December 2006

FUE-MAD-FUE in Avant class. Check in at both airports efficient. Cabin crew professional and service on board was good, along with IFE. I have travelled this route on a number of occasions both in tourist and Avant class. Worth while paying the slight difference for the option Avant, when booking on the website.

Spanair review - by Eduardo Gómez

13 November 2006

Economy class Seville-Barcelona on a Boeing 717-200 that belongs to their partner AeBal (Spanair Link). The aircraft was pretty new and comfortable. Service good: nice crew, rapidly responding to passenger calls and efficient. Seat pitch standard, not as bad as low cost carriers but not specially roomy. Catering is to be paid but with very interesting prices. No IFE, boarding efficient and following schedule.