SPANAIR Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

SPANAIR customer review :  17 January 2010 by Jimmy Peterson   (Sweden)

Nothing exceptional with the flight from Stockholm to Madrid. Apart from the seat - I am 181 cm and have never had any problems with the 20-30 airlines I've travelled with before. But in the Spanair plane I suffered all the way to Madrid. There are things you can live with for a good fare, but at least I want to sit decently. I thought I was through with baby seats a long time ago. To be fair the rest of the trip wasn't too bad, though.

SPANAIR customer review :  16 December 2009 by J Donahue   (Germany)

LCG-BCN. All professional and friendly. Seat selection and boarding pass offered with a smile. Onboard greeted and offered newspaper. Breakfast and drinks also offered. Was asked by the cabin staff if I had a connecting flight, and if I knew my way around the new terminal 1 in BCN. Outstanding service.

SPANAIR customer review :  25 November 2009 by Christian Chaya   (Greece)

FRA-MAD. Flight crew nice and professional. Cabin announcements should be more articulate. Seat pitch horrendous. Inflight catering mediocre at best. Nice flight overall and this is due only to the friendly cabin crew, otherwise nothing to write home about.

SPANAIR customer review :  18 November 2009 by E Steven   (Sweden)

STO-BCN and back. Horrible flight with the narrowest seats. I am below 170 cm and of normal weight, and even I had problems fitting into the seats. Extremely warm on the way down to BCN, consulted the crew in this matter and got the fabulous answer: we turn the heat up and down all the time!

SPANAIR review :  2 July 2009 by J Aberg

CPH-BCN in business, BCN-CPH in full-fare economy. On a lucky day, like the day I flew to Barcelona, it was a perfect trip with excellent staff. Flying back the following day, the staff were incredibly grumpy and rude. What bothers me is the inconsistency. If all flights were like my first flight, I would recommend them, but after my second flight I am not so sure. Looking back over the years, I have had the same inconsistent experiences many times. If you can still get a good deal on Spanair in business class (used to be the case until recently, not so sure about this anymore) I would go for them. However, having paid a hefty 1100 EUR for a return trip, I would rather fly Swiss or Lufthansa next time.

SPANAIR review :  10 June 2009 : by Michael Parkes

Frankfurt to MAD & Malaga Frankfurt via MAD: Worse experience ever! Boeing 717 on the flight down to Madrid. Many seats held together with duct tape! Crew rude and hospitality at an extreme low! Return from Malaga to Madrid on A320-200. More comfortable aircraft, crew kind, sadly the flight only lasted 45 mins. Madrid to Frankfurt on another Boeing 717 was bad. Rude crew again and the same duct tape infested aircraft. Lunch was a ham sandwich which consisted of a slice of ham and about a half inch of butter! A choice of soft drink was included. Landed in Frankfurt on time.

SPANAIR review :  4 June 2009 : by Philip Mcdaid

BCN-IBZ, IBZ-BCN-SVQ. Booked flights many months in advance, originally flight from Barcelona to Ibiza leaving around 9.30am, and layover in Barcelona on the way from Ibiza to Seville only due to be around 2 hours. However multiple time changes by Spanair due to merging of flights in months leading up to travel meant we left Barcelona for Ibiza at the very early time of 7.10am and had 8 hours to wait in Barcelona on the way from Ibiza to Seville, both of these changes were less than convenient. However I understand that they are likely to be as a result of the current economic conditions and necessary cost saving by the airline. Check in straightforward, around 2 kilos over our baggage allowance for 2 of us combined but no mention of excess baggage charges. The actual flights themselves were a pleasant surprise. Departure and arrival on time on all sectors, planes reasonably spacious and well maintained. Didn't try the buy onboard food. Flight attendants seemed pleasant enough, hard to comment on inflight service as flights were so short in duration. Overall, quite impressed.

SPANAIR review :  6 April 2009 : by L Sjoberg

Barcelona-Stockholm with Spanair. We had business tickets but were seated in economy although there were plenty of empty seats in business. Attempts to get a refund failed - no answer from Spanair. One hour delay but no information or apology was given - we had to sit in the aircraft and wait. Crew was uninterested and some were quite unfriendly. The general impression was that of an airline with great problems in keeping a reasonable level of service. If I can avoid them in the future I will do so.

SPANAIR review :  4 February 2009 : by J Ashiblie

Frankfurt - Madrid Y class. Pleasantly surprised by the amount of legroom on A320 (seats 10B or 10E). What they lack in quality food, they made it up with 'spaciousness' as well as the friendly charm of their FAs. Spanair will improve as they gather experience.

SPANAIR review :  15 November 2008 : by Elizabeth Ousby

Exeter - Mallorca in August. Four hour delay from Exeter, no announcement only found out by checking monitor in departures. Rang Thomas Cook told announcement to be made soon and meal vouchers to be given. No announcement made and no vouchers. Boarded flight and waited for meals to be served nothing happens so ask cabin crew to be told no food onboard - given soft drink and peanuts. On flight home directed by Spanair staff to wait for info to appear on monitor regarding where to check in, by the time info appeared and we checked in with 5 children we were given seats all over the aircraft. Not acceptable to have a two, three, six and nine and ten year old all sat in different rows from their parents, none of the children sat together either and spread from the front to the back of the plane. Had to create merry hell to get this sorted. Still trying to get a response re meals paid for and not supplied (£13 per person). So bad wouldnt even give 1 star.

SPANAIR review : 21 October 2008 : by Aaron O'Brien

Customer Rating : 4/5

Charter flight from Dublin to Las Palmas return. A320 on both flights, seats were comfortable. Food for purchase was reasonable in price. Cabin crew friendly and helpful. Flights were more or less on time.

SPANAIR review : 4 August 2008 : by David Kearney

Customer Rating : 3/5

MUC-BCN. Boarding was delayed by about 20 mins for some unknown reason, and Spanair were not about to provide the answer. No apologies were made whatsoever about the fact that we left Munich and landed in Barcelona late, both the cabin crew and the pilots merely ignored the fact. Seat pitch was incredibly tight - never seen so many seats in an A320. Thankfully the passenger in front did not recline their seat. A light lunch consisting of a small sandwich served in an unnecessarily wasteful plastic lunchbox was accompanied by a miniature cup of tea, no refills, and a choice of non- alcoholic beverage. A small sweet encouraging you to upgrade to a higher fare class (mine said "business") was given to each passenger just before landing. The baggage arrived promptly in BCN. For a short flight it was bearable.

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.