Iberia

Travelled from Lima to Madrid on Iberia August 3rd. I was really dreading this flight as I had heard so many horrible things about Iberia and the thought of a 12+ hour flight with no personal entertainment system was slightly terrifying. I think a lot of their long-haul routes must still be with older aircraft with very poor amenities judging from the reviews but the A340 I flew on looked like it was right out of the factory and had one of the best entertainment systems I have ever come across in an economy cabin. The food was completely up to standard compared with BA or AF and the staff perfectly courteous and attentive. I'd still be wary to travel with Iberia long-haul as it seems there is no minimum level of guaranteed service across their fleet but this flight was extremely pleasant. This airline is on the right track!

Madrid-Geneva Business Class. Smooth and easy check-in at Barajas Airport Priority Security Line and then Iberia Business Lounge - big and well equipped. Flight on time nice and clean Airbus A320 very attentive (sometimes maybe even too much since I was the only passenger in Business Class!) and nice cabin crew food was average though. Simple green salad very dry chicken breast with buckwheat horrible chocolate jelly. Good flight but nothing to remember.

I flew from Lima to Madrid about a week ago and was pleasantly surprised. After having read a couple of reviews I was a bit worried about the airline quality having heard that Iberia would offer poor quality food and no individual entertainment devices. However I have to say that both food and entertainment were satisfying and flight attendants were polite and helpful.

On 24 July I flew from Brussels to Melilla. First leg to Madrid was operated by Iberia on an airbus A321. Plenty of space in economy class and service was good. Not too much movement/walking around by the seemingly experienced cabin crew which I like. Flight departed on time and arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule. After a just under 2 hours layover I boarded the next flight of my journey IB3870 (MAD-AGP) operated by Iberia express on an airbus A320. Legroom was substantially less than on the previous flight and also the crew looked younger and less experienced. Some issues occurred on board regarding seating of the passengers and at times they seemed not knowing what to do. Flight in general went well but due to a 17 minute late and northbound departure we did not manage to arrive on time. The last leg from Malaga to Melilla was operated by regional daughter Air Nostrum on a ATR-72 aircraft. Short hop good service punctual pretty flight attendants with characteristic gloves. Very nice manual (VFR) approach and landing by the pilots into Melilla. In general a very pleasant experience with Iberia. Personnel did everything possible to make the flights as comfortable as possible. Iberia Express may be a good initiative for the company itself (more seats and lower fares - more passengers) but for the passengers it is far less comfortable and even comparable to low-cost airline and daughter Vueling. The only difference is the business class provided by IE. I would recommend Iberia to anyone though.

Outbound LAX-MAD - they forgot to load the food and served a truly sickening menu of unappetizing and stale food. My gluten free request had not been respected. On husband's return flight there was a three hour delay. On my return a week layer an eight hour delay. Plane was old two bathrooms were out of service and food was disgusting. Better not to go than fly Iberia. I booked American but they and two other airlines dumped us on Iberia. Note if you book through expedia you may be unable to get seat reservations or diet requests honored. No compensation offered for missed flight/8hour delay or lack of food. Business class Iberia (American) is worse than coach on any other airline.

Iberia flight from Madrid Quito 6463 July 29 2014. The seats were uncomfortable dirty and shabby I have had back pain since then. The economy class was full but the staff were insufficient. Classical music channels 4 and 5 were not working. The TV was far from my seat impossible to see the movies available. Tasteless food and to conclude the sealed cutlery came dirty - twice! Very unpleasant experience. It is the last time I take this flight.

LHR to Madrid. They operate for BA chaotic and late boarding. Sat at gate fir an hour due to mix up with tickets on bags. Flight itself ok you have to buy everything food wise. Lots of elderly Spanish constantly going to toilets. Business class bit of a waste apart from designated toilet. Seats almost the same. Lots of eye rolling and campy shrugging from crew. Seat pitch good and all updates in English and Spanish.

MAD-JFK MEX-MAD all sectors business class check in a breeze no lines good customer service. Madrid lounge lots of food drinks wifi and very comfortable. Mexico lunge is nice and quite not much to eat but plenty to drink. Boarding always priority line on board good service comfortable and private business class window seat. Menu ok nice selections of wines FA very good service. Fresh snack before arrival. On both flights arrived at least 20 min early.

Flew from Heathrow to Madrid and then on to Quito in Ecuador and back. This is a long journey and I could not believe that the plane did not have individual screens so we had 3 rubbish films on screens that needed binoculars to see. This is not acceptable in this day and age for a flight that is 12 hours+. Legroom was just about ok but the pillow we were given looked as if it had been used for at least the last five years. The evening meal was ok if you are being generous but the breakfast was appalling - inedible roll and some sort of stodgy cake. I have never flown that distance before without having a hot meal - very disappointing. Unbelievably after we had been travelling for a very long time we were expected to pay for any refreshments we had on the final leg from Madrid to Heathrow. I really felt like telling the staff what a disgrace it was. Would never choose Iberia again given any choice at all.

San José Costa Rica to Madrid. I made the mistake of booking twice with Iberia in the last month because they are the only ones that have a direct flight to Madrid and it would get me One World miles but it was an absolutely terrible experience. The SJO-MAD flight I already took was terrible. I booked a window seat via phone and didn't get a window but a terrible seat after the emergency exit that reduces your already very limited space. The plane was dirty there was food scattered around my seat. Even the magazines were old and dirty. For a 10 hour flight there is no inflight entertainment: only a couple of screens far away that don't work well. An already known Iberia fact but the food of course was bad. They have the worst customer service I've seen. This is definitely an airline that does not care about their customers. I have taken the same flight with United and KLM and even if it wasn't a direct flight it was better.