Iberia

Having now been back for month I still feel very upset. I booked my flight with British Airways from Heathrow to Rio de Janeiro which was a direct flight which was fine. Return trip turned out to be with Iberia we checked in online to be able to sit close to our daughter and son-in-law. On boarding we discovered that one of the seats was stained. The stewardess when I brought it to her attention moved myself and wife to another seat constantly apologising. We landed at Madrid where we caught a connecting flight to Heathrow when further insult was added - we wanted a drink of water on the flight and was told that we had to pay for it as this was part of or long haul flight this we feel was outrageous.

JFK-MAD-LHR BCN-MAD-JFK. My expectation was low so the experience was not bad. Business Plus seats between New York and Madrid are not really flat and are not really designed for a tall person. I am 6'2" and couldn't sleep well at all. Business seats on domestic and inter Europe flights were the same as economy class with the middle seat unoccupied. Flight attendants were inattentive. One female attendant even unplugged the headphone without asking me first while she tried to collect it back. The noise cancellation headphone was cheap and didn't work functionally. Entertainment system was at the lower end of industry standard. There were probably only four new movies available. Food and wines choices very good. Lounge in Barcelona was horrible. Be prepared to pay 10 euros to get towels before heading to the shower. Lounge in Madrid was better but still no hair dryer. I probably will use Iberia in the future only when the price is competitive.

Madrid to Gran Canaria connecting from a BA CityFlyer flight from London City. I booked via British Airways and discovered by chance that online advance seat selection on connecting Iberia flights is not available on ba.com but can be done via the Iberia website using the same booking reference number. Online check in a breeze 24 hours before departure at ba.com and I had already selected the seats via Iberia.com weeks in advance seats 1A/C have great legroom (seat B is left vacant in Business Class) but is next to the galley so if want peace and quiet don’t select these. Our bags had been checked-in all the way through from London so can’t comment on the bag drop or check-in facilities. The Iberia lounge at terminal 4 is airy bright and clean and being on the upper level means it’s closer to the ceiling air conditioning outlets and so was nice and cool on this 36*C day! Great selection of food and drink which was constantly re-stocked and fresh. Boarding was nothing short of shambolic! There was no pre-boarding for Business Class passengers and there was a scrum at the boarding gate with just one person checking boarding cards and passports. We were then herded onto a bus with less than adequate air conditioning and waited for about fifteen minutes before being driven two minutes around the corner to a different gate on the same wing of the terminal! A simple gate change to the opposite side of the lounge seating would have been the better option! The A321 aircraft looked a bit dilapidated outside with faded and flaking paint. The cabin was clean and all in order and with the middle seat left vacant we had plenty of room. Departure was over an hour behind schedule 45 minutes late leaving the terminal and 15 minutes sitting in a queue to take off. There was a message from the cockpit in Spanish and English but it was garbled so no chance to hear what was said. No hot or cold towel round was made which I thought was unusual for Business Class. Newspapers offered just before take- off but that was the last we saw of the crew for over an hour no drink rounds or any form of contact until lunch suddenly arrived. No food options were offered the tray just arrived. It was served with a foil cover over the main plastic packet over the cutlery and cling film wrap over the salad and desert. All was on china crockery with metal cutlery but no table cloth and with paper napkins. The tray remained on my table for about 30 minutes after I had finished and only then was I offered tea / coffee or a drink from the bar. No top-ups forthcoming and any further drinks requests had to be made via the call button which seemed to be chore for the crew. Didn’t feel welcome or valued at all and the false smiles from the stern female crew member upon disembarking were not appreciated. Arrival at Gran Canaria was over an hour late but we were quickly off the plane and through to baggage reclaim where our bags were amongst the first few to arrive. From plane to taxi rank took about 20minutes. My connecting BA CityFlyer flight was far superior to the Iberia Business Class segment. As the two airlines are under the same umbrella now I think Iberia really need to improve the standard of their product.

ORD-MAD MAD-PAM (Pamplona) was a tight connection but was at the gate 25 minutes before boarding only to learn the plane had taken off 30 minutes early than the scheduled departure time. Ran into some trouble rebooking on the next flight however did make it to Pamplona 3 hours behind schedule. On our return flight in Barcelona we were at the gate 2 hours before departure back to the states. The information on the screen at the gate was incorrect and when questioned the Iberia representative explained that our flight was next and that the current flight was a different flight. Ourselves and 3 other couples missed the flight as that was our plane. We tried to rebook and the Iberia personnel accused us of not being at the gate on time. When we escalated the issue to management she was worse. Told us she would be happy to help if we paid her an additional 3000 euros for a new ticket to the states. We had to purchase new tickets home from Delta.

JFK to Madrid. Plane was a clean A340-300. I got the window seat and no one sat next to me so I had extra space. The air conditioner was broken so when we got on it was about 90 degrees. The seats were very comfortable with a headrest that moved up and down. They fixed the air conditioner. Inflight meal was great and the movie up on the shared screens which you could see very well. Flight Attendants spoke perfect English and were nice and helpful. I slept for 3 hours woke up just in time for breakfast. We were late because of the whole air conditioner incident and almost missed our connection to Rome. The plane was an A321. Flight was uneventful and was not particularly good or bad. They did charge for drinks in economy class around $3 or 2.50 Euros which I thought was like something from a very low budget carrier.

Madrid to New York in Business class. A wonderful plane and seat. The seat went flat into a bed had many functions electrically went down into any position had a massage function and a footrest. The Personal TV was great with lots of movies and TV shows. My main course was good. The business class lounge at Madrid was nice. From Venice to Madrid we were in business class and it was good with comfortable seats and good food. No TV's though and the seats weren't much different from economy but they don't sell the middle seat so you have more room. On both flights the crew were nice.

I flew non stop from Los Angeles LAX to MAD Barajas. Flight was full the seat was ok but I was shocked to see that they didn't have any seatback TVs in economy. The service was good and the food was nice but as soon as the service is finished you need to get up and go to the galley if you want anything else. The crew don't seen to come through the cabin unlike BA where they come around with trays offering water or juice.

Madrid to Malabo Equatorial Guinea. My flight was very pleasant as was the flight crew. Upon arrival at the airport in Malabo I had trouble contacting the client office that was to meet me at the airport. Iberia Public Relations supervisor offered to assist me. Like myself he was not successful. As it was near midnight he departed for the day and I remained at the airport continuing to attempt to contact my clients. The following day found me still at the airport. The Pubic Relations Supervisor returned and on finding I was still at the airport he took it upon himself to locate the office facility of the persons I had been unable to contact then took the time to transport me in his personal vehicle to that location.

MAD-SCL. Madrid check in and security very fast. Lounge at T4S great dinner served before boarding. Flight leaving at 00.20 so once on board slept. Seat comfortable. Crew nice. Departed on time. Breakfast very nice too. Arrival on time. Great experience.

This was my first time using S7. Their online ticket sale works fine you are sent e-ticket in pdf which is great for printing. At the airport check-in was ok but you got no smile from their agents. Onboard you are met by unsmiling crew who look tired. The plane was a320 in very good condition clean and with great legroom. Food was hot lunch which was nice for 1 hr flight in economy. We took off on time and landed ahead of schedule. My bag was on the belt when I was off immigration. S7 is a great choice for family travel. My ticket was a great deal. S7 is the second best airline between Kiev and Moscow. Gloomy and robotic agents and crews and strange schedule are the only minuses.