Iberia » Business Plus » User reviews

jaimePejo flew Iberia Business Plus, on a A340-600 (15/08/2010 23:55)

Daniel95eb flew Iberia Business Plus, on a A340-600 (09/04/2010 09:45)

Flew Madrid to Buenos Aires, it was good.

Earl_D_Flyer flew Iberia Business Plus, on a A340-300 (26/03/2010 19:54)

joselito007 flew Iberia Business Plus, on a A340-600 (23/05/2009 18:41)

Excellent aircraft. Also very good service from the VIP lounge to overal in flight service

Corporate-gal flew Iberia Business Plus, on a A340-600 (07/01/2009 15:35)

Flew MAD-SJO and return over the Christmas period.

Lounges: Madrid lounge at Terminal 4S is superb and offers an excellent range of facilities. A word of warning for those departing San Jose though - you are given an 'invite' to the VIP Lounge which is used by some of the other airlines. As an Iberia passenger you are given free alcoholic drinks, but you are limited only to 2 each, and you have to ask the barman to serve you. Best bet is the beer, as the wine glasses are embarassingly small. There are no snacks (only cakes) and the fruit juice is harsh cordial; the other options are coffee and water, or stay out of the lounge and eat in the airport!

Boarding: An absolute shambles at both Madrid and San Jose (especially). No priority for Business Plus passengers and the queues at San Jose were placed in front of the wrong desks (Business Plus were queuing in front of Economy and Economy were queuing in front of Business Plus!). Boarding announcements in the lounges however were timely and accurate.

Punctuality: 1 hour delay leaving Madrid and 2 hour delay from San Jose.

Seat: The cabin on the A340-600 is configured 2-2-2 and, on both aircraft I flew on, was configured as one cabin covering rows 1-9, with a galley both fore and aft. The 'self-service' bar, is located at the rear of the cabin. The seats are contained within their own shell and can fold into a flat bed, although your feet do go up against the shell of the seat in front. If you are tall, then go for the middle seats in row 1. The seat functions work well and offer a range of positions, including a memory function to remember your favourite position for sitting/relaxing. All in all, very comfortable on both daytime and overnight flights.

Service: Despite having read some very negative reviews of Iberia's Business Plus service, both legs were exceptionally well run. Pre-flight drinks were provided before take-off (a choice of cava, water or fruit juice) and menus/wine list were issued; newspapers and toiletry bags were also offered before take off. Once airborne the IFE was switched on, headphones were issued, as were more pre-dinner drinks with a plate of savoury nuts, before dinner was offered. On both legs, staff were friendly, helpful and professional. This was the first airline I have ever flown where the staff explained the origin, taste and types of wine on offer. The food was tasty, hot and all options on the menu were available, even when we were sat at the back of the cabin. The advertised 'self-service bar' did not offer wine for the entire flight, nor the savoury snacks that you might see shown advertised on the Iberia website; in fact ours only offer water and fruit juice and some biscuits for the entire 11hr flight. The wine did appear, but only just before they served the afternoon snack; and you had to be quick to get it, as they were telling people that they couldn't have it as they were just about to commence the afternoon snack service!

IFE: The system worked well in both directions and offered plenty of choice, although my one complaint would be that the music selection could have been more international and up-to-date! The films and TV are offered on a 'self-control' basis which allows you to start, stop and pause your film so you never miss that important scene.

Baggage: Better baggage service going out to San Jose than coming back to Heathrow (see my other comments on Iberia Business). We were expecting to lose our bags through Madrid from Heathrow, but they arrived out first, marked 'Priority' at San Jose with no problem at all.

Overall: Better than expected considering some negative reviews. The service was lacking in some areas and is certainly not up to the standards of BA or Virgin. However, they are offering a very good Business class out of a major European hub, which is very acceptable for those trips to central and southern american destinations.

FlyingDoc flew Iberia Business Plus, on a A340-300 (06/12/2008 19:45)

The in-flight meal took well over two hours on an overnight flight - staff seem unaware of the fact that good service might mean leaving passengers to go to sleep.