Iberia » Economy » User reviews

Dadou73 flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-600 (24/10/2011 14:53)

Worst flights of my life!

The flight was Geneva-Madrid-Santiago de Chile-Madrid-Geneva, for an hour and a half is pretty good but for fifteen hours is horrible!

Old seats, no personal entertainment system, cabin crew not really nice. I would never wish to someone to fly with Iberia!

Always delayed and very bad food.

Mitch_VDS flew Iberia Economy (short haul), on a A321 (09/10/2011 19:54)

Flight from Dakar to Madrid As usual there was a delay (I went on 4 Iberia flights, all 4 hava had delays from 1 to 4 hours!!) Realy unplezant flight, I got sick from the food.

Mitch_VDS flew Iberia Economy (short haul), on a A320 (09/10/2011 19:49)

Flight from Madrid to Brussels was delayed 4 hours!! There was no communication!

dmarg07 flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-300 (01/09/2011 11:51)

First time flew Iberia from Madrid to Havana, Cuba. Overall experience was really unpleasant, leg room was little, seats totally lacked comfort and staff were way too edgy, rude and unprofessional. Made a mental note to avoid this airline in future.

jesusmarval flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-600 (07/08/2011 10:55)

Worst service ever in a Oneworld airline!

swissfun flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-300 (17/02/2011 02:16)

The aicraft arrived with 4 hours delay in San José. So we had to kill about 7 hours at the airport before we could leave as you need to check in 3 hours before scheduled departure! We got a voucher of USD 12 per person that we could spend at the food court at SJO airport.

Boarding was done by bus according to seat rows and rather fast for an IB flight.

The plane still had the old grey colored seats which were not as comfortable as the newer blue ones but still quite ok.

Legroom was ok for Economy class. Enough space for hand luggage as the aircraft was only about 75-80% full. The plane had 6 lavatories (4 in the middle & 2 at the back) in Economy class which was quite enough. Service was more or less ok.

Flight attendants rushed it through. The usual IB choice between chicken or pasta. Food was eatable but not very tasty. We missed some seasoning in the main dish. No personal inflight entertainment system as on all IB planes, just 3 movies on the big screens and some music channels.

No drinks were served at night just got a few gulps of water once by a stewardess rushing through the aisle with a water bottle and cups.

For breakfast we got the usual IB snack box which was ok. Coffee on this flight was drinkable. Deboarding was quite fast as we were sitting in row 11 which is the 4th row of Economy class..

ElioTiburzi flew Iberia Economy (short haul), on a A321 (27/08/2010 21:11)

From Madrid to Roma after Liam to Madrid

ElioTiburzi flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-600 (27/08/2010 21:08)

Fly from Lima to Madrid

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)

flyebos flew Iberia Economy (short haul), on a A321 (23/10/2009 15:01)

Basic, okay flight, Madrid to Brussels. Terminal 4 is huge, sufficient places to eat, although not cheap! Was lucky to get emergency exits (row 9 or 23), but suggest you checkin online the morning before your flight, as early as possible. Lots of leg room, and a reclinable seat. No free food or drinks. I found the 9,5€ for my (dried-out) foccacia sandwich with a coke rather expensive.

NicholasASDF flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-600 (15/10/2009 19:03)

NicholasASDF flew Iberia Economy (short haul), on a A321 (15/10/2009 19:01)

Chocksaway flew Iberia Economy (short haul), on a A320 (09/10/2009 14:39)

Heathrow to Barcelona and back.

Despite an astonishing £790 return price tag FOR ECONOMY!!!, not so much as a cup of coffee was free on the way out and I was crammed into a middle seat.

On the way back, I wisely checked in online and chose an exit window seat - at least that was free. At Barcelona's swanky new Terminal 1, I headed for the Iberia bag drop, except, despite seven staff being on duty, there wasn't one.

I joined the check-in queue instead and, basically, checked in, despite having already done it.

Still no free drink on the way back.

This must be the most expensive no-frills flight ever. And at least Ryanair has the bag drop open.

davidcsi flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-600 (12/08/2009 11:17)

Very, very bad.

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 (short haul), on a A320 (07/01/2009 15:48)

Flew LHR-MAD-SJO and return over the Christmas period.

Lounges: Terminal 2 lounge is appalling; scruffy seats, run-down and tired. However, with this terminal closing soon, I can't blame them for not updating it in line with their Madrid lounges! Madrid lounge at Terminal 4 is superb and offers an excellent range of facilities. This is one area that Iberia have got right.

Boarding: An absolute shambles at both Heathrow and Madrid. No priority for Business passengers. Beware though....no boarding announcements are made in either the Heathrow or Madrid lounges, so keep an eye on the boards otherwise you'll miss your flight!

Punctuality: 1 hour delay leaving Heathrow and 1:30 hour delay from Madrid.

Seat: The cabin on the A320/A321 is configured 3-3 and on all flights, the middle seat is kept free, offering you more room. Shame they don't do what BA do on those seats, and widen the seat a little to give you more width as well as more legroom. Nothing clever offered on these seats, but comfortable for the short 2hr flight.

Service: Despite having read some very negative reviews of Iberia's Business service, both legs were exceptionally well run. Menus and newspapers were offered before take off. Once airborne the pre-dinner drinks were offered quickly, followed by the meal service. On both legs, staff were friendly, helpful and professional. The food was tasty, hot and all options on the menu were available.

Baggage: Better baggage service going out to San Jose than coming back to Heathrow. 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. Coming back home was a different story, although IO know we were not as bad off as some others! Due to the strikes in Madrid (which no-one in the UK seemed to have heard about) all Iberia flights were delayed in and out of the UK. When we arrived at Terminal 2 baggage area, it was in chaos - bags were littering the outside of the baggage area (all with Iberia tags) from previous flights. Four Iberia flights had arrived within an hour (3 from Madrid and one from Barcelona) and after an hour of waiting, all four flights' baggage came out at once. Thankfully ours came through unscathed and off the right flight, but we know of others whose baggage did not come through, because of the delays at Madrid.

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 Club Europe. However, they are offering a good European Business class 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.

Braveheart flew Iberia Economy (short haul), on a A320 (07/12/2008 14:32)

LHR-BCN Airbus A320 I made the mistake of booking this London-Barcelona code-share rather than an earlier BA-operated flight as I was due to arrive on a long-haul connection and wanted to leave plenty of time for the transfer. Big mistake. In the end, with a delay, this gave me nearly 7 hours to experience the rather spartan Iberia lounge in LHR. Food was restricted to sweating croissants of dubious longevity, some kind of crisps and shortbread fingers. There was a decent choice of alcoholic beverages, perhaps the only way of surviving the experience, and soft drinks. Despite the fact that there were in the end only three lounge passengers heading for Barcelona, we had to constantly check the monitor to follow the delays. Is it too much to ask for a simple announcement of a delay or even, god forbid, a personal word with each of us to keep us in the loop? The flight was finally called and we headed for the gate. Checking in online, I opted for seat 19A, which was fine. Legroom was adequate and it was comfortable enough for the approximately 2 hour flight. But Iberia operates pretty much like an expensive budget airline with no inflight entertainment and selling food and snacks. Ten euros for an average sandwich and a small soft drink is not really acceptable for a OneWorld airline. Arrival was equally disastrous, as following the airport signs to baggage reclaim I was told I was in the wrong terminal. I had to exit and reenter another terminal about 15 minutes walk away and go through security yet again. All in all, not a happy experience.

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.

Florrie flew Iberia Economy, on a A340-300 (30/09/2008 08:01)

TFN-MAD-MIA return Spring 2008. First leg not bad, but seats horrible. MAD-MIA bad service, horrible food and bad seats. If I can avoid Iberia I`ll try not to fly them again. Return flight better service but nothing of what you should expect from a national carrier.