Iberia's Better, But...

Advantages: Service, the fleet, catering generally
Disadvantages: Punctuality, lack of drinking water

...One of the uncontrolled aspects of booking a package deal holiday is that you are letting your tour operator loose with the choice of airline, and you have absolutely no idea what criteria they are using to make their choice. It's easy to think that they'll go for the cheapest option (having already published their all-in price), but maybe they are savvy enough to know that their own reputation will rest partly on this part of the holiday experience, which is entirely beyond their control. This is especially so, if you book through relatively small companies who certainly have no clout with the major airlines. In the past, I have been lucky having had very good experiences of BA and Virgin Atlantic, so was not duly concerned to get my holiday paperwork confirming that the flights were with Iberia: a known name, but (to me...

hiker 15.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

Flying the friendly skies with Iberia

Advantages: Prices, staff, punctual
Disadvantages: No free food/drink!

...I booked my flight through BA but I found myself flying Iberia, as it was a code share flight. BA and Iberia are both part of the Oneworld Alliance. I was booked on a Malaga-Heathrow flight. You should be aware if you are booked on certain BA/GB Airways flights you might be flying on an Alliance partner airline instead. You will be told this at the time of booking. The airlines in the Alliance are: Iberia, Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, LAN and Qantas I had heard A LOT of bad press about Iberia, the fact it was unreliable, the food was appalling and the flight attendants were surly, didn?t speak English and did as little work as possible. About Iberia: They are the Spanish national flag carrier; a very large airline and they fly all around the world. They have 215 planes; carry around 30...

Katieshaz 13.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

Iberia. No problems, once airborne

Advantages: We got from London Heathrow to Madrid and back safely and on time
Disadvantages: British Airways codeshare; I'm sure that BA would have been somewhat better!

...From my reasonably limited experience flying with Iberia, Spain's Flag-flying airline, which is limited to one return flight between London Heathrow (LHR) and Madrid Barajas (MAD), I actually have few complaints about this airline. I nearly wrote "no", but stuck with "few". They are remarkably punctual. The seats are comfortable, and the cabin crew are friendly, professional and inherently Spanish. In that sense, they absolutely adore kids and Josh was very well looked after! I booked our flights through British Airways. They (BA) are a very good, reliable airline and one can always rely on complimentary (which is just an unnecessarily long word for "free") food and drink on board their flights. They do, however, "codeshare", which is why we ended up flying with Iberia. And if you ever get free refreshments on Iberia, then I...

andymcf 27.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

Iberia - LHR - BIO

Advantages: Friendly, On time
Disadvantages: Expensive Meals

...Having read a variety of reviews around the internet about Iberia, I was not looking forward to the flight with the one world partner. This flight was from LHR (Heathrow) to BIO (Bilbao). Check in was smooth, no queues, and we had time to relax in the departures lounge prior to walking to the gate. The departure gate in Terminal 2 was quite fortunate, as we had to walk for less than a minute to gate 4, very close to Departures Lounge. The staff were very happy to greet us while boarding the plane, speaking in Spanish, really got me into the holiday spirit! The seats were very comfortable throughout the flight. This may have been because the flight was only 1hour 30mins. We took off on time an arrived early. The only downside in my opinion, was that being a scheduled airline, Iberia surprisingly made us pay for food. The food was...

iambigbrother2 01.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

THIS is the worlds favourite airline...

Advantages: Good airline
Disadvantages: But some rude staff

...I have flown Iberia since my younger days along time ago, and I have experienced great things with this wonderful company, including delays, cancellations, oh, and the occasional ‘on-time’… AIRCRAFT Iberia has a modern fleet of new aircraft from both Airbus in Europe and Boeing in America. Iberia also has an aged fleet of 747s and ground handling vehicles. But some 747s are now being withdrawn from service. There is substantial legroom in all classes on board the majority of Iberia flights, with the new Business Europe an excellent treat and Economy Class not as bad as reputation suggests, indeed better than BA. CLASSES Iberia has a wide range of configurations for its aircraft – there are different ‘classes’ on board each plane. The majority of domestic and continental flights will have...

robertetheridge 07.12.2001 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

the most blamed European airline

Advantages: price, first of all
Disadvantages: F/As like to speak only Spanish

...Most of the reviews on airlines written on Ciao (UK, Italy, France, Spain) or similar web sites are based on a single flight experience. And the judgement, of course, is based on such situation. I think that a correct judgement must be based on four or five flights experience. Then, if you pay £ 200 (or 300 Euro) to fly from London to Sydney you can't pretend to eat caviar and champagne and have a 50" seat pitch. Instead most of the claims in the reviews are based on foods and seat comfort. And after this introduction I'm going to write about Iberia, one of the most blamed airlines in the world. Iberia is the national airline of Spain and its fleet is one of the youngest in Europe as the average age of its aircrafts is 7 years (the oldest aircraft is an MD80 manufactured in 1981). By the end of 2006 all MD80 and Boeing 747...

traveller55 25.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

Best way for getting to the Canary Islands

Advantages: Fly from Heathrow, cheap fares
Disadvantages: no food or drink included

...Wanting a cheap sunshine break in the canaries, I wanted to save as much money as I could. I found flights with Iberia from London Heathrow via Madrid which for 2 adults and 1 child was £350 cheaper than companies such as Thomson and thomascook. Done deal. So what was the experience like? Check-in We were unable to check in online prior to departure. I work in the travel industry and called Iberia to find out what the problem was. I was informed that it might be because we were not flying direct, however he would check and call me back. No call came. We got to terminal 2 about 2.5 hours prior to the flight. The check-in didnt open until 2 hours but we hoped being at the front of the queue would allow us seats together as travelling with a 4 year old. Check-in was painless we were issued our boarding pass through to Las Palmas...

cass30 05.10.2008 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

I-B Coming back for more!

Advantages: cheap, cheerful
Disadvantages: Lack of communication with passengers

...I found myself in need of a cheap flight to Mallorca in June, but most airlines were charging in excess of £150, which was way out of my budget. Then I came across Iberia airlines?hmm?.they've had some bad press in the past and doubts ran through my mind, but it was the cheapest, and so I followed my wallet?. *** The company *** Iberia have been operating commercial flights since 1927, they have flown more than 600 million passengers, making Iberia not only Spain's leading airline but also market leader on routes between Europe and Latin America. Iberia operates in over onehundred destinations, while reaching more than 80 additional ones through code-sharing arrangements with other airlines. This places Iberia in the front rank of European airlines, with 32.4 million passengers carried in 2005 and a net profit of 395.8 million...

funphobic2 15.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

Am I invisible...

Advantages: I think I perfer to use a charter flight than going on this flight again.
Disadvantages: Not told I was on a co-shared flight.

...I am writing this opinion about one specific flight that I went on, using British Airways the carrier for Iberia Airlines. I was not told this was a co-shared flight or that I would be not flying with Iberia. On the 16th May 2003 I flew from Tenerife South to London Gatwick, on a co-shared flight with Iberia Airways (with whom I had brought my ticket though) after my long awaited holiday following the back surgery that I had had earlier this year. I had had a great time and was not expecting my flight home to be a problem. I am a disabled passenger with as dislocated pelvis and paralysis in my left leg, only having had major back surgery in late February 2003, medical seats were booked on purchase of tickets because of these special needs. I was looking forward to flying with Iberia Airways; great a chance to practise my Spanish...

wulise 29.05.2003 (21.07.2003) · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE

Roger Sanchez Groped My Arse

Advantages: I survived. They were cheap.
Disadvantages: Complete and utter lack of customer service skills

...I?d heard the rumours. Listened to the tales of woe. Read the ops. But I still believed it wouldn?t happen to me. 4 flights later, though, I can tell you once and for all: Iberia are just as bad as they say. I booked because they offered me a return to Ibiza for about 200 Euros, which was 150 Euros (~100 GBP) less than their nearest competitor. I?m a student / intern and I don?t turn down that sort of saving. The flights involved changing in Barcelona on both days, but I figured I could cope. It also, however, meant my luggage changing planes, and while I was sure I could make it from plane A to plane B, whether or not my bags would do the same was another question. I had a plan ? to take ?deliver to door? luggage only (where you carry it through passport control and only relinquish control at the aircraft doors, with it being...

zoe_page 22.08.2003 · Read review
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Review of Iberia - IBE