Thanks for the review. I find Iberia's short haul economy works best when you're connecting from one of their transatlantic long hauls and immediately pass out from exhaustion when you get in your seat. 🙈
I've flown Iberia a few times in both Business and Economy and the cabin crew always seem hostile and like it's a chore to do anything for the passengers. And Madrid Airport is so confusing to navigate.
I recently flew business from BCN to HEL with Iberia. It was an absolut mess. Boarding without groups and long lines, no welcome drink, food was garbage, the plane in a very dirty/broken state... and a crew that did not care for service. I think service started 40 minutes in and the trays stayed on the table for a very long time. Seat was super uncomfortable... in the bulkhead. I will avoid period!
My last experience with Iberia was horrible. We flew from Madrid to Santiago de Chile. Shortly after takeoff, we had to divert to LIS due to a medical emergency. That happens (the pax was alright) and is not Iberia’s fault. However, how they handled the disruption was horrible. Even before landing (around 00.45g I asked a friend thru whatsapp what the airport’s curfew was and to me, it was clear: we would not make it our before 6 and that would mean a crew timeout. When I told the crew (after the ill pax was off board of course) they just laughed at me. They announced they are waiting for new info when we can start again. Turned out we were waiting for info forever - we were on the tarmac for more than 3 hrs. They straight out refused the elderly pax some water. WATER, not champagne. We felt being held hostage. Finally, at about 04:30 we were let off the aircraft because - surprise - the crew timed out. Who could have known? The crew just looked at me and said “it’s your fault”. Lol We were then waiting for the bags to be offloaded. Crew bags came out after a while. Our bags did not arrive before 8 - just a little after the check in deadline for an alternative Latam flight I could have taken to decrease the delay. Finally out, I approached the handling agent and they handed out meal vouchers and told us to wait for new info at 10. A hotel was refused since we had to “wait for new information”. At 10, everyone gathered. No info of course. I then asked the ground staff if I could go to my hotel now. “You cannot, you have to stay here”. I reassured that he wouldn’t allow me to leave, which he confirmed. I then wanted to get the polcie involved and the groundforce agent wanted to talk himself out of the situation by telling me they are not the responsible handling agent at LIS (lol). Fortunately, the other pax were nice so I headed to a hotel I booked myself to get some rest. Finally, around 1500 the check in opened and by 1800 we finally boarded. On top of that, the bag my colleague checked in at LIS got lost and has not been seen ever since (January this year). Iberia offered a lousy 150€ for the nightmare and at least covered my hotel and food expenses. Since this messed up my onward journey I had to get rebooked all the way home. Iberia wasn’t able to. Fortunately, LATAM who only operated a domestic flight in Chile rebooked me all the way to Europe for my return on their ticket stock. Shoutout to their ground crew in Santiago. The Iberia one in Madrid often doesn’t speak English and it’s hard to communicate with them. My previous record with Iberia isn’t any better: one one, my seat was dirty like I’ve never seen a seat before, another time the crew didn’t even perform a pre landing cabin safety check so when we touched down, some pax had their tray tables down and seats reclined. I have serious concerns about whether they could properly evacuate an aircraft in case of an emergency. I avoid Iberia by all means.
Wow, sounds like a real nightmare. I think how an airline handles irregular situations like this often really shows their true attitude on a company culture level. Seems to me you should have gotten the full €600 EU261 compensation for this and Iberia got out of it by giving you just a quarter of what you were owed (not to mention the costs of rebooking). Did you ever look into that? Thank you for posting this in any case.
@@airedition unfortunately, the initial cause was extraordinary. If my final destination would have been SCL, I had sued them but since the frequency of the connections is low, my lawyer advised me against proceeding further. The rebooking was free of charge for me thanks to LATAM.
Thé good question is Are you ready to pay more money on a ticket across Europe to get extra space throughout the plane and get full service (extra bags etc ). People just complain a lot…
For sure. Personally I am happy to pay more for a more dignified experience. Unfortunately it seems most passengers are not. So we are where we are. But also, airlines (like most big businesses) do what they think they can get away with. There are plenty of places in the world where a flag carrier cannot get away with this level of service. Unfortunately in Europe, they can. I think it’s perfectly legitimate to point that out.
@airedition have to agree with Gabe. Am I flying a low cost airline or the flag carrier? Or a legacy carrier that says they're full service? If the latter, sure I'll pay a few bucks more but sure as heck expect the service level in return for that money.
It is such a pity that Iberia has such a bad reputation outside of Spain. Within the Spanish pilot and aviation community Iberia is glorified which is ridiculous. Having flown on Iberia A320 economy, I prefer Ryanair as it has more legroom. Iberia must first decide what sort of brand it wants to be. At the moment it is a mix of legacy carrier (fleet and route network composition) but sort of low cost (product offering). I wonder if the fact that South and Central America being its main markets has an influence
I think its definitely interesting Iberia flies to some off the beaten track destinations like Montevideo, Uruguay or Asuncion if im not mistaken with Air Europa
Skyscanner 2024: Iberia is the 15th best airline in the world Madrid airport is the 15th best in the world Iberia business class is the 19th best in the world and the 3rd best in Europe (including UK) Iberia’s business lounge in Madrid is the 2nd best in Europe (including UK) World Airline Awards 2024: Iberia has the best crew service in Europe (including UK) Is that what you mean with “bad reputation” ? 😂😂😂
The seats were fine the customer service appalling at the gate my parents and I were told to F off about 8 times from someone at the gate. I have a video of this. This was two days after they stopped us boarding lost us our flights because they couldn't find our extra luggage. Our two cases weighed 22kg and 19kg we had 2 upto 30kg and 1 x 23kg allowance. Yes they certainly hate us. My fathers 77 dusabled and I am Disabled too, my mother 72 and son 15. We had to find somewhere to stay for two nights and did not have sufficient medication. If you can avoid Iberian then do.
I usually concur with your reviews based on my own personal experience, however, I need to differ on this one. Iberia is a very reliable airline with the best on track performance in Europe....I'd venture to say one of the best for long haul operations. Their fleet is pretty well maintained, aircrafts are kept rather clean and prices are aligned with comp set. What you should not be expecting is friendly service, that just will not happen (I'm generalising here). I wouldn't say it's lack of care, it's just a remnant from old times when Iberia was run by the state. However, should you need anything crews will be responsive, just don't expect any wow moments. Incidentally, their long haul economy seats feel roomier than other airlines and their IFE (when available) is pretty decent. As for Barajas T4, I honestly think it's one of the nicest terminals in Europe: contemporary feeling, curved lines, soft colour palette, tons of natural light coming in which is sooooo much appreciated when one's jet lagged, very high ceilings which create a sense of personal space, lots of moving stairs, very good variety of places to eat, solid lounge offer, excellent shopping and it never gives the feeling of being packed unlike a Amsterdam, Frankfurt o Heathrow. I wouldn't hesitate to use and recommend Iberia, again, just keep your expectations low in terms of crew friendliness and you may even get a pleasant surprise as it's happened to me on more than one occasion. Incidentally, I was once in a rather complicated familiar situation which involved requiring assistance from Iberia. I figured out their CEOs email address and sent him a plea for help. It was Mr Luis Gallego at the time (talking about 2017 or 2018). Out of a sudden our problem was solved in less than 24 hours. I don't know if Mr Gallego ever got to see my email but someone did and acted on it. If this is not customer care when it's truly needed then I don't know what is. I will be forever grateful for this.
That's an interesting take, thanks for sharing. However I would suggest passengers should not have to do a hail mary and email the CEO for help with booking problems haha! Glad it worked out for you though.
@@airedition Thanks Gabriel, it was a strike called by a union at an airport in Europe at a time the city was packed. People had to go by train to other cities in the country to get out as there were just a few flights allowed per day. So I was just one out of thousands of fliers needing assistance which my old parents really needed. Stay well and keep those reviews coming, really love your work.
I've only flown with Iberia once, years ago, from Heathrow to Malaga. A very disheartening experience thanks to a dirty plane, unfriendly & unhelpful crew and an almost complete absence of any kind of service. Jet2 every time now for me!
I kind of feel that Iberia is designed to be inferior to BA, as a way to establish a hierarchy in IAG’s portfolio. The question is, if BA is the ‘flagship’ brand, who are the mid-range or low-end brands? Is Aer Lingus mid-range? Is Iberia low-end? Or is it the other way around?
I think Iberia’s problem is that, unlike BA, they don’t have a ‘premium’ reputation and therefore can’t charge higher fares so simply cannot offer a better service in order to compete with Ryanair and EasyJet
I don't think they have that figured out in any way - BA certainly has the most "premium" brand, but apart from that they're all just a bunch of brands that don't know if they want to be flag carriers or low cost carriers.
I think one of the issues is that Iberia actually competes directly in its home base MAD with RYR/Wizz/ Easyjet. BA doesn’t have that type of competition and will never have as LHR is to expensive for low cost airlines
Well Gabriel, you signed up to be the guinea pig for these type of flights. We all thank you for being uncomfortable so we don't have to. You travel with the bad and the good! This is why we watch your channel. Thanks again - Jim
@@airedition it is not that i love Barajas, don’t get me wrong. I just said I disagree with your point of view. =) Is it the T4 the best airport in the EU? I’m sure not… Is it that bad? Absolutely not…
Iberia is focused in long haul. Short haul ops are only present in some specific northern Spanish airports (Barcelona, Bilbao, Asturias, Galicia...) and mainly Europe. All the flights are centered in feeding Madrid hub, starting/ending in LEMD. And I hope that you have never flown an IB A319, it is a complete pain!😁 Also, customer support is not great. I've flown 4-5 times with them, and had issues in three flights. One was cancelled and moved me to the last flight of the day, had to argue several times with them to change to another one. In the other two, my bag was broken twice, again arguing with IB because they said I was the one who broke it (?). Vueling, Iberia Express and Iberia Regional (franchised to Air Nostrum) are the IAG brands that cover the rest of Spain, but it still lacks a lot of connections. Except Air Nostrum, that has really good seats and legroom in the CRJ 1000s, the other two are almost the same product than IB in short haul. About Iberia, except you are looking for business class, LH, and connections, the rest is almost the same as LCC like Ryanair. Similar planes (in seat config.) and no extra service. AFAIK, there are lots of european carriers in the same path than IB. Guess that flag carriers in general only care about the long haul market, leaving the rest to LCC brands. In Spain, the main airlines in pax volume are RYR and VLG in second place. About LEMD, it is a bit messy, I have flown several times in that airport and the layout is... interesting to say the least. Really long taxi times from T1/2/3, specially if departing from 36R/14L, lots of empty space, and better not to have connections in diferent terminals! To sum it up... In Spain mainland can me more interesting to try high speed trains. Less problems, great travel times, and no LEMD nonsense!
Thanks for the detailed thoughts, I think you’re right! And yes within Spain the AVE trains are far better. I’ve heard that Air Nostrum is a step above, as well.
@@airedition Yes, Air Nostrum has great seats, and the fact they use only small airplanes makes it easier to board/deboard. The only issue is that overhead bins are small, so hand lugagge has to be loaded in the cargo holds, at no cost for the traveller. Another thing I remebered, is that IAG LEMD medium/short haul is divided between IBE/IBS/ANE, in order to cover almost all Spain/Europe. IBE created Iberia Express (IBS) in order to cut costs (salaries), but an interesting fact about is that there is a condition. The fleet size in IBS depends directly on the IBE fleet size. If IBS increases its fleet, IBE has to increase it in at least the same proportion. The service is similar, even IBS pilots can actually be Iberia ones. There is some info on the internet, guess that happens in all Europe with these new LCC subsidiaries
@@airedition for me the key is legroom and the size of the people seated next to you. As long as the sear are narrow and the leg room tight economy is uncomfortable. This covers most (but not all) airlines.
I'm not surprised. I was pretty disappointed, when Finnair outsourced its flights hel-bcn-hel to Iberia. The quality of service in business class dropped from very nice and attentive to highly indifferent and passive. You usually get better service in the tourist class of any other western operator. Not worth the added price.
It’s amazing to me just how many people seem to feel this way about Iberia. Normally I’d expect lots of comments defending an airline I give a bad review too. In this case, everyone seems to agree!
Being an Iberia Plus Silver customer based in BCN, I must say that the economy class in Iberia is only comfortable in flights of 2h or less. Other than that, you're better flying Vueling for a cheaper fare and the same hard-product or fly Business class. Flights in economy with the Business Class seats are great as the difference with a normal seat is 10€ or less, but if were you, I wouldn't risk not having that seat !
4:52 sums up your flight perfectly. I'm nowhere near as tall as you but I would struggle for more than a couple of hours in this seat. Great review so we don't have to try it ourselves.
IB must come as a shock to the system ... after flying those comfortable and service-minded Gulf airlines. Within Europe I do believe the national airlines now concentrate on feeding their hubs in place of upgrading the onboard experience. The national airlines make little if any profit on their short-haul services ... it's long-haul which is lucrative.
Haha yes especially after flying the Gulf airlines, indeed. And I do get that short haul is mainly for feeding long-haul, and it's not where the money is. However if you want to have loyal customers you can't just forget about the feeder flights, and/or make them so uncomfortable that people have a terrible time. Imagine coming off BA long haul first class and then connecting on to this (because up front it's not even THAT much better). That person is likely to look elsewhere the next time they book, if they have the option.
@@airedition Yes I agree. One reason why, a few years ago, BA introduced domestic business class for its feeder flights to LHR. Premium class travellers from the regions could choose a sixth-freedom carrier for long trips - like say MAN-DXB-HKG - and get business/first class all the way.
Well, Iberia. It can be good, though, see my video from my MAD - Oviedo flight, that was great, and yes, it was in Business class. but I have to admit, 3,5 hrs in economy is a a pain in the neck, to say the least.
@@airedition oh yeah actually remember, you did. Maybe on some "special route". A321neo operates some EU flights : MUC, LHR (154), VCE. It changes every year tho. Or to Donegal - most scenic airport.
@@airedition I agree, the A330 to Faro and Málaga in the summer is great. It's the more usual A320's that run on short haul that leave something to be desired...
I flew Iberia Express A321 in economy. There was barely any legroom, no usb ports, no free food or beverages. The only good thing was the streaming entertainment
I have flown to MAD from SPU and back recently with Iberia. Terrible expirience, delayed flight, chaotic boarding, dirty plane, rude cabin crew, not even free water on 3 hours flight in summer. Ryanair is breeze of fresh air comparing to Iberia...
Mwahaha love the title. Flying often from/to BCN and then it's Vueling, the LCC airline of the Iberia-IAG group, but Barcelona's de Facto Iberia. If you wanna nerd out, it's quite a fun history they have. Level is the Long haul branch, but there are Vueling a320s with tails coloured Level blue-green. ARN-MAD is often flown by "Iberia Express" aka LCC Iberia. Same product as Vueling. For my routing it's them or Norwegian. Never flew with connections, always direct. Having the outbound BCN-ARN depart at 6AM might help out if you are knocked out; like someone said😂 To be honest with this, I don't have more expectations with intra EU flights. Many legacies moved into LCC territory with ancillaries. And, I always take my own sandwich!
@@airedition I think it's simply BCN: Vueling+Level MAD: IB Mostly in simple terms due to politics and branding. Iberia is seen as too spanish in Catalunya and better held with hub focus in MAD
Funyllt enough, I’ve had better experiences with Iberia Express than with regular Iberia (don’t ask me how they divide it, because some national flights are regular Iberia and then Berlin and London are Express
Never been on IB but I experienced the same feeling about the Neo with TAP Portugal, felt like RYR style legroom. It gave me a bad feeling about the Neo's, but after that I tried the Lufthansa and the Swiss ones which are both 'normal'. I'm curious to try the Neo of my home carrier, Brussels. Hope it's not again a win on the airline side, against the passenger confort. *Conspiracy mode on* The people behind the "green agenda" want so badly to ban people of flying that they make travel worst and worst 🤣🤣
I have flown Iberia and Iberia Express many times over the past 10+ yrs. I live in the Canary Islands. I have mainly used Iberia Express in their A321/320 and it was perfectly fine, with very similar seats as you were seated in. I am 180 cm tall. The flight up to Madrid from where I live is about 3 hrs. I usually do not eat much on board but somtimes I wll pay for a cold drink. I have also flown on IB long haul a few times, most recently MAD-SFO in an A330 in economy and LAX-MAD in an A350 in economy. Both flights were fine, no major issues, both on time, service was ok. I would say that the breakfast offered on the LAX to MAD flight was awful, but aside from that, the flight was good and the seat was ok for Y class.
@@airedition I do fly Binter quite often but mainly within the Canary Islands. I did recently fly Binter from Gran Canaria to La Coruna but it was quite disappointing as the plane I flew on was NOT Binter but a wet lease A320 and I was seated 3 abreast (me at window). The aircraft was old and so-so condition ,expecially compared to the new Binter E195 . The flight attendants were all Binter as was the inflight service which was good. But the plane itself was inferior to the IB Express planes that fly between the Canaries and Madrid .
I’ve been following to you for a long time now, and as a Spanish and certain aviation enthusiast, I also consider that there’s some hatred in your review. I’ve seen other good reviews about Iberia. And you consider MAD T4 just a “decent” design. Ok I see some disdain from the north to the south just for that fact.
Two things to respond to there. 1) I'm not sure what you mean by hatred in my review. Do you mean I'm already inclined to dislike Iberia so my review is unfair? I like to think I enter every flight with an open mind and a positive outlook. Yes I may be a little snarky with Iberia because of past mediocre experiences, but hatred? The bad vibes were all from what I experienced onboard that flight; I felt I should reflect that in the review. I think that's fair. And sure, I can imagine some flights with Iberia are good (assuming you're not in that particular terrible seat). But just look at the other comments; so many other people have had similar experiences to me. It seems to me that good experiences on Iberia are very much the exception. 2) As for north-south disdain that is completely unfair and I resent the accusation. Design is not just about looks. In fact it should be about much more than looks, as we've seen many times when airports go for soaring ceilings over considerations of actual passenger flow. Barajas is not the worst but it's far from the best. In many cases the passenger flow is not optimal, requiring long, convoluted walks; and when you get to the parts beyond the beautiful soaring ceilings, it is far less attractive too. Like I said, not the worst, but really not the best either.
Ok, thx for thoughtful and respectful answer. Sony points; I consider Flight Radar such a cool app. ARN has been to me one of fav airports; we can always appreciate cultural distinctive features when traveling. Apart from that, what you said “Does Iberia hates its passengers?” It’s a big statement, one of the most I’ve ever seen in so many flight reviews I’ve seen. If the Flag carrier of a EU country who tourism is a big important part of economy, who belongs a group like IAG, received that review, then that’s sth to be considered in my opinion.
If BA is a "flagship" brand then God help us all. Iberia must be truly awful. I have for many years been an ABBA flier but now I would avoid IAG as a whole. Will have to think of a new acronym for that 🤣. Thanks for the warning Gabe.
I also realy don’t understand how you can react on every comment you got to be the best aviation youtuber. Btw if you want i think a great addition to your video’s would be a seatmap❤
I try! Thanks for the comment. I will look into adding seatmaps (would love to include more graphics in general, it just gets more time consuming and/or expensive!)
"But all of my devices are usb c now" Total BS, you can buy one cable usb A to usb C and charge there, that's not something bad, if you only have usb c-c cables that's not my problem, I use mostly usb a-c cables. It's even better bc basic devices like whatches come with a usb A charger.
What I see is someone being taking to probably by one of the most professional crews ever. Some are grumpy but not worse than those in American or United. Fine maintenance, superb safety records. Way better than Alaska for instance. Iberia is not a fancy airline, we know that, as any other in Europe. Seats are standard Reccaro ones and in a perfect condition. You are not served anything as almost the rest in Europe and America. With an interesting Inflight cafe options. Not good but things are like that. Business is great, Barajas Lounges decent and you even have wifi on board. It’s interesting because in the US even in first you are only given a bag of pretzels 😂 Someone making aviation videos should know aviation has been Ryanairized for years. But there are differences. Free baggage allowance, connections, mileage program. And yes coach sucks. Not only in Iberia. Ultra low cost seats?. Low cost start with a 28 pitch. Iberia starts with 30 inches seats. With all respects, your video seems to me biased and unfair. You just got onboard thinking you wouldn’t enjoy it. Even bashed Barajas a bit. Actually Skytrax disagrees with you. Iberia is best 14th best airline in the world. Not a huge fan of them in coach cabin, but no. Nothing disgraceful. Fully disagree with your view.
I wouldn't go around quoting Skytrax for anything. They are well known to be biased and unethical in their rankings. If they say Iberia is the 14th best in the world, that's all the proof we needed that they are full of rubbish! 😂 And no these are not "standard Recaro seats", they're the ultra-budget deeply uncomfortable seats normally reserved for the very lowest of the low ultra low cost airlines. And no I also don't think that we should let airlines off the hook for sub-par offerings just because many of their competitors have also been "Ryanairized". Look at the other comments here, you'll see that 95% agree with me about Iberia.
BA are just as bad .. I flew in their A321neo and there was 1 tiny toilet in the galley for the entire economy cabin .. seats designed for smaller people or kids across their whole short haul fleet and mostly uncaring and uninterested crew .. having flown with BA a LOT since their inception, I decided I’d had enough of them .. I guess IAG have shaped Iberia in the same way.. never again .. Grrrrrrrrrr….
Skyscanner 2024: Iberia is the 15th best airline in the world Madrid airport is the 15th best in the world Iberia business class is the 19th best in the world and the 3rd best in Europe (including UK) Iberia’s business lounge in Madrid is the 2nd best in Europe (including UK) World Airline Awards 2024: Iberia has the best crew service in Europe (including UK) Fortunately Skytrack is based on million surveys of real travelers and not in professional RU-vidrs working to discredit others This is the 2nd time I post my comments, why do you remove them? Iberia doesn’t hate his passengers. The hater is YOU!
Your comment is still there Frank, and I responded to it as well. I think you need to get a handle on what company you're talking about. Is it Skyscanner, the booking website? Is it Skytrax, the pay to play aviation ranking company which is widely known for being tainted? "Skytrack" is not a thing. Either way, you sound strangely defensive about Iberia. What's going on there?
At a 3-4 hours flight with an unknown neighbor you have time to begin a conversation instead of fight about a armrest. Learn something about other people can be interesting. Of course some people are easier to talk with than other. I have learned a lot by talking with unknown people in teains and airplanes.
I can say the year 2000 after stopped flying with Iberia Pär today even if you fly Business Class long distance flights you have to buy internet package which this is tragic service If I fly Spain I always book Turkish Airlines Business class and Book on time always get a good price would like to inform about Turkish Airlines next year economy class will have access to free internet on all their flights Pär today you can send free whats up message for free certain flights take an extra day to Spain via Istanbul you go free hotel simply what you pay for what you get Viva Turkish Airlines is that simple 🇸🇪🇹🇷🇪🇸🛫
Iberia is a very mediocre airline....Its been sold to the best bargain and the passenger treatment is horrible...You should check out their long range.. I remember a MIA MAD...halhway in flight they ran out of water and the stewardess ran out cart and all...very unprofessional...
Iberia and several other airlines in Europe are crap, totally crap, as vueling (horrible), Ryanair, jet2fly, etc etc etc!!!! Fly in Europe it’s HORRIBLE!!!!!! Cows in South America travel better ……
SKYTRACK 2024: Iberia is best 15th airline in the world Madrid airport is 15th best in the world Iberia business 19th best in the world Iberia’s business lounge in Madrid is the 2nd best in Europe Fortunately Skytrack is based on millions surveys of real and impartial travellers, not in a few “professional” haters working to discredit others
😂 sorry do you mean Skytrax? Otherwise known as Scamtrax? All you have to do is look at the other comments here to which of us is better representing the reality.
The European equivalent of a US Legacy carrier. You seem more jaded of a flyer now that you’ve had your Q Suite experience. Everything pales in comparison.
