#49 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
346 reviews
Hello amigos!
This once, this FR series will cover a trip to Mexico I had back in summer 2021. Back then, pandemic restrictions were a mixed bag of complete freedom to curfews and whatnot. I had a very stressful second semester underway, so I wanted to vacay somewhere with a sea view and only think about drinking and eating.
Prices for travel within Spain were a crazy, and I wouldn't be able to drive in any of the islands as I hadn't got a valid driver's license for Spain. I looked over for Açores or Madeira, and prices seemed reasonable. However the whole trip would have cost me almost as much as going to America. And so, I wondered…where could I go over there that is restriction free?
Mexico, good old Mexico didn't have any entry restrictions, travel was free, and prices were reasonable too. And so I asked a friend if she would tag along, and we organised a trip to Mexico Lindo y Querido.
So I booked a return ticket between MAD and MEX, on Iberia's Premium Economy (which I had already tried to Bogotá and was gladly satisfied), while my friend took care of booking domestic legs to/from Oaxaca in Volaris. In the end my schedule was as follows:
Since this was a midnight departure, I was due to be at the airport by 9pm. However I had some work to do around 7pm and it would be a mess if the call lasted longer than 1 hour. So I went earlier to the airport so I could join the call from the Neptuno VIP lounge at T4S.
Check in was a breeze, as few flights left to America at midnight (Argentina was basically closed, so were Chile and Peru…so all that was left were flights to Mexico). The fact that Mexico had no limitations or conditions for entry was also a great contributing factor.
Done with the paperwork I went straight to T4S to settle down, have some food, work and wait for my call
The Neptuno VIP lounge at T4S was recently re-opened back then. As you may had seen on my MAD-BOG report, the only available VIP back then was the Plaza Mayor Lounge at T4, which had the inconvenience of forcing you to leave way earlier to cross the field to T4S and go through the border control.
The lounge was airy, and most important: empty.
I basically had the whole lounge for myself and this was AWESOME!
Just in front of us, IB's competition was waiting for the night hop to MEX. I love AM's livery on the 787, and I would have liked to fly them instead of IB, but alas, they don't offer W class
Done with work i had time to check the awesome "strawberry moon" that evening
For dinner, I had a bowl of meatballs with tortilla and some verdejo to wash it down…
Done with eating and basking in the moonlight, it was time to board our A350 to MEX.
T4S was basically a desert at boarding time…the only crowd were my fellow passengers to Mexico at the end of the pier.
quite a crowd indeed, and boarding took its time as it was back to front
Meanwhile, our planem was waiting for us
The flight was almost full, I was due to share my row with someone, but the one in front remained empty after boarding completed and I was granted my request to move to it, huge win!
PTV size was optimal, so was the pitch between rows
Amenity kits were delivered before taxi
The only flaw I noticed on this flight with the W cabin in IB's A350's is that you are right on top of the front galley. This would prove a huge nuissance for this redeye flight.
We did a quick taxi to RWY 36R and then turned right to the west over the Sierra de Guadarrama. The supermoon provided lovely views of Madrid, but my camera wasn't up to the task (sorry).
I settled down and as soon as the crew could, we were given the "premium economy" headsets. Not awesome, but bettter than nothing
As we neared Portugal's shores we were handed our dinner. Options were hamburgers (filete ruso in Spain) or something else that I forgot. I went for the hamburger.
It was a great meal.
BTW, since I was so near to the galley, I noticed IB heats the ovens just after boarding is completed, so the food cooks while we take off and the whole "dead time" the food is being readied, that way they are able to spring to action as soon as conditions allow. Thoughtful detail, specially when you want to sleep as soon as possible.
I settled to watch some TV and sleep…having some peeks every now and then to the gorgeous moon and its reflection on the Atlantic Ocean against the shores of north Portugal /Galicia (shame on you crappy camera)
After a good couple of hours of sleep, we were woken up almost 90 mins before STA for our pre-landing snacks.
They were meh.
After the cabin was cleaned, we were preparing to land and we made a straight approach from the Gulf of Mexico into MEX (no traffic at this ungodly hour!)
Immigration was slow and painful (I was craving for my hotel bed as the galley lights kept waking me up and I had a crappy sleep)…and so, this story comes to an end!
IB's Premium Economy is a decent product that may be worth its price sometimes. I chose it to be more rested considering the awful time of arrival to Mexico. The hardware is good (although it somehow feels aging quick in hindsight). The first meal was delicious, the second one, being the same as in regular Y class, was lame. Service was decent, but nothing memorable.
MAD was awesome, as expected, and so was the Neptuno VIP Lounge. How can one complain of a whole VIP lounge to oneself?
MEX needs replacement ASAP (more on this on the upcoming FRs), and immigration remains a huge black spot on this airport. Because of the time I could reach my hotel in Reforma Ave. fairly quick otherwise it woud have been one more hour into the trip, but well...its Mexico City, nothing to do.
Thanks for reading this FR, saludos!
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 8 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Madrid (MAD) → Mexico City (MEX).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est AeroMexico avec 7.5/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 12 heures et 0 minutes.
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2 Comments
Haha, yeah, Mexico (and Colombia) were the popular destinations during the pandemic because of the lack of restrictions.
Looks great! I've never been since I always have access to the IB sala Velazquez, but it looks really nice with the open ceiling. Based on the photos it looks like it's right on top of the Velazquez lounge since the views look similar, is that right? Maybe I'll have to check it out next time. Was at T4S a few days ago but never even noticed signs for the Neptuno lounge...granted I wasn't looking since I just went to Velazquez
That was definitely one of the positive sides of travelling during the pandemic...but now that's long gone...lounges are again crowded as ever!
First meal does look good. I never understood why European carriers only differentiate the 1st meal in W and serve the same as Economy for the 2nd meal--of course there are some airlines that don't have any difference in meals. This is an area where US carriers do better in W with all meals being different from Y.
Thanks for sharing!
It is on top indeed. The entrance is a bit tricky, you have to take the escalators or the lift to the top floor before entering the duty free area in T4S.
Totally agree. While I commend IB for attempting to improve their product continously, the second serving in W is a big black spot for it. Let's wait and see how it keeps evolving.
Thanks for passing by, saludos!
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