Review of Iberia flight London → Madrid in Economy

Airline Iberia
Flight IB3171
Class Economy
Seat 22
Aircraft Airbus A321
Flight time 01:55
Take-off 27 Feb 14, 17:40
Arrival at 27 Feb 14, 20:35
IB   #48 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 346 reviews
767 traveller
By 4163
Published on 5th March 2014
Hi and welcome to my first FR
I arrived Heathrow at 3:15 pm and directed myself to the baggage drop desks. I had already checked in online the night before and the friendly lady at the check in desk re confirmed my pre selected seat 22 e.

photo IMG_2588

I went through south security using the normal lanes. My carry on which I couldn't check in as I was only allowed to check 1 bag was searched manually and I ended up loosing some creams that exceeded 100 ml. I forgot I had them in that bag. either way my other bag was completly full so my other optiom was to pay to check in another bag. no thanks After I was not allowed into the lounge so I went to have a wonder around the terminal and had some sushi using a 10 pounds voucher that BA gave me instead. A small delay was evident as there wasn't a gate anounced for our flight at scheduled boarding time. Luckily gate A18 was announced shortly. A first boarding call was announced inviting passengers with priority boarding and afterwards everybody else. Not sure if almost everyone had status or people just queued in the fast track but anyway the staff didn't enforced the rule and let everybody board at the same time. I joined that group (I did had permission to board at that time) and when I boarded the aircraft about half of the passengers traveling in the flight where already there.

Some pictures of T5

photo IMG_2591photo IMG_2592photo IMG_2595


IB
Scheduled departure: 17:10
Actual departure: 17:50

Scheduled arrival: 20:35
Actual Arrival 20:35
Aircraft: A321
Seat 22 e (didn't realize that it was beside the jump seat, obstructing the view outside)

Boarding was completed quite quickly with a load of about 70 percent full. We taxied passing terninals 4 and 3 I think giving interesting aircraft on
View such as two QF A380 waiting for rheir DXB SYD/MEL runs and an ET 787.

photo IMG_2597

We took off and a flying time of 1 hour and 40 minutes was announced increasing speed to cover up most of the delay.
Service on this flight was a bit disappointing. I had a better impression of IB as the two last times I ve flown them I received a friendly service showing that IB is trying to change their image. The service I received on this flight was a far cry from that. The crew was unfriendly and sometimes even rude. Although the new branding and aircraft interiors A333 ans refub A346 may help really the key is in costumer service. This showed lack of consistency in its soft product.
ervice was the usual BOB service Iberia offers on European flights. I bought a cappuccino and a don ought and asked for a glass of water which was given free of charge.

photo IMG_2599photo IMG_2598



The flight was smooth and I entertainedx myself by reading an Airliners world magazine an Ronda magazine iberia's own magazine. Before long we were descending into Madeid. We disembarked on T4 and passed immigration and collected my luggage from baggage claim.

photo IMG_2601photo IMG_2603

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Verdict

Iberia

4.9/10
Cabin5.0
Cabin crew2.5
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering6.0

London - LHR

6.6/10
Efficiency7.0
Access5.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.0

Madrid - MAD

6.0/10
Efficiency6.0
Access6.0
Services6.0
Cleanliness6.0

Conclusion

IB really disappointed on this flight. It is an airline with a bad reputation who is really trying to change its image and has done well in the last flights I've taken with them. Now they are offering water glasses free of charge in their european service but only upon request which is obviously better than nothing. Next time I will try to get a flight operated by BA but wouldn't hesitate to fly them again and see if I receive a better service again. I know it is going through serious financial difficulties but hope it can recover soon. New brand and cabin interiors look great for me and would like to give them a try in the future.

LHR T5 is a good terminal for me. The lounges look good and the terminal is easy to navigate.

MAD T4 has a stunning arquitecture it is also efficient and a nice terminal to use

Information on the route London (LHR) → Madrid (MAD)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 36 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Madrid (MAD).

Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 19 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 101364 by
    marathon GOLD 10137 Comments
    The British airports have a non-sensical policy of announcing the boarding gate at the last moment.
    IB is infamous for having the worst soft product among the European legacy airlines, so this experience is no real surprise in this regard. I was not aware they were trying to improve.
    Your camera (or smartphone) is not very sensitive. In poor lighting conditions, pause to take a picture, or better, stabilize it against any structure - you had plenty in MAD.
    Your pictures will be better next time; thanks for this first report and welcome among the contributors !
    • Comment 289326 by
      767 traveller AUTHOR 53 Comments
      Thanks for your kind comment
      I know IB really has a bad reputation and I do hope they improve in the future with the new branding.
      Thanks for yout tips on taking pics. I was a bit on a hurry so I took them really quickly. Thats why they are really bad. Hopefully will take more time to get better pics on my next report!
  • Comment 101376 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6739 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this first report! IB true to its image with bad customer service--hopefully things will improve with all the changes, but it's going to be a long road! Like Marathon said, just taking an extra few seconds to pause makes a world of difference for picture quality. Definitely comes with practice. Looking forward to more reports! Welcome to Flight-Report!

    KevinDC
    FR Community Manager
    • Comment 289393 by
      767 traveller AUTHOR 53 Comments
      Thanks for taking the time to comment on my report
      I do hope IB's service and reputation improve although as you've just said its going to take a long time to change that reputation. I hope they are successful with the incorporation of A330's into their fleet. Sorry for the quality of the pics, I will improve them for the next report
      cheers
      767traveller

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