Review of Iberia flight New York Madrid in Business

Airline Iberia
Flight IB6250
Class Business
Seat 7L
Aircraft Airbus A350-900
Flight time 07:25
Take-off 26 Jun 21, 20:55
Arrival at 27 Jun 21, 10:20
IB   #51 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 341 reviews
KévinDC
By SILVER 3162
Published on 13th September 2021

introduction


Hello Flight-Reporters and welcome to the 2nd review in this new series of pandemic-era flights.

After being grounded for almost 10 months in 2020, I've slowly-but-surely been getting back to more regular flying again. After moving the family back to the U.S. at the beginning of the year, we had a few uneventful domestic flights in the spring–which I may post at a later time–and now it was time to fly back across the pond to spend the summer with family in Southwestern France. 

In the previous review, I covered my first ever flight in JetBlue Mint (Business) class and in this review I'll be flying on the Airbus A350 for the first time ever! So many AvGeek firsts for me ✈

I'm a little late to the game with my first A350 ride, but it's not for lack of trying! I've had some bad luck with an equipment swap and a last-minute rebooking in my previous 2 attempts. 

Welcome aboard my first A350 review!


routing


Flight reviews in this series:



photo route

pre-flight & check-in


As mentioned in the previous report, to break up the trip for our 2-year-old, we had flown in to Newark on JetBlue the evening before and spent the night in a hotel. 

In the afternoon, we made our way from New Jersey across the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge to Long Island and JFK airport. 


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We dropped off the car at the rental car centre and headed to the Iberia terminal on the AirTrain.


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Iberia operations at JFK are based out of British Airways' Terminal 7


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The Iberia ticket counters are located in the rear right-hand corner of the check-in area.


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Having arrived a little over 3 hours before departure, we were ahead of the crowds. Luckily there was no wait for check-in as the check-in process itself took over 20 minutes. 


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Though the check-in process for international flights has generally gotten longer in pandemic-times with additional required documents to check, the majority of the delay was due to a problem with our reservation. As Covid-related schedule changes and cancellations have become commonplace these days, our flights had unsurprisingly changed several times since they were booked 10 months prior. Apparently our tickets had been re-booked incorrectly by British Airways as two separate segments rather than a connection after the most recent schedule change. This took a supervisor quite a bit of time on the phone with BA agents to get the issue resolved. The agents were very friendly and apologised several times for the inconvenience.

Luckily our seats were still showing correctly assigned as they had been booked. As we were flying with a young child, it was important to have seats together. The central EG seats in this configuration are ideal for people travelling together as they are next to each other, while all other seats are far apart. These types of duo seats in staggered configurations are often called "honeymoon" seats. 


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Every passenger entering or transiting through a Spanish airport must complete a health declaration on the Spain Travel Health website which includes questions about Covid-testing and vaccination status. Completing the form generates a QR code to be shown at check-in on departure and to immigration agents on arrival in Spain. The check-in agent in JFK checked our QR code, but did not verify vaccination cards as the US was on the EU and Spanish lists of low-risk countries at the time. Spain did not require proof of vaccination or negative test results for US arrivals at the time, but France did. Our vaccination cards would later be checked in MAD for the MAD-TLS flight. 


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Passing by the departures board after check-in, there were only a handful of flight going out that night. So weird to see so few flights from an international terminal at JFK at the beginning of the summer season! Though Europe was slowly opening up to US travellers, the schedules were still very conservative. 


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Due to Covid, none of the British Airways lounges were open in T7 and the Alaska lounge, which would normally be accessible with Priority Pass, hadn't yet re-opened. 

With a few hours to kill, we walked around outside the terminal for a bit to enjoy the beautiful weather before going through security.  


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Going through the Pre-check lanes was relatively quick, though there was some confusion between TSA agents as to what to do with our 2-year-old son's milk. One agent wanted to open the sealed bottle to test the milk, but I assured her that was not protocol as it was a sealed container and the milk would spoil if opened. A supervisor cleared up the issue quickly; however, I am still amazed how often this question comes up at checkpoints.

 An even more sparsely-populated departures screen by the time we were airside. 


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It's so weird not to see several BA 747s lined up at Terminal 7.
R.I.P beautiful BA 747 😢


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Our Iberia A350-900 was parked at gate 6 in an otherwise empty terminal. 


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After experiencing full domestic terminals on the SAN-EWR leg, it was back to a more-familiar reality of travel in Covid-times with a mostly empty terminal. 


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With no lounges open, we just hung out in the gate area, which was already filling up with passengers 1.5 hours prior to departure. 


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boarding


Boarding began on time, but was very slow-moving. It was evident from the crowd at the beginning of boarding that it would be a full flight. 


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A quick check of the Business cabin seat map on ExpertFlyer confirmed it was full in J as well.


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Unlike most other carriers, Iberia usually board Business class passengers last per their current Covid policies. The boarding process order is strictly from the rear to the front by rows. A gate agent explained that in cases where the jet bridge could be attached at the door behind Business class, that J passengers could then board first as there would not be any boarding of other passengers though that same cabin; however, at this particular gate, the jet bridge had to be pulled up to the first door–I imagine it's too short to reach door 2L of an A350–and therefore passengers would be boarding through the Business class cabin. I appreciated the information, which made sense once it was explained. 

The crowd at the gate dwindled away as boarding progressed. It was very slow-moving to keep some social distancing in the jet bridge and in the aisles on this completely full flight. 


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In my pre-child days and when he was under 2, I generally preferred boarding early and getting settled, especially when there were strollers and other baby items to deal with. Now that he's an energetic 2 1/2 year-old toddler, more time on the plane on the ground = more time to actively entertain him so I don't really mind boarding last anymore, especially since pre-departure drink services no longer happen in pandemic times. 

I think we've raised our son to be a good little traveller, but we always make sure to arm ourselves with plenty of entertainment to avoid any potential random toddler tantrums (tablet with cartoons downloaded, story books, colouring books, toys, snacks, etc). In all his travels, which includes many long-haul flights, he's always been very well-behaved, but I'm always conscious of the "Kids-don't-belong-in-First/Business-class" crowd in showing that many children do travel well in premium cabins–or in any cabin really. 

By the time the Business class cabin was called to board it was nearing scheduled departure time. It became clear we wouldn't be leaving on time.  


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Welcome to the Iberia A350 Business class cabin!

It looks much like the the Business cabin on the A330s, but with an updated version of the Stelia SOLSTYS staggered seat model.  


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My seat, a true window-seat in row 7 on the right side. This is one of the major difference with the J cabin on the A330s where the true window seats are in the even-numbered rows on that side, rather than the odd-numbered rows on the A350s. 


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The cabin and seats are spacious and modern, but the overall colour-scheme is rather boring with so much beige and grey. I would expect some prominent splashes of reds or yellows given the Iberia branding.


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 There's a bit more colour when looking towards the front of the aircraft with the bright red home page on the IFE screens.


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Before getting myself situated, I got my son settled in with some cartoons and toys to keep him entertained as boarding continued. 


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Though the bulk of the boarding process was completed shortly after we got on board, single passengers and small groups continued to trickle on for quite some time after our scheduled departure time had passed. 

About a half-hour after the scheduled departure time, an announcement was made to inform us that the delay was due to some difficulties with some passengers' "documents". My previous Iberia transatlantic flight in January 2021 has also been delayed due to Covid-related passenger processing–six months later, it was déjà vu all over again.

In the end, we ended up being delayed for over an hour and a half!


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As we waited, cabin crew distributed noise-cancelling headphones, sanitising wipes, and amenity kits. 


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All we could do was wait until the the "document" issues were resolved. Had this been pre-pandemic, there would have probably been a second round of pre-departure drinks, but the airlines' current Covid-policies prohibit any food or drink services on the ground. This is most likely because the air circulation system works best when the engines are running (i.e. a/c is in motion) as the air is then purified through the HEPA filters, which removes most particles, including bacteria and viruses. 


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Let's have a look around the seat.

On the side console, you will find the headphone jack, a universal power outlet and two USB ports. There are also two storage trays, which are convenient for mobile phones and smaller tablets or books. 


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Seat controls and the in-flight entertainment remote are also located on the side console. 


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Yep, we're definitely on board an A350! There's that splash of yellow I was looking for.  


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Plenty of leg space as one would expect from long-haul business class. I like these seats as they are not constrictive in the foot area when in bed mode. When fully flat, the bed is about 2m in length, which offers plenty of room to stretch out. 


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¡ Hola !


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The IFE is available gate-to-gate, with a large selection of films in multiple languages, series, music, and games. Wi-Fi is available for purchase. 


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There is also a large selection of children's programming, which I appreciated. 


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the flight


Finally, 90 minutes after the flight should have departed, cabin crew announced that everyone was finally on board. Doors were closed and we were ready for pushback. 


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The safety video played after doors were closed. 


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The video showcases the beautiful city of Madrid and its iconic sites and monuments…


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Such as the Plaza Mayor


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and the Royal Palace


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Wouldn't it be nice if seats in Premium Economy or Economy actually had this much space? 


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Next came a video about Covid safety and Iberia's intensified cleaning protocols, as well as information on HEPA filters.



By the time we pushed back from the gate, we were running 1 hour 42 min behind schedule.


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Luckily taxi time was short, which is rare for JFK–but it seems like we'd missed the rush of transatlantic departures.


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We'd only taxied for about 10 minutes before takeoff!


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The moving map is nice and modern with crisp graphics.


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Tonight's short flight being under 7h helped to make up a bit of the 1.5h delay.


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It was a beautiful, mostly clear night with the full moon clearly visible. 


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As soon as we were in the air the cabin crew hustled to get the dinner service underway so passengers could sleep. Being that lounges were closed and there were little dining options in the terminal, the vast majority of passengers stayed up for dinner, whereas on a more typical short TATL red-eye, many passengers skip dinner and go right to sleep having eaten in the lounge. 

It was an express service without a separate apéritif service; however, cabin crew were happy to serve a pre-dinner drink and another for the meal at the same time. I was fine with Cava for both. 


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As with my previous Covid-era flight, there were no menus so options were announced orally by the crew. I received a more elaborate description of the options in Spanish, while my family, who don't speak Spanish, got the basic "chicken, fish, or vegetarian". Though the cabin crew in our section did not appear to be as comfortable with English as on my previous Iberia flights, they very friendly and made a genuine effort and even said a few words of French, which was a nice touch. 

I went with the bacalao (cod). In pandemic times, meals are served with lids in place for sanitary reasons.  


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Without the lids. 


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Overall a very good meal by current pandemic standards with the typical European 4 courses (must have a cheese course!). The fish was well-cooked and had the right amount of spice. 

By the time the dinner service was over, we were over the Canadian maritime provinces.  


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I put on a movie to half-watch as I began to doze off.


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A nice feature of these newer systems is that you can have the airshow on the touchscreen remote screen while watching entertainment on the main screen.


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I was able to get a decent 4 hours of sleep and didn't wake up until we had to bring seats upright for landing. 


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That's a good looking winglet in the morning light.


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Familiar dry landscapes of central Spain stretched to the horizon as we neared Madrid. A stark contrast from the snowy scenes I'd seen my previous time through MAD, just days after winter storm Filomena had dumped close to a metre of snow in some areas of Spain. 



Some greener scenery in the higher elevations.



Final descent over the Madrid suburbs.


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Lovely views of the city and the Cuatro Torres business district in the distance as we landed. 


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arrival


Taxi time was short as there wasn't much activity–again, with the delay, we'd probably missed the bulk of the transatlantic arrivals. 


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First time seeing an IberoJet (formerly Evelop) A350–nice new livery, but with an all-Economy 432-seat configuration, it must feel cramped!


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We arrived at the gate just a bit over an hour past the scheduled time, so we had made up over a half hour of the departure delay in flight. 


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Last view of the cabin on deplaning. 


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We arrived at the non-Schengen T4S Satellite gates. The beautiful architecture of this remote terminal is the same at that of the main Terminal 4 building. 


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We went through immigration here in the T4S building. It was busy, but moved quickly.


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We then took the train to the main terminal.


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Once in the main terminal, there were sanitary checks by medical staff with lab coats prior to being allowed entry to the arrivals area. The checks were efficient–QR codes and temperatures were checked. The staff did ask us why we were in the arrivals area as were in transit, thinking we may be lost. I explained that we had a long layover and had booked a room at the in-airport hotel–though now a shorter transit due to the 1 hour delay. 

We were allowed through with no issue and made our way to the Premium Traveller "Air Rooms Madrid" Hotel to rest up for a bit before our onward flight to Toulouse. 


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Verdict

Iberia

8.4/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Meal/catering7.5

New York - JFK

7.5/10
Efficiency8.5
Access7.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.5

Madrid - MAD

8.5/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

Multiple pandemic-era schedule change re-bookings and ongoing uncertainty with travel to/from the UK have brought me to flying Iberia with more frequency over my previous go-to favourite British Airways. I must say that I've become a fan of Iberia. The service quality, staff friendliness, and cabin comfort have exceeded my expectations. The only downsides were the closed BA lounges (not IB's fault), and yet another delay due to Covid-related document checks. Other than that, it was as very nice experience.

It was great to finally fly on an A350. Much like the 787 experience, the better pressurisation, quieter engines, and higher air humidity make for a more comfortable experience on long-haul flights. The Iberia Stelia SOLSTYS seats are very comfortable and spacious with full aisle-access for all passengers, while having the option of sitting together in some pairs of central seats, ideal for couples and families. The Iberia staggered configuration works perfectly for us, whereas more common herringbone and reverse-herringbone configurations are challenging when travelling with small children.

Information on the route New York (JFK) Madrid (MAD)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 5 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne New York (JFK) → Madrid (MAD).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Delta Air Lines avec 7.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 7 heures et 13 minutes.

  More information

10 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 580603 by
    ChrisB GOLD 3391 Comments
    Thanks Kevin for the report and congrats on your first A350 trip!! I guess it wasn't that easy to find a flight on an A350 in the US: besides Delta Airlines it is not really an Airbus land!!Reaally beautiful shots of the engine and wings!

    Did you find the plane quieter than the A330s?

    Thanks
    Chris
    • Comment 580821 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER AUTHOR 6668 Comments
      Thanks for your comments Chris!

      It was cool to finally fly on an A350, but probably a little less exciting than my first 787 (since very similar), and definitely not as exciting as my first A380 (RIP 😭)
      Yeah, there's definitely not much opportunity to fly an A350 in the US, especially since I am mostly loyal to oneworld carriers.

      Reaally beautiful shots of the engine and wings!

      The A350 wins over the 787 in wing sexiness for sure. That's a good looking wingtip!

      Did you find the plane quieter than the A330s?

      Yes, and it was the perfect level of quietness. In comparison, I always found the A380 upper deck to be TOO quiet. I like a little white noise when flying, especially for sleeping, and on the A380 you can hear someone burp from 20 rows away, haha

      Thanks for stopping by!
  • Comment 580671 by
    Jett Tyler GOLD 357 Comments
    Nice review of the IB A350 in business! Meal looked good!
  • Comment 580709 by
    NewYorker 194 Comments
    Hi Kevin, thanks for an awesome report as always! Congrats on your first A350, as well! Shame that you didn't have any lounge access, but I guess that's not the end of the world.
    It's so weird not to see several BA 747s lined up at Terminal 7.

    Not to mention not being able to see some United widebodies wearing my favorite Battleship Gray livery haha. T7 seems so foreign all of a sudden 🥺
    Overall looks like a pretty enjoyable flight with IB. Food seemed good, and I'm glad to hear that you had a good crew. I'd hear mixed things about Iberia crews. I agree that the cabin looks pretty bland. While the seat itself isn't bad, I wish that they would have introduced a slightly updated product on their A350s, but the seat is already levels above LH's. Is there any difference at all between the A350 seat and the A330 seat?
    Looking forward to the final installment! ✈️
    • Comment 580823 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER AUTHOR 6668 Comments
      Hey NewYorker, thanks for your comments!

      Not to mention not being able to see some United widebodies wearing my favorite Battleship Gray livery haha.

      Too sexy...cannot handle the sexy. That was such a beautiful livery

      I'd hear mixed things about Iberia crews.

      Me too, and I've luckily had only good experiences so far. Most of the complaints I've seen are about a poor level of English and some "coldness," but I imagine those two can be related as it can often seem that someone is being cold when there is a language barrier. I've also seen similar type complaints from non-French speakers about AF, and never experienced it myself, I assume because I'm French. I suppose that in the case of Iberia it helps that I speak Spanish. I think a lot of the criticism of IB crews come down to language and cultural differences IMO.

      Is there any difference at all between the A350 seat and the A330 seat?

      Besides a slightly updated design, I believe there was an additional USB port, but not USB-C unfortunately. Nothing revolutionary. I also feel like the seat itself was a little wider due to the wider fuselage, but that could just be an impression.

      Thanks for stopping by!
  • Comment 580843 by
    757Fan 632 Comments
    Great report, Kevin. I'm very impressed of you traveling on an overnight flight to Europe with your young son - my wife and I have a toddler age boy as well too (just about 19 months) and while I don't think he would do as well as your son at his age, he is a good traveler whenever we have flown domestically so far. I just worry about an overnight flight and how he would do with everything! Iberia J looks pretty good - the A350 also looks great inside!
    • Comment 580844 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER AUTHOR 6668 Comments
      Hey Matthew, thanks for your comments as always!

      I'm very impressed of you traveling on an overnight flight to Europe with your young son

      Thanks, actually I prefer night flights with my son because he's always been a great sleeper and usually sleeps most of the flight. Day flights are more effort to keep him entertained between naps and meals.

      To be honest, I'm not sure my son would have been as well-behaved as he is now when he was 19 months old. We were grounded for much of 2020 so he didn't fly at all between the age of 14 months and 22 months, which consequently was his most rambunctious toddler period! He was like a Tasmanian devil running all over the place for most of that time, so I feel like we kind of dodged a bullet there, haha.

      Now at 2 1/2 he's calmed down a lot as he can now understand everything we say and speaks pretty well. We've definitely made up for lost time in the air since as my toddler son is just a few EQMs away from reaching AA Platinum Status!

      So yeah, we've avoided any possible in-flight meltdowns, haha. In all of the flights we've done with our son, I can only recall one that was somewhat difficult because he was having some teething pain, but he was only 13 months old at the time--I'm sure you've passed that stage (teething is the worst).

      Thanks for stopping by and happy flying! Let me know if you all are even in San Diego
  • Comment 584056 by
    YGeorgeW GOLD 273 Comments
    Thanks for the report, Kevin!

    It looks much like the the Business cabin on the A330s, but with an updated version of the Stelia SOLSTYS staggered seat model.

    -Slightly better look than the A330s, but still rather exposed-feeling.

    About a half-hour after the scheduled departure time, an announcement was made to inform us that the delay was due to some difficulties with some passengers' "documents". My previous Iberia transatlantic flight in January 2021 has also been delayed due to Covid-related passenger processing–six months later, it was déjà vu all over again.

    -I guess I better expect for this to happen for my trips.

    It was an express service without a separate apéritif service; however, cabin crew were happy to serve a pre-dinner drink and another for the meal at the same time. I was fine with Cava for both.

    -Real glassware! If only United would bring that back.

    I went with the bacalao (cod). In pandemic times, meals are served with lids in place for sanitary reasons.

    -Like the previous flight, a pretty decent-looking meal.

    We went through immigration here in the T4S building. It was busy, but moved quickly.

    -This is an intimidating-looking line. How long would you estimate it took you from beginning to end?
    • Comment 584058 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER AUTHOR 6668 Comments
      Thanks for your comments!

      Slightly better look than the A330s, but still rather exposed-feeling.

      A bit, but being that I usually try to grab seats in the back of the cabin, it gives me more of a feeling of privacy. I think I would feel more exposed if I were further to the front.

      I guess I better expect for this to happen for my trips.

      I hope for your sake that they've gotten better about this by now, but it didn't improve between January and late June so...

      I'll be flying IB from JFK again in December...so I really hope they have it figured out by then! Won't be holding my breath though.

      Real glassware! If only United would bring that back.

      US carriers just love the plastic cups since the pandemic. I really don't think there's any evidence that plastic cups are any safer than glassware--I mean yes, you throw away plastic cups, but cabin crew still handle them just like glass, albeit with gloves. From what I hear glassware is coming back to AA shortly. I don't know about UA and I think DL already started bringing it back on some routes

      This is an intimidating-looking line. How long would you estimate it took you from beginning to end?

      Yes, I was not pleased with how long the line was, but it moved freakishly fast...I'd say we got through in under 10 minutes. Being in the back of J helped since we were much closer to the doors and had a head start on deplaning from door 2L.

      Let me know if you have any other questions! Looking forward to seeing your reports to MAD!

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