Review of Iberia flight from New York to Madrid in Business

introduction

Hello and welcome to the 2nd instalment in this new series of pandemic-era flight reviews that will once again take us across the Atlantic. With all the unpredictability surrounding international travel in times of Covid, having dual US and French citizenship has at least allowed us to continue travelling between our two countries.

As we've shuttled across the Atlantic for the better part of two years, we've watched the Covid-related entry and testing requirements change countless times as we've gone through infection peaks and valleys in wave after wave. After a slight reprieve on Covid-testing for vaccinated travellers to Europe on our previous summer trip, unsurprisingly, tests were again required for our Christmas trip in light of the new Omicron wave (the requirement was again dropped early February 2022). A new record-breaking wave of Covid infections coupled with a very busy year-end Holiday travel season meant getting a Covid test would not be nearly as easy as any previous trips.

As I watched report after report of people waiting upwards of 4 hours in long queues all over the US ahead of Christmas travel, I tried frantically to book an appointment somewhere, anywhere, within 48-hours of our flight to Europe. Unfortunately, as we were flying on  December 26th, appointments on Christmas Eve and Christmas day would have been hard to come by even in normal times. The only appointments available were at JFK Terminal 1 where Rapid PCR tests were a whopping $220 per person and even rapid antigen tests were $179 per person! It was just unreasonable to add an extra $600 in testing costs to our trip–luckily, I had seen this coming and ordered Abbott BinaxNOW home tests with tele-health certification the week before, which ended up being a good call. The next day, Abbott home tests were sold out all in physical stores throughout the country and out of stock with most online retailers. 
  

routing

pre-flight

The morning of the flight we headed to the airport extra early to try our luck getting Covid tests at a NYC Health Dept mobile unit set up outside of Terminal 5. Being that it was the day after Christmas and a Sunday, most testing locations were either closed or had no appointments available.

It was a sunny, but very cold and windy winter day. The wait for a rapid test at Terminal 5 was over 2-hours with a long never-ending snaking queue. 

It wouldn't have been reasonable to wait outside in the cold for hours with a small child, so we left the testing site. I was so glad that I had bought home tests with tele-health a few days before.

So we ended up going back to the hotel, taking our tests, and relaxing for the rest of the afternoon once we received our negative test certificates via e-mail. I tried uploading the certificates in the Iberia mobile app, but it was bugging and didn't work. I was still able to check-in online and get mobile boarding passes so I wasn't too worried about it. We just made sure to get back to the airport early enough to make sure all was in order.


 Three and a half hours before departure, we dropped off the rental car and took the AirTrain to Terminal 7. 

In contrast to the massive crowds at the testing site earlier in the afternoon, the AirTrain and Terminal were both pretty quiet by the evening.

 Terminal 4

The famous TWA Hotel and Terminal 5

Here we are at Terminal 7, where Iberia and sister IAG carrier British Airways are currently operating until they relocate to American Airlines' Terminal 8 in December 2022. The move will ease intra-oneworld flight connections (minus Alaska Airlines who are staying at T7 for the time being) and new, larger and more luxurious lounges are due to open at Terminal 8 to accommodate the additional premium traffic. I find the move somewhat curious considering British have owned T7 for decades and recently spent over $60 Million renovating the terminal and its lounges. 

check-in & lounge

We arrived at check-in just shy of three hours prior to scheduled departure. 

Check-in was pleasantly quick this time, unlike the last time we'd checked in here where there was a mystery problem with the ticket that took over 20 minutes to resolve.

There was no wait in any queue.  

The Iberia check-in desks were decorated for Christmas, though in a much more subtle way than the Alaska Airlines counter in San Diego before our flight to New York a few days earlier.

Our SpTH (Spain Travel Health) QR codes were verified by the friendly agent, along with our vaccination certificates, but no verification of our Covid tests was required. It seems we fell through the cracks because Spain, at the time, did not require a negative Covid test for fully-vaccinated passengers arriving from the U.S. and technically France did not require a negative Covid test for fully-vaccinated passengers arriving from Spain, or any EU country. Although on paper, the testing rule to follow was that which is applicable to the country of origin, nowhere along the way were our Covid test results asked for, including on arrival in Paris. 

I had suspected this would happen as I'd heard similar stories from several friends flying to France through other EU countries around the same time. I was even more relieved that I had bought Abbott home tests with tele-health and had avoided spending over $600 getting Rapid-PCR tests at JFK, which would end up not being needed. 

The departures board wasn't looking any better than my previous trip through Terminal 7 in the summer. The amount of flights was still a shadow of what they were in pre-pandemic days and there were several cancellations to London that night, due to a storm if I recall correctly.  

Security was relatively quick, though we were not able to use our usual TSA pre-Check benefits as Iberia are not participants in the Trusted Traveller Programme and therefore, no TSA pre-Check printed on our boarding passes. Oddly, we were able to use pre-check when flying Iberia from JFK in the summer as our tickets had been bought through British Airways and showed on the boarding passes as the check-in agents and systems are technically BA's at JFK. So technically, it had been a lucky fluke–no such luck this time as we'd bought these tickets directly through Iberia. 

Once through security, we headed directly upstairs to the British Airways lounge.  

With all the long-haul premium cabin flying we'd been doing over the past year, we'd recently worked our way back up to oneworld Emerald from Sapphire–yes, all three of us, including our son who hadn't yet turned three-years-old. 

This meant we had access to the British Airways First class lounge rather than the Business class lounge to which our tickets would normally give entry. Access to First class lounges is one of the best perks of Emerald status. 

 The First class lounge is to the left of the check-in desk, while the Business class lounge is to the right. 

The first class lounge is large with several rooms, including work stations, shower suites and a restaurant area. We had the lounge all to ourselves for most of our time there. There was only ever 1 other person in the lounge for a time. 

We ended up sitting at a large table near the bar area.

There are QR codes with menus at each table and all drinks and hot food are served right to the table. Of course, one can always still go to the bar to order drinks. 

The lounge staff were very friendly and came out with drinks just seconds after putting in the order!

Some charcuteries, salads, and other cold items were available for self-service in addition to the hot items from the menu. 

I started out with a small charcuterie plate. 

Then enjoyed a delicious curry for the main dish.

There were also some good hot options for children.

And several options for dessert, including New York cheesecake (when in New York!) and tiramisu. 

boarding

After an excellent hour and a half in the British Airways First class lounge, we headed to the gate just as boarding was due to begin.

After almost two years of boarding aircraft strictly by row from the rear forwards due to Covid policy, Iberia had recently reverted to pre-pandemic boarding priorities.

We were therefore among the first to board, as opposed to being in the last boarding group on our previous experiences.

We were warmly greeted at the boarding door and by cabin crew at the rear of the cabin.  

The Business cabin on Iberia A330s is composed of STELIA SOLTYS fully flat seats in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, giving aisle-access to all passengers.

True window seats, offering more privacy, are in even-numbered rows, while seats in odd-numbered rows are closer to the aisle. In the centre section, "honeymoon" seats, ideal for people travelling together are in odd-numbered, while seats in even-numbered rows are far apart and closer to the aisle. 

For the flag carrying airline of such a colourful country, Iberia interiors are rather bland with so much grey and light brown. The red home screens add a little flair to an otherwise beige cabin.

My seat for the next 8 hours or so.  

As usual, I'd selected seats in the last row for more privacy and because the centre seats are together, which is better suited for travelling as a family. 

Having flown in these cabins several times, my toddler already knew how to work the seat controls and in-flight entertainment remote–it always amazes me how early kids understand tech these days. 

Passengers trickled in as boarding continued slowly–I fully expected the flight to be delayed as every Iberia transatlantic flight I'd taken since the beginning of the pandemic had been delayed due to passenger Covid documentation issues. 

Let's check out the seat in more detail.

Legroom is obviously very generous as is to be expected in long-haul Business class, and the seats convert to 2m long fully flat beds. 

Hola! The IFE screens are large with decent resolution, though not as nice as the A350s. Wi-Fi is available for a fee with different packages. 

Seat and entertainment controls are to side by the armrest.

A universal power outlet along with a USB port and headphone jack are located on the front of the side console. 

Noise-cancelling headphones were pre-placed on the seats with the pillow and blanket.

Amenity kits were distributed by the friendly cabin crew during boarding, along with disinfectant wipes. 

Another pre-pandemic service to recently return was pre-departure drinks. However, unlike pre-pandemic times, only water and orange juice were on offer–no sparkling wine. 

the flight

To my pleasant surprise, a little over 10 minutes prior to departure, cabin crew announced that boarding was completed. Not only would we depart on time, but we would arrive into Madrid early due to the strong winter tailwinds. A nice change from the last few trips!

Doors were closed about 8 minutes early and the safety video was played as we readied for pushback.  The safety video showcases many of Madrid's beautiful sites. Madrid has always been one of my favourite European capitals!

Covid-oblige, there is additional information about pandemic-related protocols, aircraft sanitisation and HEPA filtration 

I put on the moving map as soon as the safety videos were over. 

The lights were dimmed after pushback and the cabin was bathed in soft mood-lighting. 

Nice to see two A380s in one place again!

The taxi time was unusually short for JFK, most likely due to the late departure missing the majority of the transatlantic departures. 

Manhattan could be seen in the distance on takeoff. 

The flight time was a short 6h30m with an estimated half-hour early arrival into MAD.

The in-flight entertainment system is modern and intuitive with a good amount of content including movies in multiple languages, TV programmes, music, and games. 

There is naturally a large selection of Spanish-language content, which I like to take advantage of when flying Iberia. 

There is also a large library of children's programming, great for the little one. 

You can select entertainment content from the main screen or the touchscreen remote control. 

About twenty minutes into the flight, cabin crew came through the cabin with a pre-meal drink service. I had a cava and water.

Shortly after, the meal service began. Printed menus hadn't yet returned so the options were announced orally. I don't remember all of the options, but as usual there was a cod dish, which is always a safe bet in my experience. 

Once again, it did not disappoint. It was tasty and perfectly cooked. 

On these short red-eye flights, the meal is all one one tray to maximise service efficiency and rest time. There are four courses, including a separate cheese course and dessert. This is something that I appreciate as a Frenchman–I'm never a fan of having to pick between cheese or dessert on UK and US carriers.

Once again my son's child meal looked really good, and included fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but it was way too much food as usual for a toddler. There really needs to be a separate category of child meal for smaller children. It's a shame to waste food. 

During the meal, cabin crew came through regularly for refills. My glad was never empty ?

The flight attendant working my aisle was very friendly and spoke perfect French and English. I really appreciated that she spoke French since my son doesn't speak English yet, much less Spanish.  

The little one barely touched his meal before falling asleep and sleeping through the whole flight up to arrival. This is the biggest perk of being able to fly Business class…a good night's sleep for the whole family. 

I also fell asleep right after dinner and didn't wake up until we were making our descent.  A hot breakfast was served to those who were awake, but I preferred  to keep resting.

The tail winds had pushed us across the Atlantic even faster than originally predicted–we were now due to arrive almost an hour early! 

We flew straight across the Atlantic, no familiar northern routing on this flight. 

Beautiful scenes of flying over mountains in the morning light as we approached Madrid 

A video about Madrid's Terminal 4 and the arrival and connecting flight processes was played shortly before landing. 

arrival

We landed 48 minutes before scheduled arrival time with the familiar view of the Cuatro Torres business district. 

Taxiing past the very loooooong main Terminal 4 building on our was to the T4 satellite for non-EU/Schengen destinations. 

The taxi time was short and we arrived at the gate 44 minutes before schedule!

View of the departures level below as we entered the terminal on the way to the immigration hall. 

I love Terminal 4's architecture. No matter how many times I've been here, I always find it so beautiful. 

Not only is MAD Terminal 4 beautiful, it's also very efficient, in my experience.

Even when there is a long queue at immigration, it always moved quickly. Today, it was nice and quiet with no wait at all. There are E-gates for adults with European passports travelling alone, but of course, we could not use them as we were travelling with a child. 

After immigration we made out way to the underground train to the main terminal to catch our connecting flight to Paris.