Our journey today starts from Terminal 4S at Madrid-Barajas.
Reino Unido (or United Kingdom) flights check-in currently at desks 870-889.
You don't however, get to use the Premium Economy check-in. Although this seat is the Premium Economy seat, it is marketed as an extra-legroom XL economy seat on this routing between Madrid-London Heathrow.
Bags checked, I got a printed paper boarding pass as well.
Thanks to my American Express Platinum Card, I get access to Madrid's priority security lane.
Once through security, I had to do the new EES Entry/Exit System. No queues here though (that's surprising for Barajas!).
Very simple and took just a matter of seconds.
I then jumped on the automatic people mover which links Terminal 4 and Terminal 4S.
This journey takes a matter of minutes.
My Priority Pass gets me access to the Neptuno lounge here.
You can find a full review of this in my video above, but most of the Madrid lounges that are operated by the Aena brand are pretty good. This one is no exception.
You also get some great views of the apron and various different aircraft.
I grabbed some meats, cheeses, bread and butter, some olives, tomatoes and some fresh fruit.
They also do really good decaffeinated coffee here.
I grabbed a bag of Toblerone for the cabin and flight crew on-board. Something I always do when I'm filming.
When I got to the gate, it stated boarding would start at 14:00 but this time came and went. We were still stood at the gate at around 15:20, just 15:45 before our take-off time.
Finally, our aircraft arrived, this Airbus A350-900 named Teatro Real, an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as "El Real".
Finally, Iberia decided to board us. No reason for the delay was given.
Here's my seat, 12L next to the window. I must say the first impressions were very strong.
The Iberia Premium Economy seat has a drop down footrest.
The legroom is probably some of the best I've experienced in Premium Economy.
The seat also benefits from a stunning 4K in-flight entertainment screen.
The remote is housed in the side armrest of the seat.
There's also USB charging facilities and under seat AC power.
And seat 12L benefits from a brilliant view of the Rolls Royce engine and wing.
The cabin crew then came around handing out noise-cancelling headphones, the same as those given to business class passengers and the same as those utilised on long haul flights. This was a nice touch.
I also love how you get parallel take-off rolls out of MAD. It always makes for a great sight!
And with that, we were airborne.
The crew then brought me a Premium Economy amenity kit, two Palmeras biscuits and two bottles of Solan de Cabras still water.
I was quite impressed with the stylish look of Iberia's PE amenity kit. The contents and design were great.
The crew then handed out a menu for their on-board service called the Gastrobar.
I opted for the smoked bacon bun with cheese and made this a meal deal with a glass bottle of orange juice.
I am not being dramatic. This was brilliant. Super tasty and if you're a cheese lover, it will be right up your street.
A cursory glance into economy and it looked comfortable enough. I do however, still love the seating configuration on Iberia's A330 fleet in the 2/4/2. It's great when travelling as a couple.
The toilets were very clean and well stocked with soap.
This foaming hand variety smelt great.
The IFE screen was crystal clear and very easy to use. There was lots of on-demand films, TV programmes, music, games and more, including the moving map.
I was very impressed with Iberia's noise cancelling headphones. Albeit not fully noise cancelling like my Bose pair, they were certainly premium enough to do the job and I was already surprised that Iberia hand these out on such a small flight.
What really impressed me was how Iberia had built in the ability to connect your own Bluetooth headphones through the IFE interface. Meaning if you wanted to use your own pair, you can simply connect them up and they work as standard. Very impressive.
I managed to snag a short sleep. The seat and winged headrest is very comfortable.
The lead purser then came to visit to me to thank me again for the chocolates. I told him it was no trouble and we exchanged stories about flying and being cabin crew. He gave me these blanched dry roasted almonds as a snack to enjoy in my airport hotel this evening. A nice touch. I can't say a bad word about the cabin crew on this flight - they were nothing short of exceptional. Was it because of the chocolates OR has Iberia turned a corner?
We then began our descent and we got some marvellous views of London, including the O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome).
We also got a great look of the city including the Shard and Walkie Talkie buildings.
We were then cleared to land on Heathrow's southerly runway, 27L.
And that was it, I was home! Thanks for reading/watching as always.
Oh and I can safely say, after all the rubbish experiences with Iberia over the years, this flight really showed me that there really is still hope yet. A wonderful crew, modern, comfortable product and a fabulous experience on what was, in theory, a relatively short flight.
