LHR-BCN-PMI round trip with Iberia

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Member for

20 years 1 month

Posts: 405

Not an awful lot to tell but might as well file a mini report of my recent holiday trip to Palma...

Left LHR at 06:20 on July 9th for BCN. We arrived to T2 at 5:00 to find massive queues on all Iberia desks. It turned out that Iberia only starts to man the desks at 5:15. I wasn't impressed as we only had 50 minutes for our connecting flight to Palma, but somehow they managed to check everyone in and the flight (IB4183) left on time. A320, the usual utter rubbish shown on the screens (why they do they bother with the highly embarrassing "just for laughs" so-called humour?- it's awful) but overall a spotless flight that arrived on schedule.

The one major disappointment (but one of which I was already aware) was the new policy of charging economy passengers for food and drink. I found the menu overpriced and poor (a breakfast consisting of 2 muffins, a coffee and an orange juice was €6). I wanted to buy some water but there was a problem with their machine and they wouldn't accept Sterling. I asked for a glass of water but they told me they didn't have any on the trolley, though they offered to give me some if I made my way to the back of the plane...

We managed to make the connecting flight (IB1708) on time, also an A320, but one of our two pieces of luggage didn't. The arrivals desk people in Palma were quite helpful though. They located the luggage, which would be brought in the following flight 3 hours later. They offered to deliver it to where we were staying that day as well.

Return flights and some photos follows...

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Member for

20 years 1 month

Posts: 405

The return flight to BCN was IB 1729 on July 18th at 17:50. This time we got a MD-88, which I was pleased with. The flight was very smooth and quiet. I took one photo of an adjacent AirPlus Comet A310 (below) but other than that the airport appeared very quiet.

One major lapse on security though. The cockpit door was opened right after take off. When the seatbelts signs came off a child and his father walked to the front of the plane, looking for a toilet as it turned out, but the child actually got his head inside the cockpit to have a look, with his father behind him, before a stewardess ran to them and asked them to move.

Final leg of the journey departed at 20:55 (IB4180) on an A320. The only thing worth of telling was a bizarre amount of condensation/vapour that was flowing out of the air vents. I took a couple of images of it but to be honest it looked even worse 'in the flesh'. You could tell it wasn't smoke because it didn't smell of anything and felt cold, but a few passengers were a bit bemused by it. It stopped just before take off.

Other than that, the flight left on time and only had to hold for 10 minutes before landing.

It was nice to shop in BCN airport for a while, and the flight was cheap enough, but for next time I'll probably fork out the extra £30 per head for a direct flight if I have to.

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Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 5,019

a shame about the luggage. Good report and photos

Member for

20 years 2 months

Posts: 2,495

Im flying with Iberia next Thirsday and i am so excited about it.Ive flown them before Buissness class AGP-BCN-DUB.I dont know what aircraft flew the forst leg but the second leg was a 727.Im flying DUB-BCN-ALC with 55 minutes in Barcelona.Do Iberia hand out earphones or is the sound all around the cabin ?.All my flights are with A320 with A32S being one wahtever that will turn out to be.One was a MD80 but was changed.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 1,709

How could anyone fly Iberia having alternatives?. It has just become the disgrace of Spain. Poor quality, rude crews, shabby planes, no service at all, poor maintenance lately. Horrible indeed. Nice photos anyway.

Member for

19 years 10 months

Posts: 841

How could anyone fly Iberia having alternatives?.
I agree that Spanair and Air Europa are better. However, it's not particularly easy to book flights on these airlines in the UK and they tend to be very expensive.

Member for

20 years 1 month

Posts: 405

Im flying with Iberia next Thirsday and i am so excited about it.Ive flown them before Buissness class AGP-BCN-DUB.I dont know what aircraft flew the forst leg but the second leg was a 727.Im flying DUB-BCN-ALC with 55 minutes in Barcelona.Do Iberia hand out earphones or is the sound all around the cabin ?.All my flights are with A320 with A32S being one wahtever that will turn out to be.One was a MD80 but was changed.
The sound is provided through earphones. In theory they should hand out earphones (or sell them) but if I recall correctly the f/a's didn't offer them in our flight to BCN.

But to be honest the visuals on offer are truly awful. Years ago they used to offer a news bulletin in both English and Spanish but this last time it was just the very un-amusing 'just for laughs' candid camera programme, and some nature shots.

I wouldn't say the planes are shabby Keltic. The fleet is young, our A320 in particular looked brand new, and even the older ones such as the MD88 we flew back in were well looked after- at least from the passenger's point of view.

I'd agree that the service and the professionalism of the crew is below the standards you would expect for a flag carrier airline though.

And their move to charge economy passengers for meals is rather mean. I shouldn't think they're that cash-starved. Not if their new a/c acquisition rate is anything to go by.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 1,709


I wouldn't say the planes are shabby Keltic. The fleet is young, our A320 in particular looked brand new, and even the older ones such as the MD88 we flew back in were well looked after- at least from the passenger's point of view.

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That´s the main question. How can an airline have his new A320 looking so old in most of the cases?. Dirty ceiling and pannels, detached pieces on seats, creaks on windows, dirty fabrics and the aspect of external painting is really disgraceful. I would say that, it´s more an unsual findind a fit A320 than a "shabby" one. Iberia tend to have one of the best maintenance of the world recently. We are not so sure now. The number of emergencies have grown in an almarming way. A A340-600 in Havana aborted take off for creaks in the cockpit window, a piece of engine fell off a A320 in flight, engine failure over Granada. Spanair is not doing much better, with the problems in their rickety MD80 and the combustion chamber issue. The media and public are really concerned.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 1,709

Well, about Air Europa and Spanair flights and fares in the UK...have you tried in OPODO, I don´t know which web address is, but many friends of mine in the UK tend to book through them and it´s cheap. They usually work in conjunction with BA in places where BA doesn´t operate.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,491

In February, my wife and I went to Barcelona for a long weekend. We fly STN-REU with Ryanair. However, the experience was terrible: we decided to do a no-show for the return leg and book 2 single tickets BCN-LON.

Well....no way, Jose.

BA: refused to serve me. They don't allow English people to book single tickets to the UK - company policy. Absolutely infuriating!

Iberia: same idiotic policy. Their UK site only allowd bookings departing the UK. Their Spanish site was in Spanish with no English version. Also I think they were applying BA's rule of needing to have a Spanish credit card otherwise you were persona non gratis.

Expedia: Persistent errors. They said they no longer offer ticket on departure, and the timeframe (2 days) was insufficient for one to be posted. They wouldn't let me have an e-ticket.

Opodo, Travelocity: Same as expedia.

Easyjet: EASY! They were the most expensive believe it or not, but only by £2 each. And they passed the crucial test....they would allow us to buy tickets!!!
Flew BCN-LGW with them and would have preferred BA, but I can't knock easyjet. At least they were willing to sell me a ticket.