The 'mixed bag' of European air travel
Written: Jun 11 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Relaxed attitude to check-in deadlines and ticketing restrictions, staff can be friendly
Cons: Often late, painfully slow (and not free) food service, staff can be viiiiiiiile
The Bottom Line: If you need to use Iberia, brace yourself and don't expect too much.
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| marciamallow's Full Review: Iberia |
My in-laws live near Malaga, so I go there. A lot. Possibly too much. So it goes without saying that I've have flown there with Iberia several times from London as well as to Valencia and Barcelona.
Nothing defines the term 'mixed bag' like Iberia. So many variables can effect how your flight turns out. Yes, sometimes they do adopt the typical Spanish 'manana' mentality; sometimes they seem like it can all just wait. But get them on a good day and they are, well, a pretty standard airline.
Don't get me wrong - they are far and away NOT Europe's top airline but their flights aren't always an abject disaster.
Iberia tend not to have destination-specific check-in desks. If you've got plenty of time this is fine; just join any old queue with Iberia livery. If you're running late, this can be a disaster because there's nowhere to go and say 'Help, I'm late for check-in'. I had this problem in Barcelona and short of begging to go in front of other passengers, there wasn't much I could do. (I made it with about 30 seconds to spare - I exaggerate not.)
I've not had any baggage problems with any of the flights I've taken with Iberia so far and I can't say I've ever actually felt in danger on one of their flights, however, they've left late more often than not.
The friendliness of the ground staff depends on the staff member. I've had vile staff and friendly staff and staff in between. This really does make me wonder if Iberia offer their staff standardised hospitality training. I suspect not.
While in the air with Iberia, keep telling yourself - "this is a means to an end" i.e. gorgeous sunshine, stylish affordable clothes and big Spanish spirits measures. The planes themselves are functional and generally clean. The seats aren't all that great - in fact I usually get off Iberia flights in a little bit of discomfort. The legroom doesn't seem to be too bad. I'm about 5' 10" and don't have too much trouble but I wouldn't want to be any taller.
Iberia is one of those airlines who think they can run a sandwich bar out of a trolley. While this could work in theory, it doesn't. All this does is puts extra pressure on the cabin crew. As well as all the other things they're expected to do onboard, they have to count money and spend time asking the crew on the other trolley if they have more Coke/ham & cheese sandwiches/Pringles/whatever. The result is increasingly flustered and irritated staff and a very slow drinks service. The degree of irritation, however, depends on the staff member.
I could comment on the inflight entertainment but since it has always looked so dead boring visually, I never bothered to plug headphones in to listen. 'Canal Ronda' seems to be endless advertisements for duty-free, Iberia's e-ticket service or tourism information. But hey, it's only two hours from London - take a book, or a copy of 'Hello' or an iPod or something!
The relaxed Spanish attitude does work to the passenger's advantage sometimes; supposedly non-changeable tickets magically changed, 'elastic' check-in deadlines, etc.
A warning - if after reading many of the reviews on this site you have decided against using Iberia to Spain from London, be careful. BA and Iberia code share many of their flights to Spain, so instead of getting a pleasant full-service BA flight, you may end up taking your chances with Iberia.
All-in-all, Iberia leaves a lot to be desired in the service stakes. But although I don't have much good to say in this review I genuinely feel Iberia does somehow have a certain regionally-themed charm - much like being bitten by a malaria-carrying mosquito while in the tropics; it's quite awful but at least it's exotic.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
marciamallow
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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