Iberia

I just need to vent here. I loath Iberia airlines and will avoid flying them at all costs. Their service is horrible. They lost my luggage on my flight into Madrid. I had to wait in line for an hour to file a claim for the luggage (along with about 15 other people) and then they would not let me get on my connecting flight because I was not at the ticket counter 30 minutes ahead of time. They "guaranteed" me that they would get me on the next flight, then wound up putting me on standby for the next 5 flights before they finally got me out at 6 am the next morning. To top it all off when I asked the guy at the standby counter whether I would be getting on the flight I was "guaranteed" to be on he said it was delayed. When I asked again a few minutes later he said "What part of delayed are you not understanding?" so I told him "The part on the sign that says now boarding gate D-23." He was pissed I was pissed but only one of us spent 22 hours in Barajas waiting for a 45 minute flight. Other than that Spain was fantastic but that Iberia guy better hope he never runs into me in a dark alley.

What I'm sure happened was they overbooked the flt you were on. Airlines do in fact have a policy where you can be bumped if you are not checked in on time. However, I don't understand how Iberia could have a 30 min gate check-in for a domestic flt. That's insane.

Just a tip for next time..and it doesn't
matter which airline.

-ask the res agent what the passenger load is for your flights or how many seats sold.

-do not accept tight connections.

-give yourself at least an hour once you are out of customs. So, at least 2 1/2 hrs after your arrival time into the int city where you are connecting from.

I'm sorry this happened to you

I didn't have a tight connection at all. I got to Madrid at 9:30 AM and the flight was at 12 pm. The fiasco at Iberia luggage services was what held me up for so long. Then it took them almost a week to find my suitcase which looked like it had been to hell and back by the time I got it.

Iberia also lost my luggage during my '96
trip. I filled out the usual paperwork, and I emphasized to the agent that I have my
medication for high blood pressure in the suitcase, so it is very important that I get my suitcase enseguida! Twelve hours later, the suitcase was delivered to my apartment in Sevilla. Note: I don't really take blood pressure meds.

Well, have I got a story concerning Iberia! This has nothing to do with lost luggage or flight delays, but I thought that this would be a good place to post this story.
An acquaintance of mine, who is paralyzed from the waist down and therefore in a wheelchair, went on an Iberia flight from Montreal to Madrid with her 14-year-old sister. When she bought her ticket she requested a seat next to the washroom, but when she arrived at the airport that day, they informed her that her seat was given away and she would have to sit wherever they had a seat left (which turned out to be 10 rows from the washroom - extremely far for someone disabled) When she boarded the plane, she got her sister to ask the person who had her seat if they could switch - they refused. They had no choice but to sit in the aisle seat. So, obviously, during the course of the 6+ hour flight, she had to go to the washroom. This is when the commotion started. The flight attendants REFUSED to help her to the washroom!!! She demanded to speak to the person in charge - a male - who proceeded to tell her that people in wheelchairs should not travel!!! Even the person sitting next to her in the aisle told her that she should get an attachment to be able to relieve herself while sitting at her seat!!!! Crazy stuff, but very true. In the end, she had to literally drag herself to the washroom with the help of her sister! It was a very traumatizing experience for her as noone on the plane seemed to sympathize in the least! This person is usually very calm, but this time she told the attendants where to go with tears of anger streaming down her face, and her sister's.
She wrote a complaint letter to Iberia after her arrival back to Canada, but heard nothing back from them.
Now she flies with Air Canada (incredibly attentive towards people with disabilities).
I've flown with Iberia before, and while they USED TO be friendly, the last time I flew with them, about 10 years ago, they were not friendly at all. And so ended my dealings with Iberia.

SusiLaGallega

[This message has been edited by SusiLaGallega (edited 03-27-2001).]

Wow!! I've always read negative things about Iberia on OTHER message boards/newsgroups, but never like we've had here. I remember a long, angry thread against them sometime last year too. What a shame. I'm surprised they can stay in business with all the bad press, but I guess when they have some of the cheapest prices people are willing to put up with anything.

Saludos, MadridMan

I've flown Iberia a lot WITHIN Spain (outside of Madrid)and never had a problem but it's as if the international gate people get special training in surliness! Maybe it's because they have to deal with more obnoxious people who expect them to be fluent in whatever language - they're particularly disdainful of the Germans and Australians, I've noted.
There's no excuse for the behavior with the disabled woman however, I'm afraid it's a sad fact that our American attitude and legal safeguards regarding the disabled are not the norm in most of the rest of the world. I've witnessed a remarkable disregard in areas of the Far East, for example. Too bad this aspect of American culture isn't spreading as quickly as some other less attractive ones!

Well Iberia is in business because it is the flag carrier. Actually, I just remembered something - they went public. Yes you can all buy your very own shares in this fine company.

I hope they start acting nicer or Air France will start getting many more passengers as Iberia goes under. (And Air France themselves are another sad story. Come to think of it, I can't recall an airline that I actually <I>like</I>.)

seul6, everybody knows that you are supposed to pack all meds in carry-on luggage, so i doubt that your appeal on that front made the luggage appear--- it would have anyway!!

Iberia's insensitivity to the wheelchair passenger is more than horrid. And the failure of passengers to help her out is equally appalling. May the fates treat the person who said wheelbound people shouldn't travel with a conscious-raising experience.

I think the issue about the disabled traveling carries over to more airlines than Iberia. For over two years I served with the people of an online support group for stroke survivors, and the stories never seemed to stop. In fact, two of our US based airlines were removed as advertisers on our site, simply because they did not handle the issue of handicapped passengers properly. The cost two those airlines, based on our membership? Roughly 1,500 round trip flights a year. Not enough for them to be too interested in the problem.

Of course, as the "baby boomers" age, and there are more disabled people out there, these airlines will find that the 1,500 round trips lost will be 15,000 or more. Until then... we have no choice but to live with it.

Wolf

Sorry to hear about your trouble with Iberia. I can completely sympathize with your situation. My troubles however are with Delta! I just went to Spain 2 weeks ago and when I arrived, my luggage had not. Typical of them though, 2/3 of the time that I fly with them they can't seem to get my luggage to me on time. This is by NO means is an exaggeration! Iberia ended up being my ride home because my scheduled flight was cancelled. How nice of me to find out once I had already arrived at the airport. I was lucky that the trip home went over well. Never under estimate the incompetency of any airline!