I am going to buy a ticket on Iberia. Can anybody tell me what the seat arrangements are (coach) on their Airbus 340 (Chicago- Madrid). Is it a 2-4-2 setup?? Do they assign a letter to each seat (like American Airlines)?? Which would be the window seat? Any advice on getting the best seat? Thanks!!!!

Kelar,

Basically here's the layout - http://www.amadeuslink.com/CommonDirectories/aircraft/airbus/a340/int.htm About what you mentioned.

Having taken it from Chicago to Madrid & back a couple of times, I found it to be a pleasant enough flight via Iberia. The food wasn't that bad for airline food, and the service wasn't too bad either. Movies were decent.

The only drawbacks I saw was the width of the seats, and a little bit of a shortage of leg room, but not critical. In either case, the trip to Madrid ran about 7:30 hours (you get a wind assisted trip), and coming back, we actually did it in 8:35. Not bad, with no stops, and an ideal opportunity to grab a couple of winks each way, and still enjoy the movie, and meals (They served us two each leg.)

To be honest, I prefer the non-stop trip over others we've taken, even when we had larger seats and more leg room. I think the biggest reason I like it more is that there isn't the delays in terminals, and the landings & take-offs for a second leg.

What's nice about the trip is that you leave late enough in the afternoon from Chicago that you don't waste a whole day, arrive in Madrid before 8 AM, and on the way home, leave there about noonish, and land in Chicago during the middle of the afternoon so you can complete your journey. It's not a tough trip at all. We travel further than that by car (time-wise), for long weekends in the midwest Now that's a bummer!

Wolf (Who's not allowed to travel with the other canines at a discount fare - )

Wolf,

Thanks so much for the info on the Iberia Chicago-Madrid route. I'll be on that very flight in May.

I'm an airplane buff and looking forward to riding the A340. It's touted as the quietest commercial aircraft today.

Tell me about the movies. (I'm assuming you were flying coach) Were they on a big screen at the front of each cabin or on little screens on the seat backs? IF they were on the seat backs, were they "on demand"? USAirways includes this feature in coach class on their transatlantic Airbus's.

Was your flight full going or coming? What days of the week was it?

Thanks for info...Any other interesting/neat details you can remember?

Kelar419,

Go to this webspage and click on "I" for Iberia and then it will take you to a hidden page on the Iberia website. Click on the "A340" and then "seats" to get the plan.

I couldn't get a direct "hyperlink" to work. Go to:

http://www.uk-air.net/seatplan.htm

Thanks a bunch!! That is just what I was looking for:)

Wolf - how do you manage to escape the kennel in the four-legged section of the luggage area?