OK. I had to post this. After my trip back home from Barcelona, I will never ever fly with Iberia again, unless extreme measures require it.

We arrived at the airport in Barcelona in order to make our trip to Amsterdam, then back home. First of all, our line to check in took a long time, mainly because Iberia apparently lets one person check in a large group of people that aren't even in the building. That doesn't seem right to me, but oh well.

Then, when we get to the gate, we're told our flight would be delayed by an hour. Then later, no announcement, but every few minutes, the monitor changes and the flight time gets later and later. Finally, we realize that we're not going to be able to make our connection in Amsterdam if we don't leave soon. It got to that point, so we had to let Iberia change our flight to Madrid that afternoon so we could catch another flight the next morning in Madrid. At that moment, that's when we're told our flight was leaving to Amsterdam, so essentially Iberia doesnt have to offer us a voucher. Either way, we couldnt' get home on the day we're supposed to.

Then, the flight to Madrid got delayed almost 2 hours. Then, when we finally went to take off, it stayed on the runway for a while.

To top it all off, Iberia lost a piece of our luggage.

The thing that bothered me the most about all this was that during the entire process I never received any apology. I realize traditions are different in Spain, but good customer service is something that every airline should at least try to have.

I have traveled with Iberia numerous times these past to years. The one problem I did have, was lost luggage on my intial trip to Spain, but I felt that wasn't too bad, as I did have four large pieces. I usually travel with Iberia or BA to the states, and they both have their plus' and minus'. As for all airlines, just depends on who you like and what your expectations are from them. They cannot all be perfect all the time.

I am quite scared now. I leave in like 2 weeks and I am a 16 year old girl going alone and someone is supposed to help me because I make a stop in Madrid!!

Hopefully someone will be there to help you. The Madrid airport is very easy to navigate so you should be fine.

Maybe I am being too harsh, but my experience with Iberia has turned me off forever.

i wouldnt worry too much, you will be fine. you should be able to navigate the madrid airport alright on your own. if all else fails, ask someone and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

I have to also agree with the poor service of Iberia. At the end of our wonderful two week vacation in Spain this last September, it was soiled by the horrible service of Iberia. When we checked in for our first leg of our flight to L.A VIA NY, we were not told that the flight was delayed. The young lady who checked us in must have thought we would find out eventually. That way, she would not have to deal with us. It truly would have been nice if they communicated to us ahead of time that the flight was delayed, instead of finding it out from the airport personnel who didn't work for Iberia. Apparently, communication and dealing with problems is not Iberia's strong point. It turns out that the plane had a technical or mechanical problem. Better safe than sorry!

However, to make things worse all the flights going to Miami where delayed due to the hurricanes. I understand the airlines has no control over acts of God, and delays are inevitable. But, at least they can communicate what is going to happen next to its customers. The people going to Miami were already a day delayed and in a state of panic. Iberia doesn't really place any value on customer service, because they only had one window open to assist passengers. The worse thing occurred when the lady closed the window and left her station, either she didn't want to deal with the stress or didn't know what to do. Over a hundred people standing around without a clue of what was going on, and Iberia had the nerve to close all the customer service windows.

Needless to say, people went ballistic. A group of people were pounding on the glass windows to get the Iberia staff's attention, who were standing around. It was getting ugly! Even the airport police was standing guard. Tempers were flying, and Iberia staff seemed aloof at the whole thing and unwilling to provide any service. I was shocked by their arrogance. Well, we eventually made it home 14 hours late. During that time, we stayed at two hotels provided by the airlines. It was really a stressful experience! Next time we go to Spain, I think we are going to consider another airlines before we try Iberia.

Jeeze, I don't want to go against the grain...(that's not true, I sometimes like to go against the grain!)...but I must be one of the few inhabitants on this planet (no I see Kelar419 is one too) who aren't totally turned off by Iberia. And I've flown with it dozens of times. I wouldn't say it's a greatest airline, but since I never expect very much from tourist class travel, I guess I've never been that disappointed. One time they overbooked and even bumped me up to 1st Class! They apologised and said it wouldn't happen again. "I'm sure it won't," I replied with a wink. These thinks only happen to a mortal like me only once in a lifetime. By the way, getting bumped and overbooking problems should become less and less common as Iberia is no longer allowed to sell 10% more tickets than seats available, as was permitted by law up until recently.

But overall I think the service was generally perfectly fine. I didn't notice a big difference between it and say British Airways, Air France, Continental and the now defunct TWA. The flight attendents were nice enough (some more than others), they've always been helpful when traveling with my young daughters. No lost luggage (yet). One massive delay, but there was a strike. They also been very patient when I've taken groups of up to thirty-eight teenage Spaniards to NYC. Teenagers get can bored on the Madrid-NYC flight and bored teenagers can get very rowdy. But the flight attendents handled it well.

As for the language...well I like to speak to them in Spanish, but I've never seen the crew give anyone a hard time because they didn't speak it. Their English may not always be fantastic, but they would speak it willingly.

The only thing I'd think they are kind of weak on is seating assignment.

So, there you have it. A good word for Iberia, and I'm not getting a commission for this!

I like the way Kelar419 puts it: you feel like you're already in Spain the minute you step on.
And that includes all its wonderful points and shortcomings

And meencantaespaña...don't worry, you'll be fine. And you'll get where you have to go. Enjoy yourself and good luck!

ok I leave in 2 weeks and I am going alone. I am 16 years old and when I bought my ticket I asked for someone to escort me because I have a layover in Madrid for 3 hours. The said at the Chicago airport that I'll have to pay like a $40 fee...what does this mean that someone will escort me...I know a friend of mine went out to NY by herself and they actyually put her in a separate room in the airport..

Meencanta, it's common for the airlines to charge a fee for unaccompanied minors (that's what you would be considered), and $40 sounds right. Basically, they will prepare an envelope with all your contact information on both ends, as well as your flight information. The envelope will pass on to the next flight attendant who will take care of you on the next leg of your journey. They won't pay a whole lot of attention to you, but they will make sure you're in a safe place always. Someone will accompany you through passport control, customs, and wait for you to collect your luggage. The person who collects you at the end of your journey usually has to show ID and sign the papers in your envelope. While you wait they'll usually leave you alone, but they'll come back for you when it's time to move on. It's their job to make sure you're safe and where you should be always, and they'd get in a whole lot of trouble if anything were to happen to you!

My kids (16 and 17) have traveled this way a lot, and they've had friendly attendants and the occasional impersonal attendants. But they've never been left, lost or missed a flight. They were often the first ones to board the plane (and always the last off!), and sometimes got through passports and customs via a shorter route. Now they go on their own, because really, airports are quite easy to manage. Just be aware, follow the signs, and don't be afraid to ask questions. Any way you go, you'll be fine!

Thank you so much....were they flying to Spain? Was it through Iberia...thanks so much. I feel better already.