apx068
Mar 20, 03, 6:19 am
Hi there,
I got to spend a long weekend in Madrid visiting family. It was my first time in Spain even though I've been to pretty much all of the rest of Europe.
LHR - MAD
An Iberia flight leaving LHR at 7:30am on Saturday morning & I was flying in Y on a nice cheap GBP 74 return ticket. I was running a bit late having just driven all the way up the M4 motorway in the early hours. I got to check in at about 6:35am. 55 minutes before departure is kinda pushing it a bit at LHR. The check-in agent was pleasant and she asked me which seat I'd like. Then she said "Hold on, I'm afraid there are only middle seats left." I replied "Oh, well that's what I get for checking in late." She seemed surprised that I took it really calmly (Hey - there's no point gettin wound up that early in the morning!) and then suddenly found a window seat for me. Hey hey, nice one. In the end, the flight was a nearly full A321.
Security was quick and I went straight to the plane. I have no OneWorld status so I couldn't use any lounges and I really didn't think it was worth paying GBP 16.50 for access to the Servisair lounge for 15 minutes.
The flight left on time and climbed up out over a clear Southern England. I got a nice view of the places I know. Breakfast was served over the English Channel. It was a ham sandwich, a yogurt and a couple of rounds of coffee. It's airplane food but was fairly pleasant and well appreciated.
We landed at Madrid on time and ended up at a remote stand. The buses arrived and we all got to the terminal. The immigration queue was short and my checked bag was on the belt by the time I got there. I met up with the family and started to spend some time in Madrid.
Madrid.
It was my first time in Madrid. It seems a nice city to visit. I like my food and beer and made a point to try the local fare. I wasn't disappointed with the things I tried. I'm not going to say much about the city as it's kinda well worth going to and I spend most of the time at the house and wandering to resturants and bars...
One big surprise was finding a shop where you could take your dog or cat and put them in a machine that would wash and then dry them. My spanish isn't too good so I initially thought I'd misunderstood. But when I asked my spanish speaking sister she said I was absolutely right. She said it costs 4 euros per cat or small dog and seemed very popular.
It brought back to me that sometimes you don't have to travel very far to have a moment of culture shock!
MAD - LHR
A tuesday afternoon flight. This time with Mrs apx068 & Baby apx068. There was 1 person doing the check-in and she gave us a row of 3 seats even though baby apx068 was booked as lap child. I was surprised that only 1 person was doing the check in but in the end, the flight was a 757 with a load factor of only about 35%.
The flight was pleasant. Doubly so in that we got baby apx068 to sleep almost immediately after take-off. Lunch was served and it was two sandwiches with unidentifiable but quite tasty fillings and a slice of cake.
Somewhere over the Bay of Biscay there was an enormous bump. I've never felt anything like it. I was just one short motion and then it was over. There was no announcement by the pilot and the plane carried on fine so it clearly wasn't significant. I wonder what it was though...
Landing at LHR was smooth & surprisingly didn't seem to involve much holding.
All in all, my first flights on Iberia were pleasant and without trouble. I'd definately use Iberia if they fly where I need to go.
Jason
I got to spend a long weekend in Madrid visiting family. It was my first time in Spain even though I've been to pretty much all of the rest of Europe.
LHR - MAD
An Iberia flight leaving LHR at 7:30am on Saturday morning & I was flying in Y on a nice cheap GBP 74 return ticket. I was running a bit late having just driven all the way up the M4 motorway in the early hours. I got to check in at about 6:35am. 55 minutes before departure is kinda pushing it a bit at LHR. The check-in agent was pleasant and she asked me which seat I'd like. Then she said "Hold on, I'm afraid there are only middle seats left." I replied "Oh, well that's what I get for checking in late." She seemed surprised that I took it really calmly (Hey - there's no point gettin wound up that early in the morning!) and then suddenly found a window seat for me. Hey hey, nice one. In the end, the flight was a nearly full A321.
Security was quick and I went straight to the plane. I have no OneWorld status so I couldn't use any lounges and I really didn't think it was worth paying GBP 16.50 for access to the Servisair lounge for 15 minutes.
The flight left on time and climbed up out over a clear Southern England. I got a nice view of the places I know. Breakfast was served over the English Channel. It was a ham sandwich, a yogurt and a couple of rounds of coffee. It's airplane food but was fairly pleasant and well appreciated.
We landed at Madrid on time and ended up at a remote stand. The buses arrived and we all got to the terminal. The immigration queue was short and my checked bag was on the belt by the time I got there. I met up with the family and started to spend some time in Madrid.
Madrid.
It was my first time in Madrid. It seems a nice city to visit. I like my food and beer and made a point to try the local fare. I wasn't disappointed with the things I tried. I'm not going to say much about the city as it's kinda well worth going to and I spend most of the time at the house and wandering to resturants and bars...
One big surprise was finding a shop where you could take your dog or cat and put them in a machine that would wash and then dry them. My spanish isn't too good so I initially thought I'd misunderstood. But when I asked my spanish speaking sister she said I was absolutely right. She said it costs 4 euros per cat or small dog and seemed very popular.
It brought back to me that sometimes you don't have to travel very far to have a moment of culture shock!
MAD - LHR
A tuesday afternoon flight. This time with Mrs apx068 & Baby apx068. There was 1 person doing the check-in and she gave us a row of 3 seats even though baby apx068 was booked as lap child. I was surprised that only 1 person was doing the check in but in the end, the flight was a 757 with a load factor of only about 35%.
The flight was pleasant. Doubly so in that we got baby apx068 to sleep almost immediately after take-off. Lunch was served and it was two sandwiches with unidentifiable but quite tasty fillings and a slice of cake.
Somewhere over the Bay of Biscay there was an enormous bump. I've never felt anything like it. I was just one short motion and then it was over. There was no announcement by the pilot and the plane carried on fine so it clearly wasn't significant. I wonder what it was though...
Landing at LHR was smooth & surprisingly didn't seem to involve much holding.
All in all, my first flights on Iberia were pleasant and without trouble. I'd definately use Iberia if they fly where I need to go.
Jason