Shl

First time booking with IB.

1. Is it normal, that you can check in and print your boarding pass with IB three months in advance as I just did?
2. I could chose seats for free (even exit rows) with an A class economy ticket. The seats are also noted on the boarding passes.

Just wondering, not used to receive a boarding pass so long in advance ....

4lB3R70

According to IB website:

Then, seat selection depends on the fare. "Basica" does not allow free seat selection, while "Clasica" does.

Innocent Abroad

Yes, no problem with that. Used it several times in the past with no problem whatsoever.

noturbulence

Works like a charm - use it all the time and very grateful for that service so that I can prepare well ahead of time.

Just one caveat - you should check closer to the time (i.e. perhaps a week in advance) whether IB did not swap aircraft type which could affect your seat assignment - in which case you just go to "gestiona mi reserva", reselect another seat if the newly assigned one is not to your liking and re-print the BP

Shl

Thank you all for the replies!

DELLAS

^ Yes it happened to me a few times. I advise downloading the My Flights App then you get aircraft change and seat change alerts.

Andriyko

I have an upcoming MAD-BCN flight and am offered to get the BP now. When I open the seatmap to pre-assign seats half of the economy section is blocked. If I do online check-in now will I get the full map or will the rest of the seats open up at T-24? Thanks.

Andriyko

Just as an update. Using the early boarding pass option won't open up the blocked seats. These will only become available during online check-in. I don't understand what's the purpose of this service if IB blocks half of the cabin on its domestic services.

4lB3R70

In the case of the MAD-BCN, it surely will be because it is a "Puente Aereo" flight (shuttle service, where you can take any available flight as long as you show up at the airport at least 20 mins before departure and there are seats available).

Normally what they do is having half of the cabin for Puente Aereo tickets, and half of the cabin for "regular" tickets (for a specific date and time). That should be the reason why you see half of the cabin blocked.

Andriyko

Thank you for the explanation 4lB3R70! Do you know if it is possible to select seats at the front of the cabin during online check-in?

dumba

A few weeks ago I checked in, chose my seat and printed a boarding pass for Iberia flight in December 2016 - almost four months in advance. I think it's brilliant! That's how it should be, IMHO. But I am flying in business, so maybe that's why.

studyolic

My first time on IB, next April. I found a really good fare in Y, strangely on American Airlines as a code share, but MAD-LAX is on IB metal, and LAX-LHR on BA metal. No flights on AA machines!
I have been able to reserve seats on the LAX-LHR leg, (though the BA website), but can't seem to do anything on the IB flight. Any tips here? It's a long flight, on an A333, and I'd love to try and snag some decent seats.

Thanks in advance!

edit; by the way, I'm just a BA blue. No other status.

studyolic

Update;
I went into my BAEC account, and the whole itinerary was there - I could select seats on all legs of the trip. Strange!

asimegusta

Yes, I chose seats months in advance on Iberia when I purchased a round trip last December 2015 for flights in January 2016 and June 2016.
In the meantime, those flights were modified unilaterally 3 times by Iberia all the way up to a couple weeks from travel days and each time I needed to go back and reconfirm or choose new seats depending how the modification affected the plane or seat plan.
So although it's a good plan to reserve seats at purchase time, you cannot be sure that you'll actually get those seats when flight day arrives.

spainflyer

Yes, I just checked in and printed boarding passes for my flights in June, 2017. Así – did IB notify you when the flights were modified? Or did you simply have to keep going back to “Gestionar mi reserva” and checking to see that the seats you had chosen were the ones you were assigned?

I am flying on a route (MAD – SCL) which almost surely will be the new A340-600 configuration (1-2-1 in Business Class), but the IB website keeps showing me the older model 2+2+2 configuration, and I have to choose my seat from that configuration.

Any experience with that? Is it worth my calling Iberia Plus and listening to their tinny “music” on hold to try to get the real seat I want? Or just keep checking “Gestionar mi reserva?"