This is a brief report of a trip I took in February this year. It is mostly in the form of expanded notes, however I hope it will prove interesting reading. There are often questions posed on here about IB's Long Haul Business Class offering, and little information to go on, so I hope this may be of some use to people.

The main reason we were off to South Africa was for a wedding. Having travelled there in the past on BA FIRST, courtesy of 200k American Advantage miles, we were not that enamoured with the prospect of sitting right at the back of the plane this journey.

Looking around at flight prices, we looked at WT+ and then found a Business Class ticket on Iberia for only a small amount more that BA WT+. The IB tickets, in fact, were about half the price of BA J.

The flights, via MAD, came with the added bonus of the additional BA tier points we would get for the sectors between London & Madrid. As I am making the break from AA this and moving back to BA, this would be a really good jump up the ladder to earning Silver status.

THe LGW-MAD was a codeshare on BA metal, so nothing special to add here. THe Velasquez lounge in Madris I really like and have been there quite a few times on business trips. THe busisness side is vbery bright, airy and well lit. Comfortable chairs, although no WLAN. There was a side selection of snacks and drinks availabkle, includong Bombay Gin, Chivas Regal (I'm not a whisky drinker) and Jamesons Whiskey. A variety of fresh juices and soft drinks were also available to accompany sandwiches, cheeses, nuts, olives, pastries etc. all enjoyed whilst lounging on very comfortable sofas.

In all, the lounge was streets ahead of the Terraces at Gatwick today, usually one of the best lounges, it was crowded, shabby and, as usual, one half-plate of poor sandwiches produced about every 45 minutes. The Madrid staff couldn't do enough to keep the food counter replenished.

I can't remember that there was prioirity boarding, however I think that the plans was mostly boarded before our flight was called in the lounge. We were on board an A340-600, still in the old coniguration (i.e. no lie-flat beds).

Pre-TO Cava was served and the staff were very welcoming, busying themselves stowing coats, etc. I was worried that that staff may be surly, given some comments here, but the opposite was the truth.

Amenity klit was given out filled with Molton Brown goodies - all the usual. Nice Bag.

Drinks and the 'Midnight Supper' service came soon after we levelled off.

Iberian Ham and Cured Pork Loin
Smoked Trout and Lobster Salad
Overn-Reoased Stuffed Chicken
Fresh Vegetable Salad

[all the above was served together on one very ample, personal platter]

Veal Consommé [I've never had this Spain before and have seen it twice tonight - in the lounge also]

Plate of Cheeses

Chocolate and Mocha Cake]or
Pistachio & Irish Coffee Ice-Creams

Colombian Coffee.

I particularly remember that there was a lot of food, especially for such a late flight, although really no choice it was a sort of selection of everything, as I said. I?ve also noted that the ice-cream was excellent and I remember there being a lot of nice, heavy linen and I think real silverware.

Dinner was followed up with a coffee & liqueur service. Both Coffee & Dessert services were from old fashioned trolleys, decked with linens. Really smart.

For those of you familiar with American Airlines, I would ay that the IB seating was identical to AA's, except the seat felt a little wider. There was definitely more padding on the seats although the pitch was less. Note: IB are currently replacing their Business Class product with Lie Flat Beds.

There were good quality, heavy blankets and both my travelling companion & I slept for 6 hours solid, before waking for breakfast, 45 minutes out of JNB.

Breakfast was some excellent quality juice, coffee and an ?ok? omelette. . To compare, still a bit better than AA omelette (how difficult can that be?)

I have no idea what the service was like during the night, as I was fast asleep.

I hope this might help those of you who are thinking of using IB. I would say that it is a cut about AA, but not as good as BA. I understand from other posts that the standard can be a bit inconsistent, but that may improve with the roll out of flat beds.

However, for us, it compared to the cost of BA WT+ and was really worth the stop over in MAD; I would have no hesitation in travelling IB again in the future, at elast up front.

Tim