Just thought I'd share my latest Jekyll and Hyde experience on IB. Am posting it here as interested in the OW aspects of it all : a) whether the status recognition thing is just my luck or a norm, and b) whether others agree with me that the onboard realities are simply unnacceptable for a member of OW. (I have read many bad things on FT about IB but had no idea they now provide such a threadbare service on all their medium-haul flights).

First the good news -

Upgrades : Once again, as a QF Platinum, I was upgraded 2 out of the 4 legs of the itinerary. I say 'once again' as EACH AND EVERY TIME I have flown an itinerary on IB with a connection (as I have done on one occasion in each of the last 4 years) they have upgraded me on the shorter flight on both the outbound and the inbound. 100% record. These have always been on cheapest-available Y tickets, and on the first occasion I was not even Plat. but QF Gold (OW Sapphire) !

Is this an unpublished benefit of QF status when flying on IB ?!? ^

And what was so amazing was that this time the flight in question on the return was on BA metal and yet I was still upped at the gate. (Have flown UK-Europe on BA down the back many many many times in the last few years and never once been Op-Upped, so must have been the IB factor at work).

Lounges - Stunning new facility in Madrid T4 (Velazquez one) - great, great lounge. Small but nice and smart facility at LHR too. Barcelona one not bad (bit old etc).

But then the bad news...

Onboard

Service

Very poor : OK on the J leg, though not good enough, and very poor on the two (5 hour) Y legs (final leg was on BA metal as stated above). A number of staff were downright rude infact, most very sombre/going through the motions.

Not so much as a 'hello' when boarding the plane on any of the flights (and IB don't check boarding cards on one-aisle aircraft I was told), and certainly no 'status hello' onboard (not that I expect one except on QF and CX).

Food

OK to poor. Very poor on the J leg (by shorthaul J standards) too. At least is free on the medium-haul Y, though you have to pay for it on the short-haul flights.

Entertainment - NONE !

This for me was the main issue, and to my mind is quite unacceptable - found myself on two 5 hour flights that, as standard IB policy, provide no entertainment options whatsoever. No films, no audio channels, nothing. Thank god I had my iPod.

Purser/CSD told me when I enquired that this was standard policy as of a few months ago for all IB medium-haul 2 cabin flights, even though the aircraft (battered old A320s) had all the available equipment. She confirmed that both pax and staff had complained, and that it was very frustrating for her as all it would involve would be sticking a video in the machine (that she showed me the aircraft indeed had !), dropping the screens and handing out headphones, but that IB management had decided to provide no onboard entertainment whatsoever on such flights.

My personal view is that it is unnacceptable in 2006 for an airline that is a member of one of the major networks, that claims to be a full service carrier - and espec. as it will be carrying pax on board on codeshares from other alliance carriers who provide such facilities - to operate 5-6-7 hour flights with no onboard entertainment service whatsoever. They have in this regard fallen behind even many LCCs/charter operators/etc.

It is even more unnaceptable when the aircraft have the facilities, but IB on high have decided not to use them for some unknown reason.

Not even pax. in J had entertainment options (no personal DVDs etc), which is even more shocking - how dare IB sell such seats for thousands of £/Euro when you get the same seat as in Y, no film or music, and an ever-so-slightly better meal. I would be livid if I/my firm had paid for big buck to be in that cabin expecting a real J service. (BA on equiv. flight/route offer NCW seats and an F cabin).

Very surprised OW / codeshare partners have not taken issue with any of this. Really does de-value the alliance.


So in summary it was a very odd set of experiences - great status recognition, stunning state-of-the-art lounge experience in Madrid, but sub-standard and out-of-date service and facilities onboard.

As I say, Jekyll and Hyde.... one side very much what an OW carrier should be doing, the other totally unnacceptable to my mind for an OW member. Guess OW gonna do nothing about it, but wondering whether IB's ever increasing moves to 'no-frills' service (i.e. to a 'no-service' service !) points to a near-future IB departure from OW a la Scare Lingus.