androobe

No APD at LHR for connections.

sk3

IB's LAX-MAD has been operational for awhile now but I haven't seen any FTer's reports/critiques/tips.

I'll be flying LAX-MAD-FCO FCO-MAD-LAX using a business milesaaver award.

(FYI: I had asked upthread about what to expect for the award's taxes/fees - I was charged $77 + the $25 telephone ticketing fee).

Have any of you flown this route yet?

dyrewolf31

Yeah I agree, there haven't been many posts and I haven't seen a trip report. I'm flying LAX-MAD in August in business, and would love some more info on the Iberia experience.

sk3

Yeah, I've been reading this forum, BAEC's, and the "Other Euro" forum, as well as the TB and MP sites - and I've seen nada....

My trip isn't until the fall tho - so maybe you can be the one who preps me

dyrewolf31

I will try to put together some semblance of a trip report

bmxaggie

I did this flight last month in J. It was (sort of) great. The outbound crew were very inattentive, old and grouchy and the LAX lounge was the pits.

The lounge in Madrid T4S is fantastic! And our crew back was great with super service. They were all very excited to be coming to L.A.. This flight was great and we arrived 30 minutes early!

The seats are great - as well as the food, wine and entertainment. They give you a wine menu or download it from Iberia before you go.

Expertflyer showed the J class quite empty, but it was full both ways. The A340-600 was our outbound - and an A340-300 was the return that had a self-service bar in the back. The tail camera on the 600 is pretty neat.

Its a great European connection and very non-chaotic. You'll enjoy it.

hillrider

Typo alert: you meant A340-300, not A380 (IB does not have any). Wishful thinking, though, as the A380 rocks.

hillrider

It's exactly like any other North American IB flight, so no need for a separate report.

I flew it last in the last week of May and agree with all bmxbboy has to say, and the fully horizontal lie-flat seats are excellent, as well as the A340 (quieter than 777 and no middle seats). In my 10+ IB transatlantic flights crews have been from amazing to adequate, but have ever had a bad crew. Also, I have never had to settle for anything but my choice of mains. Only negative is that the otherwise excellent MAD lounges don't offer free Wi-Fi (only free Ethernet--try that on a tablet!).

In summary IB J on this route is way above AA but IMHO not as good as BA.

sk3

Thanks for the report. I had thought that only the 340 served this route, interesting to know the 346 does too. And sorry to hear about the TBIT lounge at LAX.

And thank you too for your post. But what do you mean there are no middle seats? (I picked 3D).

Did your trip bring you to FCO by chance? If so, any notes on IB's lounge at FCO? (I'm assuming there is one for departures).

I'm also curious to find out if when transferring at MAD between T4s and T4 if I'll encounter the full body scanners at security - if anyone cares to comment.

hillrider

I flew on a 346 (loved the tail cam as well) and while the lounge isn't wonderful, it's new, quite adequate, and with decent food. The view isn't great as they're doing construction in front of it at the moment. Ooops, I was probably in the First section as I'm emerald, so my experience might have been different.

AA's 777 is "AB DEG HJ"; E is what I call a middle seat, i.e. one which is neither window nor aisle. And with AA's seats, you're kind of trapped when your neighbors recline to sleep. IB's 340/346 are "AC DH JL" so there's no middle seat. Again, this in J-cabin.

No sorry, it's been a while since I left from FCO internationally.

No, for health's sake, no such thing at MAD.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

So sounds like sk3 is flying F on AA's 777?

sk3

Thanks so much Hillrider for spelling everything out, it's REALLY appreciated.

I'm so happy to hear there are no AIT/WBI cancer machines at MAD. But what about when you depart from LAX? I haven't flown out of TBIT in years.

And your last note has me thrilled. I'll be flying LAX-MAD-FCO and FCO-MAD-LAX and I've read that both transfers at MAD will have me taking the train between T4s and T4 and vice versa. So when I do this for my outbound I won't have to clear security at MAD? How lovely!

Lastly, am I understanding you correctly by assuming that for my return where I'm coming from a Schengen country connecting to the USA that I will need to "re-secure" at MAD?

sk3

No, I'm flying on IB, LAX-MAD.

I had misunderstood hillrider's comment re middle seats.

Hagbard Viking

It's the other way around, connecting from Schengen to non-Schengen there is no "re-security." Connecting from non-Schengen (e.g., USA) to Schengen you do go through security again.

Life_Platinum

My wife and I flew the new JFK-BUD-JFK route at the end of last month, connecting on to Berlin and were impressed with the ease of transfer at BUD. The airport terminal is new, being completed about a year ago and has a Malev club in each of the two fingers of the terminal. The airport/terminal is about the size of Tucson's facility, so that if one is connecting, one does not have to spend hours changing terminals and going through security as one does at LHR. Our Berlin flight did not leave from one of the gates with jetways, as the prop jet boarded from the tarmac. At least when we were there, it appeared that all Malev's 737s loaded from one of the many jetways. We enjoyed the airport so much more than LHR that we are going back in late September and using Malev to connect to IST (Istanbul).

One annoyance was that my wife discovered that the jewelry store (Frey Willie) that was inside the duty free area did not offer products that were duty free.

We suspect that when many FFs discover the ease of transferring at BUD, more will fly this route.

Although we were upbeat about transferring, AA and Malev still have work to do on co-ordinating their flight(s) with each other.