IB/BA LHR-MAD Pros and Cons
 

Hi all,

First of all, I am Spanish but living in the UK, so apologies in advance for any non-native English speaker mistakes I could make when I post!

I have been reading this forum for a few years already but never posted until now. I thought posting my review of the LHR-MAD route would be a good start for me!

I fly LHR-MAD quite frequently for leisure and business (2-3 times per month at least, sometimes even more frequently). I fly in both cabins Y and J regularly. These are, in my opinion, the pros and cons when choosing IB or BA in the route.

IB

Pros
- In my opinion, Business class catering is, by far, MUCH better than in BA.
- Free newspaper when flying in J.
- Arrives and departs to/from T4 in MAD, with dedicated border desks for the route, which makes the border crossing very quick.
- If you are lucky, A330 aircraft is commonly used if taking BA506/IB3179 departing at 19:10 from LHR, which comes with the new IB IFE y both cabins and fully flat bed in J class.
- Better punctuality stats.

Cons
- No free food in Economy class.
- Fewer legroom in Economy class.

BA

Pros
- Extra legroom in ET class.
- Free food/drinks in ET class (although it is usually crap).

Cons
- Departs and arrives from/to T4S in MAD (except when flying from to/from LCY), which makes you take the train to get to the main T4 terminal.
- Busier border at T4S than in T4.

As a summary, when flying Economy I normally choose IB if I can, just to avoid having to take the train from T4S. When flying Business/CE class, I highly recommend IB as well for the quality of the food.

My last MAD-LHR was in Y on the IB A346, and honestly, it was so much better than BA. I got a few drinks from the lounge (which is much nicer in T4S, so another point to BA LHR services), had a pair of seats to myself (the rear cabin was nearly empty), and watched a film as the sun set. Very pleasant! However, had the flight been full or on a narrowbody, then of course it'd have been BA + a free G&T in a heartbeat! The crew are better on BA too IMO.

I think you've summed it up pretty well Etxebas. The best thing about IB business class is they serve real food. It's just a shame that there's no snack/drinks in economy.

Looks like your command of English is just fine. :D

BA does have good crew, but I've always found Iberia's to be much more attentive in economy (probably because they have more time!). :p

Since IAG has been saying so much about commonality (particularly aircraft BFE), I wonder why they see fit to permit IB's catering to be much better.

I wonder if this means that in the five to ten year period BA's shorthaul premium catering will get better or IB's will get worse.

While you do have to pay, IB's BoB is far superior to anything BA serve in Y.

Welcome to FT Etxebas, official welcomes along shortly I'm sure.

I would largely agree with your assessment, a couple of additional points to consider:

T4S (BA) pro : better lounge
T4 (IB) pro : much better for domestic / Schengen connections
BA pro / IB con (if booking via BA) : BA online & app superior for seat selection, check-in etc IME

I do prefer IB in business class for that route these days. Must say that I hadn't noticed better legroom in BA ET vs IB mainline Y, but will take your word for it.

Presumably the A330/340 flights on IB arrive/depart T4S though?

I fly London-MAD route quite frequently too (my sister lives there) and I usually try to avoid Iberia as much as possible to be honest. For starters: crew on BA operated flights is always amazing - I'd say BA's crew in Euro Traveller is much nicer than IB's crew in J. If I every choose to fly IB it's either A330/A340 or BA being way more expensive than IB.

Why I don't like flying with Iberia?
* I find food offering on IB inferior to BA's - maybe that's a matter of taste, but I quite like BA's CE catering
* Any booking made with Iberia - they remove my Executive Club number from the booking every 2 weeks, glad MyFlights app sends me notifications
* Madrid's TS4 lounge is way better than T4 one, and I get to see some planes (I'm a plane spotter ;-))
* BA's twitter team usually super helpful and quick to resolve any issues, Iberia's twitter team is pretty much useless
* Oh and most annoying thing - seat belt sign being turned on 45 minutes before landing at LHR... so I can't use my laptop. if there's additional holding, then it may be an hour before we actually land... on BA they usually turn on seat belt sing 10-15 minutes before landing allowing me to maximise my work time on a plane...

I have never understood why airlines feel they must offer something 'free' but poor in any cabin. I would much rather pay for something decent and would happily pay GBP 20 for a decent curry in F or CW, and perhaps GBP 10 for a meat platter and salad in CE.

Welcome to FT Etxebas :)

The IB wide body flights are a great way to travel between LHR and MAD. The flight is just long enough to watch a full movie too. I’ve done a few of these in recent months and lucked out by scoring the new business class cabin on each occasion on a mixture of A332, A333, and A346 (AKA the A345 in Iberia’s parlance).

A couple of anecdotal points - LHR T5C and MAD T4S were used. As others have said, T4S has the advantage of the Sala Velazquez lounge which I have found to be blissfully peaceful before the BA7056 leaves for London.

I flew to LHR-MAD-LHR in April. IB516 out and BA back, both in J.


The IB crew were mixed (one helpful, two very much) and the BA service was definitely better. Food was comparable I found, but getting the IB flatbed/IFE was clearly far superior to the BA 'J'. Next time will definitely try to get IB both ways...

Yes, one good thing about that lounge is that it is usually full only later at night, when many flights to Latin America leave.

Iberia's catering for Vegetarians is bloody awful and the T4 lounge food offering is a bit lacklustre.

A BA flight from T4S wins every time for me, except the daily Iberia widebody (A330/340) which is by far the best thing about the route!!

I had the 'pleasure' of the T4S lounge last Monday morning after arriving on the 6.15am - 9.45am BA flight and was transferring to the 1pm AA service to MIA. To say the lounge was packed would be an understatement - there were literally no seats until approx 11.30am when the morning rush cleared out. I may have caught a bad day, but I've never seen a principal lounge at an airlines main hub so crowded!

Pilot37

I find the IB crews miserable compared to BA.
For the same price I resent paying for food and drink when in Y so will always choose BA. Plus the T4S lounge is fantastic - ironic it has to be BA plane in most instances to get that.
In J I agree the daily widebody rotation is a big plus for IB.

An obscure additional IB 'benefit', on the LON-MAD bit only - but only when doing a sameday return.

IB arrivals into MAD at T4 are within the Schengen zone of the terminal, and thus you are mixed with the departing passengers. This means you can use the departure lounge (Dali, I think) in T4 as an 'arrivals' lounge of sorts, before exiting the airport.