LeisureFirst

We all know that when flying to MAD or BCN, ba.com offers a choice of flights on BA metal and codeshares on IB.

Although in Y BA is by far the better alternative, numerous posters on here have said that IB Business Class is a huge step up from CE. Unfortunately although there have been various cheap-ish BA CE fares available, IB Biz has always been in excess of £300 each way on the many times I've looked so I've never taken it.

Now, however booking on ba.com, IB metal BA R-fares LHR-MAD are showing up as £150 each way on most flights up to the end of August - the period covered by the current sale on the route - and only £180 beyond that period.

This sounds to me like very good value. Is there something I'm missing? For example:

• Has IB Business class LHR-MAD been down-graded in any sense recently?
• IB appears to still fly from LHR Terminal 2. at least for flights I'm looking at in May. This will still be the case yes? So in particular I get to use the grotty IB lounge at T2 (which I've never seen) rather than the Servisair lounge at T3 which BA offers its pax. Not sure which is worse.
• Arriving into T4 rather than T4S, can I expect my bags to get to the carousel any faster? All my arrivals (at least 15) into MAD T4 have been on BA metal so I'm used to the horrid one-hour wait for bags, although on a couple of recent flights it has picked up a bit to maybe 45 minutes.
• Is the IB lounge at T4 really a lot worse than the lovely Sala Velazquez at T4S?

malcolmcampbell

can only answer the last question - as I recall the Iberia lounge is run by the melia hotel group and is not bad, who are also doing some very good deals on their Gran Melia Felix hotel in the town centre (no I don't work for them).

gordo6

Iberia regional Business class along with LH, OS and LX short-haul business class are the worst products I have ever seen!!!

Unlike BA, iberia's regional business class doesn't offer special seats. the seats are the same as the economy seats, sometime offers 2 more inches of pitch. The only different is the middle seat is blocked. Of course the food is also a difference.

http://www.iberia.com/OneToOne/v3/pr...ANONYMOUS=true

BA1A

Neither do BA, now they have scrapped convertible seating in CE

LeisureFirst

That is definitely not what it says in this thread. There are quite a few other posts about Iberia short-haul J with a consensus broadly in line with it. Are you saying things have changed?

David-A

Iberia short haul business class is WORSE than Iberia Y.
It is also worse than BA Y.

In short it goes, from worst to best:
Iberia shorthaul business
Iberia shorthaul tourist
BA EuroTraveller
BA ClubEurope


The food offering in Ib biz is limited. It is not posisble to pre book diaetary requirments. When you inform cabin crew (after *they* have COMPLAINED you are not eating the food provided) they then proceed to mock you during the flight and acuse you of having something wrong in the head for being vegetarian.

It might sound like I'm basing this on 1 flight, but I'm not. I'm basing it on a decent number!

I also want to defend 20% of their cabin crew - who are truely excellent. Of the remaining 80%, half of them are VERY bad.

Also, I'm talking about mainline IB shorthaul here, not AirNostrum.

gordo6

Seat guru shows that BA's club europe seats aren't the regular ones (they are in 2x3 or 3x2 config.). i know that the middle seat is blocked, but as I said - BA's club europe isn't the regular Y seats.

BA1A

They are now because as I said they don't expand the seats any more in CE or collapse the B seat on A and C side to make 2 x 3 config. Seat guru is out of date.

Teece

gordo6, there is a HUGE thread , currently 43 pages, discussing exactly this. Don't trust the likes of Seat Guru to be up to date.

David-A

That is out of date.

BA have convertable seating installed on their shorthaul fleet.

This is 3 - 3 (ABC-DEF) in standard.
But converted to 2 - 3 (AC-DEF) in premium mode.
All the seats get wider, included DEF, the aisle slides to left a bit, and seat B mostly dissapears to create the room for this.

As such the curtain could move back an forward.

However BA have recenctly stopped adjusting the seats. The only benefit is that the middle seat is blocked (and the convetable rows, the curtain still slides) will have increased seat pitch.

nomoreiphone

IMHO, unless you are desperate for the TPs, or if someone is paying for it or it is a through tix/DONEX etc.. or the price is cheaper than Y Class, then it is just not worth getting any European J Class seats - especially if you have status with lounge access already.

The seats are Y Class seats. This is the case even with the BA convertible seats. I know the middle is blocked off, but really. No foot rest/minimal recline etc... The food is also quite bad and are not worth the premium.

So the only benefit u get is getting off the plane earlier.

David-A

Increased luggage allowance can also justify it.

And some friday afternoons I do look forward to a CE meal and a drink as I fly off....

catandmouse

Well there's quite a lot of nonsense in this post.
My special meals have always been loaded on IB flights when flying business. The catering isn't imaginative, but the correct meal has always been there.
Seats on IB business are just like new-BA, except they have always been that way, with an empty middle seat. On 319s (and probably 320s) there's extra seat pitch in the first 6 or so rows, so make sure you grab a seat there, particularly if the curtain's further back.
IB FAs have a reputation for surliness which has largely disappeared over the last couple of years. My last few flights have been totally acceptable with IB. Try exchanging a few words of Spanish to help things along.
Finally MAD T4 is a really pleasant airport to use.

LeisureFirst

Here is another post in favour of IB shorthaul business class. Searching for them is hard ("Iberia Business", for example, throws up almost every thread on this board it seems!) but I really don't think these have been isolated examples.

So the consensus view now is that it is no better than CE? Therefore not worth £150 each way when Y is going for around £100 (on the flights I want).

Goldlust

In all honesty I have only flown 2 flight with IB, and both flights were in Economy.

I thought the FAs were rude and not service orientated.