wustlnjms

Thanks to those who know the situation here better than I and can help out.

I am about to purchase a one-way flight on Iberia.com from Brussels to Lisbon. It is operated by Vueling.

The fare is "classic", which iberia.com describes as "For you to carry on a suitcase and if you wish to choose your seat".

It then states, "The fare Classic includes: Baggage in hold: 1 piece . Max:23 kg and 158 cm."

I will have a backpack and one piece of luggage. According to past threads, "baggage in hold" means checked luggage. The site says nothing about a personal item carried-on in addition to the checked luggage - will my school backpack be fine to walk on the plane with?


I also want to register my american airlines miles number for this flight - what is the best way to do this? Thanks again for your help!

craigthemif

You won't be able to earn miles in AAdvantage for a Vueling flight. Iberia Plus is the only programme I'm aware of that offers miles for Vueling flights.

Yes, a normal school backpack should be fine for carry-on purposes.

trekker954

I'm doing a multi booking MIA - MXP and then FLR - MIA.

Expedia is the only one offering my daughter a decent routing from FLR to MIA but she has o fly Vueling from FLR to MAD. then connect to Iberia to MIA. Will her bag be tagged all the way to MIA by vueling. I would have liked to book this thru the AA site, but its a no go. she has a 4 hour layover in Madrid. Will she be able to stay on the security side; will Vueling have some type of transit connection area or will she need to leave the secure side and reenter for the Iberia leg back to the U.S. Any info would be appreciated.

I've never used expedia. Can she get her aadvantage miles for the AA and IB portion? The Iberia website wants almost $200 more than expedia

craigthemif

She will arrive into Terminal 4 and will depart from Terminal 4S. She almost certainly won't need to go through security again as Schengen arrivals are released into the general departure lounge at T4. She will have to find a connections desk to get a boarding pass for MIA and then take the shuttle train to T4S. Not too difficult...

As far the luggage, I've never tried to through check with Vueling. However, having flown Vueling out of FLR, it's a tiny airport and not all that advanced. I'm not sure if there are any Oneworld airlines there... If she can't get a through check, 4 hours is more than enough to collect her luggage in MAD, and go upstairs to check it back in with IB. Another security check, but the queues in MAD are never particularly long.

No AAdvantage miles for Vueling. As for the MAD-MIA, you should check her fare code on the AAdvantage website to see whether it credits.

trekker954

thanks Craig for this info, it will help. I thought since Vueling is Iberias express airline they would have checked her luggage through. I'll make sure she pays attention to this detail.

LupineChemist

It's more of an associated LCC with the same owner. The express airline is appropriately named Iberia Express. Air Nostrum is the regional carrier. It can get complicated. I also think there will be no problem through checking to MIA, but again, it's really easy at MAD if she has to collect the bag.

Also, be sure she gets an Iberia plus account as the avios are very useful to transfer to BA and then use domestically in the US. You basically get a free <600 mi flight in the US just because.

trekker954

My daughter checked in with Vueling in FLR. They checked her bag all the way through to Miami but could not give her a boarding pass. She would do that in MADRID. They did not charge her for her luggage either. She was able to get a window seat with two persons next to her, after takeoff, people moved around and she had space next to her.

She said the connection was easy through MAD. She found the desk, got her boarding pass (but they took her window seat away, saying although she was assigned she didn't pay for it. Tried to give her a middle middle, but in the end and a few pleases, she was given an middle aisle. She's en-route now to MIA.

Everything was on time. I guess the transition with the shuttle from 4 to 4S could have gone smoother. She was 2 hours in Florence and 4 hours in Madrid. She paid for wifi in both.

Update: her baggage is lost. geez louise!!!! No idea, they said they'll find it. so is it still in florence or in Madrid. She was 2 hrs in advance in Flr and had 4 hours in MAD.