IB long haul business questions
 

Flying DUB-MAD-PTY in a couple of months and need advice on the larger aircraft – specifically the A330 and A340.

Have checked seatguru.com and I can see the seating arrangement for the A330 journey looks pretty good in a 1-2-1 layout – how do the seats themselves compare to BA’s Club World or Premium Economy, if at all?

Seatguru doesn’t have a layout for the A340 (homeward PTY-MAD) can anyone point me towards a suitable layout? From reading discussions here it seems the business class A340 isn’t as good as the A330, although this seems to be dependent on the A340 variant (-300/500 etc.) some having had a refurbished cabin and some with the “old” layout – anyone know which variation is on the PTY-MAD route?

And finally – assuming that the food is the same on both above – what is the general consensus on IB cuisine vs. BA CW?



Thanks,

R.

There are a lot of reviews of IB J on this board.

The new J cabin (all the A330 and most of the A340) is a better seat than BA's CW. Opinions on food differ (I like it), but the lounge in MAD is very good with hot food options and you can eat before flying.

Unfortunately, it seems that most days the MAD-PTY route is flown by the A340-300, with the old cabin (which I have not experienced). When is your flight? IB is receiving new A300-200 late this year and you might be lucky. Anyway, it is not that uncommon to send the A330 to PTY, although you should know that IB makes frequent plane changes, so seeing an A330 in your booking is no guarantee.

I personally prefer Iberia's menu over that of British Airways. The Spanish have a way with food!
As for the aircraft, you better pray that you get either the new A330 or the massive A340-600. The A340-300 is leaving the fleet soon so they really won't be receiving updated cabins.
Iberia's J product is pretty good. The lounge in MAD is one of my favorites.