mangoMan

It depends which hotel we end up at. Right now I have reservations at both the Novotel and the Holiday Inn Valencia, and am deciding which to keep. The Novotel has a Metro station (Beniferri) right next to it; I'd have to cab it to a station from the Holiday Inn, but I like the Holiday Inn location for other reasons.

Yup, we connect to IB6275.
Thanks for the info! Line 5 is closest to the Holiday Inn, so even though I'd have to cab to a station, at least I wouldn't have to change trains.

malcolmkettering

In this case, that's actually pretty easy. You change at Angel Guimerá. You exit the train and head straight down a ramp then an escalator to the platform lines 3 and 5. Really not much of a hurdle.

Which Holiday Inn are you at? The Holiday Inn proper or one of the 2 Express versions? We should probably move this to PM instead of hijacking the thread with Valencia details...

malcolmkettering

but inexplicably, Iberia itself uses T4 (H gates) for their Heathrow flights.

David-A

Firstly, T4S (the sattelite) has 2 separate areas in it, one geared up for schengen and for non-schengen. T4 (main area) is geared up for schengen.

However, this is just what the areas are geared up for doing mainly.There are MANY exceptions (in both directions) in all three areas. Schengen flights from the non-schengen area in T4S, and also non-schengen flights from the schengen geared areas of T4 and T4S.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Yep that is the case ( for which I was grateful for last weekend).

Despite my itineary showing the LHR-MAD flights arriving at T4S the Iberia flights did arrive at the H gates of T4 for the connecting IB flights to SVQ at the K gates ( a little bit of a walk) without having to use T4S

Regards

TBS

gracephillips

Can anyone tell me, a neophyte traveling with elderly mother and two kids - will we get any sleep on an Airbus 340 flying out of IAD at 9 p.m.? reading these posts has put fear in my heart!

does anyone recommend we bring any of those weird pillows? Or are certain seats in Business better than others?
THanks!

malcolmkettering

For me, the main problems with this flight would be the duration (too short for real sleep) and the departure time (too early for me). if you are used to falling asleep by 10pm and are expecting just 5 hours or so, you might be fine. the seats themselves are comfortable, but much more so if you are sleep-deprived, less so if you are trying to fall asleep a few hours earlier than normal.

Juliusgg

Be sure not to have inflight dinner, IB is really slow during dinner service, also cabin light use to be very bright which could be hard to deal without eye shades, my experience during IB night flights are always put the seat into bed mode 10 min after take off and get up 20 min before landing I don't use to have dinner or breakfast.

Best seats are any of the 6th row for A340-300 or row 2 central seats for 340-600 which are almost fully flat the rest are angled ones, just press legrest and seat button up to gain horizontal position.

larreajoe

I was fortunate enough to get a complementary upgrade to Business on an IB flight from MAD-ORD last week. Here's my review:

1. The crew were outstanding. Very nice, cordial, and willing to do pretty much whatever they could to make the passengers happy.
2. The seats extend and are almost flat. Could have been longer...I'm 6' and either my head or feet were dangling.
3. Food/wine/spirits were superb.

My only complaint is that the personal video system in my seat and the seat next to me didn't work...which was fine since I slept instead.

danielmadrid07

larreajoe:
Just out of curiosity; How did you manage to obtain a complimentary upgrade on your ORD-MAD flight? I find IB to be very stingey with upgrades even among their top-tier frequent flyers, and with Iberia Plus points, upgrading is pretty much useless as they require you to buy a full-fare economy class ticket which is most always cheaper than a Reduced Business Class fare on that same route, which makes upgrading with points completely futile!

larreajoe

I wish I knew. Perhaps my stunning smile and winning personality. Or, perhaps that they had oversold coach and had empty seats in business? Seriously, I have no idea why or how...but I think they upgraded about 10 or 11 of us. I didn't know you could actually win the lottery without playing!

alanw

I'd say it's 100% likely they were oversold. Random upgrades are just not in the IB corporate DNA.

PittDoc

First time on Iberia. I did a lot of searching both here on IB website but still have a lot of questions.

With a standard Business class ticket each way MAD-AGP RT what can I expect? I have a 4hr+ morning layover both in and out of MAD and would like to shower and get some work done, maybe even some breakfast.

1. Lounge access in MAD? In AGP?
2. Showers in MAD?
3. Internet in MAD?
4. Food, beverages in-flight (1 hr only)?
5. Priority checkin?
6. Priority screening?
7. Priority boarding?
8. Anything else I should know?

FYI, I'll be arriving and deparing MAD on transatlantic J class on Air Canada. *A Gold, no status on One World. Thanks in advance to the IB experts.

alanw

Yes to everything, except I'm not sure about facilities in AGP and there is no priority boarding/screening (this is Europe! ).

It's a standard European business class flight, nothing more or less, so there should be no surprises. The MAD lounge is very nice.

Meal on board won't be much for such a short flight.

danielmadrid07

I fly MAD-AGP about once every 2 weeks, and adding to what AlanW has said:

*IB is supposed to, in theory, offer priority boarding to all Business Class/IB Plus Elite customers, however, on domestic flights, for some reason which I cannot fathom why esp since they code-share with airlines that regularly do such as AA, they do NOT announce it, and it's up to you to cut to the front of the boarding line and politely mention you are traveling in Business and then they should whisk you right in without having to wait the massively long queues.

*Your best bet is a morning flight as a full (it is actually filling even by American standards) hot breakfast is served on breakfast flights. The afternoon and evening flights just recieve a ¨refrigerio¨ cold snack service consisting of Spanish cold-cuts, cheese, etc.

*The lounge in AGP is not an Iberia lounge, it is a lounge provided for the use of all the airlines in AGP's premium customers and it is a basically a glorified waiting area with a VERY light offering of snacks which are usually stale.
You will notice a HUGE difference between the luxurious IB lounges, which also now serve full food offerings FYI, in MAD and the no-frills one in AGP.

Hope this helps out as well!