I am thinking of taking downgrade on a transatlantic portion of a 230K (25K miles) mile first class AAward.

The downgrade would be from
Drive TVC-GRR / AA GRR-DFW Coach / DFW-FRA first / FRA-MAD coach
AA TVC-ORD Coach / ORD-LGA first class / IB JFK-MAD business class.

Not only does this allow me to get to MAD a little earlier, but it opens up DFW for future connections.

Europe-Africa-Europe-America-Caribbean, etc. would still be in First Class

I know it is personal, but does anyone have opinions on this trade?

Is Iberia business class as good as AA business class?

The service in IB is not great but they have a good J class seat. AA's FC seats are much better (both kinds).

As good as AA business class? Yes, actually better.

The title of the post indicates a request for a comparison between AA F and IB J, but the post itself asks about AA J versus IB J.

IB J is, IMO, between AA J and AA F. As millionmiler noted, AA F is better than IB J. It would be difficult to argue against that. As Viajero noted, IB J is better than AA J. Some AA fans would probably argue that, but my preference is also IB.

DFW-FRA in F would be nice, but for a JFK-MAD flight, IB J is a good choice, especially as it is a better routing and opens up other options for you.

FWIW, IB also runs ORD-MAD if you're interested. I don't know if it's the new or old seats, but IIRC, all North America routes have the new seats. Unless you're staying in NYC, I wouldn't bother going to NYC. Also, if you decide to pursue going to FRA, don't forget that LA runs three-class service FRA-MAD.

Correct. The conversion is now complete across all intercontinental flights, not just NA.

Admittedly, my F experiences are somewhat limited (MH, CX, AF, UA, AA), but out of those, I have to say the Flagship Suite....kicks posterior. AA's service clearly doesn't rival MH or CX, but the seat is miles ahead. And I'd classify AA's F service as being reasonable J by most standards

In short, I wouldn't take the downgrade unless I really really thought I might need DFW.

Steve

Agree that AA Flagship seat is one of the best in the business.

IB's J seat is really good though. The service is not so great though at least on the ORD-MAD run that I often take.

I flew the two to/from GRU two weeks ago and for me the answer is No!

However there is no "right" answer to this as it depends on what type of flyer you are. I use awards for leisure thus sleep isn't the issue so much as some nice food and drink and the feeling of luxury going on my holidays. Also I sleep soundly in pretty much any seat whether it's AA's J seats or even 31B or 31H in Y. In increasing order what keeps me awake is
1) Excessive light (I have a trusty pair on LAN F eyeshades)
2) Excessive noise (AA's BOSE NCHs are the best IMO)
3) Hot cabins (AA's are cool, BA's are warm, IB's was like a blast furnace and it seems this is a common problem)

The food on IB was poor and worse than any I've received in AA J. This may have been a one-off as the food I got on the subsequent MAD-LHR flight was much better. Service was poor with pidgin English used by all but one FA. I don't speak Spanish well but I thought on a Brasil-Spain flight I could have used portuguese but none of the FAs could it seemed. The seat is good but the stifling temperature meant I only slept for a couple of hours despite not having got any sleep the previous night. The AVOD was very good and thus for a day flight IB would be a good choice.

The food on AA was good (though not as nice as on the preceding EI flight). The cabin was cool, dark and quiet and I slept for a solid 5 hours, waking up refreshed. ^

Disclaimer : This was my first flight on IB J after dozens on AA J. I approached it with an open mind given the positive reviews on here but I haven't been as disappointed with a flight since one on BA F in 2003. I fly IB again next month to GIG and am hoping for a more positive experience.

For more on IB J I think this trip report gives a terrific feel for the service aboard although the poster was positive about it.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=642928

As for the main question I would pick the flight that suits my times and routing needs best.

I really believe this is a big part of the "bad service" we hear so often here in FT about IB. My wife and I have flown IB for several decades (yup) and can honestly say the service in the air, for the two of us, has been, overall, very good. The FAs, the purser, have almost always come around to us to chat, to ask what we want, to talk about Real Madrid or whatever "local" issue is current, etc., and they have been almost invariably friendly and pleasant to us. However, as an experienced flyer I also observe and notice that the same friendly staff that treat us well does indeed take a different, cooler, almost indifferent approach when dealing with non-Spanish pax. So, IMO this is part of IB's problem, and as an international airline there is no excuse for it. I hope one day they address this issue but it hasn't changed in more than 30 years so I'm not hopeful.

I don't speak Spanish (beyond a few phrases) and this is exactly the case, and still the case today. IB staff are clearly uneasy at speaking English (perhaps thinking that their English is imperfect, which is generally true). I had several trips on IB F when they had 2 FAs in F and 8 seats, and even when there were only 2 F pax -- so a 1:1 FA ratio -- it was hard to get attentive service. Wine glasses were filled when requested, not when empty. That sort of thing. So it isn't just the lack of "chatting" and friendliness, it was a "you have to ask for everything" attitude. On one flight other F pax did not ask to have their bed made and went to sleep -- so they didn't get the blankets. Absurd. But classic IB.

For the current IB J+ service, I've found catering to be mediocre on board (not as good as the Air Nostrum food served on 1 hour RJ flights, by way of comparison!). Really strange as it could be a lot better with the same money but smarter menu composition. For example some of their dishes dry out -- maybe due to overheating by the FAs, but lots of ways to fix this. IB hasn't done it, perhaps out of ignorance. Clearly trying to invest to create a really good product, and some of it works (the seats) and some of it needs a lot of improvement. The potential is there to have a great airline, but at the moment it is below average overall.

I said service was poor with pidgin English rather because of. There wasn't much chatting going on with anyone nor was it something I desired given the size of my hangover although someone speaking portuguese would have helped. It was just the haphazard and rather indifferent nature of the service that irked. However, I think there are cultural issues here at play here. A lamb ragout served with only bread as the solid component and a mango "cake" which was yellow jelly with tiny bits of mango in it were never going to appeal and sate my appetite.

On a more positive note, the wine (not the Cava) was good and I liked the amenity kit with an emphasis on useful items as opposed to beauty products. As with EI's kit it included a small bottle of mouthwash which is also useful for future weekend trips with the new liquid restrictions.

As an aside I was really surprised by EI's service on DUB-BOS. Not only was it overall the best J meal I've ever had, the crystal glasses and classy L'Occitane kit give the flight a real luxury feel. However it was a day flight and I can understand how the seat is considered substandard for night flights. I suspect that the average for both carriers lies somewhere in between my two experiences and it may be fairer to judge when I've flown IB ex-MAD and EI ex-US.

Based on these two flights I'd agree. The LH menu looked delicious on paper but wasn't whereas the SH food was good and better than CE on BA e.g. the SH dessert (mousse on carrot sponge) was as good as the LH mango cake was bad.

I know, I didn't mean to imply different. I just used your post as a soap box to climb on and try to explain my side of things.

IMO, EI's service of several years ago was brilliant -- not just the crystal and china, but the food and the service level were just outstanding. We used to joke that "Aer Lingus" really meant "feed them until they burst." The very first time we went to Ireland (on uor honeymoon), we mentioned that to passing to one of the flight attendants on the ORD-DUB flight...and when we went to get off the plane, she handed us three pages of handwritten notes on things we should be sure to see, places we should be sure to eat, and romantic B&B's to stay at.

Through about 2003 those kinds of things epitomized Premier...but since then it seems to be more...mundane (aside from the crystal, of course).

Steve