Spanair recent experiences?
 

There are some excellent domestic fares on Spanair at the moment, which you can now buy outside of Spain. (Incidentally, combined with a bmi webfare, the bargain Spanair flights mean that my forthcoming LHR-MAD-AGP trip is cheaper than the cheapest 6am LTN-AGP charter flight I could find! ... and I get miles, alcohol, *G lounge access, and a free stopover to party with friends in MAD)

So I wondered if anyone had any recent experiences on Spanair. [b]deneru[b] had some good tips on lounges, for example. But can anybody shed any more light on...

(1) Lounges - are they nice? Everywhere, or just MAD/BCN? Any problems with *G access?

(2) Inflight - is there food or drink on the Spanish trunk routes, as there might be on an equivalent domestic in the UK or Germany?

(3) Punctuality - I have heard horror stories, although these tend to be their charter flights. How bad is it?

Well, I usually fly about 50 times in Spanair per year and the MAD-AGP:

a.- They use a A320 (usually) so the plane is OK
b.- The MAD Lounge is quite correct
c.- Drinks... hum... it depends of how long. Less than 40 minutes just on demand, longer yes.
d.- Puntuallity: Usually it's quite OK. In the AGP-MAD if they arrive late more than 15 minutes they give you a free ticket (same class). Check for the promo if is still on).

I flew Spanair MAD-FRA earlier this week.

MAD lounge is fine, but basic. Slightly more limited selection of snacks and drinks than regular BD business lounge. But no problems with access.

Re onboard refreshments, this was obviously a 2.5 hr international trip rather than a domestic. Meal tray with some barely edible form of fishy salad in a gloopy pink sauce, an unfortunate cheesey quiche type thing and a couple of slices of lomo with a fig in the middle followed by an apricot cake(ish). Eat before you board.

Arrived at FRA about 10 minutes late.

You do realise that the LHR-MAD leg will be on a codeshare with BD metal?

Many thanks for the pointers, guys.

Oh, yes, very much so - and a long enough sector to make it worthwhile using a bmi Gold upgrade voucher! (I would've booked it on a JK code to see if I get full mileage credit too, but it wasn't worth the extra GBP40!)

Wingnut, what are you doing in exotic FRA and MAD?!

Just got back from Spain. Journey went smoothly, and JK provides a perfectly respectable, punctual and good value service.

No problems with *G check in, lounge access and priority baggage handling - but beware of long lines at MAD airport ticket counters. Fairly spacious lounge in Madrid, free booze and bar snacks, 1 internet PC.

Dog-eared MD-83s were full and seat pitch was tight. But inflight service was friendly. No food or drink (unless you count a boiled sweet) from MAD-AGP. Beverage service on the way back.

All-in-all it was excellent value for EUR69 incl tax. And *A miles too (if they ever get posted...)

I flew Spanair twice this week (even said hello to kt74 in the London Lounge) and found it to be only ok. Check-in was slow, the lounges were ok but horrendously smoke filled. No real food, only potato chips aka junk food and the Internet Connections were down.

On board were closed the door within 10 minutes, per their guarantee, but then sat while the pilot "did paperwork" for 20 minutes. Onboard I found them equivalent to a LCC, or a charter, not a full-featured airline. If given the choice between them and a *A, I would go with someone else.

------------------
Friends don't let friends fly Air Canada.

Must have just missed MapleLeaf and kt74 over the same weekend, also going LHR-MAD with BD. I found the Spanair lounge perfectly acceptable in terms of catering and the staff were helpful. Unfortunately I didn't get to fly the dreaded MD80s because although I had booked to travel onwards to BCN I couldn't get decent enough accomodation in the city (was treating the other half to a weekend away so it had to be special) and so we just stayed in MAD. On the day of travel, Spanair allowed me to cancel the MAD-BCN sectors on the ticket without penalty and even refunded the difference in the fare - very impressive given it was an embarrassingly cheap W class ticket.