Iberia A330 Business Plus

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    FirstClassWannabe
    Participant

    9/2/14 MIA-MAD Business Plus. I was pleasantly surprised by this flight. Boarding was fine as there was a separate lane for J pax. Duty free was not there so I waited a while and then FA said she would collect it for me and bring it to my seat. We were offered water or juice and given an nicely designed amenity pack, but average in contents. The seats on this new A330 are 1-2-1 although the 2 seats can be far apart on some rows which is not ideal for couples. I had a single seat A and that was fine. The purser came around and introduced herself which was a nice touch.

    We were 45 mins delayed which didn´t affect me much as I was ending my journey in MAD so no connections to worry about. Once we had taken off I looked forward to having a drink. This is an area where IB have still to improve. I mentioned this in a previous review; it took 90 minutes before the first drink was served. This is unacceptable, particularly on a night flight when most pax will want to sleep. They really have to sort this out.

    Dinner orders were taken and there was a selection of starters served together which were good, a delicious consommé, followed by duck in raspberry and port sauce (sounds nicer than it actually was), followed by ice cream. Wines were offered throughout the meal service and were good, as expected. I mentioned how much I enjoyed the consommé and the FA got me another one without me asking, very impressive.

    I then managed to sleep for about 4 hours and woke shortly before landing having skipped to breakfast, previous experience told me it wasn’t worth waking up for. The IFE seemed fine with a good selection of films and a good sized screen, but I never use it, apart from the flight map.

    The purser then came around and asked how I had enjoyed the flight and if I had any comments to make or suggestions to improve things. This shows that IB are serious about improving. I discussed the seat with her and asked how it had been received by pax and she said there had been very positive comments but a few negative, especially about the 2 seats in the middle and some feeling a little claustrophobic. The seat is actually very similar to Swiss and a few other airlines.

    I was impressed by the cabin crew service, especially Covadonga who attended to me. In the past IB have been rightly criticised for surly staff but on my last couple of experiences, they are now so much better. I can only speak on my experiences in Business Plus. I would definitely fly IB again but please get the drinks service sorted out!


    sparkyflier
    Participant

    FCW it is good to see a review of the new product so thank you for feeding back your findings.

    There are many forum contributors who claim to be hugely travelled but who never post flight reviews!

    But I am with you about the first drinks round. Frankly in any cabin, there should be a drinks round within 45 minutes of take off on a long haul flight. Much longer after that I think is bad service or an airline that does not really care for its image.

    In C/J or F to not serve a drink within this time is in my opinion very lazy and unforgivable, and suggests that the airline does not care that the passenger might have a choice.

    Of course if there is bad weather etc, then this has to be taken into account, but it is not hard for an airline to try and make a decent first impression.

    Hi FCW

    It’s a good sign that overall you have been happy on your recent IB Business flights. No real excuse however for waiting 90 minutes for a drink. Do you think the crew was just having a good old chinwag in the galley? 🙂


    FirstClassWannabe
    Participant

    No not at all, they were definitely working in the galley as you could hear them. The last time I waited 2 hours so his is an improvement! The thing is no-one else seemed to mind whereas my tongue was hanging out!!


    openfly
    Participant

    I have used IB Business Plus many times. As the Spanish are not generally heavy drinkers, the service is done the Spanish way….naturally.

    Once the meal service gets under way from the trolley, the drinks service starts. From then on they enjoy keeping you topped up. The appropriate quality wines are served with each course and the dessert wine is to die for..Leon de Malaga. They have been serving it for years.

    Once you get used to the IB way of doing things, they are very happy to serve anything you want as soon as the wheels are up….just ask. Your drink comes with a smile (and nibbles!).

    IB have really improved in the last few years in the Business Plus cabin. Mind you is a bit odd to see pax asleep in their beds during the landing….but it’s their way! The cabin crew are charming.

    I have always been under the impression that Iberia employs Spanish CC only. I asked my Spanish partner, who has much more experience flying IB, whether this was true and the answer was yes. FCW, can you comment on their level of English?

    The reason I ask is if your oral Spanish is reasonable and you are familiar with Spanish ways you may see IB in a different light.


    FirstClassWannabe
    Participant

    Hi Alexpo 1 – I generally always converse in Spanish with them but I would say the level is generally acceptable. Some announcements can be a bit iffy but same can be said of other airlines. That being said, the English of some pilots has been excellent. I have only once seen a FA who wasn´t Spanish.

    openfly – I have never seen anyone sleeping on landing. One thing I definitely find is that IB pay a lot of attention to safety. Not sure I would agree that the crew are charming but they are getting better.

    I see what you mean about getting used to the IB way of doing things but still think they should improve the waiting time for the post take off drink. I do agree they have improved and I am happy to fly with them.


    KeaneJohn
    Participant

    Great review. I am flying this aircraft in J from MAD-MIA later this year. I am currently in 2A. Would this be good to be one of the first off the aircraft and to US Immigration. I have 5 hours between flights or would it be better to get one of the A seats in the mini cabin a few rows back ?


    FirstClassWannabe
    Participant

    I would stick with 2A and you will be one of the first off, providing they disembark from door A which was the case on my last trip.. I would not recommend the mini cabin and it can feel a little claustrophobic. Have a good trip and look forward to your report..


    TonyWest
    Participant

    2D or 3D for the quickest escape, with nobody climbing past you and aisle access.


    rferguson
    Participant

    Hey FirstClassWannabe thanks for the review…makes an interesting read.

    Just curious, did you happen to notice what the crew were doing in the ninety minutes while you were waiting for your drinks? I only ask because on a relatively short sector it’s beneficial not only to the passenger but also the crew to get the service started and wrapped up ASAP.

    What do they do for over an hour after take off? Seems crazy!


    FirstClassWannabe
    Participant

    Hi rferguson – I am sure they were working as you could hear them in the galley, and they were not just on a break talking. I mentioned in a previous review that nobody seemed bothered, in fact on this flight the guy sat adjacent to me just went to sleep!

    Yes, I also thought on a flight like this the meal would be served asap and I think that is the case in Y. On a flight to GRU in Y a few a years ago they couldn´t have been any quicker and that flight was a longer duration! Do you work along the same lines that it is better to get things done asap on a night flight to the benefit of everyone, regardless of flight duration?

    Apart from that the flight and service was very good and it shows that an effort is being made.


    rferguson
    Participant

    FirstClassWannabe – I wonder what they were doing then? At BA we have service guideline times set for the different elements of the service. For example all Club passengers should have been served their bar drink within 40minutes of take off.

    On the longer flights the timeframes are more or less the same in terms of getting the first late night service wrapped up ASAP to allow people to sleep. However on these long night flights the second hot meal service must commence at least 1hr45min before arrival so there isn’t too much of a gap between the two meals.


    openfly
    Participant

    It is BA policy to consider that all premium passengers want an alcoholic drink as soon as possible. Many other airlines just do not do this, including IB long haul. If you want to get p…..d as soon as possible, or you have an alcohol problem, don’t fly certain airlines, stick to BA.

    Once the quality wine starts flowing on IB there is a lot of it, but you just have to be patient.

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