We flew from Miami to Madrid in business class. I went into the flight with low expectations, but I think my expectations were exceeded. The cabin felt fresh and the food and service were better than I was expecting. I wouldn't hesitate to fly with Iberia gain given the value we got.
We booked our Miami to Madrid flight as a separate itinerary since we were in Spain for a couple of nights before heading to the Middle East. I was able to book the following in business class for 42,500 Iberia Plus Avios plus $132.60 in taxes, fees, and carrier imposed surcharges, per person:
Miami to Madrid is departing at 10:45PM and arriving at 1:45PM.
The pricing between Miami and Madrid during an off-peak period is what it is worth. If both accounts have been open for at least 90 days, I can transfer these Iberia Plus Avios from British Airways Executive Club. Both Amex Membership rewards and Chase Ultimate rewards are transfer partners with Iberia Plus.
I could have booked this flight through British Airways Executive Club, but it would have cost me $700+ in carrier imposed surcharges. The surcharges for the Iberia flights are more reasonable.
We arrived at Miami Airport at around 8PM for our 10:45PM departure to Spain. Our experience was off to a good start, as we were quickly issued boarding passes without our bags being weighed, and there was barely any wait at the business class check-in counter.
It went downhill from there. Iberia doesn't participate in the Pre-Check program. Say what? In the year of 2022. I didn't bother to check the airline list because I don't remember the last time I flew an airline that didn't participate in it. I have never heard of Key Lime Air, but there are other airlines that participate in the Pre-Check program.
You wouldn't think this is a big issue, but on this evening there were literally the longest security lines I've seen in my entire life. The security line stretched all the way to the J Concourse. I've never seen a security line like this before. I wonder what happened here.
There was a checkpoint that was clear. I didn't enroll in CLEAR because I don't remember the last time I was at an airport where CLEAR saved time. We were able to sign-up on the spot because we had our Amex Platinum Cards on us. It took 45 minutes to get through security despite having CLEAR.
It makes sense that there was a single checkpoint in this part of the terminal.
The American Flagship Lounge is located in the D Concourse. I have reviewed the Flagship Lounge Miami before, so won't write a full review again. This was my first visit to the lounge since it reopened, so I will share a few thoughts.
After our security experience, Flagship Lounge guests are offered a glass of champagne upon arrival in the lounge. In this case, it was the other way around.
The lounge was nice and quiet, unlike the rest of the terminal.
The food selection was just as good as it was when Flagship Lounges first opened.
We headed to the departure gate after getting caught up on work and having a few drinks.
The boarding was scheduled to start at 9:45PM, an hour before our departure, according to the boarding pass. You have to take the train to get to gate E21.
It appears that the boarding time posted on boarding passes isn't actually the time that boarding is intended to start, which is frustrating. 35 minutes after the posted boarding time, boarding began. Business class passengers were invited to board.
I didn't hear any English announcements at the gate, but all the announcements were in Spanish. It's kind of fitting for a flight between Miami and Madrid.
We boarded through the second set of doors and entered the business class cabin. The A330-300 business class cabin has 29 seats in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration. Each seat has aisle access and is flat.
The seats along the windows are closer to the aisle and the windows are more private, so if you can, you should choose one of the seats closer to the windows.
Ford was seated immediately behind me in seat 6L, which was the window seat.
There isn't a partition between the aisle and the seat in the seats closer to the aisle. The lack of a partition can make it difficult for people in these seats to spill their legs into the aisle.
The seats in the center section are either closer to the aisle or closer to the center. The seats closer to the aisle are the least desirable in business class.
If you are traveling with someone, you may want to sit in the center section so you can be closer to them.
There was a television above the ottoman, which could not be moved around, as far as the details of the seats go.
The ottoman was large and didn't feel tight when trying to sleep, which was ideal.
The entertainment controls, seat controls, and a small storage pocket beneath the counter were on the side of the seat.
There were power outlets, jacks for headphones, and plugs for computers.
The tray table is in the front of the seat. You could move the tray table by unlatching it.
There were no individual air nozzles, but each seat had two overhead reading lights.
There were two lavatories in the cabin, one at the front of the cabin and one at the back of the cabin. The lavatories were clean, but not very clean.
There was a pillow and blanket at each seat. The bedding was decent but nothing special, the blanket was soft and the pillow wasn't too thin. This wasn't bad, but there is better bedding out there.
The passengers were offered headphones after boarding. Again, decent, but nothing special.
Earphones, eyeshades, socks, a comb, and a dental kit were included in the amenity kits.
The wipes were distributed.
Pre-departure drinks were served in glassware with the choice of water or orange juice.
The main cabin door closed at 10:45PM despite the later than posted boarding. The flight was full. In business class, 23 of the 29 seats were taken, and the economy seemed to be full as well.
The safety video was screened at 10:50PM after we began our pushback. We got a taxi and were on our way to Madrid by 11PM.
I looked at the inflight entertainment selection after takeoff. The system was slow to respond to the selection. There were many movies and TV shows to choose from. It was still solid even though it wasn't as good as Emirates ICE.
The main way that I use inflight entertainment is through a map feature.
I was impressed by the wi-fi situation at Iberia. The last time I flew Iberia, they charged me for data usage based on the amount of data I used. That is no longer the case. There was a full flight wi-fi pass for 19 dollars and a four hour pass for 13 dollars.
On top of that, the speeds on the internet were very fast. While not as valuable on an overnight flight, for many the better pricing may be a game-changer on a daytime flight, where you can stay productive without paying a fortune.
Most passengers went straight to sleep since this was a late night flight. The seatbelt sign was turned off five minutes after takeoff.
The flight attendant came to my seat to serve me dinner. The flight attendant described the options to me, which included shrimp with risotto, steak, or ricotta pasta, since Iberia doesn't have a menu in business class. Everything was served at the same time.
I had a glass of red wine and some sparkling water, and it tasted good, so I didn't send it back.
The meal was quite good. The shrimp with risotto was not the best airline meal. There was a red pepper spread, a roll with olive oil, and a chocolate cream tart with berry compote.
The meal was served quickly, as it was cleared within 50 minutes of takeoff. It's important to have a quick service on a late night departure. I was offered a bottle of water at the end of the meal.
I made my bed after dinner. I liked that the footwell was large, so I didn't feel constrained in that regard, and it was nice to have some privacy from the aisle.
I was ready to sleep, but about 15 minutes after the meal service finished, we started dealing with some turbulence due to a strong jet stream. It was bumpy for several hours. There was enough turbulence that prevented me from sleeping. The lack of an individual air nozzle and wearing a mask didn't help create a good sleeping environment.
While I tried to rest for a few hours, I don't think I got much sleep. I decided to get up. I got some work done on my laptop and it was productive. The sunrise was beautiful.
A crew member was happy to serve me a cup of coffee two hours before landing. The tiny coffee cups that Iberia has are more like espresso cups than anything else. These are small, especially when you're trying to avoid spills, and I can appreciate wanting to save galley space.
The breakfast service began under 90 minutes before arrival.
Breakfast options included a ham and cheese sandwich or omelet. I don't eat pork because pigs are cute and smart. This was fully covered like dinner.
Breakfast was served with a roll and some fresh fruit, and the omelet was made with sausage and potatoes. I realized that the omelet was filled with ham when I cut into it.
A ham and cheese sandwich or a ham omelet is a choice. Pork is a food group in Spain and I should have known better.
The service in business class was better than I anticipated. The flight attendants were not proactive in the sense that they were not constantly passing through the aisle to see if anyone wanted anything. I was never thanked by name.
When my coffee was empty, they asked if I wanted another one rather than just removing it, and they even smiled. There was nothing bad about the service.
The captain announced about 45 minutes before landing that we would soon start our descent and that we should arrive early. The seatbelt sign was on when we began our descent. I enjoyed looking out the window on a nice day in Spain.
We had a smooth landing in Madrid at 12:30PM, and we passed some parked British Airways A380s as we traveled down the runway.
40 minutes early, we were at our arrival gate at Terminal 4.
I will cover in the next post how it wasn't all smooth sailing from there.
I came into my flight with low expectations and they were exceeded. The staggered seats in the business class of the A330s are good. The food and service were pretty good. The flight arrived 40 minutes early.
If the schedule and price were right, I would fly Iberia again. You can pay 42,500 Avios for a flight like this with limited surcharges. I felt like that wasn't justified in the case of Iberia.
What was your experience with the A330 business class?
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