I want to make a formal complaint against Iberia Airlines of Spain. I flew from Frankfurt to Madrid to Malaga. When I got to Malaga they had already lost my bag I had a 9 hour layover I had to recheck my bag for my next flight since it did not make it the lady at the counter told me they would send right to my house. I make it home after the worst flight in my life!! My bag is no where to be found I called the first day and they are not sure where me bag is. Last they knew it was in madrid. They wouldsend it from Madrid to Augusta Ga and it would be delivered to my home. Day 2 I call they still have no Idea where my bag is at. Day 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 same answer. Day 8 they are sending emails to find my stuff and no one is responding to the email. The lady on the phone that I managed to talk to told me my bag was not lost they just didnt know where it was and they didnt understand why I didnt have it because thier system says it was delivered to Augusta Main (wrong airport) I call down to augusta maine and no bag so I call Iberia back. They will send another email. Day 9 I am trying to see what I can do to get compensated for my things. They give me more runaround. When low and behold they call me fro boston and tell me they have my bag and confirm address and phone number (the same one they just called) to make sure it is current. It still takes more than 24 hours for my bag to show up. I go to the airport to pick up my bag cuz at this point I am done waiting and I dont want one more set of hands on my bag. I have things missing. When I checked in for my flight in Frankfurt I had my bag wrapped so nothing would happen and now there is no wrap and half of my computer stuff is missing and all my pictures from my trip are gone. I cant even get them back. I intend on making a formal complait but so far it has been difficult to get anything from Iberia! I WILL NEVER EVER AGAIN FLY IBERIA EVER!!

Our flight from Venice got delayed by Iberia Airlines by two hours due to their fault (instead of 2:20 pm, we arrived around 4:20 pm). As a result, we arrived in Madrid 20 minutes before our connecting flight to Washington, rushed to the gate only to be told that our flight had left (we were only 10 minutes late at the gate). And although their own plane was late, they did not wait for people to catch the connecting flight (there were seven us who missed the flight to DC: an American couple (let’s call them the Smiths), three Italian guys and the two of us). We just could not believe that the airline would do this to its passengers, but our nightmare of discovering how evil Iberia is was just starting.

We all rushed to the Iberia customer service counter hoping to catch a flight some place in the States that day. Out of 5 people that were behind the counter, only one was pretending to help us. Of course, we asked why they let our plane go, well knowing that there are people who are late from their connecting flights. Their response was that they only wait for big groups (bullshit, our flight from Madrid to Paris was delayed by 40 minutes because we were waiting for 4 people; we saw the flight to NY delayed for 6 people). As we discovered later, Iberia has a tendency to oversell their flights, so they probably did not wait for us because they gave up our seats.

Anyway, back to my story. So this one Iberia employee was trying to help the couple in front us and we saw the line behind us growing. The other employees looked like they were surfing the web, not even looking up from their computers. Wayne (my husband) started snapping up pictures with his IPhone of the employees doing nothing and only then we got their attention. Their suggestion was for us to spend the night in Madrid and then catch a flight to Boston the next day and then to Washington DC (there were no direct Iberia flights to Washington until the next week). While waiting in line, I went on a travel website and pulled information on a few available flights out of Madrid for the next day through different carriers (one of them was United Airlines). We brought this up with the Iberia employee and he said that it’s impossible for them to book us on this flight. We kept insisting and he finally said that we should go to the Iberia Tickets Sales Office and they will be able to do it (turns out it was a complete lie and these people said this just to get rid of us). But before we could get to the Tickets Sales Office, we needed to retrieve our luggage. That took us additional 30-40 minutes because we could not find anyone behind the Iberia luggage counter and had to go to different information desks to get an idea where to pick up our luggage.

When we finally made it to the Tickets Sales Office, the Smiths were told that their only option is to take the flight to NY the next day and then to Washington and they accepted this offer without a fight. The Italians were put on a flight to Amsterdam and then to their final destination - LA. So all of our travel companions were gone within an hour with their boarding passes in hand. We were not that lucky. My husband kept standing by the Iberia counter for 2.5 hours! I was waiting with our luggage further away, so I could not see or hear what was going on. As I later found out, Wayne was trying to get us on a direct United flight back home the next day, but an Iberia employee kept telling him she doesn’t see that flight in her system. She kept leading him on pretending she was trying to book us on that flight and then finally said she had to give up because it was not possible (yet, another lie). So Wayne, tired and worn out, after 2.5 hours of standing on his feet agreed to take the flight to Boston the next day and then to Washington from there. He came back with a voucher for the hotel and a voucher for the flight. The Iberia employee suggested checking in that night for tomorrow’s flight to Boston.

We took her advice and went to the Iberia check-in counter and after waiting in line, the employee said that the flight was actually full, but he thought we could get our seats assigned in the morning and advised us to come back then (the flight was leaving at 2 pm). I guess our brain or the sixth sense wasn’t working at that point because of the extreme fatigue. So we believed this guy and left the airport to look for a shuttle bus that would take us to the hotel that Iberia issued us a voucher for.

We were standing outside the airport and kept waiting and waiting for the bus… 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 40 minutes. All other hotel shuttles buses already came and went at least three times. Finally, after almost an hour of wait, out hotel shuttle showed up and quite a large crowd of people rushed in to take their seats (I guess Iberia messed up many other people flights that day). We got the hotel, checked in rather quickly, brought our bags to the room (which was quite decent I must say) and went to have dinner (it was already 9:30 pm). We ran into the Smiths in the cafeteria (I cannot call it a restaurant since the meal setup was a buffet style) and we all commiserated about the unfortunate outcome of our vacations (also, plus the fact that because of the Iberia Airlines, Wayne and I were going to miss our friends’ wedding, which was the reason we were coming back home on Friday instead of Saturday or Sunday). After a modest, but satisfying meal, we went to the room and crashed after a day of an ordeal and emotional distress.

The next day, right after breakfast we rushed to the airport confident that we would be sleeping at home that night. The Iberia employee at the check-in counter got a puzzled look on her face when she saw our tickets (basically whoever gave us that voucher made a mistake by giving us standby tickets), but she again reassured us that there would be open seats and to go ahead check our luggage and go to the gate, where our seats would be assigned (she spoke to a supervisor on the phone and apparently that’s what the supervisor told her). We again chose to believe this woman and went with her suggestion.

After a lengthy wait (no gate was assigned until 30 minutes before the flight departure), we rushed to the gate only to be told that the flight was full and there’s no way we could get on this flight (??). We decided to wait irregardless (What if?). We saw a few other passengers waiting on standby. After everyone boarded, Iberia started calling people (looked like Spanish nationals) and giving them boarding passes. Then quickly they closed the gate without even a word to us. We noticed three other people (a married couple and an 85-year old woman) who were waiting with us and I started talking to them. Turns out they had ASSIGNED seats for this flight and their seats were given away, probably to those Spanish nationals.

We all went to the Iberia customer service (what an irony to call it “customer service”) trying to get on the next flight, which was a 5 pm flight to NY. An Iberia employee started looking for a connecting flight for us and finally said that she couldn’t find one and our only option was to stay another day in Madrid and take the next day flight to Boston. At that point I said that there was no way I was staying another day in Madrid to get kicked out again from the next day flight and told her to give us whatever she could find for today. Under this pressure, she gave us boarding passes to the NY flight and then a voucher for a connecting flight on United airlines from NY to Washington (and here’s the trick - the connection time was only 30 minutes, but I hoped that once we are in the States we could always catch a later flight with this voucher). Relieved, we went and had an awful lunch (I thought it was Spain and food was supposed to be good?), and after another 2 hour wait, went to the gate where we ran into the Smiths and shared a laugh that we were bad luck carriers and they better watch out.

We finally boarded, all excited to leave Madrid and to be on our way home, still hoping to sleep in our bed that night. Although we were told that they gave us the last two seats (middle seats that were not even together) because the flight was full, when the cabin door got closed we saw people spreading out because there WERE open seats. So, another lie they told us. After sitting and waiting for approximately 30 minutes, the captain announced that because it’s Saturday, they have only one runway open (if you were in Madrid airport, your know it’s triple the size of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, so it’s ridiculous to have only one runway open). Because of this, we were number 77 (!) for departure, which meant a 2-hour delay. When we finally took off, the flight was miserable, cold, served by unfriendly flight attendants (who did not even apologized when they ran out of an entrée of our choice). The food was disappointing, but at least the wine was good.

Arrival to NY was delayed by 2 hours since we took off late (we arrived around 9:15 pm). After we went through passport control and received our luggage (to my surprise, it made to NY), Iberia employees informed us that there were no more flights to Washington that night and we had to spend the night at the hotel and take an early flight to Washington on Sunday. At that point I was livid. I wanted to take a train to Washington that night and have Iberia pay for it. Of course, they refused to do it. I wanted to go ahead and pay for tickets from our own pocket, but it was too late to catch the last train anyway, so I agreed to go sleep at the hotel.

We got our hotel voucher and took a shuttle bus to JFK International, which is called “hotel” for some reason (more on it further down). When we arrived, the line was going out of the door (I guess Iberia screwed up many people’s travel plans again). It took us one hour to check in (there was only one employee at the check-in counter). We finally get to our room and as soon as we opened the door, I regretted my decision to come and sleep at this hotel. It was the filthiest, run-down and smelliest room I’ve ever been in here in the United States. I could not believe what I saw – mold in the bathroom, ragged towels, holes in the blankets, black stains all over the carpet, A/C so loud you could not hear other person talking. But since it was too late to turn around and go look for better accommodations, plus I was simply exhausted to, we crashed and after 5 hours of restless sleep, we jumped up and left for the airport around 7 pm.

We were dropped at the Delta terminal and we were elated to be on our way home (or so we thought). A young Delta employee struggled to understand the Iberia voucher given to us. After a few attempts of calling someone, she just said we didn’t have the right information on the voucher to get our tickets on Delta (I was about to scream). She advised to go back to the Iberia counter to straighten it out. Since Iberia did so damage to us, we automatically assumed that they screwed us up again and we took a train to the Iberia terminal to sort things out. Turns out Iberia employees don’t show up to work until 2 pm, so our only option was to call their toll free number. Which we did and got no help at all. Desperate, I decided to go ahead and purchase tickets on United because I just wanted to get home. As our luck would have it, United did not have any open seats on their flights. I was crushed and started telling our miserable story to two United employees and showed them our voucher. I am glad that I did, because they took one look at it and told us that it was a valid voucher and Delta should have ticketed us with no problem. Whoever said that they could not, did not know what they were talking about.

So we again went back to Delta terminal and sure enough they were able to issue us tickets (only for a 2 pm flight since our 8:30 am flight already left). That employee who gave us a runaround was new and she did not even try to ask for help to figure out the voucher (I believe in karma and hope she will get to go through a similar experience herself one day). Finally, after waiting for 4 hours at the JFK airport, which was cold, dirty and miserable, we got on the flight and landed in Washington around 3 pm.

So overall, it took us three full days to come back home from Europe thanks to Iberia’s incompetence, lack of integrity, and unwillingness to offer any help to people who were stranded because of their fault. I want to spread the word about Iberia Airlines to as many people as I can because I don’t think ANYONE deserves to go through what we went through.

Why is it that the second leg of a flight is cancelled if the first leg is not taken? No budget airline does this.

Flying from Rio, I tried to arrange that I collect my baggage in Madrid instead of taking the second leg to Barcelona, but this would cost 195 USD! If I simply do not take the second leg (even if I have no baggage), I lose my flight from Barcelona to Rio.

I cannot see the benefit to Air Iberia to force me to sit on that second leg. They gain an extra seat to sell!! What do they want to do? Sell me more on-board drinks?

Long live the budget airlines! Death to Air Iberia!

Iberia lost my luggage flying in BOTH directions. To date I am STILL missing luggage several days after the flight. The luggage contains diabetic medications, suite, clothing etc. Iberia has no NY office - when you call you get Spain and people who speak little English. THEY ARE VERY UNCOOPERATIVE. They also state to be paid any fee for the inconvenience/loss you must send them among other things a copy of your passport. Dealing with them is going no where.

MY PARTNER AND I FLEW ON IBERIA FLIGHT 0817 ON MONDAY 10TH OF AUGUST 2009.
ON ARRIVAL AT MADRID WE NOTICED AND PHOTOGRAPHED TWO HOLES IN THE FUSELAGE THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN PATCHED UP.
THERE WERE TWO OR THREE IBERIA GROUND STAFF LOOKING AT THE DAMAGE AS WE GOT OFF THE PLANE.
MY QUESTION IS, WHY WAS THIS PLANE ALLOWED TO FLY WITH PASSENGERS ON BOARD WITH A TEMPORARY REPAIR?WE FLY EVERY WEEK AND I AM VERY WORRIED ABOUT THIS INCIDENT AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A SIMILAR SITUATION REOCCURING ON IBERIA AIRLINES.HAVE IBERIA BROKEN ANY CAA LAWS AND CAN I CLAIM COMPENSATION FOR THIS INCIDENT.ANTHONY VANDEPUTTE, 406 CURA SOL 2, CALLE PAINO, PLAYA DEL CURA, MOGAN, LAS PALMAS, GRAN CANARIA35138, SPAIN TEL 34 639964794 PERSONAL EMAIL [email protected] LOOK FOWARD TO AN IMMEDIATE REPLY.