Premium Travel Insider has added our newest business class airline: Iberia. Based out of Spain, Iberia is known for often having cheap business class paid fares as well as good saver availability. Despite some mixed reviews, the good value may make this a good airline for traveling to Spain or connecting further into Europe. Read on to learn more about our new Iberia business class reviews and what you can expect.
As a reminder, Premium Travel Insider aggregates reviews from around the web and scores them on a 1-3 scale. A 3 indicates that a given category exceeded reviewer expectations, a 2 indicates it met expectations, and a 1 failed to meet expectations. We evaluate a variety of categories, the most important of which we call the “Big 5” that are most important to a premium travel experience: seat, food, drink, service, and in flight entertainment. You can learn more about our methodology here.
The Top Line
According to our new Iberia business class reviews, the airline scored a 2.19/3 overall, which is just about at the “Good” level, with the “Big 5” scoring an acceptable 2.03/3. This is a fairly big discrepancy between the overall experience and the Big 5, meaning that while reviewers enjoyed an overall good flight, you may be underwhelmed by individual aspects of the service. This is further backed up by the below-average scores for food and IFE, two critical components of the “Big 5.” Our initial batch of Iberia reviews include 13 reviews from eight different sites, and an overall “level of detail” score of 2.38/3. This means we have high confidence in these reviews due to the large number available and the generally high-quality nature of the reviews.
What’s Great
Nothing stood out on Iberia as being truly notable or exceptional. The service was good, scoring 2.23/3. The seat was also solid, scoring 2.08/3, but some reviewers said it felt lumpy after extended sleeping periods. Iberia features a number of local wines, Cava, and sherries, making their drink program a bit more interesting than normal, but reviewers didn’t find it to be exceptional overall, scoring 2.11/3.
What’s Not
Several categories scored in the below-average range for Iberia. These included IFE, which scored 1.89/3, driven by older aircraft with poor screens and an average show selection. Food scored 1.85/3, and was contentious. Some reviewers had acceptable or even great food, but more had food they deemed unappetizing or inedible. The lavatories, which were often reported as not clean, scored a poor 1.50/3 as a result. Bedding was also below average at 1.60/3, with reviewers noting the pillows were often quite thin.
Is Iberia business class worth flying?
Based on our new Iberia business class reviews, our verdict is that it depends. If the price is right, reviewers agree this airline’s hard product gets it right. The soft product is where things get dicey, with some reviewers having a very pleasant trip, and others having not so great experiences. If you temper expectations, and the price and timing are right, Iberia probably makes sense. If you’re looking for something more luxurious, you might consider another carrier.
Check out the full Iberia business class reviews page look at our full business class reviews for other alternatives.