My daughter and I are planning an overseas (US origin) trip next May. Searching for fares, I find consistently that Iberia is $200 per ticket less (about 13%) than the cheapest alternative. I want to know if it’s cheaper because it is an abysmal flying experience (more abysmal than your typical airline) or just because the economy of Spain is in the toilet and they want the business.
If we’re in for a hell flight (or 4), the extra $400 won’t kill us to avoid it. If it’s no worse than any other transatlantic flying tin can, we can use the savings to have nicer dinners while we’re at the destination.
At just about any time, there is usually one international airline that is undercutting all other on trans-Atlantic flights. I guess this year it is Iberia’s turn. A few months ago, there were very low fares on Turkish, and on Air Berlin. My wife flew on Turkish at a bargain fare, and everything about the flight was excellent. Including the free 20-hour stopover in a very nice Istanbul hotel.
Spaniard here. I have flown with Iberia many times. They are OK; there is nothing particularly worthy of mention regarding “really good” or “really bad” things. Besides, in 2010 they merged with British Airways (although keeping their own brand name), so now Iberia is basically “BA - The Return of BA”, or something.
Last time Iberia had an accident with fatalities was 1985. Their safety record is quite good, their comfort is OK (not worse than any other airline in my experience), and the fleet is all right.
There is only one caveat: They have an unfortunate tendency to be late. It is not that every flight will be late, but they tend to have a higher-than-average amount of late flights. Nothing particularly egregious, but if you have a connection, and the time between flights is a bit tight, I would suggest finding a somewhat later connecting flight to make sure you catch it.