IBERIA - Reviews and experiences

booking and the app are okay, customer service responsiveness is poor, and delivery handling needs serious improvement.

a helpful agent actually found a way to reroute us and, slowly, bits started falling into place. The real turning point — the moment I knew I was going to be okay — was when we touched down in Geneva and saw the boarding gates for our onward flight still open; that rush of relief, yeah, that was it. Staff were flustered but tried; the app was annoying, the emails confused, sure, but in the end we made it and that counted for a lot. I’m still a bit miffed about the tiny refund for airport taxes, but overall, for what I needed — making it home on schedule — it worked out. Would I use them again? Probably, with a wary eye.

I ended up on the line for about an hour, shuffled between menus and a couple of agents, and thought the check-in team would sort it on the spot. Then the claims hassle began and, yes, that was frustrating: requests for all sorts of authorizations, paperwork for my kids (even though I booked the four seats in one booking and paid on my card), and a back-and-forth that felt like it was designed to wear me down. But the turning point — the moment I knew I was satisfied — was when a clear email finally arrived saying my claim was accepted and the compensation was processed. It wasn’t immediate, and I made a few phone calls, but seeing the confirmation and the payment hit my account? That was relief, plain and simple, and I felt like it was worth the fuss in the end. Would I pick them first every time? Probably not, but I’d consider them again if the price and schedule lined up.

it wasn’t. Once on board, no one had the seats arranged and we ended up having to ask fellow passengers to shift so my companion could sit with me. Nobody from the crew stepped in to help with that or to assist me with medication when I needed it. The most frustrating bit was at the Madrid gate where an older gate agent gave me a look when I used the assistance lane — I was wearing the sunflower lanyard and still felt like I had to justify myself. Trying to get a straight answer from customer service afterwards felt pointless; replies didn't seem to read my complaint properly. On the plus side, one flight attendant later quietly handed me water and actually checked in on me, which was oddly comforting and a reminder not everyone was indifferent. So my original doubts weren’t really eased — I wouldn’t risk this again for a cheaper fare. If you have accessibility needs, double-check confirmations in writing and consider paying a bit more for an airline with a clearer reputation on assistance.

I rang to add our newborn to the return booking and asked for a bassinet. When we booked back in July they had said that wouldn’t be an issue. Fast forward, after a flight change they slapped an extra charge of about €1,800 on us and downgraded the seat to economy. That’s when customer service kicks in, and, well, it was messy: nobody would take responsibility, every agent referred me to a supervisor who never called back, and most calls ended up with an hour on hold or a dropped line. We were told in January it was their error and a refund would be issued within 21 days. It didn’t arrive on time — by mid-February it was still “under review” and I spent two hours on hold trying to speak to a supervisor. In the end the refund did come through, which I’m genuinely glad about, because this kind of overcharge would have been a real pain otherwise. So yes — delivery of the refund happened, albeit slowly, and I appreciate that it was corrected. But the whole customer service and delay experience was frustrating, disorganized, and could have been handled far better.

it wasn’t. The whole trip hit every snag you can imagine — delays, an out-of-control passenger, brusque crew, a missed connection, a long wait for help, and one checked bag that went AWOL. So yeah, it started rough. What I want to underline, though, is the tiny, messy moment when I actually felt satisfied with how things ended, even if the road there was worse than it needed to be. We left on a delayed first leg and that set the tone. Boarding started late, we didn’t leave on time, and somewhere mid-flight a passenger became disruptive. I get that it’s complicated to manage, but the way staff handled other passengers was what annoyed me — short, sharp orders to sit down, a member shouting at my husband when he only asked for a little courtesy, and no real effort to calm things down. Everyone around us looked tense, my daughter got anxious, and my husband and I were trying to keep our cool. The kids’ pre-ordered meal was messed up too; they offered a replacement and when our toddler didn’t like it they basically shrugged. “Nothing we can do,” they said. That line was repeated a few times — it became almost a joke, except it wasn’t. We arrived in Madrid late and then sat on the plane another half hour while procedures were handled for the disruptive passenger. No updates, no reassurance about people connecting to other flights. The couple of minutes of silence stretched into a missing connection. At the airport, the customer support situation felt like a bad relay race. Iberia’s people at the desk kept having to call someone else for every decision, and we ended up waiting close to three hours to be rebooked, getting meal vouchers only after pushing, and generally feeling like we were invisible unless we asked twice. Then the luggage. Two of our three checked bags showed up at baggage claim; the third was not. We stood there, made the report, explained what was inside (toddler clothes, a favourite blanket — yes, those matter), and got the standard “we’ll look for it” line. The phone calls, the forms, repeating the details over and over — it was draining. So why say I felt satisfied? It’s because of one small, human moment that changed my mood. Late that same night, after we’d set up a makeshift bed for our tired kid, there was a knock: the missing bag had been found and delivered to our hotel by a real person who apologized properly. The agent who eventually handled our case at the local desk — not the faceless outsourced call centre — took responsibility, gave a clear explanation of the delay, arranged a small reimbursement for the inconvenience and made sure the bag arrived. He wasn’t defensive, he wasn’t robotic. He listened. In that instant I felt grateful — relieved, actually — not because the trip hadn’t been a pain, but because someone turned a mess into a human fix. That was the moment I knew I was satisfied enough. Would I book with them again without hesitation? No. The system showed too many weak points: poor on-board responses, customer support that needs more authority, and the kind of indifference that makes a long trip worse. But I’m also realistic: things break, delays happen. What matters is how they’re fixed. On balance I’m thankful we got the essentials back, and I appreciated the one agent who did the right thing. That doesn’t erase the stress, but it does mean I’m ending the trip with a quieter, grateful feeling rather than just anger.