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This Iberia A330 Business Class Review is of my recent flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Madrid (MAD). I've flown this and the Madrid-Los Angeles route a few times, which is excellent value in terms of points, especially if taking advantage of one of the periodic Chase 30% transfer bonuses to British Airways Avios, which makes the 75K mile rate equivalent to only 58,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, many of them earned at 3X points per dollar with the Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus on all travel and dining, or 5X points per dollar with the rotating quarterly bonus categories of our multiple Chase Freedom Flex cards. Even better is using the British Airways Travel Together voucher from the British Airways Visa (after spending $30,000 on the card), which works not only on British Airways, but also Iberia, enabling you to bring your spouse, partner, or travel companion for free.
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Pre-Boarding
At SFO, Iberia Business Class passengers have access to the British Airways Lounge SFO. I worked there until about 10 minutes before our scheduled 5:15pm boarding time, but I shouldn't have bothered. Everyone milled around the gate area as the minutes ticked by: 5:30pm, 5:45pm, 6pm. There were no gate announcements, and when I finally one of the gate agents, she said “no idea.” Okay. Finally, just after 6pm, they started boarding us. Except not really, since we had to wait in the jet way for about 10 minutes while cleaners finished up.
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Iberia Business Class Cabin and Seat
Our A330 aircraft had 36 business class seats in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration. For solo travelers, we recommend 2A/2L, 4A/4L, and 6A/6L, since these seats are closest to the window and have the greatest privacy from the aisle. If you're a couple wanting to sit together, we recommend 3E/3G or 5E/5G, as these seats are close together with the arm rest giving both of you a buffer from the aisle, and avoid the first and last rows that are near the galleys.
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The seat itself is 26 inches wide, fairly standard for a business class seat, with the usual seat controls. Each seat had a duvet and pillow on the seat.
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The mattress pad was placed on the ottoman, which forms part of the bed when the seat is fully reclined. Below the ottoman is storage space for a small item or for shoes.
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I don't care for the placement of the power outlet and headset jack, which is awkwardly positioned near one's knees instead of the better position above the arm rest on Delta A330 Business Class, or Air France 777 Business Class.
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Iberia Business Class Menu and Food
Prior to take-off, we were offered a pre-flight drink of water or orange juice; I was getting hungry at this point, given the boarding delay, so I chose orange juice.
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We were also given menus, and soon after, the purser came around to ask our menu choice for the main course (although not the appetizer; this choice was provided on the spot, when it was being served).
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We eventually pushed back nearly half an hour after we were supposed to, and sat on the runway for awhile before takeoff. Somehow I was on the unlucky side of the aircraft, because instead of the crew working both aisles to serve pre-dinner drinks and snacks, crew started with the right hand aisle and served that entire side of the cabin, front to back, before coming up the left aisle back to front. It took extra long since drinks, snacks, and appetizer choices were being made on the spot and served together.
Famished, I asked for all three of the snack choices, but the attendant at first didn't understand me and gave me a huge serving of olives only–perhaps there had been other misunderstandings with other passengers which also increased the time spent. Once I actually had something to eat, everything was much better. I've always liked Iberia's simple but tasty snacks of olives, almonds, and cheese. Sometimes simple is best.
The other standout was the prawn salad, with plenty of crisp vegetables, a pop of flavor from the diced mango, and three large prawns. Fresh and excellent.
To go with my main, I opted for the Luis Canas Reserva Seleccion de la Familia 2019 Rioja, which was intense and round, a perfect accompaniment for the beef I ordered.
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There was also a choice of warm breads offered; I chose a brown bread. Olive oil and butter were available, but I declined.
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For my main, I chose the beef tenderloin with green bell pepper sauce and pumpkin mash. It was fine, but nothing to write home about. I liked, however, that the vegetables on the right included a bit of maitake mushroom.
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I tried the dessert, a strawberry cheesecake, which was cloyingly sweet and frankly awful: cafeteria quality. Our local bakery makes much better.
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About an hour before landing, the crew served breakfast. This was the breakfast menu:
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There was a good little fruit cup, and excellent orange juice (it seemed close to fresh squeezed, and better than the pre-departure orange juice). I chose the waffle, which, as you'd expect for something that has to be reheated, wasn't crunchy, but was tasty, especially with the berry compote. Pastries and bread were offered, but I declined given the waffle. Jam was by Bonne Maman.
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Iberia Business Class Sleep Quality
We like that the footwell area, while narrow, provides a bit more space in flat bed mode, than say Qatar Qsuites, which we find very confining and awkward due to the tray table right above it. Iberia does provide a fabric mattress pad to put over the seat, but don't get too excited; it has no cushion to it, unlike the memory foam pad the JAL Business Class uses. It was so uncomfortable this time that I was very glad to have brought my inflatable mattress pad with me. I still didn't sleep that well, but I definitely got better quality rest than I would have without it.
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The Verdict
International Business Class is mainly about being able to lie flat; you can't expect too much in terms of food and service, especially if you're not flying a top Asian airline such as Singapore Airlines or JAL. I've flown Iberia Business Class a number of times, so I knew what to expect. Highlights for this particular flight were the warm welcome by the flight crew, arriving at the destination 20 minutes early despite our late departure, the relative privacy of the window seat (2A), the excellent prawn appetizer, and the very fresh orange juice served at breakfast. Challenges were the delayed boarding (with no information provided by the gate agents), the rather long wait for a drink/appetizers once airborne, the uncomfortable flat bed (thankfully I had my own mattress pad), and the rather messy lavatory.
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