How I got a flat bed on my Iberia flight from Madrid to London

A few days ago I reviewed my Iberia Express flight from London Gatwick to Madrid. My conclusion was that business class on Iberia Express is, in most areas, surprisingly good. You shouldn’t be put off by any image you have of the airline as a low cost carrier.

On my way back from Madrid I did even better – I had a flat bed.

For cargo reasons, both Finnair and Iberia run long haul aircraft on selected daily flights to London Heathrow. For Iberia this is usually a mid afternoon service from Madrid which returns as an evening flight from Heathrow.

A serendipitous side effect of this cargo-driven decision is that anyone on these flights will enjoy the pleasures of a long haul cabin – in this case, flat bed seats in business class and seatback entertainment if flying in economy.

It is only the aircraft itself that changes. Everything else remains the same – you get the same food service as you would on any other British Airways or Iberia London-Madrid flight and you don’t get an amenity kit or bedding.

How to book an Iberia A350 from Madrid to London

You can currently find long haul aircraft, looking at a random July date, on IB721 (15.45 from Madrid), returning as IB722 (18.45 from Heathrow).

If booking with Avios the cost via ba.com is 12,750 Avios one way, off peak. Taxes and charges are £60 one way FROM Heathrow and £24 one way TO Heathrow. There is no price difference to booking a standard aircraft.

On ba.com, these aircraft show a blank space next to ‘Aircraft type:’ if it is scheduled as an A350 (an A330 would show, oddly). if you click the flight number during booking. Iberia.com correctly shows the aircraft type if you want to double check over there.

(Note that, contractually, Iberia is not obliged to put you on a long haul aircraft. If your aircraft was swapped to a standard short haul aircraft then you have no grounds for compensation. Because of the cargo requirement, however, this is unlikely to happen. An Avios booking would also be refundable.)

Iberia business class on an A330

I started the trip with a visit to the lounge. Rhys wrote a review of Iberia’s Velazquez lounge here so I won’t repeat it, but it is a pleasant place to visit.

All I WILL say is that you need to remember that the entrance is INSIDE the duty free shop. If you usually put your head down and charge through the duty free maze at a brisk pace then you may well miss it, even though it is bright red.

I’m not going to focus on the aircraft I flew, because it’s not the one you will get.

Iberia typically puts an A350 on Heathrow to/from Madrid. However, the aircraft operating my flight had a mechanical issue and we were moved to an A330-200.

If you get one of the older A350 aircraft then you will have an identical seat to mine. If you get one of the newer A350 aircraft then you will get the ‘next generation’ seat which is better than I received.

The ‘Next’ new look A350 Iberia business class seat is reviewed here.

Whilst this is NOT a detailed seat review, here a few pictures of my seat:

Iberia went for a colour scheme of beige-greys, although this is lightened with the bright red in-flight entertainment screens when you board:

Seats in the business class cabin are arranged in a 1-2-1 layout with direct aisle access for everyone. This is the Stelia Solstys seat which has a staggered configuration resulting in alternating rows of seats.

In the middle pairs you can choose between two seats side-by-side or two seats separated by the side tables, whilst window seats in A, C and J are either next to the window or next to the aisle (A seats and odd numbered J seats are adjacent to the window with the side table on the aisle side.)

This is an A350 picture showing a middle pair where the seat is next to the aisle:

Whilst this might be a shorthaul flight the inflight entertainment was still activated and headphones are provided. Given the short flight time I did not use it.

Food on Iberia short haul

Although I was flying on a long haul aircraft the food is the same as any other Iberia flight between London and Madrid.

The meal is served in one go, as is customary for short haul flights – you don’t get a drink before take-off or any other things you might expect on a long haul flight.

The menu was:

• marinated anchovy accompanied with Tudela lettuce hearts and sun-dried tomatoes

• a choice of roasted pork fillet on a red wine sauce or handmade gnocchi in a parmigiana sauce (I took the latter)

• catalan cream with crunchy sugar

…. with wine or cava on request.

It wasn’t at all bad as you can see below. It is served on a large tray rather than the mini-trays used in British Airways Club Europe:

Conclusion

If you need to fly to Madrid (or indeed Helsinki on Finnair) then choosing one of the flights serviced by a widebody aircraft is a great free upgrade versus your standard A320 flight.

If you are a new Head for Points reader who may never have flown long haul business class, this is a great way to try it out whilst working towards the Avios needed for a full long haul redemption.

Head for Points made a financial contribution to the Woodland Trust as part of this trip. The Woodland Trust creates and manages forests in the UK in accordance with the Woodland Carbon Code.