[tmeyvis]

I can't agree more. This airline has just given me the worst airline experience ever (and I fly a lot) & on every possible dimension, so there's no way this is an isolated situation. Avoid at all cost!!!

I was supposed to fly from Brussels to JFK through Madrid. Here is what happened:

1. They cancelled my flight from Brussels to Madrid, so I would have to take the next flight, 2 hours later. This implied that I would miss my connection in Madrid to JFK, so I made sure they booked me on the next flight from Madrid to JFK & I got a printout of that booking as proof just in case.

2. The next flight (scheduled for 2 hours later) was delayed for another 2 hours (even though they kept saying they would start booking in 5 mins -- for about 2 hours), so now I only had 40 mins in Madrid to get to the next JFK flight. This turns out to be hard, because I had to go to a different part of the IBERIA terminal which involved waiting almost 10 mins for a train to that part.

3. I rushed to the gate where I was told extremely rudely that I was not booked on that flight. I tried to show the printout from Brussels, but they refused to look at it, saying "I don't care what they told you in Brussels, you are not on this flight. And there is no more space at all available on this flight, so you'll have to take tomorrow's flight." They mostly tried to ignore me, but when I got their attention again, they made it seem that everything was my fault. This obviously made me quite upset and I pointed out to them that it was not my decision to cancel the flight, delay the next one, and make the re-booking disappear (since I'm not the one working for Iberia). Finally, a higher ranking employee appeared who said that, yes, I could go on this flight (without checking anything - so she knew there was a seat available even though the other employees had told me the flight was absolutely full). However, my luggage would not be on this flight, but would come with the next day's flight and they would deliver it to me. That was ok with me - better than having to stay over in Madrid.

4. Now, I'm back in New York, it's 36 hours later and I still don't have my luggage - even though I filed a missing baggage report as soon as I landed in New York. I have tried to contact them, but after having been put on hold for 15 mins, a woman in Spain told me that she cannot say anything about my luggage (which is supposed to have arrived on today's flight) until Sunday morning (which is 2 days from now). Apparently, "it takes 3 to 5 days for international flights". I don't know what takes 3 to 5 days or why it takes 3 to 5 days (I was told that I would have my luggage today) since she hung up immediately after I said "please don't hang up, I have a question." I then tried to call back, but she refused to talk to me because she already talked to me earlier.

To be continued...

Bottom line: Do not EVER fly this airline.

(I did not even mention the outdated cabins that are literally falling apart, the extremely unfriendly flight attendants, or the terrible food...)