Review: Iberia Business Class DFW to Madrid

Back in March, when my daughter and I flew on TAP Air Portugal from Chicago to Lisbon, my husband and son flew on Iberia business class to Madrid. My son said the flight was just “ok” and not as good as our experience on business class on Air France. Geez, spoiled much?

Well, a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try Iberia business class myself with my daughter on the way to Europe. We had a very pleasant flight!

Booking Iberia Business Class

I booked these award seats almost one year in advance. Iberia typically only releases 2 business class award seats per flight from Dallas. I paid 42,500 Avios plus $129 in taxes for each ticket. That’s actually a great price for business class award tickets. Our date is considered off-peak for Iberia.

I transferred miles from my Capital One Venture X card and points from my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to Iberia Avios to make the booking.

Pre-Flight Airport Experience

My daughter and I weren’t checking any bags, but we still had to stop by the Iberia counter for a passport check. That only took a minute, and then we whisked through security to check out the American Airlines Flagship Lounge. We had access to this lounge because of our Iberia business class tickets. I had some high expectations for this lounge since my husband told me it was so much better than the Capital One Lounge that we usually go to in Terminal D.

Well, he may have over-hyped the lounge a bit. It did have a lot more seating than the Capital One Lounge:

And it had a TV room:

And a relaxation room:

But honestly, the food was a bit disappointing. During the time we were there, the trays were running on empty and didn’t have any food that really tempted me.

The best food were the desserts, but those were snatched up quickly:

But no matter, we were going to get dinner on the plane in a few hours. We just sat and chilled for a bit.

And we saw this amazing sunset from the lounge:

Bottom Line: I no longer have FOMO by going to the Capital One Lounge instead of the AA Flagship Lounge.

Boarding and Seat on Iberia Business Class

I was excited to see our plane, an Airbus A330, ready for us at the gate:

We were in the first group to board. I had chosen seats 6L and 8L for us because they are closer to the window and have more privacy from the aisle.

Seat 8L:

Our seats had two pillows, a blanket, noise-cancelling headphones and an amenity kit already set out.

I had plenty of room to stretch out and store my backpack, blanket and pillow. The seat reclined to a flat bed, and I was able to move my backpack to the left of my bed while I slept. The screen is not adjustable, but that didn’t bother me.

The tray table folded down but could also be moved toward the screen so that I could easily get out of my seat with food still on my tray.

To my left, my seat had the screen remote control, the seat control, an armrest and a small storage compartment below the arm rest. Also note how across the aisle was storage for the flight attendants. Seat 8L was very private!

The amenity kit had the usual components: Toothbrush/toothpaste, lotion, ear plugs, eye mask, socks, comb/brush, water spritzer for the face.

My daughter enjoyed seat 6L:

Although the cabin was a bit warm for my taste, I brought a personal travel fan that I was able to prop on the arm rest to blow on my face while in the lie-flat position. I managed to sleep for about 5 hours!

Food on Iberia Business Class

Soon after departure, flight attendants handed out the menu:

I didn’t love the appetizer:

But the ravioli with pumpkin sauce was delicious!

For dessert I had “chocolate cake”, which was really more like pies/tarts:

There were probably snacks served between dinner and breakfast, but I slept right through it!

Breakfast was served about 90 minutes before we landed in Madrid. I had an omelet.

I always have low expectations for food on airplanes. Iberia’s business class food was decent for airplane food, but of course it wasn’t great compared to non-airplane food.

Overall Thoughts on Iberia Business Class

Flying on Iberia business class from DFW to MAD was a relaxing, pampering experience. It was a great way to start our weeks-long trip to Europe. A few months ago, I also had a great experience flying in Iberia premium economy cabin on the reverse flight. Both are a great value using miles and points, and flying on Iberia from the East Coast and Chicago is even cheaper on miles. Iberia business and premium economy award flights are definitely on the top of my list for flying to and from Europe in comfort.