Iberia Airline and/or TAP Portugal Airline

We flew Iberia from Chicago to Johannesburg via Madrid several years ago. The flight attendants were cranky, the service not that great, and more than half the flights were delayed. Oh well. The really irritating part was that we had a connecting flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town that we missed because Iberia had failed to show a correct arrival time as a result of daylight savings. They did not care, but the South African airline were fantastic in accomodating us (and several other surprised travelers). All that said, we are flying Iberia again this November from Chicago to Madrid. I guess I'm big on second chances! :)

We've flown Iberia to Spain twice: once was great, on time, friendly, all good. The other was preempted by a ground personnel strike--and a 'slow-down' by pilots to show support. Left us with an unplanned overnight on the way home...but in this economic climate, that can happen with any airline, really. We have no complaints about Iberia, and it's so darn convenient to Madrid, and from there, to Barcelona.

I've flown that route on Iberia half a dozen or so times.....no complaints.

I've flown both several times and never had a problem with either. But, as previous posters mentioned, the current economic downturn can strike at any moment.

My Spanish friend who visited here in April flew both ways on Iberia (on a codeshare with American, which he thought would be running the flight). He absolutely hated it and was very unhappy to find out that he had to return on the same airline. He said the attendants were rude and the food was terrible. I have no personal experience with them, since when I visited Spain I flew into and out of London, taking budget carriers to and from Spain from there.

If I remember correctly, the last three times I've had luggage lost have been on flights with Iberia. My experience with them is almost consistently negative, and I now am willing to pay approximately 25-30% more to fly on a different airline. On the other hand, I go out of my way to fly TAP. Friendly staff, reasonable food, and a service that may remind some of the older travellers on this board of a time when passengers were considered valued customers rather than awkwardly shaped packages. For me, there is absolutely no question which of the two airlines I'd choose.