Iberia online booking system Error with Names, Surnames, duplicate surnames !!!

I just flew Iberia this month for the first time - two flights, both short, from Madrid to Lisbon and from Porto back to Madrid. Both were on time, no flight issues - but otherwise, I was not thrilled with my experiences. My coach seat on the first flight was the most cramped I've ever sat in - my knees were jammed into the back of the seat in front of me - even before the guy in that seat decided to try to lean back! This seat made my Southwest AIrlines flights in the US seem like first class.

On the second flight (an AA award flight), I got what must have been an "economy comfort" seat by mistake. When I was about to board, I was told I had to wait, "Because someone else is sitting in your seat." (How could their reservation system assign two people to the same seat???) No explanation was given, but finally I was able to board and take my seat. I deduced that they were trying to sell m seat to someone else as an upgrade and make me take one of the regular "cramped" seats instead, but no one paid, so I got it. It was indeed roomier than the first flight's seat.

I also got hassled about checking my carry-on bag (which fits vertically in their overhead bin) on both flights. I thought that by flying a "one world" airline partnering with AA etc. that I wouldn't have to deal with this crap - something I would have expected with a "budget" airline like RyanAir or easyJet. Other European airlines haven't hassled me about checking this same bag. I'm lucky one of the agents let me carry it on the second flight, even though it didn't quite fit in their "check bag bin" - another agent made the guy in front of my check his! Because it wasn't checked to destination, it would have had to have been retrieved in Madrid - and I likely would not have made my connecting flight home.

Iberia's Android app is awful - I kept getting errors using it (try again!), and I was unable to check in for my international flight home (because my first leg was on Iberia, AA, required me to check in with Iberia). I kept getting an error "Check document country of issue" but there were no errors as far as I could tell. Turns out they need you to put something in the Visa fields (even if you have no Visa - as US citizens don't need one for an under-90-day visit). I put a "0" for the Visa number and fake dates - and that worked! (Thanks, Flyertalk.) What a PITA! Had I not figured this out, I would have had to have gotten up 30 minutes earlier to get to the airport to check in there.

I hope never to fly Iberia again if I can avoid them. Good luck getting your ticket resolved! Consider disputing their airfare charge with your credit card if it's not too late.

Booked a trip via Delta.com with a segment of it being on Iberia and changing in Madrid. BIG mistake - it was a nightmare.

Yep, Iberias online system is antiquated, needs a total remodel, as you say the android app is rubbish!
Good advice to know about putting a '0' (or any of their number) ? in the 'document field' however, we really shouldn't have to "OUT SMART" the system, in order to obtain/ download/ print our own Purchased tickets,- !!!!!!
I almost wonder if they Fail to fix this 'error ridden booking system ' because it actually plays to their advantage, yes they receive revenue, by letting the system errors occur, thus we the passengers, have to call their customer service centers on the 020 number : When calling from a landline, calls to 020 numbers U.K. can cost up to 10p per minute, dependent on the time of day, and there is usually also a call set-up fee / When calling from mobile phones, calls to these numbers cost between 10p and 40p per minute.
And lastly, if they fail to accept responsibility, as in my case, for online system errors on your booking, You have no alternative but to BUY a new ticket,( big revenue earner ) I guess!! These issues ONLY GOES TO SHOW a Blatant disregard for THEIR customers, They HIGHLIGHT the ANTIQUATED online BOOKING SYSTEM , , or even worse, I could surmise , from this evidence , that they are CHOOSING not to FIX issues , WHICH CAN BE GREAT REVENUE EARNERS,!
BE VERY CAREFUL AND CHECK YOUR BOOKINGS AS SOON AS YOU HAVE PURCHASED, CHECK YOUR EMAIL CONFIRMATION AND BETTER YET, TAKE A SNAP SHOT OF YOUR BOOKING , SO YOU CAN PROVE IF NEEDS BE THAT THERE SYSTEM IS AT FAULT, GOOD LUCK

I'm not disputing anyone else's problems and issues with Iberia, but I can say I flew them in May 2017 (JFK to MAD to BIQ, and BIO to MAD to JFK) with no issues. I was even able to get my boarding passes sent to my phone as JPG's and PDF's, and these worked fine on my return. I did have to pay for seat selection, but my seat was not different from any other coach seat. And my 21 inch bag had to be gate checked on my MAD to BIQ flight, but so did EVERYONE's bag that was bigger than a personal item, as the jet had such small overhead bins. On all the other segments, my 21 inch bag and personal item were carried on with no issues, and fit in the overhead bins fine.

In fact, given that this was my infamous Basque Country trip, I can say that I wished the actual trip was as un-problematic as the flights!

Harold, I'm glad you had no problems with your Iberia flights. I can well understand why they would insist on gate checking bigger bags if the plane's overhead bins were too small for the bags, but my planes were Airbus A319s (3x3 seating), and my bag fit fine vertically in the overhead bin. On my first flight, MAD to LIS, they did insist everyone gate check any bag that wasn't a personal item or not really small. I went along with that (as Lisbon was my destination and I wasn't in a huge hurry), but on board I simply put my big camera bag (my personal item) up in the overhead bin where my other bag would have been, instead of under the seat in front of me. It didn't use the space efficiently in the bin, so it took about as much space as my little bag would have taken. (But I did have a tiny bit more leg room!)

As the saying goes: I had a choice when choosing to fly Iberia, and I could have chosen either TAP or easyJet. Iberia was more expensive than either of them - their flight got me in earlier, but the bag being checked cost me about a half hour, partly negating the earlier arrival vs. the TAP flight. (Where I could have paid for the option to carry a bag on - still cheaper than the Iberia flight was.) I thought it was worth paying a little more for a "One World" partner airline and wouldn't have to deal with this gate check nonsense. Live and learn.

And there's really no excuse for their app and check-in problems. I got boarding passes on my phone too - only after I figured out the "Visa 0" trick. That's not a new problem - the first Flyertalk mention of this is from 2015!!! And still not fixed. Unbelievable!

I just had this happen to me with my Iberia Avios booking. Worst part of it is it is not on Iberia metal (on AA metal), meaning there is no way to cancel/re-book the flight.

Iberia told me that the airline can do it during check in, but the AA CS team told me it could be a problem because it is an international, rather than domestic, flight. is firstname lastname lastname going to keep me from getting on my flight?

Anyone know what I can do??

They are very familiar in Spain with tickets with a name in the form of say John Smith Smith really being for just John Smith and take no notice of it. Whether this is the case with the non Spanish AA, I am less sure.

I believe at one time the Iberia website in English just referred to 'second name' which led to more issues with non Spanish that the current 'second surname'.

As this is an Avios booking I would check up how the name is given in the Iberia Plus profile.

Thanks, Marco. I have been given conflicting responses by AA and Iberia about this but have spoken with a few people who have had this exact same or very similar issues. One person said he missed his flight after AA and Iberia were unable to figure out a solution at the airport (after getting both companies on the phone for 3 hours), another said AA told him to just show up extra early and they'd get it sorted out, and a third person said they called Iberia's English line in Spain and got them to change it on his 6th call. I'm going to try that, as you both seemed to indicate they have more knowledge of the issue over there.

Now y'all are just scaring me.

I'm researching one-way nonstop flights from Madrid to Amsterdam in June. Iberia Express seems to be the best option.

I did try looking at the website and could not get it to take any input from my Android tablet.

For those of you who were successful, did you make your reservations using a PC?

There is a mobile version of the website which comes up by default if I use the phone, but appears to be in Spanish. There is also an app which has recently been upgraded.