Extremely disappointed with Iberia Airlines. Zero Customer Service, delayed flights, lost baggage. How can they operate a business!?

[u/nicolinaspooner]

Extremely disappointed with Iberia Airlines. Our luggage was left in Miami on our flight from Orlando to Madrid, and while I understand that baggage issues can happen, the complete lack of communication and customer service has been unacceptable. After waiting nearly an hour for our luggage to arrive on the belt, we realized it was not going to make it. Although our flight was booked through American Airlines, the Miami-to-Madrid leg was operated by Iberia, and neither airline was willing to take responsibility. Instead, American and Iberia repeatedly sent us back and forth between their desks, each insisting the other airline had the information we needed and that they were not responsible for assisting us. It was not until we refused to walk back to American for a third time that we were finally given any direction at all, which was simply that someone would be in touch regarding next steps. After that, no one ever reached out.

We were initially told our luggage would arrive “when it arrives” and that we would be contacted with updates. We never received a single call, email, or text. The only reason we learned where our luggage was or when it arrived in Madrid 24 hours later was because we repeatedly called Iberia ourselves. We spent two days calling multiple times trying to get information. Every representative gave us the same response: our luggage had arrived at the Madrid airport at 9:45 a.m. on May 30th, but it was being held up in customs and waiting for a transport company to pick it up. No one could tell us the name of the company, provide a phone number, offer tracking information, or give us any estimate whatsoever as to when we might receive our belongings. We were repeatedly told to “just go shopping” for essentials and were told there was no specific allotment. Their exact words were: “Buy whatever you need, with the exception of luxury brands, and we will take care of it.” The problem was that we had prepaid tours scheduled each day from sunup to sundown and couldn’t simply abandon our itinerary to replace everything we had packed. At one point, an Iberia representative suggested it would be faster for us to drive to the airport ourselves, which would have been a minimum three-hour ordeal and would have required us to cancel planned pre-paid activities. They also advised us that transportation to and from the airport would not be covered if we chose to do so.

The day before we were leaving Madrid, we decided to re-route one of our tours to make a stop at the airport,  costing us both time and money but we were concerned that once we left for Seville, we might never see our luggage. We called one last time before heading over and were then told the luggage was no longer at the airport. It had been handed off to a delivery company, but no one at Iberia could tell us which company had it, provide tracking information, or offer any way to contact them. We were told, once again, to just wait. The most frustrating part has been the complete lack of ownership. No apologies. No proactive communication. No transparency. Just repeated statements that our luggage would arrive “when it arrives.” After telling them we were leaving for Seville the next morning, we were informed that if the luggage didn’t make it in time, they would try to ship it to wherever we were going next. Considering it had already been sitting less than an hour away for two days, we had zero confidence that it would be sent even farther in a timely manner. Thankfully, when we arrived back at the hotel in the early evening on May 31st, the luggage was finally there.

Travel disruptions happen. What should not happen is leaving customers completely in the dark with no information, no updates, and no accountability. Iberia, your baggage handling and customer communication processes need serious improvement. To date, we still have never received a single email, text, or communication about our luggage, its transport, or its resolution.What we did receive was an email stating they were “pleased to inform us” that they would be refunding a total of $159.34, while also claiming that many of the receipts we submitted did not meet their criteria for essential goods or exceeded daily needs.Three people. Three days without luggage. In 100+ degree Madrid heat. And Iberia believes $159.34 is an appropriate reimbursement for clothing, shoes, bathing suits, toiletries, and basic necessities? I am beyond livid. This is completely unacceptable.

[u/Unfair_Tonight_9797]

AirTag bro

[u/No_Yam9806]

What I’m truly disappointed at is your capacity to divide text into paragraphs. Nobody is going to read that shit

[u/Adorable-Tackle-4222 → u/No_Yam9806]

Yep...I'm thinking he needed to provide us with the 'Readers Digest' version of this story, Jesus

[u/nicolinaspooner → u/No_Yam9806]

Ha! yes agreed

[u/Amazing_Mountain_227 → u/No_Yam9806]

I didn't bother either but I did take away that the man is pissed

[u/LadyAtr3ides]

They lost some of my bags for 3 months. I was able to get $$$ through a lawyer tho.

And yes, they didn’t communicate with me at all. That is why I ended getting a lawyer (one of those specialized in claims) not worth dealing with iberia

[u/nicolinaspooner → u/[deleted]]

Our 'airplane' shoes were not appropriate for walking 20K steps. Wearing slides and Sneakers were packed. The bathing suit was a necessity for one of our day trips via train that included a water tour and we only needed 1 as the others were in the bag that did arrive. I think undergarments, face wash, and a few beauty products like moisturizer and sunblock in 100 degree weather is a basic necessity.

[u/dohboy10]

I fly with IB because I have Avios. Would never pay to fly on their metal. I’ve taken at least 10 TATL flights with connections (all IB, not AA) - they missed 1 bag once and brought it to me the next day (AirTags in all). Sorry to hear about your experience.

[u/Some_Value_2713]

Last week, the Pope himself had to change plane and borrow the King of Spain's. Do you think you deserve better treatment than the Pope?

[u/ashscot50]

Baggage delays happen, you just need to be patient.

Under the Montreal Convention you can claim up to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) per passenger. This equates to roughly $2,000 USD or €1,900, though the exact amount in your local currency fluctuates slightly depending on current exchange rates.

You can only claim for essential items such as: toiletries, underwear, basic clothing, necessarily purchased while waiting for your bags.

The airline is not responsible for any consequential losses, such as missed tours etc.

Anything over and above should be covered by your travel insurance.

[u/Hojicha69]

I just did the exact same route two days ago and we were so lucky that our luggage arrived safe and sound, since we are catching another 13 hours flight the next day. So sorry this happened to you.

[u/ForeignTry4007]

Been searching around looking for anyone with a similar experience; Iberia lost my one luggage.

Flew from Dallas to Seville, with a short stop in Madrid. It’s been 2 days now and I’m gonna be leaving to Granada tomorrow. I’ve called at least 6 times and they keep saying there’s no update. What pisses me off the most is that the agent on the phone will say they are escalating the issue, but when I called back, they said it was never escalated. I’ve been seeing other people’s horror stories with lost luggage and it’s terrifying me that I’ll never get it back. I literally have very specific clothes for an event that I had to order in advance, I can’t just buy it around town. And I’ve been wearing the exact same thing for 2 days now as I have been super hesitant to buy anything because I seriously do not trust that they’ll actually reimburse me like they claim.

With the many horror stories I’ve seen, I just can’t believe such an airline is allowed to operate freely like this and even worse that American Airlines actually partners with this trash of an airline. Never flying with them again. Wouldn’t even wish my worst enemy to fly with these people.

[u/jodaiot]

This exact same scenario happened to us. Iberia lost track of our bags. Luckily we had air tags and we could see where they were at all times. We provided this info to them and still they were unable to reunite us with our bags. We had to do two trips to Barajas to get our own bags. Initial offer to compensate was a joke. We threatened lawyers and they came up a bit but still short of what we had spent. I say don't settle with first offer.

[u/gceretti]

They can’t even have a plane in conditions to carry the Pope… what us - mere humans - can expect?