By Rita R. Robison
On my trip back from Madrid, American Airlines gave me good customer service, but I had problems with Iberia.
My best consumer experience: Good seats from American
Since I have respiratory problems, I need to sit by the window in front of the wing.
American Airlines usually does a good job helping me with this. A request is placed with its Special Needs Department, and a few days before the flight, the seats are assigned.
I got the seats I needed for my flight to Madrid. For the return trip, a seat was arranged from Chicago to Seattle.
My worst consumer experience: Trying to get assistance from Iberia Airlines
One leg of my trip was on Iberia Airlines, even though I purchased an American Airlines ticket.
American told me it couldn’t assign me a seat on the Iberia flight, and I should call Iberia a few days before my departure.
I called five times and received several different answers. One was they couldn’t assign me a seat because I didn’t have an Iberia record locater number. I called American to get that number. When I called Iberia with it, they said it was only five digits and needed to be six. I was extremely upset.
Another answer was to call 24 hours before my flight. A customer service representative said Iberia doesn’t make any seat assignments until then. So I tried that. However, Iberia still couldn’t assign me a seat.
I called American again. Apparently, within 24-hours of a flight, American can make seat assignments on an Iberia segment. I was able to get the seat I needed.
