Iberia flights from Cape Town to Madrid (CPT - MAD)

We were two couples travelling together with pre-booked seats also tougher. However, at the airport at check in we learned that we had been shuffled so that we were no longer together. The check in staff couldn’t help nor could they at the gate. However, once on board, a delightful crew worked some magic and persuaded, with charm, four people to move their own seats so that my group of four could sit together. And, for a nearly 12 hour flight, the cabin crew could not have been more attentive and “awake”, maintaining their energy levels right to the end of the flight - not easy to do on a long flight. The food was ok but not great but everything else was spot on. This is in contrast to our flight out (on Iberia 6845 from Madrid to Buenos Aires on 4th Feb) where the cabin crew could not have been worse. They were sullen, unhelpful, unfriendly and totally disinterested. They just stopped short of being directly rude. It was almost a joke as in “How to be a really bad member of the crew by giving the worst possible impression of the airline.” Had it not be for the quality of the return crew neither I nor any of the rest of our group would ever have flown Iberia again.

The cabin could be a little cooler

This flight was a little better than the flight to Barcelona, due to the crew seeming warmer & offering water/drinks more than once on our 12-hour flight. However, when we checked in, we saw that our 8-yo son was seated 20+ rows away from my husband, me, and our 11yo son. We had to pay to seat him with us. That seems like a terrible policy. Kids should automatically be sat with their parents.