Read more from this trip – 17-days in Europe and the Middle East:

• Introduction: 17-days in Europe and the Middle East
• Finnair Business Class New York to Helsinki (JFK-HEL)
• Finnair Business Class Lounge – Helsinki (HEL)
• Finnair Business Class Helsinki to Brussels (HEL-BRU)
• Hilton Antwerp Old Town
• Iberia Dalí Premium Lounge Madrid
• Nakar Hotel – Palma de Mallorca
• Sala VIP Formentor Palma de Mallorca
• W Barcelona
• Tickets Food Review
• Royal Jordanian Crown Business Class Barcelona to Amman (BCN-AMM)
• W Amman
• Hilton Dead Sea Resort and Spa
• Royal Jordanian Crown Lounge Amman
• Hilton Tel Aviv
• Dan Lounge Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv (“TLV”)
• Iberia Business Class Tel Aviv to Madrid (TLV-MAD)
• Iberia Velázquez Premium Lounge Madrid
• American Airlines Business Class Madrid to New York (MAD-JFK)

Flight Details:

• Date of flight: August 11, 2019
• Where: Tel Aviv, Israel (“TLV”) to Madrid, Spain (“MAD”)
• Flight time: 4 hours 55 minutes
• Flight #: IB3317
• Seat: 3G
• Paid flight / points: Paid

A 5:40am departure time makes even the most seasoned travelers cringe, but this giraffe had a plan devised to avoid jet lag:

• Go to sleep at 8:40pm, wake up at 1:40am (8:40am NY time), get ready in 30-minutes
• Leave the Hilton Tel Aviv at 2:10am
• Arrive at TLV 3-hours prior to flight time – 2:40am
• Undergo intense security screening
• Check out the Dan Lounge in TLV
• Eat breakfast onboard and then sleep at least 3-hours

Cabin

Iberia flies their Airbus A330-200 from Tel Aviv to Madrid. The plane holds 288 passengers and is used primarily for long haul routes such as Madrid to Montevideo, Buenos Aires or in my case Tel Aviv.

The seats in the business class cabin are in a 1-2-1 configuration. They offer 78″ of pitch and are a respectable 26″ wide. You’ll find the seats upholstered in grey fabric with red contrast pillows and blankets.

Recommended Seats:

I recommend selecting seats 2A, 2L or 4A if you’re traveling solo. These seats are positioned inwards so they offer more privacy and a good view out of the window. Notice the proximity of the seat to the windows in 1C compared to 2A in the picture below.

If you’re traveling with a giraffe or human companion I recommend selecting 2-4E/G. These seats are positioned inwards so offer more privacy for those sitting together. As you can see in the picture below seats 3E/G are ideal if you’re traveling with your partner and seats 4D/H are better if you’re traveling with a coworker.

Seats 1C/J, 5C/E/G should be avoided due to the proximity to the galley. Seat 4J should be avoided due to the proximity to the lavatory.

In-Flight Entertainment

The seats have a 15.4″ in-flight entertainment system. It features over 60 films in English, French, Italian and Portuguese. You can preview the films available on your flight here.

I planned to get some rest on this flight so I stuck with the airshow to avoid getting pulled into a movie.

Amenity Kit

The flight from TLV-MAD isn’t a true long haul flight so the amenity kit is fairly basic. It included socks, an eye mask, ear plugs and a toothbrush / toothpaste in a clear Iberia branded pouch.

Food and Beverage

Menus weren’t distributed on this flight. The only option was a cheese omelet served on a single platter along with potatoes, salsa, fruit, yogurt and a croissant. The omelet was kind of bland. The fruit on the other hand was surprisingly fresh and tasty.

Service was efficient and the meal service concluded 50-minutes after departure. Immediately after the meal I reclined my seat into the fully lie-flat position, put on my eye mask and slept for 3-hours.

Overall Verdict

First Class Giraffe Approved

The most important feature on an early morning medium-haul flight is a solid hard product, which Iberia does well. If you’re looking for a lie flat seat from Tel Aviv to Madrid Iberia is really your only option and a good one at that.