Samsung has really put the nightmare of the Galaxy Note 7 behind it with the arrival of the much-talked-about Galaxy Note 8, but it’s not too sensitive not to poke a little (expensive) fun at their expense. Well, at least that’s what Samsung Spain has done. They surprised around 200 passengers of an Iberian flight from Madrid to A Coruña, Galicia, by giving them free units of the phablet, celebrating the fact that they no longer had to turn off the gadget as compared to last year’s debacle.
The passengers, some of them still a bit sleepy from the flight, were surprised when the crew started handing them boxes of the Galaxy Note 8. It was accompanied by a note saying, “A year ago we asked you to turn it off, we welcome you today on board.” Well, that’s the interpretation of the note from the CNet article. But basically, what they’re saying is now you can open your Samsung phablet on the plane without fear of batteries catching on fire or attendants telling you to turn it off.
The promotion is a partnership between Samsung Spain and Iberia Airlines and the corporate vice president of the OEM was even there on the flight. They quickly became viral, at least in Spain’s social media sphere as people started tweeting about receiving the Galaxy Note 8. No news though if there will be other flights that will be blessed with the phablet or if this was just a one-off.
Esta mañana, ¡sorpresa a bordo! Así han recibido nuestros pasajeros los nuevos #Note8abordo de @SamsungEspana ✈️? https://t.co/W8lQ1sPZ1O pic.twitter.com/w181IZ64Uj
— Iberia (@Iberia) October 23, 2017
The Galaxy Note 8 has been pretty well-reviewed, and Samsung has probably given a huge sigh of relief as the Note 7 issues have been practically forgotten. Well, except that Samsung Spain brought the thing up on this flight, but at least it has been overshadowed by the joy of people receiving free phones.
Qué emoción hemos vivido en el vuelo a Coruña #note8abordo @Iberia @SamsungEspana #SinPalabras pic.twitter.com/MmXToiqil1
— Celestino Garcia (@CelestinoGR) October 23, 2017
VIA: Tech Crunch
Stay away from IBERIA – especially if you’re a senior citizen.
My mother, who turns 85 this year, suffers from arthritis, impaired hearing and other ills of age, had the bad luck to fly with this company to visit my brother last month. She went “business” and that’s precisely what she got. She paid for assisted mobility, meaning a wheelchair, but when we got to the checkin, there was none. I walked up to the shift manager, got a blank stare and was dismissed. Luckily, one of the counter attendants – not an Iberia employee but rather a local handling agent rep – took it upon himself to get up and hunt down a chair for us.
They took her to the Business lounge and left her there. When boarding time came around, not a chair or rep in sight. Again, luckily, the attendant at the lounge volunteered to help my mother along as they walked to the gate – the attendant holding her bag. Of course, the attendant couldn’t accompany her into the jetway from the gate to the plane, which was quite a long one. My mother told the Iberia people at the gate she wouldn’t be able to walk all the way in holding her walking stick and bag. She had already walked the entire distance (not short even for a non-octogenarian).
Once again, one of the attendants volunteered – the same as before and (I stress) not an Iberia employee – to help her walk into the plane.
But at that point, the shift manager I mentioned before went ballistic. She stopped the poor kid, grabbed my mother’s bag, tossed it halfway back up the jetway and screamed that she would prevent mother (who must be all of 5’3, thin, retiring and prone to shaking like a leaf when attacked) from boarding since she endangers the flight.
By now, my mother was in tears and the flight attendant – drawn by the noise – looked out and took refuge in the cockpit. My mother decided to take a stand and continue on her way. At that point the flight attendant came back out and informed the shift manager that the pilot demands that my mother be allowed onto the plane.
Once aboard, both the pilot and the flight attendant swore they would report the matter to management. But things didn’t end there.
Upon arriving in Madrid, my mother and 5 other wheel-chair bound passengers were simply left to fend for themselves, sitting around, waiting for help. One of them actually missed her connection. My mother’s connection, thank god, was with American Airlines. However, one of her suitcases came late – it had been delayed for “security” reasons …
We have since received apologies from American Airlines, through whom the flight had been booked, and British Airways, which handles Iberia in Israel.
A month or more has gone by and not a word from Iberia.