IB JFK-MAD: A343 or A346? What to Expect?

So I'm flying Iberia's redeye to Madrid next week. The booking just says A340 as info, which I presumed meant their old A343, which I've read is pretty mediocre in terms of comfort and amenities. Then I just read a trip report on anet of the same flight two years ago which was operated by an A346, which is a lot newer and nicer. Looking at FlightAware, it seems they use the A346 about half the time, though on seemingly random days: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/IBE6252/history

Anyone have any insight on what's up?

Also, it was booked through AA, so IB won't let me pick seats through their website. Will they let me if I call them?

IB6252/6253 is the flight that is generally operated by an A340-600. On the weekends the flight is almost always the -600 and on weekdays it really depends on the loads of the flight. However for the 15th it shows the earlier flight as the -600 and the later flight as A340 which generally means the -300.

But not too fear, I personally find the-300 more comfortable then the -600. While the A340-600 has newer seats and headrests as well as rather large LCD's; the -300 has bigger and more comfortable seats.

If you call Iberia I'm sure they'd let you reserve seats, they have let me in the past.

Here is the link to my most recent trip report on Iberia, although the flight was on the -600.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forum ... main/62503

Just flew the A340-600 2x (JFK-MAD, MAD-JFK)...absolutely wonderful. No PTVs, but simply being aboard my favorite aircraft to fly on was fun enough!!

It'd be rather impressive of you to pull of some sleep on the JFK-MAD sector; was just 6hrs 15min for me! After the meal service and movie, you'd have about 1.5 hrs left of flight...wild!

Enjoy :D

- jMay