Hi Folks,
I am still keeping my eyes on the December fares, it seems that by August they tend to become very low and affordable. I hope to go with British Airlines this time so I can have a stopover in London and then on to Madrid. Does anyone know if British Air offers reasonable rates for December?

Thanks,

Maybe I should just be out with it.

I work for British Airways. That said...you can get decent fares (around $600 or so) from BA- Be sure to book in advance. Don't ask me about a heads up on sales though- because they don't tell us until the day before!

Booklady there are some really good fares not only with BA but other airlines in Aug. as they start to try to get those lower fares sold so they can get the fat fares filled as the holidays get closer and everyone will do just about everything including selling their kidney to go home for the holidays! But now, if you want the stopover in london- then BA is the way to go.
(A little tip- the world traveler plus section(step up from coach- not quite business) is sometimes not much more expensive than world traveler(reg. coach) or a rt price can be pretty reasonable ($800 or so) and you get more space- more comfort! (its not always so inexpensive- but its worth asking about! )

Hi guys,

Yeah, I mean if i buy a ticket from NY to Madrid in October it may probably cost around 300. I'm not worried about losing 150$...I just wanted to know if there was a way to recoop the unused half. Thanks.

Hello again,

As you can all see, even though I've been to Madrid like 8 times I'm not very airline savvy.
Can anyone explain to me why I can get a one-way US Airways flight to Madrid on AESU.com for 300$ and a r/t ticket on AESU.com with iberia is about 700$? On Iberia.com a r/t with the same dates is about 552. I'm assuming the closer to sept it gets the cheaper it will get? I remember buying a November ticket in September for about 310$.

Mike-
Again- no way to get the unused half on a low fare ticket.

As for the pricing: September is still a peak month, when October and November aren't- thus the higher prices. (neither is December until around the holidays)

Other diff in RT with Iberia through AESU- how did you get Iberia- it would only give me BA and Us Airways!- in any event- the deals you get with a consolidator depends on the agreement they come up with the airline. Sometimes its cheaper to go through a Consolidator- sometimes its not- that's why you do a little research like you're doing now- to see where you can get the best bargain.

One ways- are hard to find cheaper than the rt- again if you buy a one way directly from the airline it will EASILY be 5x the $300 you're looking at now! You'd think a one way would be cheaper... but they're not. The only way to get a lower one way fare is to buy from a Consolidator (aka Travel agency- Aesu is one of those)so the AESU deal is a very good one.

Iberia (similiar to British Airways) is funny with its pricing. You're leaving from an excellent location to get a reasonable fare: $500+ is REALLY good for the time you're wanting to leave in Sept! Even from NY- again because its still peak season. You may get lucky and get a sale if you wait and it will be a little less- but then again- you may not- then you'll be back to the 800/900 fares you don't want to pay.

You can go back and forth all day with this- do the research- you see a price you like buy it- you're not going to get a $100 ticket to madrid (even the $99 special BA has from time to time- will only get you as far as london- then you'd have to purchase the difference to Spain which would get you still to the $300 you're trying so hard to avoid). Trust me- its a good deal. Now, if you want to wait to buy a ROUND trip- keep your eye on iberia- as Sept gets closer you'll be able to get a 500/600 fare which again- is pretty good.

STILL don't like that price- try hotwire- you won't know who you're flying with until after you purchase the ticket- but I got a ticket for december (during the holidays) from NYC to Madrid via Airtalia for around a bit over $300 rt. I purchased it in November.

Sorry if my posts were confusing but I'm pricing tickets for leaving in late October, not September. What was strange to me was that I looked on AESU for a ticket departing 10/25 and it came up with an Iberia price of about 700. I then went to Iberia.com and saw the same ticket for about 500. It's a mystery to me. I'm hoping that towards late July early August Iberia.com will put out some cheap fall fares like they always do. I once bought a ticket in September for about 250$ for departure in November.

Mike,

Just keep an eye on the ticket that you want and on several websites and something will come up that you like. At least you're not coming in the middle of summer and really have to pay a high price.

Shawn

Espe3!!! Tell me about it, I have spent the past week tryihg to get back from Dublin to Lanzarote any which way!!! Eventually today called BA. If I go MAD/LGW/MAD it is 63� each way. Excellent!!! But......... if I want to go LGW/MAD (which is the only ticket I need) it is nigh on 300 quid!!!! I am not allowed to book the return and get the one way for 63�. Iberia will give me a ticket, but I can�t book it till 1st July, by which time all the onwards will be booked solid.

So I know this is not quite the right thread to be posting on - can someone please get me back to Lanzarote on 24th July from Dublin, via whereever!!

Does jer really need to have to put up with me for a whole night on a Madrid stopover

Espe3,
Many thanks for the information about British Air. I have heard wonderful things about this airline and it suits me to make a quick stopover in London to see the museum, do some shopping then onwards to Espa�a. Thank you for the info on the larger seat. I was toying with the idea of getting three tickets one for my son, who is a flaquito :jeje: and two for me. No I am not that large, but I suffer from a little bit of arthritis and cannot stand the 12 hours trapped in a sardine can seat! You all may laugh now at poor gordita booklady, I look like a little Asturiana pigeon, so most of my weight is up front! :jeje:

Anyway, Espe3, you are a font of fantastic information, not only about flights but about visas!
:cheers:

Okay, hopefully this isn't too good to be true. It seems legit. There is a company called The Adventure Travel Company and they have extremely low rates to Madrid that are even available at the last minute. The catch is that you have to have a student or youth card (ISTC, IYTC), which you can also get from them. If anyone has heard of this company, please give us some feedback. If this company is legit, it'll make a lot of people happy!!


Thanks!

Well jer, you will be pleased to know I will not be landing myself on you for the night of 23rd July!!!!! I have given up on trying to find cheap tickets cos there just ain�t none!!!!!!

I now am flying ACE/DUB out of here, and returning DUB/LGW/ACE
and the total cost is.......530�

The flights via Madrid were even more expensive!!

But don�t despair, jer, I will come see you later in the year. And sorry, Shawn, I can�t share your birthday with you but I will raise a glass to you!!!

Madsue,

I am so glad that you found something that you were able to take. Plane tickets are high right now. In the newspaper, The Richmond Times Dispatch, there was an article saying how many people will stay home this summer because of low funds, but that doesn't stop airline tickets from going up, though.

Have a safe trip and I look forward to meeting you, one day.

Shawn

Well, I went ahead and bought the Iberia tickets for September. I was afraid that the prices weren't going to go down any further. I only paid $667 from Seattle, which is almost $200 less than the next cheapest, KLM. Please oh Please keep Continental and Iberia in business until after October!!! :l:

HEY WHAT'S THE DEAL...I was all happy that I got a good deal from Iberia today...Seattle to Madrid, but then I go to their website and put the trip in backwards...Madrid to Seattle on the same days....and the flight is only 417 euros or $480 dollars!!! I am paying $200 more to start from the USA. Why is that? Is it always cheaper FROM Europe than TO? Hmmm.....should I cancel the charge?????

Toni- yes, its cheaper purchasing from Europe to US. Keep in mind that the salaries are not the same there, so understandibly so, the prices will be lower.

If you cancel the charge, you'll still be charged a cancel fee- which is usually $200 and then the price of a new ticket, so that brings you back into the 600-800 range depending on the fare you bought. From Seattle, that IS a good price. Yes certain times you can get lower, but from the west coast, its still reasonable. Especially when you consider that for those dates other airlines are charging into 1000 or more!

Also, the itinerary you searched, still isn't comparable to the one you're doing. To see an actual price, you have to get someone from Spain (because the internet doesn't have the capability of doing it) to call the airline or travel agent in Spain and ask them how much it would be to purchase a ticket there STARTING in seattle, and going to madrid and back.

We recently did this to see about a ticket to go to Spain, and purchased in Spain from the city in Florida where I live (not a major airport) it was some 700 euros, with the exchange rate at the time it brought it to around 800+ dollars, so it really was the same if we purchased directly in the US. This isn't always the case- but we wre looking for summer, so I wasn't surprised.