US Air - Fall Fare Sale (for winter travel)

For anyone interested, US Air has a fall fare sale , for international destinations, going on right now....and Madrid is one of the destinations.

I just booked a direct (round trip) flight from Philadelphia to Madrid for $ 447 per person, including all taxes, fees, etc, etc.....

Although I am traveling in November, I believe the fares are good for travel through March 2002. Just go to their web site for all of the details.

[ 09-04-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Details.... (it seems TOMORROW IS THE DEADLINE):

Tickets must be purchased within 24 hours of making reservations and no later than 9/5/01. Fares valid for travel Mondays-Thursdays commencing 11/1/01-3/14/02. All travel must be completed by 3/18/02. Saturday night stay required and 30-day maximum stay allowed. Blackout dates of 12/15-12/24/01 apply; slightly higher fares apply 12/15-12/24/01. Fares do not include passenger facility charges of up to $18, where applicable. Fares also do not include government imposed international taxes/fees/surcharges of up to $108. Seats are limited or may be sold out during very busy travel times or holiday periods. Seats are extremely limited or sold out in November westbound from Rome; and in March to/from Rome and Madrid.
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Available routes to Madrid (no other Spain destination - (all prices are one-way, based on R/T purchase):
Boston - Madrid $189
Miami - Madrid $222.50

I didn't see Philadelphia listed though. And certainly/unfortunately, NOT Columbus, Ohio either.

[ 09-04-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

I'm in Hawaii and have a buddy pass that will take me anywhere I want in the US. I wanted to ensure that I would arrive in Madrid when my friends were arriving so decided to pay full fare from the east coast. The result - NOT SUCH A FULL FARE!!!

I went online and priced tickets from DC to Madrid, and just before I purchased a ticket from a different agency, I received an email from Priceline.com. As I was speaking w/the reservations agent from the Priceline competitor to find the best price he could find, I used that price (about $480) as my ball park guide and bid $100.00 less at Priceline.com. Even thought Priceline told me I had about a 20% chance of that bid getting accepted, it did and I'm on my way!

My roundtrip fare to Madrid from DC and back is $383.00 on Sabena Airways w/1 stop in Brussels. That exact same trip - same airline, same itinerary, through Priceline's competitor was listed at over $700.00

So, go out there and LOW BALL 'EM!!!!!

I apologize for not adding the details of the US Air fare sale.....I'll be more attentive to that the next time.

Guess I was so excited to find what I felt was a great rate, I couldn't wait to share it.

Anyway, I used www.ticketplanet.com when searching for fares, I believe I ran across it on this board.

I just posted on another strand about my deal from priceline from LAX to Madrid. I paid $448 including all fees and taxes.(Nov. 5-29) I'm flying on Delta. My last several trips to Spain have been on British Airways. I'm glad you got a good deal, but I'm happy I'm going with Delta and not US Air.

Hola rere,
You said you were glad you were going in Delta instead of US Airways? Why is that? Do you mean their fares are better than U.S. Airways?
Gracias,
Booklady

Booklady, I think that Delta is a better airline. I hope that US air doen't go under like Swiss Air might. I think US Air is economically weak now. I absolutely would not book with US Air for more than several weeks away.

I asked my travel agent to confirm the prices I'd found on the internet and sure enough they were correct (Columbus, Ohio to Madrid over the Christmas holiday = $1,150!!! ). HOWEVER, after asking her to look for CONSOLIDATOR airfares (my travel agency will do this, but most "retail" companies will not) she found a combination of airlines (American and Iberia) to get me there for almost $400 LESS for $740!! I wasn't able to make the reservation yet because my bosses haven't approved the request for leave yet, but if/when they do I HOPE I can get as good a price if not better.

If you'd like the toll free (800) number of my travel agency (they have 3 employees) here in Ohio, USA send me an email and I'll be happy to give it to you. They've done well for me and my entire family these past 8 years.

JUST before buying the ticket I might try www.Priceline.com too, put in an outrageously low fare and see what happens. Maybe I'll get lucky.

Happy Travels! Saludos, MadridMan

[ 10-07-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

I was browsing U.S. Airways web site yesterday (Oct 7), looking at fares to Spain for Carnaval and got a $354.70 (incl taxes & fees) roundtrip (PHL - MAD) for midweek travel in February, 2002 (Sat nite stay required - max stay 30-days).

[ 10-09-2001: Message edited by: Eddie ]

Be sure to consider the following stategy, in particular when making airline reservations on-line: Booking 2 separate flights.
For example, you could book a flight from your hometown to Miami, Chicago, or NYC and then book a separate flight to Europe from the hub city. It really is not difficult and often provides a better price. Travel agents can do this, but not all are as helpful as MM's seems to be. Take MM's flight from Ohio to Madrid. You could first check out the lowest published fares on Travelocity.com or the airlines sites for both travel to hub cities and from those cities to Madrid. Then you piece together your flight. If you are going to use
discount agencies like hotwire or priceline you have to do that first because you won't initially know the times to coordinate with
the other leg of your journey. Then you find a complimentary leg to complete your flight.

Juliet - Be careful with Sabena. They've been having financial difficulties lately. Make sure they'll be able to arrange for you to fly with some other carrier should they need to pull some of their fleet out of the air.

Just found a fair of $281 ($331 after taxes, etc.) from Baltimore to Madrid on USAirways. The fare includes a shuttle from BWI to Philadelphia, then direct to Madrid. The sale fare good through October 15th, I believe, and the available flights run through the end of February.

Yahoo! I am so excited now that I've bought the ticket! And more fun is to come as I plan the trip!

Jennifer

jmcarr, you didn't mention WHEN you were traveling.

For the USAir sale jmcarr mentions above, end October 17th, found HERE :

"All travel must be completed by 3/14/02. Tickets become nonrefundable 24 hours after making initial reservation, but under certain conditions may be changed for a minimum $100 fee ($150 for Europe). Minimum 3-day or Saturday night stay is required. Maximum 30 day stay allowed. Blackout dates of 12/14-12/24/2001 apply. Fares are valid Monday-Thursday; other days are higher."

Well, that leaves ME out. GRRRR!!! I am hoping to leave on December 21st and return January 2 and these date are in the BLACKOUT dates listed.

[ 10-12-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Sorry, MM! I'll be vacationing in February. Feb. is slow, workwise, so I can safely disappear from the office without feeling like I'm leaving a bunch of people in the lurch.

Haven't figured out yet where I'm going -- to stay in Madrid or visit elsewhere for the first time, that is the question. Looking at all of the travel books and checking out old threads on the board will help me figure that out as Feb. approaches

[ 10-12-2001: Message edited by: jmcarr ]

I keep talking about www.hotwire.com , but nobody seems to notice. Let me give you a specific great deal. LAX-MAD on November 23-29 for $423 as of 10/12/01. That is truely a goos deal. A friend who is meeting me in Madrid on the 24th just got it. I wish I bought that one instead of my $450 ticket
Of course, I waste a LOT of time playing on the airline sites.

[ 10-12-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

rere, I tried www.hotwire.com again (as I did a few days ago), entered my dates (departure 12/21/01 and returning 1/2/02), but it said, sadly,
"We're sorry, but there are no matches for your search. Please change your preferences, travel dates, origin, or destination and search again."

Will the last person out of the USA please switch off the lights!On a serious note its good to see you all planning to fly soon despite Bin-Liners best efforts.

JMCarr:
It may be getting a bit off the subject but we are also planning to trip to Madrid in February and I am torn between Carnaval in Cadiz & An Troido (same thing) in Galicia. I watched the An Troido parade in Santiago in '99 - there was a 'drag queens' float. They were still talking about it on the TVE talk shows when I returned in July of that year for Santiago.
Cadiz is nice and the weather is likely to be better there in February than in Galicia. But we will miss the Lacon con grelos.

Eddie -- More off-topic stuff.

I was thinking about going north in Feb, as I've always visited Madrid and the surrounding area but would like to see all of Spain. Santiago is on my list of places to see someday -- I could spend a year in Spain and still not see everything I would like. But being something of a winter weather wimp, I decided to go south. Plus, I have to admit to being obsessed with seeing Cordoba since reading the Garcia Lorca (I believe) poem.

[ 10-17-2001: Message edited by: jmcarr ]

I just bought a one-way ticket to Madrid with USAir for $330. I know they may be cheesy, but cheaptickets is a pretty sure-fire deal if your dates are flexible. Don't let a travel agent tell you that flights are costing thousands of dollars. there are TONS of deals out there. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU!!!!

Granadabound, for what dates are your tickets?? Doubt they're surrounding Christmastime though. Seems after the 14th December starts the blackout dates (Just ask me. I KNOW! ARGH!).

MM, I really don't think it's high during all your vacation time--probably just departing the 21-24 of December.

MM - have you considered flying to London (generally more flights and cheaper than Madrid), and then taking a cheap London-Madrid deal? I know that makes it a very long journey, but it may be better than not going at all.

best of luck, whatever!

El Boqueron, I looked into flying to London via British Airways to take advantage of the great deals not only from London to Madrid, but also from the USA to Madrid (via London only), but they don't depart from Columbus, Ohio. SO, I'd have to buy a ticket to one of their hubs here in the US AND THEN go to Madrid via London making it a 2-stop trip and adding up all the flight tickets would equal about what I'm expecting to pay ($1,260) for the 1-stop flight as it is. It seems all British Airways flights must go through London first and there are not direct routes to Madrid from anywhere in the USA.

MadridMan,

It looks like you're fighting a tough battle on this one, your specific dates falling into the airline "peak travel" period.

I wonder if you considered finding a bucket shop/consolidator, which buys up tour group tickets when there are cancellations. Often those tickets go for less than 50% of the established rates. A second option that I would consider strongly, is doing some hefty research in e-Bay, and other auction locations, to see if you can find anyone who needs to bail out on their existing tickets, where the names can be changed. It's not all that rare that you can find them, even though the time period you're looking at may make it a bit more difficult.

Wolf

Wolfgang, as always, I tried the bucket shops/consolidators first and all those seats have already been sold - those were the ones available for $650 4 weeks ago when I first started considering the trip, but they were all sold quickly as there were fewer available due to the airline flights cutback.

Thanks for your suggestions about www.ebay.com and other online auction houses. I'll also try www.Priceline.com when/if I ever get approved for leave (going on 4-weeks now. :mad

Well, I got a really great price on a ticket on Iberia... My final destination is Roma, but I have a day layover in Madrid (both ways). My price with tax and everything included from Miami was $510 bucks. I wouldn't recommend flying internationally on any US carriers during this trying time.

Wolf, thanks for your message. It's nice to know that you guys haven't forgotten about me.

I've been looking for a job in Madrid, and I finally got an interview in Spain next month. No guarantees, but it's a step. Wish me luck!!!

roses.

MM have you looked at flights into Manchester from the US and then a 20 minute ride to Liverpool airport where you can get a £20 single to Madrid?

ROSES!!! You're BAAAACK!!! Welcome! Say, what are the dates of your travel?? It's vital to the price you got, I'm sure.

Mick nick, haven't looked into that angle either mainly because it will certainly add a stop to my already long trip and that car ride will surely add stress.

Quick note: US Airways' fares to Madrid. This e-mail arrived today for those of you who can "get up and go." (Madridman, feel free to edit if necessary.)

US Airways is pleased to announce a special Madrid E-Savers offer.

You may depart on Mondays to Thursdays, between October 22 and November 8, 2001. Return travel is Tuesdays to Fridays, between October 30 and November 16, 2001. Travel is not permitted to Madrid on November 1. Saturday night stay is required. Tickets must be purchased by October 25, 2001.

PURCHASE E-SAVERS ONLINE AT http://www.usairways.com/reservations/index.htm AND RECEIVE A $10 DISCOUNT OFF OF THE FARES LISTED BELOW. THE $10 DISCOUNT DOES NOT APPLY WHEN BOOKING BY TELEPHONE THROUGH US AIRWAYS' RESERVATIONS DEPARTMENT.

To find these fares, simply enter your origin and destination cities, select "My Travel Dates are Flexible" and choose from a list of low fares. Tickets must be purchased at the time of reservation.

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US Airways now offers terrific savings for weekend travel between the U.S. and Canada. Depart Friday or Saturday and return Sunday or Monday. Tickets must be purchased at least 3 days before departure. Call US Airways at 1-800-428-4322 for complete details.
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FROM: TO: ROUNDTRIP FARE:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffalo, NY Madrid, Spain $265

Charlotte, NC Madrid, Spain $275

Columbus, OH Madrid, Spain $275

Indianapolis, IN Madrid, Spain $275

Kansas City, MO Madrid, Spain $275

Los Angeles, CA Madrid, Spain $295

Nashville, TN Madrid, Spain $275

Philadelphia, PA Madrid, Spain $255

Providence, RI Madrid, Spain $265

Raleigh/Durham, NC Madrid, Spain $275

Richmond, VA Madrid, Spain $265

Rochester, NY Madrid, Spain $265

San Francisco, CA Madrid, Spain $295

Seattle/Tacoma, WA Madrid, Spain $295

Syracuse, NY Madrid, Spain $265


Fares shown are based on roundtrip Coach travel on US Airways/US Airways Express/MetroJet by US Airways, during the period specified above. Depending upon your travel needs, alternative routings may be available at the same fares, with part of the service on regional aircraft operated by US Airways Express carriers Allegheny, Air Midwest, CCAIR, Chautauqua, Colgan, Mesa, Piedmont, Potomac Air, PSA or Trans States.

For travel, call 1-888-FLY-E-SAVERS and request one of the E-Savers listed above. Or, to make your reservations online and save $10, please visit us at http://www.usairways.com/reservations/index.htm

Hola MadridMan:

I am traveling on November 20-25, 2001.

They have some sort of special right now.

I believe their web site is www.iberia.com.

roses.