Hi all,

Just in case y'all didn't see this in one of the other threads.

WINTER FARE SALE!

In case you guys don't know already BestFares.com is having a winter fare sale (this has been the subject of many a post on the MadridMan message board). Since this is the "SPAIN" message board, I figured I'd let everyone know about the fares to Madrid (they have sales on fares to other major cities, too).

The rules are as follows:

-You must fly out of one of the 55 cities (listed below)
-You must travel on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (travel on other days add $25 each way to the ticket)
-You must complete your travel by March 20
-You must stay over a Saturday night and purchase the ticket at least 14 days in advance
-You are allowed to stay, at most, 30 days
-There are no blackout dates
-Prices do not include the processing fee or fuel surcharge

Now for the good part

$308rt or less-- Boston, Washington (DC), Hartford, Providence, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Bangor (ME), Portland (ME), Burlington (VT), Manchester (NH), Albany, Buffalo, Rochester (NY), Syracuse, Erie, Harrisburg, State College, Allentown, Newburgh, White Plains, Wilkes Barre/Scranton, Atlantic City, Charleston (WV)

$368rt or less-- Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus (OH), Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, Memphis, Orlando, Tampa, Raleigh, Atlanta, Greensboro, Norfolk, Richmond, Charleston (SC), Columbia (SC), Myrtle Beach, Savannah, Jacksonville, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Miami, Key West, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Panama City, Fort Walton Beach, Mobile, Montgomery, Nashville, Birmingham, Knoxville, Greenville/Spartanburg, Shreveport, Little Rock, Akron, Toledo, Dayton, Saginaw, Lansing, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Louisville, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Madison and Cedar Rapids

$388rt or less-- Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, San Francosco, Phoenix and Las Vegas


Now, before you go purchasing the fare, you must become a member. The fee to do so is $60 USD ($80 CAN). In my opinion, it is worth that fee twenty times over. I CANNOT FIND ANY LOWER PRICES ON TICKETS! These fares beat all of the ones I found by searching through all of the major sites AND using the software application to search!!!

SUMMER FARE SALE!

Same deal as above, except the price.
No advance purchase and no maximum/minimum stay.

Depart March 20-May 31 and the prices start at $379rt.

Depart June 1-August 31 and the prices start at $479rt.

Can't get the list of cities, so if you want to know, check the website or let me know. The price goes up the further west you go. You can get an idea from the list above.

Happy traveling!

Ben
pbchamp@intercom.net

Orbitz is again running their web-only fares to Europe. Chicago to Madrid is $354 R/T and all travel must be completed by the end of March. Yesterday, some relatives from Ohio bought tickets through Orbitz for Round Trip to for the same price.

Also, Minneapolis to Barcelona for $374. YO, TARAVB!! COME ON!!

They claim no blackout dates, 7-day advance purchase required, must stay over a Saturday night.

Shame I'm "straddling" this deadline. Oh well. Thank goodness for frequent flier miles. :p

Hey Ben! Thanks for posting that information. My parents have been planning to come visit me in Spain this summer but haven´t been able to find anything under $900 flying out of Philadelphia. I know my mother will be excited to read your post.

Thanks for sharing!

Just thought I would let everyone know that www.bestfares.com lets you arrive in one city and depart from another, in essence, open-jaw tickets! I managed to book lax to barcelona and returning from madrid for $686.00 including all taxes fees for peak summer travel. That price is very hard to beat, and I searched far and wide to do so. Luckily, my sister-in-law is a member of bestfares.com and purchased the ticket for me. One warning though, their dates of travel are starting to sell out, so you might have to be flexible on what days you can depart and return on. Good luck!

[ 02-20-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Don't forget that with bestfares.com you have to become a member as well. Things just started adding up for me, as I'd looked there for my May flight, and found the same $379 base rates. That cost from LAX quickly rose to $479, and, since I would be leaving Friday and coming back on a Sunday, I had to add $20 each way...plus adding on the $49.95 to "join", which put me at about $570. I decided to give hotwire.com another shot, and got in at $530...no memberships, no extra charges, just $530.

If you can fly M-Th, you're in great shape...just make the call to bestfares.com and double-check. One thing I noticed was that when I called, they were very guarded about how they answered my questions . I didn't like their elusiveness, and figure if a company is good and deserves my business, they can treat me like a client, not someone who's trying to steal national security secrets.

I did a search for bestfares.com and I didnt see anyone who had actually purchased tickets with bestfares except T-bone. I am curious to know if there were any hassles in getting your tickets or traveling. The fares are so good, I am wondering if there is anyone out there who had experience with this company and if there are any suprises or inconveniences. We are getting ready to join and buy tickets with them so any information from someone who has delt with them before would help. Thanks.

[ 02-25-2002: Message edited by: travler ]

Yay!!

On Orbitz, we got $500 tickets NYC to Madrid direct on Iberia for travel in late May to early June. We had been seeing prices $700-800 tickets for the same days. Madrid here we come!!

That's GREAT news, caminante! Congratulations! Hope you'll be able to catch an Ismael Serrano concert while you're there.

$500! That's great. Must be nice to live in a major hub city.

Travler- Like I mentioned before, I bought my airfare through bestfares.com, and the whole process was quite smooth. My tickets arrived via fedex 2 days later. They charge $10.00 for delivery and $10.00 for a processing fee. I do believe that their tickets are eligible for frequent flier miles. Don't quote me, but I think that anyone can purchase bestfares tickets using the 1-800 # that is supplied to members. If you want, email me and I will get the number from my sister-in-law, and you can try to purchase tickets without having to shell out the $59 membership fee. They don't check to see if the person calling is a member or not.
Good luck!

MadridMan - Thanks!! Ismael Serrano will be in Madrid and Barcelona during the time we'll be there:

Día: 28 mayo 2002
Ciudad/provincia/país: Madrid / Madrid / España
Lugar: Teatro Albéniz

Día: 01 junio 2002
Ciudad/provincia/país: Barcelona / Barcelona / España
Lugar: Palau de la Música

Now I only need to get tickets . . . I don't think they're on sale yet.