All:

well, it's only two weeks till my next visit to Spain. So excited....

A remaining loose end: we will be flying Mad-Santiago (tight on time), and both SpanAir and AirEuropa offer the same price and even similar departure times....does anyone have any strong preferences one way or the other.

BTW, it's only 60 Euros each, including tax. Not bad, compared to 8 hours in a car.....

We flew Spanair on the 'Puente aereo' between Madrid and Barcelona and we had no problems. Check-in was very fast and efficient both ways.

TAKE SPAN AIR!!!!!!!!!!! See my post about Air Europa! You don't want to go there! :p

Yikes, Espe, sorry about your bad experience. Coulda happened with any airline, but I think I'll give SpanAir a shot....

Cooter,
You're right, it COULD have happened with any airline, but I've been flying my entire life (literally, since birth) and although I've had a couple of interesting experiences, NOTHING compared to the one with Air Europa, and thus my outrage! I have had experiences with SpanAir, but minor and NOTHING compared to that (and not anything I wouldn't fly with them again for )! Sometimes things require making a big deal out of them, and other times not. But TRUST me! If you had been there... :o Have a great trip, and let us know how it went!

I've flown SpanAir Madrid-Santiago. Spanair has a 20-kilo published (enforced?) baggage weight allowance for their clase turista. So we paid a few extra bucks and flew Business Class. That means you get to ride in one of the first two rows of seats on their MD-80. The only thing it bought us was priority luggage handling/delivery.
BTW
Taxi fares between Santiago and the airport are strictly regulated. We needed to get an early (07:00) SpanAir flight back to Madrid to connect with our TransAtlantic return flight: I told Taxista No. 49 a day before about my plight. He assured me that it was no problem. He was waiting outside Hostal Hogar San Francisco at 05:00 - ¡No Problema!