I was watching tv today and a man came on and talked about really cheap fares to europe. You can fly through March or April to Madrid for as little as $210 dollars from Philadelphia and from Ohio Madrid Man for 259 dollars. Anyways the Website is
http://bestfares.com/travel/desks/story.asp?id=94820
or you can just go to www.bestfares.com

Grrrr.. Already bought my ticket for April for about 3X that price. Oh well. Better to be safe than sorry.

I just recently left them because every time that I would try and book a ticket through them, they could get me out the times I wanted, but the planes were always booked the times and days that I needed to come back.

Just a word of caution. Other than that, you have to be a member to take advantage of those fares and they charge your credit card every year, unless you tell them to stop. It just wasn't worth it for me.

Hey, other people may have liked the service, but it just wasn't for me.

Shawn

Mmmmm....I'm looking for just the opposite, Madrid-Philadelphia in April(around Holy Week). Has anybody found anything interesting(CHEAP! ) in that respect recently by any chance?

MADRIDMAN...call the airlines and see if you can downgrade to the lower fare! I work for Delta if that happens to be who you are flying...

Julia

I tried using Bestfares just once. I saw that guy,... Tom? on a show too. He is often on talk shows, has a book out etc. I went to the website and they even list decent fares for summer to Spain.... I call the reservations number but they can't quote anything unless you are a member. So you have to call the membership line. Membership line is open 7 days a week. But the reservations line is only M-F. So I wait until Monday after I buy the membership (pricey).....just to be told that there is no availability in that class of service to sell me that ticket. Sold out. So buyer beware. The fares exist, but during popular times, will almost never be available. I would guess that low season you'd have more luck. BTW, the membership is fully refundable within 3 days, so I did get my money back. :-)

After 2 years, I am retuning to Spain!!!!!! I can't wait. I was able to get a ticket from San Francisco to Madrid for only $288. $359 after taxes. Its on US Airways. I leave March 31 and return April 21. Viva Espana!!!!

viequense, unfortunately the Delta price was about $1,100 for my dates so I had to choose another carrier (Air Canada) for about $400 less.

Delta and Northwest both have really cheap fares to Madrid right now. For Northwest, its a new route, and besides the low fares, it is offering about 10,000 bonus miles to anyone enrolled in its World Perks program - that's on top of the miles you would normally accrue. Also, Northwest is having a Mile-A-Palooza promotion too.

I'm making a quick trip 3 day to Paris with a friend at the end of February - 3 weeks before my trip to Spain (a belated Valentine's gift). Booked on Northwest and bought a ticket 3 weeks ago for $389. Now the fare is $301, and Northwest kindly issued a credit to my credit card when I called and inquired about the reduced fare.

I just checked Delta's fares from Boston to Madrid and the fare is in the low $400 range ($461 open jaw Boston-NYC-Madrid-Barcelona-NYC-Boston). I paid under $450 in August.

Madridman, it pays to consistently look at the fares so that you can get a refund or MCO if the fares drop.

But what can one do if it's a combination of carriers AND bought online??

UPDATE: I just checked ORBITZ (where/how I bought my ticket) and the cheapest IS $100 cheaper but all the rest are over $700 AND with 2 stops. Ugh. So, I still feel good about my ticket price.

MM,
If you bought your ticket through, Air Canada for example, but they use another partner carrier (pick one for arguments sake- Delta, Us Air) its not technically different carriers. Air Canada sold you an Air Canada ticket, you're just flying on a Delta plane (again for example). So... moral of the story, ask about the refund of the difference, or MCO (I don't know what that is, an airline person, please explain!), it can't hurt, the worst they can say is no!

Depending on the time people are flying, I say $600 and cheaper is a pretty good deal (again, depending on date, time of year). I only hope I luck out and find a cheapy flight when its time for me to go! :p But that's going to be a looooong time probably Please, drink a Fanta LImon for me!

Lipstique- Question for you!
When you got your ticket for August, how far in advance did you purchase it? Wondering for future trips!

Just an FYI, I just got off the phone with NW trying to get a $100 voucher from them since my fare decreased by that much, but they explained that since it is a "web-only" fare, they cannot issue a credit. And I talked to three different people at NW. So be careful when booking those web fares. You can't always be assured of getting a credit if the fares go down.

Not for webfares (that are normally specials) but sales that are not exclusive web fares- they post regular sales on line also, you just have to read which is which- but I've been interviewing for an airline, and they also told me that yes, they do refund you if the tickets go on sale... just nobody advertises. But to try! You don't loose anything! Its called down grading!

HELLO--I JUST ORDERED TCKETS(TODAY) FROM BWI THU N.Y. TO MADRID. 4/14 LEAVING. $542 ON 15TH IS ALMOST $1000. THIS WAS DELTA. GOOD LUCK. SEARCH DIFFERENT DATES. ONE DAY MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

British Airways just came out with "A fare to Remember" promotion $149 each way on roundtrip purchase from any U.S. British Airways departure airport. Purchase by 13 Feb ....

Related to the British Airways sale, I can fly from SFO to Madrid in the middle of summer for an incredibly low price ($720.95), BUT either have to connect through Gatwick (from LHR) on the way there OR have only 1 hour 15 minutes to connect at LHR.

2 questions:

1. Will a little over 3 hours be enough time to get from LHR to LGW? I will have 1 checked bag to pick up (no way around this, I'll be in Spain for 1 month) and also assume I'll go through immigration at LHR. Last time I went to London it took nearly 1 hour to get through immigration and pick up my bag.

2. If I choose the more direct route (ie only dealing with LHR), will 1.25 hours be enough time to connect flights? Again, I assume I'll have to go through immigration. Do they have a sort of "rush process" line for connecting passengers from the USA?

Thanks!
...Syd

The fares from SFO to Madrid (departing before March 31st and returning by April 30th) are SO cheap, it makes waiting until May almost impossible. But I'm afraid that we must. Let's hope for some decent fares in May. --CC

I have been trying for the past couple of weeks to get tickets to Madrid on American Airlines. On the web the fares look available, but when you try to book, you get a "system error." You call to find out what is wrong and they tell you the flight is no longer available and to try again. Then you try again (now that the prices are higher) and the same thing happens. It has become a vicious cycle and I have been playing their game for a couple of weeks. Now the only flights (on the dates I want) are astronomical and I would have to fly Iberia (don't get me started). I WAS willing to pay a fair price, but this is ridiculous. I emailed AA and told them of this problem, but really the only thing they could do is turn back time.

Thanks for letting me vent. Looks like I won't be going back to my most favorite city in the world.

I have found the Travelocity Web site the most helpful - more than Orbitz and Expedia, for example - for discovering the days the flights are cheapest within a certain time frame, by marking the "my dates are flexible box." With the information they provided, I "hung out" at the American Airlines site and in late January booked a round trip flight Miami-Madrid in March for $367, $419 with taxes. Of course, most of the prices go up on April 1.