Author Topic: Traveling to Spain  (Read 4311 times)

TonyV.

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Traveling to Spain
« on: May 04, 2018, 12:42:47 PM »
So before I spend $2k on a round trip air fair from Kansas City to Jerez, Spain... Does anyone have any travel hacks to do that on the cheap?

kpd905

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2018, 07:25:43 PM »
Open some credit cards, fly for free.  If you open the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the United Mileageplus Explorer card, you'd definitely have enough to fly roundtrip on United.

Otherwise grab the Citi AA card and the Barclays AAviator card, and you'll have enough to fly there on AA.

Otherwise at least grab a card like Capital One Venture, book the flight with that card, and use the points to subtract $500 from the price.

cchrissyy

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2018, 07:46:20 PM »
I just booked round trip summer tickets on AA using miles for a total cost of like, $5 per person.  You can learn a lot if you want by looking up travel websites devoted to how to earn and redeem points for the best value.  You mainly earn points from sign-up bonuses, not your ongoing spending habits.  You can do this on multiple cards and multiple airlines and that way when you're ready to travel you have many options to redeem in whatever way is the best value for your needs.

If you really intend to pay with money, I would think flying to Madrid will cost much less than Jerez.   You can check Granada and Sevilla too, for being larger southern airports and maybe more airlines than Jerez, but both are still small compared to MAD.  but $2k is nuts for a ticket to Spain, unless you're talking about last-minute plans. It shouldn't even be half that.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 08:04:05 PM by cchrissyy »

justostash

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2018, 09:53:11 PM »
Indeed... I got Portland, OR -> Madrid round-trip tickets for $640 just recently. From Madrid you can take a train anywhere including Jerez. I used kayak for the flight searching.  I can't imagine spending $2k to go to Spain.

kpd905

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2018, 11:41:35 AM »
I see quite a few flights on Google Flights close to $1,000 if you fly into Lisbon or Madrid instead.  Don't spend an extra $1,000 when you can take a couple hours on a train from somewhere close.

TonyV.

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2018, 12:34:30 PM »
Ya, this is kinda of a last minute deal. I've been "planning" on it for over a year now, but just decided to do it. I checked flights 6 months out and they were about $400 cheaper. Thank you for all the replies. I will look into a Madrid flight and train from there. Thank you all!!

TonyV.

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2018, 12:42:33 PM »
Update: Flights into Madrid are the same price. ($2k) I'm also looking for flights at the end of the month, so I'm sure that doesn't help, although looking a few months down the road hasn't seemed to be much, if any, cheaper.
I guess I'll look into a card with good bonus rewards and hope I can get that in time.

cchrissyy

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #7 on: May 07, 2018, 02:08:33 PM »
MCI might be your problem. 

I don't know your dates but I picked some anyway and I do see $1900 MCI-MAD and then I split those same dates into 2 much cheaper round trips like this

MCI-JFK    JFK-MAD  $267  + $664 
MCI-MIA   MIA-MAD   $292 + $774
« Last Edit: May 07, 2018, 02:10:15 PM by cchrissyy »

TonyV.

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #8 on: May 09, 2018, 10:40:09 AM »
thank you! I looked at splitting them between phili, since that's where the flights I looked at went through. but I will take a closure look at other places.

SmokeySnow

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2018, 11:34:59 PM »
Is Chicago a viable airport for you? When traveling to Europe I always fly on Norwegian, but I have a few more airports I am able  to choose from being on the west coast. They are a low cost airlines, meaning meals/luggage/seat assignments are extra, but if you just bring your own meal and  are able to fit within the carryon restrictions (I always have been able to), but the planes are brand new and I've always enjoyed my flights.
I then buy the flights piece-mail and will usually fly in & out of a different airport in Europe to save $$ and to be able to see more. I'll admit I didn't find great prices for you in May or June but in September:

September 24 ORD-FAO $284 Faro/Algarve airport in southern Portugal, which is 2-3 hours from Jerez
Return: October 8 MAD-ORD $195 !!

If you could feasibly get to Chicago and back for $300-400, your total would be less than $900
OR, get  the American Airlines card bonus & fly there to Chicago for free, you'd be at under $500!

expatartist

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2018, 11:39:49 PM »
Any travel outside peak season (June-August) will have inflated prices on airfare and accommodation, and difficulty redeeming airline miles. If you can wait until Sept or Oct, weather will still be good, crowds will be minimal, and price will be much lower.

TonyV.

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2018, 12:48:53 PM »
Thank you all for the ideas. Smokey Snow, that would have been AWESOME to do it that cheap. Unfortunately, June is about the latest I can go. I ended finding flights to NY and then to Madrid and reverse for a total of about $1000. So after using the points I already have and the bonus points from a new card I just got, I have it down to $300. Not too bad if I say so myself!! Housing will be covered by a friend I know who is over there in the Navy. So all around it should be a very cheap trip!!

SmokeySnow

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2018, 03:43:15 PM »
great that you found a good route for a discount! Spain is relatively inexpensive to eat & drink (as your Navy friend can probably tell you). Madrid is also a well connected airport--there is a Metro connection straight from the airport to the city center, so if you are traveling light it is a cheaper option. And, if you end up not flying down to Jerez, you should be able to get there by train from the Atocha station(right next to Madrid's "Central Park": Parque Real) in about 4 hours. During the day the train rides are awesome is Spain, as the landscape is beautiful. I love Spain and spent my study abroad in Madrid 14 years ago, I'm getting jealous just thinking about your trip!

TonyV.

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Re: Traveling to Spain
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2018, 02:09:09 PM »
My friend is going to pick me up in Madrid, so no train ride there. However, we talked about taking a train up to Valencia. So I'm looking forward to that! I'm super excited about this trip! It will be my first ever trip out of the country!
A funny thing happened yesterday too. After I broke down and just bought my flights, I got home to find my passport in the mail! lol