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Trip from ORD-Spain for high school

Trip from ORD-Spain for high school

Old Jan 12, 2014, 4:19 pm
  #1  
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Trip from ORD-Spain for high school

My daughter and her friends decided to plan a last minute trip to Spain. I'm trying to help them with airfare. The best I could find is around $960.


Dates Mar 23-31 , 2013 +-3 days.

They want to visit the following cities: Seville, Granada, and Cordoba.
Number of travelers 10 students and 2 adults
I was able to get on IB from ORD-MAD-SVQ-MAD-ORD.



I'm looking for tips and recommendation from the group for the best route.


Thanks
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Old Jan 12, 2014, 5:30 pm
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Trip from ORD-Spain for high school

$960 sounds reasonable from Chicago.
Boston is sometimes cheaper w/ Iberia.

Probably the best you're going to do considering the connection to Sevilla.

Check ORD-MAD and then the domestics using the train, a bus, and/or Iberia Express.

That would allow them to also see Madrid.
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Old Jan 12, 2014, 6:27 pm
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Trip from ORD-Spain for high school

Try calling airline & getting group deal, should save at least 10-15%
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Old Jan 12, 2014, 6:35 pm
  #4  
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I like the idea of the train.

We are planning to make a wo one day trips to CORDOBA and GRANADA via trains. I heard the scenery is very nice.

I tried TSATravle site. But was not much of saving or benefits for the students.


Thanks
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Old Jan 13, 2014, 1:21 am
  #5  
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Trip from ORD-Spain for high school

You should also look at Barcelona. There is either a large Vueling base, or it's their hub not 100% sure, but decent starting off point.

Plus Barça has a beach so that's one up on Madrid.
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Old Jan 13, 2014, 12:57 pm
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Originally Posted by mastersale
We are planning to make a two one day trips to CORDOBA and GRANADA via trains. I heard the scenery is very nice.
While I would recommend train as it's a good way to go, didn't find scenery particularly exciting on my Barcelona-Madrid route.

Originally Posted by bdohmen
You should also look at Barcelona. There is either a large Vueling base, or it's their hub not 100% sure, but decent starting off point.

Plus Barça has a beach so that's one up on Madrid.
True, there is a beach, and it's nicer than Galveston, but I found the city itself far more interesting.
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Old Jan 14, 2014, 5:20 pm
  #7  
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We end up calling a travel agent. He gave us the tickets for $900 to SVQ on IB. We will use train for other cities. Thank you for your help.
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Old Feb 23, 2014, 3:38 am
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might be a little late, but with the trains you can book through here: http://www.renfe.com/

that's the official Spanish site for train tickets. You can also buy the discounted student tickets through it.

You'll need to run it through google translate if you're spanish isn't quite up to scratch but it's generally pretty easy to figure out.

have fun!
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Old Feb 23, 2014, 6:55 am
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The Man in Seat 61

For train train, there is a lot of education in this site.

I've seen some wonderful street markets in Spain. Interesting inexpensive unique clothes. You should be able to sleuth out some of them with guide books and web searches. They typically are only one day a week. I know those girls would love them.

Romelle
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Old Feb 23, 2014, 7:42 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by moronic50
trains you can book through here: http://www.renfe.com/

that's the official Spanish site for train tickets. You can also buy the discounted student tickets through it.

You'll need to run it through google translate if you're spanish isn't quite up to scratch
There are a lot of reports in Spain/Portugal forum about not being able to use US credit cards. I was able to use a Chase card though to make a purchase from US.

There is a place where you can select English at Renfe.com, but for whatever reason it switched to Spanish when I went to purchase. I can read Spanish better than speak / listen, so not a problem for me
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Old Feb 24, 2014, 3:31 pm
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Ah did not know about the US ticket issue. In truth I've never had a problem just buying tickets on the day when I'm out there. However I do know some routes become heavily oversubscribed in the summer (Madrid - Barcelona and Madrid - Alicante spring to mind)
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Old Feb 24, 2014, 3:58 pm
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Originally Posted by moronic50
Ah did not know about the US ticket issue. In truth I've never had a problem just buying tickets on the day when I'm out there.
I did not look for walkup fares on AVE (should have for future reference ), but online prices went up as (I'm guessing by departure times) availability decreased.
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Old Feb 25, 2014, 7:11 am
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Ah, never taken the AVE. I've been lucky to book far enough in advance that a short hop on a flight from madrid to barca was just as economical. I do know fares have rocketed in recent years for rail travel since the goverment cut back on the subsidies it gives to Renfe.
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Old Feb 25, 2014, 8:44 am
  #14  
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Originally Posted by moronic50
Ah, never taken the AVE. I've been lucky to book far enough in advance that a short hop on a flight from madrid to barca was just as economical.
Never been on a high speed train, and it's been eons since I've been to Barcelona, so it was a no brainer @:-)
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Old Feb 26, 2014, 9:53 pm
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Thumbs up

The fast trains are tons of fun... would really recommend it. If the AVE is anything like the Korean KTX, your daughter will have a great time.
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