Iberia fares BOS-TLV which allow stopovers?
May 29, 2023, 12:31 pm
#1
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Join Date: May 2005
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Iberia fares BOS-TLV which allow stopovers?
Looking at Expert Flyer reading fare rules it seems like IB don't publish any economy class fares which allow stopovers at a reasonable price between Boston and Tel Aviv. This is the section for stopovers on all of the fares I'm finding:
for these fares (ignore the premium economy ones, I just looked at the economy ones):
Given the pricing of the stopover, it seems to be making stopovers impossible by making it so expensive as to be inconceivable that anyone would build a stopover on such a fare. I've never seen stopover charges above EUR300 even on Business class fares, so what's going on here? Am I searching for something wrong here? Should I be trying to combine a one-way BOS-MAD with a one -way MAD-TLV, and a one-way TLV-MAD-BOS? That would presumably be much more expensive so I don't see the solution.
Advice and suggestions would be welcome.
Edited to add: searching on ITA Matrix brings up the combination of a premium economy "sell-up" fare on the way out which has a USD400 stopover charge (!) and is much more expensive than the Economy fares. It does combine with an economy fare on the way back when the stopover isn't wanted:
Fare 1: Carrier IB QLN8C1P5 BOS to TLV (rules)
Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code T, K
Covers BOS-MAD (Premium Economy), MAD-TLV (Economy)
$851.50
Fare 2: Carrier IB QLX8C1S5 TLV to BOS (rules)
Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code Q
Covers TLV-MAD (Economy), MAD-BOS (Economy)
$145.50
United States Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (AY)$5.60
Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ)$648.00
US International Departure Tax (US)$42.20
US Passenger Facility Charge (XF)$4.50
Spain Security Tax (QV)$5.60
Spain Aviation Safety And Security Fee (OG)$1.40
Spain Departure Charge (JD)$35.00
United States APHIS Passenger Fee Passengers (XA)$3.83
United States Customs User Fee (YC)$6.52
United States Immigration User Fee (XY)$7.00
Israel Departure Passenger Airport Tax International (IL)$29.62
Subtotal per passenger$1,786.27
STOPOVERS UNLIMITED STOPOVERS PERMITTED ON THE PRICING UNIT AT USD 800.00 EACH IN LON/MAD/HEL/BCN.
Spoiler
Advice and suggestions would be welcome.
Edited to add: searching on ITA Matrix brings up the combination of a premium economy "sell-up" fare on the way out which has a USD400 stopover charge (!) and is much more expensive than the Economy fares. It does combine with an economy fare on the way back when the stopover isn't wanted:
Fare 1: Carrier IB QLN8C1P5 BOS to TLV (rules)
Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code T, K
Covers BOS-MAD (Premium Economy), MAD-TLV (Economy)
$851.50
Fare 2: Carrier IB QLX8C1S5 TLV to BOS (rules)
Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code Q
Covers TLV-MAD (Economy), MAD-BOS (Economy)
$145.50
United States Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (AY)$5.60
Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ)$648.00
US International Departure Tax (US)$42.20
US Passenger Facility Charge (XF)$4.50
Spain Security Tax (QV)$5.60
Spain Aviation Safety And Security Fee (OG)$1.40
Spain Departure Charge (JD)$35.00
United States APHIS Passenger Fee Passengers (XA)$3.83
United States Customs User Fee (YC)$6.52
United States Immigration User Fee (XY)$7.00
Israel Departure Passenger Airport Tax International (IL)$29.62
Subtotal per passenger$1,786.27
Last edited by salut0; May 29, 2023 at 12:40 pm
May 29, 2023, 12:45 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Programs: BA Gold, AA PLT PRO, AGR, Strawberry (Nordic Choice), Marriott Bonvoy
Posts: 4,248
Not for me, for a relative. I can ask but I've heard bad things about TAP customer service and operations, although Lisbon is indeed lovely.
Regarding Iberia -- are all their flights MAD-TLV on Iberia Express? 28" pitch sounds pretty nasty for a 4-5hr flight.
Edited to add: gets even stranger! When I go to the Iberia site itself to try to find this, it does show an economy fare with stopover (using the stopover feature) but it doesn't give you the option of choosing Iberia Express from MAD to TLV, only an El Al operated but sold-as-Iberia codeshare flight. Also thanks to Iberia's website, it seems impossible to see the exact fare(s) being used to construct this trip (let alone even the booking class for mileage earning information). Can one find that on the Iberia website?
Regarding Iberia -- are all their flights MAD-TLV on Iberia Express? 28" pitch sounds pretty nasty for a 4-5hr flight.
Edited to add: gets even stranger! When I go to the Iberia site itself to try to find this, it does show an economy fare with stopover (using the stopover feature) but it doesn't give you the option of choosing Iberia Express from MAD to TLV, only an El Al operated but sold-as-Iberia codeshare flight. Also thanks to Iberia's website, it seems impossible to see the exact fare(s) being used to construct this trip (let alone even the booking class for mileage earning information). Can one find that on the Iberia website?
Last edited by salut0; May 29, 2023 at 12:56 pm
May 29, 2023, 12:59 pm
#4
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,585
Not for me, for a relative. I can ask but I've heard bad things about TAP customer service and operations, although Lisbon is indeed lovely.
Regarding Iberia -- are all their flights MAD-TLV on Iberia Express? 28" pitch sounds pretty nasty for a 4-5hr flight.
Edited to add: gets even stranger! When I go to the Iberia site itself to try to find this, it does show an economy fare with stopover (using the stopover feature) but it doesn't give you the option of choosing Iberia Express from MAD to TLV, only an El Al operated but sold-as-Iberia codeshare flight. Also thanks to Iberia's website, it seems impossible to see the exact fare(s) being used to construct this trip (let alone even the booking class for mileage earning information). Can one find that on the Iberia website?
Regarding Iberia -- are all their flights MAD-TLV on Iberia Express? 28" pitch sounds pretty nasty for a 4-5hr flight.
Edited to add: gets even stranger! When I go to the Iberia site itself to try to find this, it does show an economy fare with stopover (using the stopover feature) but it doesn't give you the option of choosing Iberia Express from MAD to TLV, only an El Al operated but sold-as-Iberia codeshare flight. Also thanks to Iberia's website, it seems impossible to see the exact fare(s) being used to construct this trip (let alone even the booking class for mileage earning information). Can one find that on the Iberia website?
Have you tried pricing the trip as an open jaw, with a separate MAD-TLV segment?