7+hr overnight layover choice between Madrid versus AMS?
 

I’m considering two flights that depart from Ibiza and head back to the states. Each is in the evening around 10pm and unfortunately each had a layover. The first one has a 12 hour layoff in Madrid (landing near 11pm, departing near 11am), and the other one is in Amsterdam for a 7 hour layover (land around 1am and depart at 8am)



Given the two options which one seems preferable to you? I have the priority pass so it seems like I could crash in Madrid airport for the night in one of those. The Amsterdam one however gets me home a couple hours earlier at 11:30am, however it doesn’t have PP lounges that are open overnight. I did see photos of comfortable chairs that could be slept in at AMS but overall not sure.



Never been to either airport so thank you for the insights here.

The MAD airport-ran lounges take PP yes but they only allow access 4 hours before flight. Previously I've tried to pay for 4 extra hours, stacking with the PP's 4 to get 8 but was told it's not possible.
https://www.aena.es/es/madrid-barajas-adolfo-suarez/servicios-vip/salas-vip/sala-vip-neptuno.html?p=1575033633736
https://www.prioritypass.com/lounges/spain/madrid-barajas/mad2-amnios-lounge
The IB lounges open at 6am, closes midnight, no access on arrival at MAD because your connecting flight is not before 6am.
If you go in town there are overnight churros places but I think the AMS automatic croquette machines are more interesting.
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AMS has Yotel but it can be expensive. Sleeper chairs look good and are in a dark quiet area. MAD also has a terminal hotel but also very expensive. If you opt for Madrid you could check whether you can pay with points - if you have any. E.g. Hilton.

There's quite a few option for a same day so maybe bite the bullet and pay a bit more for a better layover?

Here is my .02. You are going to waste at least 45 minutes or so in getting off the plane upon arrival, go to the restroom and finding a decent spot to spend the night, that takes time off from your layover. I prefer the longer layover where I can spend the night and rest on an inside airport hotel vs sleeping on the terminal. At least you can get a longer rest & freshen up prior to your return flight. As mentioned above, most lounges will be closed, so they are out. If you are willing to spring the $$ for a hotel, go for the long rest in Madrid instead of AMS.

My experience with changing planes at MAD was way longer than 45 mins. Took us almost two hours to transit AA to IB. That was pre Covid so maybe things are better now. But we barely made our connection

Luckily for OP, he doesn't have to worry about that seeing that at minimum he has a 7-12 hour layover before boarding his next flight.

These seem to be the best flights at my disposal. I'm eyeing a multitrip flight: 8/23 ATL -> BCN , 9/2 IBZ -> ATL. And see options for ~70k chase ultimate rewards points. The first leg to BCN is direct but all coming back from IBZ have a layover. I could try booking a RT from BCN but then I'd have to risk a self-connection in BCN. It would be less of a layover but riskier.

I was either going to crash on one of the recliner chairs at AMS, or try to sleep in one of the 24 hour lounges in MAD. Not sure if MAD would allow it but I have 2 PP cards.

deleted, didn't read OP is flying DL not OW

Can't I just book a refundable ticket with points and cancel (or with cash for a refundable flight)? That's typically what I do to get into a lounge early. In which case I could do that in T4S?

Between the two layovers what would you recommend? Trying my hand at MAD lounges or crashing in a chair in AMS airport?

Ah, my bad, wrongly assumed this was an OW routing.
This changes things.
You'll be arriving in MAD T2 from IBZ, departing from MAD T1 to ATL.
T2 and T1 is in the same building, T2 is the domestic/regional(Schengen), T1 is the longhaul/international-non-Schengen
Both sub-terminals have 24/7 lounges
T2 https://www.aena.es/en/madrid-baraja...=1575047980880
T1 https://www.aena.es/en/madrid-baraja...=1575047980880
Since you arrive in T2 from IBZ at 2315 we're looking for a cheap flight around 0400 to get you into the lounge at 0000...

A quick search
https://www.google.com/travel/explor...ZHJpZFIEYAJ4AQ

Yields these
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...en-GB&curr=EUR
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...gl=ES&curr=EUR

Which would get you lounge access at 2am...
If you can book with points and cancel fee is <those cash throwaway then I guess there are other options.

Thank you so much. At that point would you prefer just having the shorter layover in AMS and sleeping on the recliner chair there or are the MAD terminals that nice? I could alternatively take an earlier flight to MAD and land around 4:30pm. Still not much time to really see the city or anything though.

Depends if you've been to Madrid before, and what would you be missing out in Ibiza by leaving earlier.
There's also plenty to do in Amsterdam also depends if you've been before.
Before I lead you to sink a few euros on booking the throwaway flight to get into the Madrid lounge earlier, perhaps you can ask the lounge (email/call) if they do allow you to enter >4h hrs before, and at what cost, maybe they've changed policies since my previous rejection etc.

I haven't been to either! My friends would be leaving ibiza early morning and afternoon, so not sure what I'd do there until 10pm solo. I'd probably book a throwaway flight on chase portal 24 hours before and then cancel it within the 24 hour rule. That's what I used to do successfully at least.

Given that either option has an overnight connection, I'd explore trying to book the ticket with an even longer overnight connection and spending a full night in a convenient airport hotel. AMS has hotels right in the terminal (landside, toward the parking garage, IIRC a Hilton and Sheraton/Marriott in one building, plus an IKEA-style trendy place that's also walkable (mostly under a roof). AFAIK all of the nontransit (landside) hotels at MAD would require a shuttle bus or taxi/Uber, which is less convenient and requires allowing additional time.

On an international ticket, a connection can be up to 24 hours before it becomes a stopover. If there's fare class availability, not taking the first legal flight shouldn't increase the price as you're still using a through fare. [LCC/ULCC rules could be different; I don't know about their ticketing and pricing rules.]

If the connection approaches 24 hours, of course there's the option of going downtown for a hotel room plus a chance to see a bit of the city.

Thanks, that also makes sense. What's the lodown on stopovers? Are you implying you can't generally find >24 hr layovers on a single ticket?