Iberia to American at Madrid
 

I need some advice, and a Google serach didn't pull up anything really useful.

What is the legal (& practical) min connecting time from an European flight to an international flight in Madrid?

Specifically I am coming into MAD from TXL on IB flight 3549 at 11:00 (part of a RTW ticket) and then I want to leave to Miami on AA flight 69 at 11:45 (part of seperate Rt ticket). Both will be in business class - should I be able to make it?

Not valid or practical. The IB flight from TXL arrives at T2 whilst the AA flight to MIA departs from T1. This connection would not even be valid for a T1-T1 transfer. You will have to pass through passport control going from T2-T1 but this is done airside.

You need at least 1.5 hours to be safe on a T2-T1 connection, and I would always recommend at least 2 hours. Also, the IB lounge is T1 is worth a quick visit if you have the time.

I feared as much.

Which means I'll need to take a flight the night before and overnight in an airport hotel at MAD.

Which brings up two more questions:

Could someone recommend a hotel at or near MAD airport?

And is the IB service TXL to MAD two class? Expert Flyer lists the flight I'd need as C4 A4 J4 D0 I0 Z0. I'm on an AONE5 which would book into A for 1st or D for business if first is not offered. I'm not clear as to whether IB's A would be available to me.

You can try doing a expedia hotel search around Madrid airport for a comprehensive list of hotels.

The closest is the Tryp Aeropuerto which is about 5 mins drive away. There is a courtesy bus. Dont use a taxi who will charge you about EUR 15 for the fare which is the full fare into town.

Nothing fancy but it is decent and clean for an overnight stop. I normally check in at 11 pm and out again at 6:30 am when connecting in Madrid so I cannot comment much.

There is a nicer Sofitel near the convention area. You can take a taxi there and use their courtesy bus to get you back to the airport the next day. You can phone for the courtesy bus from the airport as well if you wish. It has a shared pool with the hotel next door - another Accor hotel but cannot remember which one.

IB is now all 2 class sevice, removing FC and replacing it with their new business plus on the former 3-class longhaul flights. All intra-Europe are narrow body planes. IB has a single fight number flight JFK-BCN which stops in MAD and also changes from an A340 to a 757, so I doubt that there is any FC on your flight.

I thought it was a two class service in Europe, but then why do Iberia show A inventory? And can I book it on an AONE5, or will they, since it's a business class cabin, insist on me booking into D, which will be a problem since it is A4 D0 on the flight I want right now.

Another question for xONEx experts
 

Based on advice above, I tried to get a confirmed seat for travel TXL-MAD for the evening before my American MAD-MIA flight.

Now the flight I needed, IB 3547 on Sept 25 was D0 and the AA RTW Desk couldn't help.

I turned to one of my travel agents, and she immediately got me on an earlier flight on the 25th with my desired flight waitlisted. She then called IB and got me a confirmed seat on my desired flight.

Currently I have IB 3549 on the 26th confirmed as part of my original RTW itinerary / e-ticket.

I also have a seperate PNR for the flight on the 25th, and this PNR contains my AA e-ticket number and in Amadeus I see the comment "manual ticket".

OK. Now my question. I know I have to cancel the flight segment I am not taking, but do I need to anything else? Can I just show up for the flight on the 25th, or do I need to get the RTW desk to somehow link my remaining RTW itinerary and e-ticket information to this new reservation? On a paper ticket I am sure it would just be a case of showing up, but on an e-ticket?

I just don't want surprises at TXL airport on Sunday evening, and I have never tried this approach of seperate bookings before.

If your e-tkt number is in the PNR then you ought to be fine, but like you I have not done this yet, and I would be much more comfortable with a paper ticket.

Be careful with "A"
 

AF has an A fare which is a discounted coach fare. (This created a mess for me when I booked what I thought was the front cabin on a CDG-LHR itinerary.) Maybe other European airlines have begun using A in the same manner. You had better ask about that.

BTW, does it make any sense to simply buy a cheap TXL-MAD ticket on a discount airline so you need not waste the time and money on a hotel at MAD?

I wondered about that, so wrote to customer service at Expert Flyer - I got a quick response to say that in light of my message they made a change to the way they access Iberia flight info.

Sure enough, when I looked again, no A or Z inventory showed at all, and in fact completely different results in most fare classes. So I guess what I had been seeing before wasn't real inventory.

The night at Madrid airport is a slight pain, but it just replaces a hotel night in Berlin, and the flight TXL - MAD is using up an unused coupon on an AONE5 so the only cost was the $75 change fee. Also routed this way to collect the American OWE bonus for flying AA plus up to three other OneWorld partners.