Madeira
 

Hi, I gotta get to Madeira for a few days next April from SLC. To maximize Delta miles, would be ideal to take Skyteam as far as possible. Seems cheapest so far to fly to Lisbon, and then take something like Easyjet the rest of the way. Just wondering if there are any better ideas out there - Europe flight in April seem expensive right now! Thanks.

It looks like going via LIS will be your best bet. You can also get to FNC via LGW and a few German cities via Air Berlin. But those connecting flights will be much more expensive. From LIS to FNC will most likely be the least expensive routing.

If you don't want to mess around with Easyjet, TP's fares look pretty good and they would probably interline your luggage with DL or AF.

LIS is probably your best option indeed, either with AF or KL and/or DL.

I concur. TP does have a promotion right now for LIS-FNC flights for €36 each way with taxes (check it here). The downside is that the OP is flying in April and this fare is only valid until 24 March 2010. However, I'd expect that there will be promotions around that time too (unless it's Easter). Apart from the interlining, another positive aspect of flying TP is that in case of the weather-related cancellations, EasyJet will just postpone the flight for the following day (because the planes fly MAD-LIS-FNC-LIS-MAD and can't wait in LIS forever) whereas TP can fly it as soon as it is viable because LIS is its hub.

Thank you for your help! I was able to find fares on TAP Portugal, for 38 Euros each way, going from LIS to Funchal on April 4th and back to Lisbon on April 8th. Great deal on a "real" airline!

I haven't bought the SLC-LIS-SLC tickets as yet, they seem to be pricing out at around $1000 right now unless I can get out before April 1st. I will likely give myself a 1-day "cushion" on each side of the Madeira itinerary, so baggage won't be an issue.

You can also try flying via DUB, CDG, CPH, ARN and ZRH connecting on to FNC using SATA. Flying via Dublin or Paris may yield fewer miles but it could be cheaper once you combine the two tickets. The downside of using SATA is that a lot of their flights operate 1x weekly usually on the weekend. My dad just flew BOS-DUB-FNC on EI/S4 and had no baggage issues, no delays etc. S4 ran like a top for him. Plus they fly new Airbuses on a lot of these European routes. See www.sata.pt