Travel within Spain
#1
Original Poster



Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Lake Oswego, Oregon or Costa Alegre take your pick
Programs: AS MVP, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,125
We are preparing for a trip to BCN using DL miles in June. Unfortunately I could only book seats from PDX to MAD(but we did get biz class). So we are left to buy our own tickets onward to Barcelona. We arrive around 8:30 in the morning. So I was hoping to make a reservation for a connecting flight at around 11:30 am. Here are my questions:
What is a legal and recomended connecting time international to domestic in Madrid?
What happens if DL is late to Madrid from Atlanta? Would we be left to buy a new connecting ticket? Are the European carriers tight about this or would we be able to just grab the next flight if we miss ours?
What airlines does anyone recomend...Travelocity offers 58$ oneway fares on Spanair, more money for Air Europa and spendy 119$ oneways on Iberia.
Lastly, do all the domestic planes leave from the same terminal as Madrid international? If not how much transit time between terminals. Do all domestic flights leave from the same airport? is it the same as intl?
Thank you so much FTers especially the Sitges crowd your posts have been quite helpful. By the way we fly home from Italy so this is only a one way deal.
What is a legal and recomended connecting time international to domestic in Madrid?
What happens if DL is late to Madrid from Atlanta? Would we be left to buy a new connecting ticket? Are the European carriers tight about this or would we be able to just grab the next flight if we miss ours?
What airlines does anyone recomend...Travelocity offers 58$ oneway fares on Spanair, more money for Air Europa and spendy 119$ oneways on Iberia.
Lastly, do all the domestic planes leave from the same terminal as Madrid international? If not how much transit time between terminals. Do all domestic flights leave from the same airport? is it the same as intl?
Thank you so much FTers especially the Sitges crowd your posts have been quite helpful. By the way we fly home from Italy so this is only a one way deal.
#2
Join Date: May 2001
Location: is everything...but...
Programs: dont matter anymore...
Posts: 3,019
Hi ijkh and if it hasn't been said already, welcome to FlyerTalk.
Please take note of the post "Welcome to Milesbuzz, read me first" thread at the top of the forum.
It appears you have some pretty general travel questions here, and none of which relate to miles or points. I can however, answer one question here for you.
If you buy a separate ticket from BCN to MAD and you miss your flight because of a late arrival, you are pretty much on your own. One of the advantages of a single itinerary is that you are protected in the event of a delay. With 2 separate tickets, you lose this protection. You might get lucky though and the onward carrier may put you on the next available flight, but there is no guarantee.
I'm going to go ahead and move this to TravelBuzz where I'm sure you'll get some great answers from the experts
Regards,
Flipside
Please take note of the post "Welcome to Milesbuzz, read me first" thread at the top of the forum.
It appears you have some pretty general travel questions here, and none of which relate to miles or points. I can however, answer one question here for you.
If you buy a separate ticket from BCN to MAD and you miss your flight because of a late arrival, you are pretty much on your own. One of the advantages of a single itinerary is that you are protected in the event of a delay. With 2 separate tickets, you lose this protection. You might get lucky though and the onward carrier may put you on the next available flight, but there is no guarantee.
I'm going to go ahead and move this to TravelBuzz where I'm sure you'll get some great answers from the experts

Regards,
Flipside
#3
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: SF, CA, USA
Programs: AA EXPLAT.UA EX, HH DIAMOND
Posts: 66
I was on 2 Spanair flights last month...MAD/BIO and BIO/BCN. I got the best fare on spanair.com. I was very happy with the flights, planes and crew.
Spanair is a co with United. You can get miles credit, although I had to write to United to actually get the miles. As a Gold member in the Star Alliance I was able to use the Spanair Lounges which are also very nice. I will fly Spanair instead of Iberia every time. Have a great trip!
Spanair is a co with United. You can get miles credit, although I had to write to United to actually get the miles. As a Gold member in the Star Alliance I was able to use the Spanair Lounges which are also very nice. I will fly Spanair instead of Iberia every time. Have a great trip!

