Planning trip to Spain this Summer and looking to save!

I would also love to hear good deals for a Spain trip. I am trying to find a good deal to get my brother to visit Spain.

American Airline has a codeshare with Iberia, so if you book through AA and plan to take another leg from Madrid, then you should have no problems with them sending your luggage to its final destination. Customs are not as strict as USA, so you don't have to pick up your checked bags and REcheck them in Spain.

If you are traveling really light (probably not since it is a wedding) and you are a budget traveller, I would suggest using ryaniar once you are in Spain. Their flights are SUPER cheap if you play by their rules.

I am also debating whether to sign up for a credit card to get the bonus miles to help with travel costs. It will be 30,000 miles for peak to Europe and to book it, you will have to speak to the representative for her to check IF the dates you choose are available. Ticket prices you found for upcoming summer sounds similar to the ones I saw this past summer from various airports in spain (sevilla, jerez, malaga) to dallas. I doubt there will be a super cheap deal anytime soon like the one my friend found from LAX to Sevilla for $600ish...it was about 5 years ago or so.

Anyhow, congrats on the wedding and I hope you can find some good deals.

Thanks for the info. I am trying to narrow down the best hub locations and then get a credit card that works!

If you want to go the miles route, I would say AA is a good bet because you can use them on both AA and Iberia. You'll want to avoid using them on British because of the fees. You can't see Iberia availability (but you can check it on the BA or Qantas site I believe) and you will have to call AA to book the award.

Another good second option is to go with United miles and you should be able to find fairly direct routing from LAX to Madrid on either Air Canada (via Toronto) or Lufthansa (via Frankfurt). Either way you should be able to find availability for 30k each way.

Quote from smarmy : If you want to go the miles route, I would say AA is a good bet because you can use them on both AA and Iberia. You'll want to avoid using them on British because of the fees. You can't see Iberia availability (but you can check it on the BA or Qantas site I believe) and you will have to call AA to book the award. Another good second option is to go with United miles and you should be able to find fairly direct routing from LAX to Madrid on either Air Canada (via Toronto) or Lufthansa (via Frankfurt). Either way you should be able to find availability for 30k each way.

I see that AA AAdvantage does not show award travel with Iberia from USA. How do you say that I can check availablity on the Iberia website (or should I check Quantas website)?

Quote from 1cagcag1 : I see that AA AAdvantage does not show award travel with Iberia from USA. How do you say that I can check availablity on the Iberia website (or should I check Quantas website)?

For checking Iberia (or other Partner Availability) there are multiple ways to research, but I've heard using the Qantas Frequent Flier site is most reliable. I bookmarked this article a while back. It will describe what to do in far better detail than I could do on my own

http://millionmilesecrets.com/201...more-10451

Quote from swest2004 : It looks like a Spain Summer wedding is in the cards for me. Family is getting married and I need to go from Southern California to Madrid and then take a jump from there.

Good time to visit Spain with their economy in the doldrums. Spent 3 weeks there in December 2011. Eat at the tapas bars to save money and to get your dinner at a reasonable hour. While Madrid is definitely a worthwhile destination it cannot touch Barcelona. This is a must see city!! I've travelled to all of the major cities in Europe both East and West and Barcelona is in the top couple of cities, for sure.

Thanks for all the great info. I think I am just having problems finding the best way to go. I want to register for a credit card and see if I can get some miles. Right now thinking American Express business for 50k miles, then use them to book a flight or transfer. I just missed the 40% for transferring miles to British Airways which works with American.

It looks like flying out of San Diego or LAX will be best - but 14 hours ugg. I would consider hitting Barcelona (would love to) but longer flight and I am just passing through. The wedding is near San Sebastian.

When booking do not use British Airways IF the flights take you thru London. There is a HUGE tax like $400 on flights thru London Airports on round trip flights. They charge you this even when you use your miles.
You should be able to book thru AA from San Diego to San Sebastian with stop over in DFW or ORD and Madrid for about $1400 or less or use those miles. Madrid to San S is about $110 or so round trip.
Also agree with above if you can go to Barcelona ( a long ways off from SS ) its a beautiful city, spent 3 weeks there in March/April this year.