Worst/Best Airlines to travel to Spain

[Brian]

Here's a new topic- post your favorite airline to travel to Spain, as well as your least favorite.

My favorite, hands down, is American Airlines. In the last few years, they've really done well in making economy class quite comfortable, with more room between seats. For someone like me with longer than average legs, every bit helps.

Delta is not bad, either, although if you return through Atlanta, the hub is a nightmare because every night, hundreds of travelers who missed their flight are herded like cattle into local hotels. I've been a victim of this.

Least favorite is a small carrier called Air Europa. If you're tempted with a cheap fare, avoid them like the plague. We flew on one of their flights from Paris to Valencia in December. They had 12 (twelve) hours to put our luggage on the flight due to an extra-long layover (or at least get it to a place where it might be loaded onto our flight), and they failed to find it for 4 days after that. Although they said that they would allow a family of 4 a clothing allowance of 50 euros a day while our luggage was being found, we are yet to receive our repayment. 50 euros a day for 4 people? That covers underwear and socks, maybe a t-shirt or some toiletries. Besides that, our flight was delayed for 3 hours, and they gave us no particular reason as to WHY it was delayed. We had been traveling for some 30-odd hours when we finally stepped onto their cramped little plane.

[richardksa]

I use Expedia, Travel Bag, and several other sites and I choose by price, yet somehow, every time I fly I go British Airways. Last time I flew LGW - MAD it cost me £23. The return fare cost £37. With free food and booze!! It's high season now, so my flight in just a few days will cost me £47 there and £53 back.

Oh, in case you think I have to travel at unsociable times to get those fares, I fly from London at 14:10 and from Madrid at 13:10. Very convenient. I don't even have to get up early like you have to with Easy Jet.

Two people I know flew with KLM and both times they lost their bags.

[Brian]

[quote=richardksa]With free food and booze!! [quote]

Oh yeah, it seems that even Iberia charges now for in-flight snacks. :(

And I could only wish that it were that cheap to cross the Atlantic.

[ValenciaSon]

As a kid, it seemed that the now defunct TWA was the best airline traveling to Spain. The worse was Iberia. The flight attendants were abrupt and it was not uncommon to lose your luggage. My experiences are 30+ years old. Has anyone had any recent experience with Iberia?

[cubix]

Air France isn't bad, plus there subsidized by the French Government so it's a bit cheaper, or seems that way.

Had to fly through Charles De Gaulle and then connect to Madrid, the food was good, some of the flight attentands kept trying to speak to us in French though, and when we replied in English they seemed to get rude....

[ValenciaSon]

You know last year I flew to and from FCDG Airport in Paris and had a great experience with Air France. I flew coach and they gave us a menu with 3 different choices, a snack consisting of a baguette and cheese and a little bottle of wive. None of that was extra! We had comfortable seats for coach where each passenger had their own monitor with a dozen movie and music channels to choose from. What a contrast with domestic air carriers!

[Brian]

You know last year I flew to and from FCDG Airport in Paris and had a great experience with Air France. I flew coach and they gave us a menu with 3 different choices, a snack consisting of a baguette and cheese and a little bottle of wive. None of that was extra! We had comfortable seats for coach where each passenger had their own monitor with a dozen movie and music channels to choose from. What a contrast with domestic air carriers!

On our last trip, every leg was performed by a different carrier (uno de cada padre), including Delta Express, Delta, Air Europa, Iberia, and Air France. Of the 5, Air France was easily the most enjoyable, from the excellent service to the botellito de bordeaux.

I've always found Iberia to be a bit "chintzy" in practice, to be honest.

[Edith]

and it was not uncommon to lose your luggage.

That is why I hate flying! Too much stress! :mad: :mad: :mad: Alas, it's unavoidable if you want to go places.

[Edith]

some of the flight attentands kept trying to speak to us in French though, and when we replied in English they seemed to get rude....

:o

[richardksa]

I have made a regular dozen flights a year for the past 33 years. My luggage has gone adrift just four times- and been with me by the next day.
Statistics: Twice by KLM (no surprise), once by Alitalia and once by BA. (However, the last was a security problem. I flew from Malta to the UK via Frankfurt shortly after Lockerbie. At that time all transfer baggage that originated in Malta was routinely impounded to see it it exploded! Then sent on 24 hours later. At least that's what they told me.)

[Edith]

Statistics: Twice by KLM (no surprise)

Oops... :blush:

[Brian]

I have made a regular dozen flights a year for the past 33 years. My luggage has gone adrift just four times- and been with me by the next day.
Statistics: Twice by KLM (no surprise), once by Alitalia and once by BA. (However, the last was a security problem. I flew from Malta to the UK via Frankfurt shortly after Lockerbie. At that time all transfer baggage that originated in Malta was routinely impounded to see it it exploded! Then sent on 24 hours later. At least that's what they told me.)

You've had very good luck, my friend. Just found an interesting story (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/05/13/biz.trav.lost.luggage/index.html) on CNN that ranks the top European airlines in terms of lost luggage. The least likely to lose your luggage is Turkish Airlines. Second is Spanair. Iberia is at #10, and Air France a quite woeful 21.

1 Turkish Airlines
2 Spanair
3 SN Brussels Airlines
4 Tarom Romanian Airlines
5 Adria Airways
6 Malev Hungarian Airlines
7 Cyprus Airways
8 LOT Polish Airlines
9 Icelandair
10 Iberia
11 CSA Czech Airlines
12 Croatia Airlines
13 Finnair
14 SAS Scandinavian Airlines System
15 TAP Air Portugal
16 Austrian Airlines Group
17 Deutsche Lufthansa AG
18 bmi
19 British Airways
20 Alitalia
21 Air France
22 Swiss International Airlines
23 Luxair
no data Aer Lingus
no data Meridiana
no data Jugoslav Airlines
no data KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
no data Air Malta
no data Olympic Airlines

[neskadebilbao]

Air France all the way and Vueling:clap:

Love the tv monitors and choice of movies in different languages plus the food that AF provides.

The only problem I have with Air France is that it is humanly impossible to get from the international gate in Charles DeGaulle to your flight in an hour´s time considering that the flight from the US more than likely will have some sort of delay.

As for vueling...me encanta...barato y bueno

[Brian]

Air France all the way and Vueling:clap:

The only problem I have with Air France is that it is humanly impossible to get from the international gate in Charles DeGaulle to your flight in an hour´s time considering that the flight from the US more than likely will have some sort of delay.


Unless you run...

[Edith]

You've had very good luck, my friend. Just found an interesting story (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/05/13/biz.trav.lost.luggage/index.html) on CNN that ranks the top European airlines in terms of lost luggage.

I have always wondered why this happens anyway. The prospect of losing my luggage (or missing a flight) is one of the main reasons why I do not enjoy flying. Too much stress, I just can't relax and I'm always very nervous before embarking on a flight, to the point that I always ask a friend to take me to the airport and see me off.

[richardksa]

I always try to arrange a direct flight where possible. In each case where my baggage was delayed it was due to changing from one flight to another. But baggage handlers work for the airport, not the airline, so perhaps it is them who are to blame and not the airlines.

There are cheaper flights between London and Madrid, but they often involve flight changes. So beware. Although I see very little reason to fly from London to Madrid via Paris, Schiphol or Frankfurt anyway.

[gary]

I always try to arrange a direct flight where possible. In each case where my baggage was delayed it was due to changing from one flight to another. But baggage handlers work for the airport, not the airline, so perhaps it is them who are to blame and not the airlines.

There are cheaper flights between London and Madrid, but they often involve flight changes. So beware. Although I see very little reason to fly from London to Madrid via Paris, Schiphol or Frankfurt anyway.
I live in the north of England and we are well served for airports in Manchester, Leeds. Nottingham and Doncaster, all of which offer budget flights from BMI Baby, EasyJet and Jet2. They are much of a muchness and I have no particular preference but with Jet2 you have a designated seat rather than a bun fight. We pay anything between £25 and £90 for a return flight depending on when you book and when you want to travel, the average being £60.

It is often cheaper to fly to Barça or Madrid for the weekend than it is to get the train to London. I try to get away every couple of months and with the right flight and accommodation you can spend a 2 night break in spain for £90 per person. The ripoff travel agents want £250 each!!

[Brian]

I have always wondered why this happens anyway. The prospect of losing my luggage (or missing a flight) is one of the main reasons why I do not enjoy flying. Too much stress, I just can't relax and I'm always very nervous before embarking on a flight, to the point that I always ask a friend to take me to the airport and see me off.

2 glasses of tinto will fix this nervousness right away. ;)

[richardksa]

It is often cheaper to fly to Barça or Madrid for the weekend than it is to get the train to London. I try to get away every couple of months and with the right flight and accommodation you can spend a 2 night break in spain for £90 per person. The ripoff travel agents want £250 each!!

How true. It usually cost me more to get to the airport by train than to fly to Spain. I gave up on travel agents when they invented the internet. They don't sell travel, they sell holidays. Ask one to set up, say, a trip round France using trains and hotels (as I once foolishly did) and they haven't got a clue. Surprisingly, they also seem incredibly ignorant on the way scheduled flights on airlines work.

In a moment of desperation I asked one to book me a coach trip to the north of Italy, based in a place called Fondo. I was told the hotel was wonderful, the area was beautiful and returning vacationers had all said they had had a wonderful time. "Great", I said. "Where is it?" She hadn't got a clue. Microsoft Autoroute did though. Maybe they should install it on their computers.

[cubix]

The only problem I have with Air France is that it is humanly impossible to get from the international gate in Charles DeGaulle to your flight in an hour´s time considering that the flight from the US more than likely will have some sort of delay.


Hah, so on our way back from spain, my group about 50 of us, flew from Barajas to CDG, we get there and we only have 40 minutes between flights, so air france sends someone to escort us to our flight to the US, like you mentioned we had to get to the international terminal. Well that day a peice of luggage had been left in one of the terminal, well we couldn't go through the airport, but our flight was still going to leave, so here we are running thru customs they didn't even look at our passports or anything, and we are running outside of the airport, on a cold february day...Though we did make it

One thing that I found interesting at CDG and Barajas, is that you had to take a bus to your plane, every airport in the US I've flown out of (quite a few) your plane goes right up to the gate..

[Ben]

I'm pretty much stuck with Easyjet these days, the only cheap way of getting to London from Madrid. They are generally very good but the no seat allocation idea does drive me mad. Depending on how early you arrive at the airport you get a letter stamped on your boarding card, A to D, and in theory you board in that order, finding whatever seat you can when you get on the plane. But on about 60% of the flights I have been on this year (at least 12), this system has been completely ignored - those travelling with kids are allowed on first, then it's 'everyone else', which leads to a mas scramble, and those that turned up early getting really annoyed. Oh well, once you get on they are pretty good.

[ValenciaSon]

Does anyone have a preference for an intra-Spain airline?

[Brian]

Does anyone have a preference for an intra-Spain airline?

Not Air Europa. I've heard good things about Spainair, though.

[Edith]

2 glasses of tinto will fix this nervousness right away. ;)


True, LOL!

My travel agency wants to send me to Cancún via Madrid (I'm going to attend a course in Mexico in November) but I want to go there DIRECTLY via Amsterdam so I'd rather pay some more for my trip and arrive there in one piece, so to speak, because I have to take a language test the next day.

[Marina]

I would also recommend Spainair (http://www.spanair.com/es/)for internal flights.

[gary]

I would also recommend Spainair (http://www.spanair.com/es/)for internal flights.

I once flew Spanair From Humberside to the Islands, It was delightful - we were served an airline meal which included warm crusty bread and we had real (ie not plastic) knives and forks..still I suppose those days are over now they're confiscating nail clippers at checkin.

Doesn't it seem strange that they take your nail files off you in case you use them to hijack the plane then sell you glass bottles once you get airside......!?

[neskadebilbao]

Does anyone have a preference for an intra-Spain airline?

Vueling is wonderful and usually reasonable.

http://vueling.com/EN/index.php?mode=

[guapo]

that system really annoys me too. Ryanair have the same mechanism (I think they all stole the idea from Southwest Airlines - the original low cost pioneer).

As you say it ends up with people pushing and scrambling to get on the flight first. I tend to wait until last to avoid the chaos...

[Brian]

I tend to wait until last to avoid the chaos...

And end up sharing a seat with a screaming child or *cough* a person who should have bought 2 tickets.

[Chiny]

I'm pretty much stuck with Easyjet these days, the only cheap way of getting to London from Madrid. They are generally very good but the no seat allocation idea does drive me mad. Depending on how early you arrive at the airport you get a letter stamped on your boarding card, A to D,

Me too with Easyjet with Bristol to many places in Spain typically costing me £40 return. I always got a C card no matter when I arrived at the airport, so now check in online and get a D with little difference. This makes for a slick operation having to arrive as late as 20 minutes before take-off.

--
Chiny

[guapo]

And end up sharing a seat with a screaming child or *cough* a person who should have bought 2 tickets.

in my experience it always works the other way. If you get on towards the end you can be sure to sit a long way from the screamers who are already in place, whereas if I get on first they always seem to come and find me :eek:

[Brian]

in my experience it always works the other way. If you get on towards the end you can be sure to sit a long way from the screamers who are already in place, whereas if I get on first they always seem to come and find me :eek:

Yeah, I suppose that's true, too.

[deecree]

As a kid, it seemed that the now defunct TWA was the best airline traveling to Spain. The worse was Iberia. The flight attendants were abrupt and it was not uncommon to lose your luggage. My experiences are 30+ years old. Has anyone had any recent experience with Iberia?

They are still extremely abrupt, though they recently upgraded me to business class, so I have nothing more to say about my good friends at this wonderful airline.

[richardksa]

TWA That Was Accidental
That Was Awful
Travel With Arabs
Teeny Weeny Airlines
Try Walking Across
Try With Another
Today's Worst Airline
Tomorrow We'll Arrive
Tomorrow's Widebody Accident
Totally Wasted Airlines

Can't find one for Iberia. Good ones, meaning funny and salacious, will be rewarded by that wonderful feeling that you have made us laugh.

[deecree]

TWA That Was Accidental
That Was Awful
Travel With Arabs
Teeny Weeny Airlines
Try Walking Across
Try With Another
Today's Worst Airline
Tomorrow We'll Arrive
Tomorrow's Widebody Accident
Totally Wasted Airlines

Can't find one for Iberia. Good ones, meaning funny and salacious, will be rewarded by that wonderful feeling that you have made us laugh.

It's way too difficult. The best I can do is;
If Bearing Equipaje, Remember Its Appearance (because it will be lost)

:thumbs-down: :thumbs-up: :rolleyes: :confused:

[richardksa]

Actually that is very good advice. I have just treated myself to a new suitcase and someone remarked on its distinctive colouring. This was by design as I am fed up with seeing which of the 100 black canvass cases on the carousel is mine. Now I'll be able to spot it - ojala!

[deecree]

I don't have that problem, I just look for the one that the idiots at Heathrow have smashed up the most.