Heading To SteemFest From The US? Check Delta Flights To Madrid. We Just Scored Round Trip Tickets For Only $556!!

We've been doing some research to figure out the best way to get to SteemFest. As it turns out, there weren't a lot of great options for flying into Lisbon, so we began looking at other nearby(ish) cities. Enter Madrid, Spain.

I made a post yesterday asking about Madrid and the travel options to get to Lisbon.

@denmarkguy gave some valuable insight that you may find helpful:

I actually used to live down in those parts of the world (southern Spain MANY years ago), and my parents lived in Mesa (Arizona). There are some tricks you can use to make things easier... has to do with the way flight booking systems work. Direct flights to Lisbon from the US leave from New York JFK, Newark, Boston and Miami.

My GUESS is that you can book two separate round trip fares... one for Phoenix to your city of leaving the US, and then another for your US departure point to Lisbon; for no reason I could ever figure out two separate flights price out $200-300 less (sometimes more) than the same route as a "single flight" with a stop in the middle. And most carriers flying to Lisbon want to route your through Madrid or London.

Yes, you'll have to claim and recheck your luggage at your US point of entry/exit, UNLESS you're doing carry-on only. Give yourself plenty of time leeway on the return to the US flight (3-4hours) as US customs/immigration at can be a zoo.

We didn't end up taking his advice since we found another great deal, but it's appreciated nonetheless.

@anyx also commented on my post saying:

I was actually researching the same thing a few days ago! For me the cost difference was negligible, but the proximity made me wonder if I could pack in seeing another city while in Europe.

There is a night-train between the cities, that you can sleep on, and has a restaurant. It's a bit pricier than a flight between the cities, but could be an adventure.

I haven't decided yet, but I might fly into Madrid, spend a few nights there, train to Lisbon for Steemfest, and then fly out of Lisbon.

I was looking at http://www.raileurope-world.com. Can't book too far in advance, but it gives an estimate of price and time.

This night train appears to be $75 per person each way. Our plans within Europe aren't finalized yet, but we're considering it as a strong possibility. We were thinking about exploring Madrid for a couple days before heading over to Lisbon. If anyone else is considering this option, let us know! I think it'd be fun if we all got the same car/room on the train.

Yesterday, when checking flights from Phoenix to Madrid, they were $850 round trip. This seemed pretty reasonable to me.

But, this morning, I checked again and they were only $650! We thought they weren't going to get better than that price, so we booked 'em.

Tonight, I was planning to write a post to let all you know about the cheap flights, and checked the prices again...NOW $556!

Well crap, we just booked for $650 :/

We called Delta, and since they were booked within the last 24 hours, we were able to get a price adjustment. PHEW!

So is it just Phoenix? No! Some of the other cities I looked up also had similar prices:

Phoenix = $556
Boston = $556
Los Angeles = $556
New York = $481
Miami = $536
Atlanta = $541

If you're in the US, take a look at flying into Madrid, specifically with Delta Airlines. All the bags we will need and any taxes/fees are included in these prices.

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