$293 Roundtrip Nonstop to USA to Spain

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Travel from New York to Madrid nonstop for $293 roundtrip or Miami to Madrid nonstop for $333 roundtrip this May. These are all in fares on Air Europa that include a free checked bag, a free carry on, and a free personal item.

Contents:

1. When are the cheap fares?
2. Why Madrid?
3. Mileage Earning
4. Baggage Allowance
5. Best Credit Card to Buy the Ticket

$293 Roundtrip from New York to Madrid

These fares are on ITA Matrix (here’s why you want to search airfare on ITA Matrix) for $305 roundtrip departing Sunday through Wednesday in May. Other departures are just tens of dollars more.

You can find that price on aireuropa.com.

The fares are only 272 euros ($293) roundtrip on momondo.com if you want to save $12 at the expense of potentially worse customer service in case of needing a change or cancellation.

Similarly Miami to Madrid roundtrips in May are $345 on aireuropa.com, but on momondo.com, they are 309 euros ($333.)

Why Madrid?

Madrid is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I spent a month there in May 2015. The weather was fantastic–warm but not scorching–with long afternoons just made for tapas or chocolate con churros.

Madrid is within easy striking distance of some of my other favorites in Spain including Valencia, Barcelona, and the Alhambra. I didn’t check open jaw fares, but even if you have to book a pure roundtrip to Madrid and then hop around, this fare is attractive enough to make that worthwhile.

Mileage Earning

Here’s how the process of crediting to a partner works. ITA Matrix lists the fare class as Z.

Delta doesn’t list Z on its earning chart for Air Europe, a SkyTeam member.

Maybe ITA Matrix has the fare class wrong, or maybe these fares earn zero miles. If they earn miles, it’s very likely to be only 25% of distance flown.

Baggage Allowance

You get a free personal item, free carry on, and one free checked bag up to 50 pounds each included in the ticket price.

Best Way to Buy the Ticket

You should buy this ticket with he Barclaycard Arrival Plus. The card comes with 50,000 Arrival miles after spending $3,000 on the card in the first three months. Arrival miles can be redeemed for 1 cent each toward any travel expense. Here is How to Redeem Arrival Miles.

With the Arrival Plus, you don’t even have to wait to meet the minimum spending requirement before you spend the miles. Open an Arrival Plus, put whatever revenue tickets on the card you want now to help you meet the minimum spending requirement, and then redeem Arrival miles within 120 days to offset the charges.

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Hat Tip View from the Wing