Air choices? ATL-LON and MAD-ATL?

[stephenson]

Since this is air only question, I started new thread ... background - September/Oct itin is Atlanta to London (friends), train to Bayeux (3 nights), train to Bordeaux (5 nights), train to San Sebastian, SP (6 nights), four nights on coast and then return to Atlanta from Madrid.

Delta has pretty schweet direct flights ATL-LON and MAD-ATL. My usual go to with points is UA, but nothing even close to direct, and a lot of backtracking. AA also nothing direct. All in the $1100-1200 range.

Any recommendations on other carriers or better pricing methods? We usually fly economy (plus when using UA) - if can get direct, then easy to live with 8 hours in whatever seats.

Thanks!

 

[Nemo2]

Have you looked at non-US/North American airlines? We only use Air Canada or US lines if there's absolutely nothing else available, and there are a lot of good 'foreign' airlines out there.....and better value/service more often than not.

 

[flintnational]

I live in Atl. Yep, its hard to beat the Delta direct flights. We have had good luck with Norwegian Air to Europe. The planes are all Boeing Dreamliners and I like the airline. The catch is, they do not fly out of Atl. We have booked them out of Fla or Boston. Also watch Clark Howard's Atl travel deals website for airfare sales.

ETA: From Google flights. Here is round trip air from Boston to London and Madrid to Boston for $315 basic economy. American and Iberia air. $495 with checked bags and a seat assignment.

 

[Bamaman]

You can possibly save by flying ATL to Orlando (MCO) and catching Norwegian Air Shuttle to London Gatwick. From Gatwick, you can fly extremely cheap on EasyJet to virtually anywhere in Europe--avoiding the expensive Eurostar and other trains. Norwegian will be flying from Madrid to Boston (starting 5/2/2019).

You can fly on Spirit Airlines from Boston to ATL for $100-$135 (if Mon. or Tue.) Southwest also flies that route.

We're flying from Nashville-Boston on Delta and taking a Norwegian Air Shuttle flight to Madrid. Our return flight is from Paris to Boston. Total airfares are $700ish for high season.

Our last flight back to Boston on Norwegian was $158 from Dublin (one way.)

 

[Peter]

I would always take a direct non-stop over chopping and changing between airlines.

 

[stephenson]

Norwegian less expensive, but departing from Orlando interrupts the flow we wanted out of Atlanta - our kid is a musician in Atlanta so we try and do a concert on the weekend prior to departure. Orlando nonstop to Gatwick about $350, and Madrid to Orlando with one stop in Gatwick.

Delta is easy solution, but expensive one ...

 

[NoiseBoy]

Delta flies a lot of Boeing 767s to Europe which is an older design with small overhead bins so the planes can take a long time to board. Delta is trying to brand their version of UA's Economy Plus (Comfort +) as a Premium Economy cabin, but it isn't so beware. Having said that, I was on a Delta direct flight to Rome a year ago and our plane had a mechanical issue. This being Delta, at their hub in Atlanta, they simply went and got the pilot the keys to another plane while I drank a $12 airport beer. Delta got me to Rome only an hour late. Totally different experience from this year when I was booked on LOT out of O'hare to Budapest. Plane had mechanical issues and I got to Budapest 2 DAYS later.

 

[Bamaman]

I am still thankful for those European budget airlines that have been tapping into the U.S. travel market and keeping extremely low airfares. I will drive a reasonable distance or even fly a U.S. budget airline to a departing city if I can save $1000 each (x 3).

Budget airlines is all that keeps the big U.S. legacy airlines reasonably priced in order to be competitive. And that allows us ER's to internationally travel once or twice yearly.

 

[Bamaman]

I am still thankful for those European budget airlines that have been tapping into the U.S. travel market and keeping extremely low airfares. I will drive a reasonable distance or even fly a U.S. budget airline to a departing city if I can save $1000 each (x 3).

Budget airlines is all that keeps the big U.S. legacy airlines reasonably priced in order to be competitive. And that allows us ER's to internationally travel once or twice yearly.

 

[Pete10k]

I just booked a great trip to Spain/Portugal using tripmasters.com. You might price your vacation up to compare. I’ve never used them before and always booked airfares separate from hotel/villas but the way they discount packaged trips and let you choose some of the best hotels and flights has won me over. The 14 day trip is about the same price as just the biz class airfares were from KLM/Delta and the hotels we included are all 5 star!