Chocolate, Soccer, and the Prado

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371 days. It’s about time I wrote my Madrid trip report. Thanks to an amazing British Airways Business Class sale, a couple of friends and I spent 5 days in Madrid last January.

Madrid Trip Report

Introduction: Chocolate, Soccer, and the Prado

Madrid wasn’t high on my bucket list. But I’m not really a bucket list traveler.

I travel wherever I can find a good deal. Whether it’s a mistake fare, an airline sale, or an opportunity to use airline miles. I’m not picky. I’ll just go.

So when my friends, Sagy and Steve, emailed me about the British Airway Business Class sale, I was in.

I don’t care what country. Just tell me where to show up.

Sagy picked Madrid, Steve and I followed. You gotta love great travel companions. They make travel and life more interesting.

Airfare

We booked round-trip Business Class tickets from Los Angeles to Madrid through British Airways. But we didn’t fly on British Airways. We flew on American Airlines, thanks, to their codeshare agreement. The total cost for airfare: $766.99.

But we didn’t fly on British Airways. We flew on American Airlines, thanks, to their codeshare agreement.

Because we flew on American Airlines, we earned American Airlines elite qualifying miles and redeemable miles.

The total cost for airfare: 30,000 British Airways Avios plus $766.99.

Pro-tip: You can use British Avios points to reduce the cost of your airline ticket.

4 Nights Hotel

If you’re a regular blog reader you know I usually bounce hotels each night. But for this trip, I stayed all 4 nights at the Westin Palace Madrid.

Steve and I have Hyatt Diamond elite status but Sagy was on track to become a lifetime Platinum member with Starwood. So we booked all 3 rooms under Sagy’s name…using points. 🙂

The cost for hotel: $0

Pro-tip: You can earn stay credit for multiple room bookings with Starwood.

Pro-tip: Rooms booked with points earn stay credit with Starwood.

Transportation

Like many European cities, Madrid is very walkable. We walked everywhere except for the few times we used Uber and when we took the train to Toledo.

The total cost for transportation: 81.75 euros

Activities and Tours

Madrid is amazing. From the Prado to the Plaza Mayor and everything in between. I’ll detail our activities in a separate post.

• Ticket to Real Madrid Game: 75 euros
• Round-trip train ticket to Toledo: 20.60 euros
• Hop on, Hop Off bus in Toledo: 9 euros
• Admission to Da Vinci tour: 4.5 euros
• Admission to San Juan de los Reyes: 2.5 euros
• Admission to Santa Maria la Blanca: 2.5 euros
• Admission to the Prado: 0 euros

Cost for activities and tours: 114.10 euros

Food

Food prices are incredibly reasonable in Madrid. It’s absolutely crazy how inexpensively you can eat and eat well. Food costs include alcohol.

Food: 171.50 euros

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this brief Madrid trip report. I’m trying to get caught up on all my trips from last year.

Traveling two weeks of every month has created a huge backlog of trips. I either have to stop traveling so much or write faster…

Stay tuned for how to get to Madrid using miles and points.

Have you been to Madrid? Share your favorite thing in the comments.

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