Spain on points and miles

 Flights to Spain can be done in Business class for really cheap using British Airways miles.  Read this article to find out more.  You can snag seats pretty easily if you book a full year in advance (look for one way tickets and go to the absolute last day of the calendar when prompted what day you want to book your flight, finally don't look at the options with stops, only the non-stop Iberia airlines options from IAD, BOS, ORD, and JFK are cheap).  Don't think too long, because those "year advance" seats disappear within a day or two because people all over the nation are aware of this deal and they are searching and booking them too.  There seems to always be just 2 business offered on any given date, never more.  If you don't like the idea of booking a full year in advance then you can use the tips in the article above for finding other scattered dates that are available by searching the American Airlines website.  

Think you don't have British miles???  Think again!  Amex points, Chase, Capital One, Wells Fargo, and Bilt points ALL transfer over to British.  Keep in mind, that transfering points to British Airways when there is a transfer bonus is an awesome way to reduce the miles price even further!!!  You could also get some British miles by getting their credit card from Chase, or the Iberia card from Chase, so there are LOTS of options making this a fairly easy redemption.

Yes, you'll have to book separate flights to get to the east coast to be able to take advantage of this deal, but at this price it is still worth it!  If you're able to book roundtrip business class seats, that's a total of 68k then add roughly 35k for the economy flights to the east coast and back to SLC and you are at just over 100k total.  That's a fantastic price for a round trip to Europe with the longest legs in Business class.

Don't really want to go to Spain, then book another flight through British from Madrid to almost anywhere else in Europe and it'll only add another 5-7k in economy!  What a fantastic way to go almost anywhere in Europe in business class for cheap!!!

I went in February 2025, business class on the red-eye flight there and then Premium Economy for the flight home and enjoyed both experiences.  I'll definitely be doing it again in the future!

2025 Trip Itinerary (this itinerary was AWESOME- I wouldn't change a thing)

We booked cars through the Sixt rental website and opted for full coverage because I heard a few nightmare Spain car rental stories about extra charges for scratches (that had been there before).  I didn't wan't to take any chances!  The freeway driving was very easy, everyone was polite on the roads.  The city driving and one-way narrow cobblestoned streets were adventurous to say the least, but I was willing to deal with those things for the convenience that having our own car afforded us.  I never would have dared drive around Spain if it wasn't for smartphones and google maps- they make driving in ANY country very do-able.  

Day 1 Madrid: 1hr tuk tuk tour, then we visited the Prado museum (free 5-7pm)

Day 2: drive 1hr to Segovia (walk 20min from Roman arches to Alcazar), then drive 2hrs to Salamanca for the night 

Day 3: see Salamanca (9min walking tour), in the evening drive partway or all the way to Cordoba (Trujillo is 2hrs away from Salmanca and where we chose to stop for the night, in the morning we did the rest of the drive to Cordoba)

Day 4: Cordoba 1hr tuk tuk Cordoba and tickets to tour the Mosque, in the evening 2hr drive to Granada

Day 5:see Granada, we did the 10am tix to Alhambra and in the evening we got tickets to watch a flamenco show in the caves.

Day 6: 3.5 hr drive to Toledo (quick stop just before arriving at the Old Windmills), do hoho bus

Day 7: Walking tour of Toledo (included with the HoHo bus tickets).  Visit the Synagoge museum or El Greco Museum.  1hr drive back to Madrid Airport area where we stayed for the night for our flight home the next day.

Day 8: fly home

Hotels 

Madrid $112 soho boutique congresso

Salamanca $77 Eurostars Las Claras (didn't love this hotel, very dated)

Trujillo $99 Parador (LOVED this hotel!)

Granada $84 Boutique Puerta de las Granadas (great location)

Toledo $132 Hacienda Del Cardenal (great hotel, breakfast, and location!!) 

Madrid $105 NH Madrid airport, offers free shuttles