Madrid, here I come!

So, I found out a few weeks ago that I'm probably going to get furloughed from SkyWest starting next month. Que the "awwwww"s. I'm honestly not super heartbroken, though... while I LOVE the job, I have only had about a dozen days off since August between my other job and school (excluding winter break). Even then, half of those days off weren't known until a flight canceled or something, and that was only after I get snowed in badly. Plus, I get 3 months of NRSA benefits on SkyWest-operated flights, just in time for when I'll start to get 3-day weekends from school.

Anyway, I wanted to take one last trip, and I knew I had to make it a good one. I've wanted to go somewhere overseas as a nonrev several times before, and always regretted not being able to do it in the past. It's been a while since I've been to Spain, and I really miss it out there, so I'll be taking that really weird United-operated-by-Aer-Lingus flight from IAD to MAD. It's hard to explain that flight, but it works more like a regional carrier's route than a codeshare and UA employees can nonrev on it.

Now, I haven't been to Madrid before - at least, not outside the airport. My knowledge of Spain and speaking Spanish is very functional, but Madrid specifically is something I could know a lot more about. Anybody ever been? Looking for hotel ideas especially, preferably close to the city center or airport of course, and with a nice airline discount. Also, places to go and some good tapas restaurants would be great.

Thanks!
-Brian

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Originally Posted by spongebue

So, I found out a few weeks ago that I'm probably going to get furloughed from SkyWest starting next month. Que the "awwwww"s.

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AWWWWWW

As I recall Vulindlela has been to Madrid.
Brian you know the saying "When life gives you lemons..." well not only do you plant the seeds, but you get out the salt and tequila and party hardy. http://bestsmileys.com/lol/6.gif

Yes, I've been twice and love it there!

We stayed at the Novotel at Puente de la Paz.
It was very nice and clean, almost looking like it was just remodeled.
With the Accor discount, we paid $60 a night.
It was in a suburb but we could be in central Madrid within 20 minutes by public transport.
There was a fantastic tapas place close the the hotel, which we ate at several times. It was called Cafeteria Veneto.
Also had good tapas at Restaurant Hontanares, off of the Avenida de Americas metro stop.

Have fun!!! It is a great city to visit.

We are off to Athens next week.......

I've have not been YET but this is part of my research--I'm a food geek....
Market, Mercado Plaza San Miguel in Madrid Spain
I have a pilot wife pal who lives there--are you just looking for cheap digs, like hostel?

The market was awesome!!
Not too far from the Plaza Mayor.......

Ooooh, that market made me think of the one in Valladolid, Spain. Definitely a good catch, thanks!

Also, the Accor discount... is that just something you get by showing an airline ID, or is there something else to it? I'm going with my girlfriend and a friend of ours from IND (gotta burn up some buddy passes) and we'd like a private room, either from a hostel or hotel. Doesn't have to be 5-star, just livable.

Edit @Mig: you know that margaritas are made with limes, not lemons, right? :P

you'll likely NOT get Accor discount for more than one room (unless the 2nd room is for family on pass--they put that in writing and you must have ID for the one room) I tried an Accor request for Thailand as unaccompanied spouse and no dice--BUT mgr allowed me discount for short stay at 30% off (not as good as 50-75 off)w/exec privs so it wasn't bad--email the location--IBIS level hotels don't give etxra off--they are pretty cheap already.\
have you looked at tripadvisor apt recommendations? you can get 2+ room city apt for short stay.

PS--I hate that there aren't enuff days in the month to nonrev everywhere--that said, nah nah; I'm going to Thailand...
enjoy Espana!!!

Check out the Accor brand ETAP Hotels.

There are some in Madrid and they are usually priced low...............

Sorry, I should clarify... I meant a private room for the 3 of us, as opposed to a 10-bed hostel. Looks like the normal rate at the Accors is a bit steep, but if they'll offer a discount I'll give it some more thought. There's one that looked pretty good, and would be well within my price range if I can get a 50% discount like 76er implied. I sent an email, we'll see what happens... maybe it'll help that I used my Spanish :)

Never been to Madrid, only to Barcelona. However, I just wanted to drop by and wish you the best of luck with all. Being furloughed/laidoff sucks, however, that just means there is something better down the road.

Regards,

Chepos

Don't worry, I'll be ok... I'm finishing up my degree (I'm eligible to graduate at the end of this semester, but want to take 2 more classes next semester for a double-major in addition to my minor) and was planning on looking for an internship this summer. I already have another job at my university, and an old coworker of mine has some contract work I can do.

Really, I was working this job for two reasons: Free travel, and I absolutely love working with airplanes. Even if I really didn't feel like cleaning a plane out an hour before my shift started, I always got really excited when that plane approached and I'd be in charge of marshalling it in, climbing into the cargo bin, etc. There's something about the whole experience that's indescribable... but I'm sure most of you know what I mean. Eventually I hope to work for an airline as a programmer or maybe a GIS (computer mapping) job of some kind.

Edit: Also, I just wanted to say as well that SkyWest has been absolutely fantastic for me. Maybe it's because we're a close-knit station with only a dozen employees (about half of them I worked with every weekend) but the people I'd work with were always phenomenal and I'll probably miss that the most. Things like hiding behind a deice truck with my supervisor, snowballs in hand, while one coworker would trick another into walking by us so we could get him when he didn't expect it.

Yeah I miss a fun workplace...

I read an article in Time last week about Singapore, and it ended with the line - "In Singapore, even fun is well managed".... too true

A fun work place can run dry too. I find that I like to move around "Bidding wise" to other locations. It's fun at first but then, after a while, it becomes monotoned and its TIME TO MOVE ON. Some prefer to stay with the same faces forever. That's good for them but not for me. I always pull my tour of duty, like usually a year in a department, sometimes two years, then its time to move on for me. Sometimes I return to my old place of duty, and notice that the folks have aged. Like for example, guys wearing glasses that didn't before. That's a trip. And its never really how you remembered it except for the job. For me, I think its "Healthy" to move around for the mind.

Well, I can't sleep right now, and my flight is in about 5 hours. Thankfully, I can sleep pretty much all day tomorrow on the planes. Because of heavy ORD-IAD loads, my current plan is MSP-ORD-BTV-IAD-MAD. Lucky me, eh? Aw well, I was prepared for something like this, and at least I don't have to work the night before (I'd be getting off work right now in EAU, 100 miles away) as originally planned.

Wish me luck!

Good luck, wow that is quite the scenic tour having to get from MSP to IAD via ORD and BTV. Anyways enjoy your time in Espa~a.

Regards,

Chepos

Dammit... here I am in DC. I would have had absolutely no problem whatsoever getting to Madrid, if the plane decided to come from Madrid to Washington first. Unfortunately, it did not, so that flight cancelled. Tomorrow is quite full, and it's not really worth it when I have to be back in MSP by Wednesday. Because of that, and other load factors, my Spring Break is going to be spent in DC. Could be worse, it's a city I've been meaning to revisit for a while (haven't been here in 10 years, and I was too young to care about much at the time)

Shoulda gone to SXM ;)

That was on top of the list, but UA only has weekly flights, so I wouldn't be able to get back in time :(

Oh yeah, the best laid plans of mice and men. On the plus side there’s always the National Air & Space Museum and the Udvar-Hazy Center - admission free
Spongebue, your "almost" trip will stand as an example to others. *wink*

So, funny story...

I wanted to go to MSP, since that's where my girlfriend's car was (the same car used to get to MSP) but all ORD flights were horribly full, and the cancellation they had didn't help things either. Because of that, we decided to go straight home to EAU instead and figure something else out with the car. Got on an EAU flight really easily, and I joked to my girlfriend that it would be funny if we diverted to MSP. A few minutes later, the pilot made an announcement that they didn't have the visibility to land, and that they'd have to try again else go to MSP. Sure enough, after circling around the airport, the plane suddenly increased speed and altitude and we were on our way to Minneapolis. One of my professors happened to be sitting behind us, and he wanted to be sure he got back to EAU for a family gathering, so he ended up paying our cab ride to my parents' house to pick up the car (couldn't find anyone to do it) and I gave him a ride back to his place.

Ultimately, the plane made it to EAU before we did, but the car wasn't stuck in MSP any longer :) . It was also nice to have a more certain option for my prof.