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Cheap Airlines out of Madrid

April 28th, 2010 | Posted by jodiehop in Courtney | Transit and Transport | Traveling outside Madrid - (0 Comments)

While Madrid is a fantastic city to live in with more than plenty to see and do, its still nice to jet off now and then…for next to nothing. I tell you, as an American, it gets addicting…this whole easy Europe travel thing.  I come from a gigantic country, a gigantic state even, with limited train options and definitely no airlines offering no-frills flights for cheap.  So I find that it is harder to actually stay in Madrid sometimes than it is to leave it.

First things first…I am very happy to announce that all flights for Madrid – cheap and otherwise – come in and out of Barajas Airport. This is a huge relief after flying to places like Brussels with cheap airlines and finding myself still a 1hr+ out of the city.  So Barajas is it.  You can get there by the very economical metro/bus or roughly a €30 taxi ride should your flight depart before the metros open at 6am.

So how can an airline offer rates as low as €1 (before taxes)?  Well when I say no frills…I mean it.  The planes, they’re fine, clean, modern…it’s just outside of a seat, you get nothing else.  If you opt to check your luggage it will cost you – approx. €30.  If you’re thirsty it will cost you – approx €2.50 for a tini tiny can of coke. If you’re hungry…well you get the picture.  You are able to bring on one piece of carry-on luggage (and I mean ONE – this includes cameras, purses…everything) and the luggage can not exceed 10kg (roughty 22 lbs).  But don’t fret, this is Europe and very seldom does a flight take longer than 2 hours.  You can do it!

Here is a listing of airlines that depart from Madrid on the cheap.

Skyscanner – Great way to avoid going to each individual site.  Most scanning sights like Sidestep and Expedia don’t typically cover the cheap airlines, but this one does.

Vueling – Spanish airline.  Its a play on Spanglish and as a marketer…I struggle with their campaigns.  But I digress, I hear its pretty decent airline (favored over Iberia) but haven’t yet flown with them.

Easy Jet – I try to take Easy Jet as much as possible.  I feel they run more efficiently and are cleaner.  They have a good selection of destinations from Madrid.

Ryan Air – I take Ryan Air a lot as well.  Not my favorite but sometimes they have the best rates.  When you get to the airport you have to go to the Ryan Air desk (NOT the luggage check in desk.  This is closer to the front of security) and have your passport/EU ID checked and your printed boarding pass stamped before going through security.

Wizz Air - This is an Eastern European airline that I take to go to Prague (about €50 round trip).  I’ve had no trouble with them but note that they don’t fly every day.  Great for major Easterm Europe cities.

German Wings – They have a good selection of flights from Madrid.  Obviously it would be best to use them on trips to Germany.

SmartWings – An airline just for Prague from Madrid but they claim to be opening up more routes soon.

Enjoy the friendly skies!

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Madrid books that I dig

March 7th, 2010 | Posted by Courtney in Books, Magazines, Websites | Courtney | Food and Restaurants | Lifestyle - (2 Comments)

Hello, my name is Courtney and I am a travel book junkie.  Oh and I am also a planner.  If I am even considering a vacation for 3 years down the road…I will have all the appropriate books for it as soon as the thought pops in my head.  If work sends me to a destination that I have not been to before then a travel book is hastily purchased and every waking moment outside of work responsibilities is spent “experiencing” said new destination.  The quantity of travel books that made the journey to Madrid is alarming and a topic not discussed between Will and I because I am sure the cost of shipping my “collection” outweighed its value…by a lot.  As you’re planning your move to Madrid [and any outside travel] you might also find some of these sources useful.  Happy Reading!

LIVE
Living Abroad in Spain – This book is good for the nitty gritty.  Need to know what steps to take to bring your pet into Spain?  Concerned about how Spain will react to your race and religion?  It covers many of the logistics you’ll be concerned with but don’t rely on this source solely as I feel its pretty high level given that it has to cover logistics for all areas within Spain.  The author is American so its safe to report that the intended audience is North American – or at least English speakers.

TRAVEL
Rick Steves’ Spain [With Pull-Out Map] [RICK STEVES SPAIN-2009] – Whether you’re already a Rick Steve’s follower or not, this is a great book. With his guidance you find yourself often in with the locals, eating regional specialities at a decent price.  His books always give helpful regional/population tidbits in an easy-to-understand language which makes the reading enjoyable.

Lonely Planet

Madrid (City Guide)- Very extensive and very helpful.  Sites, restaurants, bars…etc are conveniently broken down by neighborhood.  Information on Madrid is thorough – so much so that it can serve as a semi-decent relocation guide as well.

Lonely Planet Madrid Condensed- Great pocket size guide to stuff in the purse and take around as your exploring all the main sites in Madrid.  Great for getting acquainted with Madrid.

Fodors

Fodor’s See It Spain, 3rd Edition- The book itself is aesthetically pleasing.  It covers all of Spain and therefore only provides the most basic and most popular of information on sites.  However once it gave me a great tidbit on how to find a discounted room at a upscale hotel in Valencia and it worked!

Fodor’s Madrid’s 25 Best, 4th Edition- Another good pocket guide for the basics with some good walking tours.  Read this one before you go out but then take the Lonely Planet Madrid condensed with you for more detail.

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What to Bring to Madrid

March 5th, 2010 | Posted by Courtney in Customs [Aduanas] | Food and Restaurants | Stephanie - (3 Comments)

When my husband and I moved to Hawaii we thought we were moving to the ends of the earth.  So, we brought extra everything toothbrushes, socks, etc. only to find that there was a big Walmart by our house and a Costco down the road.  So, when moving to Madrid we had learned our lesson the first time, we’re not going to a third world nation, so we don’t need to bring everything, just what fits in a couple of suitcases.  Well we were wrong again.

First off, we don’t care about the brands of toothpaste or mouthwash as long as it does the job.  The problem became that we would try the  local brands of toothpaste here like Licor Pollo, and they just didn’t have the same affect or taste as Colgate Total.  I have also had the hardest time finding solid roll on deodorant here, especially for women.  Also, if you do happen to stumble upon a US brand toiletry, they end up charging an arm and leg, because they know they have the market cornered.  So, at Christmas when we went back to the states we stocked up on a couple of items from Sams club and Target.  I would suggest this instead of trying to ship the items to Madrid, for a reminder of this read Courtney’s post Conquering Madrid’s Customs.

Here’s just a minimum list of things we wished we would have brought to Spain the first time:

-toothpaste, toothbrushes (2.5 euros per toothbrush), floss, mouthwash (7 euros for a small bottle of Listerine)

-deodorant-unless you like the roll on kind or aerosol which they have at Corte Ingles

-DVDs- keep in mind if you buy them in the states then they can only play on a computer or DVD player from the states

-socks and leggings-this sounds obvious, but there is not a lot of selection here, except at Corte Ingles

-Vitamins, cold medicine, headache medicine- they some of these items  in the farmacia or pharmacy, and what they do have is not as affective as in the states

-razors-both men’s and women’s, they’re almost double here for the same brand in the states

-Soap and body wash-they have great local brands here, but they’re pricey

-school supplies and envelopes-Folders store and Corte Ingles here are about the only stores to find school supplies for my husband, otherwise he would have to settle for Speed Racer folders and cheetah print notebooks from the supermercado (supermarket)

- Peanut butter-I know it takes up a lot of room in the suitcase, but when you love peanut butter as much as I do, especially if you like the organic kind its worth in the long run.  Corte Ingles, though, does has small American brands of peanut butter for 3.50 euros.

-Baking ingredients- powdered sugar, brownie mixes you can find here, but they’re not cheap

-If you can fit it in your suitcase and you plan to cook a lot, then I would suggest kitchen utensils.  We only needed a new spatula and a baking dish all of which you can find inexpensively at your neighborhood suppermercado, but then they only last a couple of months, or there is always Corte Ingles.  I knew of some friends who thought that their kitchen would be fully furnished, and yet they still had to spend over 300 euros at IKEA to stock their kitchen with the basics like plates and cups.

These were just a couple of items that my husband and I thought were a little overpriced here and/or hard to find.  I figure as long as they are consumables that you are bringing over, then that means more room in the suitcase to bring back more shoes.

Working Legally in Madird

February 15th, 2010 | Posted by swidner in Stephanie | Work and Employment - (1 Comments)

In a previous post, entitled Obtaining a Student Visa for Spain (from the US), I discuss the difficulties we had with this process, and had thought the worst was behind us, now I can try to find a job here in Madrid.  It turns out, however, that what the Spanish Consulate told me in my interview for the Student Visa was true, that finding a job in Spain is almost impossible as a US citizen.  In Spain, unlike the US, you are allowed to enter the country and look for work with a Student Visa.  The catch, though, is that most companies want you to already have a NIE number in order to apply, especially if you are non EU.   Unfortunately, as I found out, this NIE number can take months to obtain, and you can only apply for one after you  have received your Visa, another daunting task.

If finding a job in Madrid becomes an impossible task there are some alternatives.   Some people who own their own businesses are licensed in the US, while living in Madrid, but they get paid in US dollars.  Another option is  to have your US based company transfer you to their Madrid office.  A friend of mine tried this, but found the pay was lower over here, and her position wasn’t exactly what she was doing in the US.  There are also a lot of English schools looking for native English speakers, but they want teachers with experience, legal working papers and/or NIE numbers.  The other thing to remember is that as a US citizen you are competing with native English speakers who are from the EU, and thus don’t need to be sponsored by a company or go through the headache of obtaining an NIE number.

I found that the Spanish don’t use craigslist.com like in the US to post job listings.   Instead, I see most job listings in local newspapers like El Pais or sites like www.spainexpat.com, which also has good information about labor laws.  Good luck, and if you do end up working in Madrid, then tell us about your work experiences.

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Conquering Madrid’s customs

January 31st, 2010 | Posted by Courtney in Courtney | Customs [Aduanas] - (16 Comments)

About 2 weeks after we moved into our new apartment Madrid was hit with a cold front in mid-September.  That caused me to slightly panic – not quite knowing what Madrid’s Fall weather was like, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be in the cold for the long haul.  If this was perhaps the case it was not good news as our boxes had not yet arrived from the USA – in these boxes were ALL our winter clothing.  Then a few days later we got the call we’d been waiting for …our things had arrived in Madrid.

I won’t bore you with the rip-your-hair-out details of first figuring out who called, why they called, what they wanted, what they needed (vs what they said they needed) and how/when we could get our things…no no, I’ll spare those gory details.  I’ll simply tell you what we [over a very long period of time] figured out so that you might one day receive a package and have it in your home in lightning speed to enjoy.

Customs [Aduanas]

Once your items arrive, you will be contacted and then provided a form from Aduanas (one per box) to fill out.  The first order of business was to verify all the shipment information – receiver name, sender name, tracking number, contents…ah contents…we were told to list all the items in the boxes.  Basically they had to determine if our items were being sent to us for resale here.  While that may be seemingly clear – my advice is still to remove/have removed any new price tags on items and perhaps separate bulk items (once you see the costs of basics over here you may want items sent regularly).  Once this information is gathered and filled out – fax it back to Aduanas (Fax: 91 747 10 83).  Make sure you keep the form as you will also need to take it to Aduanas where they will hopefully have your goods and then hopefully hand them over.  You will have to pay an import tax which for each of our [20 - 30 lb] boxes was about €4.

Much of the headache in obtaining our things was in simply reaching someone – anyone – to help find our things.  Given their short office hours, inability to pick up a phone, or leave a message when phoning (with proper call back number) combined with basic disorganization meant once we discovered our items were in fact in Spain, it still took nearly 3 weeks to get them home.

In September of 2009 we dealt with Silvia (postales@speedtrans-int.com) who could speak very basic English.  She was very kind and patient with us.  However, she was not easy to reach.  If she is still working there – try to reach her.

The most difficult thing for us with Aduanas was figuring out their open hours and then locating them.  So here you go – a walking map from Metro Alameda de Osuna (end of the 5 Line).  Their hours are from 9-2pm, Monday – Thursday.  Note that Aduanas is in a Correos building which you will instantly see once crossing the highway.  And for all your mailing needs, The Spanish Post - Correos.

Aduanas in the office of Correos de Madrid Barajas, sita en la Calle Trespaderne s/n C.P. 28042 de Madrid.  Information Tel: 91 833 10 00.

To this day I can not explain why 2 of our boxes were at Aduanas for declaring and pick up (at separate times) and the third was delivered right to our door.  I suppose it will just be one of life’s little mysteries that I must simply live with.