ahoyne9On July 2nd, 2022 I decided to finally use all my travel points I’ve accumulated over the last 5 years. For clarity, I have over 1M points spread out between credit cards, airlines, and hotels and I rarely use them and if I do I use them for cheap stays or economy flights that are over-priced.
I was following a few travel bloggers and “influencers”, one being Max Miles Points and Max had posted on Youtube how to book a flight with Iberia for less than 40k points one way to fly in lie-flat business class, which I have never done.
I had really no plans to travel for the summer of 2023 but I thought if I could get Business class seats for sometime in June 2023 I would make a trip out of it. This worked I got a flight leaving June 21st from Chicago one way to Madrid for 36,000 points and $123, a hell of a deal.
Here’s my experience on board. There was spacious seating with ample legroom that converts into a fully flat bed, providing a restful journey. We were given a cover for the seat that was fresh and clean, pillow, and a blanket. We received gourmet meals (their words not mine, but certainly better than economy) paired with a selection of fine wines, along with amenities such as noise-canceling headphones, a wide selection of entertainment options, and an enhanced level of privacy. One thing I will say that bothered me is there were two pilots flying the plane and one went up to use the toilet. They locked the door to the cockpit without putting a flight attendant in there which gave me anxiety knowing the whole German guy that crashed the plane.
Walking the City of Madrid – Day 1 06.22.23
Arriving in the morning well rested from first lie-flat business class seats. My girlfriend and I headed to the hotel. Before going to the hotel, I stopped at one of the convenience stores inside the airport after customs to pick up two unlimited data sim cards for 30 days. They were with the company Orange, the cards worked in the EU, which was perfect for our trip and they were 25 Euros a piece.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza near the airport. This was her first international trip so I tried to tone things down from my usual fast pace, limited sleep traveling style, as you readers would know from previous posts. I made sure we were near the airport so we could rest, and fly out in the coming days easily without stressing about major transit.
The airport offers a shuttle you need to book in advance it was 4 Euros a person one way. I have the IHG platinum credit card, so we were able to check in early and got a complimentary upgrade. The hotel was okay, nothing special. It is close to a bus line which does take you to the main Metro to downtown. Roughly 40 minutes one way to the Sol neighborhood in Madrid. Which is where I would recommend staying if you visit Madrid.
The bus was €2.50 one way pp. I got a metro card in Madrid which included 10 uses, and could be used between multiple people for €12. We took the metro to the Canillejas station, due to the recommendation from the hotel receptionist. There wasn’t much there, other than this was a very, I say that heavily, gay-friendly neighborhood. From there we walked to Plaza Mayor.
We decided to eat in the Plaza at Cervecería Jacinta, we both had Paella de pollo y judías verdes. It was delicious.
After lunch, we walked to Parque de El Retiro to see Estanque Grande de El Retiro. I definitely recommend going to a park on your first day abroad to help with the jet lag, soak up the sun and go barefoot on the grass to do grounding, this has made a big difference for me both ways of traveling.
If you visit and you want to take out the boats, it was recommended to book in advance and it costs, read more about that here, you do need to download an app to do this. That was it for the day, we headed back to the hotel taking the metro, the bus line stops at 9 pm so we did need to Uber from there. Funny story we ended up taking the wrong Uber somehow, the same person they were picking up had the same name as me.
Cathedral & Royal Palace – Day 2 06.23.23
Last day in Madrid before we head to Porto tomorrow, there were only two places left that I wanted to see the Royal Palace and Cathedral. We opted to not do the tour of the Royal Palace, the queue time was pretty long and the outside was cool enough for me.
Took the bus metro combo from the hotel again, and then got off at gran vila station before walking to the palace.
Right outside the palace, there is a small park that has Monumento ecuestre de Felipe IV.
The Palacio Real de Madrid and the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena are directly next to each other and in between has an overlooking view of the city.
The rest of the day was restaurants and Sangria hoping. I do think Madrid could be done in one day and I don’t think we need to split the trip up before heading to Porto.
Thanks for reading, cheers & safe travels!