Air Travel: Los Angeles to Madrid or Barcelona
 

Does anyone know of any airline with the exception of Iberia that flies nonstop from Los Angeles to either Madrid or Barcelona? The current plan is to fly from Los Angeles to either Madrid or Barcelona and fly back from the other city. Short of it, we will be visiting both Mardrid and Barcelona. Flying in to one and flying out the other. Travel will occur late October / early November. So far, Air France is the most economical, but that requires always flying in and out of CDG including potential stops in Atlanta or JFK. I tried Kyak and to no avail. Any suggestions? Thank you,

I am pretty sure the only non-stop route, on Iberia, is LAX-MAD. You can fly back from Barcelona, but you will connect in Madrid to the flight back to Los Angeles.

Kyak would do you no good. Kayak.com might, but fact is socalt is probably right. LAX would have more direct shots across the other pond.

And "economical" is a loaded term unless your time means nothing to you and the inconvenience of transiting through CDG to another EU destination is minimal.

Yes, LAX to Madrid is the only nonstop option. I haven't checked it lately but it used to be a red-eye. I think now they've made it late afternoon. Not sure if it flies every day. Have also read bad things about Iberia as a carrier but that was a couple of years ago. It costs quite a bit more than one-stop.

By the way--the fast train from Barcelona to Madrid is only 2-1/2 hours in case you decide not to do open jaw.

Also, beware of a legal bait and switch. Suppose you paid a premium and bought a non-stop. The airlines can substitute an "equivalent" flight to replace your flight when it cancels your flight, etc. Guess what, they get to keep the premium while offering you a less desirable flight you could have bought cheaper in the first place.

We flew from LAX to Baarcelona via a stop at CDG to change planes and it worked very well. The flight from LAX was on an Air France 380 Airbus and it was a wonderful flight. We arrived a bit early in Paris and had time to get a drink and something small to eat and then we took off for Barcelona on another Air France flight. It was great to get off the plane just to walk a little and relax and then the next flight left and we were in Barcelona by shortly after noon. The price was very reasonable and we were flying Business Class and did our return flight from Lisbon to Paris where we stayed for several days and then another nonstop flight from CDG to LAX. All flights were on Air France and we were totally happy with Air France.

We did the same as Cali, and it was pleasant. Going to Europe, we generally try to use Air France or its partner, KLM, with a stop at either CDG or AMS. Doing it again this fall, with KLM from LAX to Athens via AMS, and return from Istanbul to LAX via CDG.