We are thinking about taking a trip to Spain this fall. We would like to fly from Chicago to Barcelona and then return from Granada or Malaga to Chicago. We will be spending a week in Barcelona, a week in Madrid, taking trains south, and finally renting a car driving through Andalucia. Can you book a plane trip like this on line? Or do you have to buy one-way tickets? Or do you have to work through a travel agent? Thanks in advance to all you seasoned travelers. We're new at this booking on line - have done it twice now and am always surprised when it actually works.

Of course! Check Iberia first. I flew into Malaga and out of Jerez last year and was pleased with the fare.
British Airways also has an easy open-jaw searching feature, as does kayak.
Try several combinations and airports.

You can easily book the entire air on line. Most air websites have an option called "multi-city" or similar where you just put your dates and the segments you want. You might try www.kayak.com or www.expedia.com to get an idea of routes and fares and then go also to airline websites. So you could book on line flights for home-Barcelona, Barcelona-Madrid and Grenada-home.

It seemed like in your original post you wanted to fly from Barcelona to Madrid but consider taking the train, less than 3 hours and city center to city center.

It's easy to book an open-jaw ticket, but I'd suggest beginning your stay in BCN, driving through Andalucia, and ending your stay in Madrid. This will make your return trip connections much easier (Madrid is a one-stop from virtually anywhere)!

Laurie, Yes,the plan is to train to Madrid.

Travel, I agree your plan seems to make more sense, but for some reason DH is set on doing Andalucia last.

Don;t even think about one way tickets. Goo to any of the sites - kayak is good for a lot of choices - and select multi-destination. That will give you all the options for your trip. I think you will have to fly from Malaga - the major airport in the south - to avoid multiple changes of planes on the way back.

I often find the best prices and seats by booking with the airlines. Continental has good direct connections - but often small planes. I just checked Iberia for this fall and their price was a little better (under $700 open jaw into Munich and back from BCN) but fewer direct flights. But the layovers weren't bad.

Always start with itasoftware.com They are th best to research fares, then book at the airline site.

Bookmarking

We frequently fly open jaw. Simply look at the multi-city or multiple destinations tab on your preferred air carrier. This mode of travel saves a great deal of time and the fare is usually comparable to roundtrip, if not cheaper.

In April '08, we flew from the US into Madrid, took a train to Barcelona, and then flew home back to the US from Barcelona. This April, we are flying into Granada and out of Sevilla.

Thanks to all who responded. I've been out of town and couldn't check the responses. We'll try your ideas and see what we can come up with. I think DH has decided that doing Madrid last does make more sense. The plan now is to fly to Barcelona for a week, fly to Granada, rent a car and drive around southern Spain and then train back to Madrid.