has anyone flown Spanair from Madrid to Malaga? Iberia wants $168 for a one way ticket - but Spanair is only charging $69.17!!! Big difference - should I be scared????

No, you do not need to be scared. I have flown Spanair many times and it is a fine airline. Spanair is Iberia's competition in Spain and usually their prices are much better.

We flew Spanair from Madrid to Sevilla. It was amazingly cheap, but had no downside.

thanks for the info - I just thought because they are sooooo inexpensive that I should be worried. Guess I should check their luggage policy, before booking.

I flew Span Air from Barcelona to Stockholm--almost three hours. They will charge for all food and drinks. Can you do the flight without coffee and water? The plane was very new. The food situation is the only consideration I would have.

Wally is right. I also used them between Copenhaguen and Madrid and it was the same thing.
The same thing was in Iberia between Rome and Madrid this past summer.

However, in their domestic flights they give food/ drinks at no cost( at least last time I flew with them last year).

I think Spanair is the one I will choose. The flight from Madrid to Malaga is only 1 hr. 15 min.

Spanair is part of Star Alliance which includes United and Luftshansa as well as many other well known airlines.

Although my favourite airline is Iberia, I have to admit that Spanair is also very good. It belongs to Star, so it is a well recognised airline.

Its quality is good. They supply a very fair business product and economy class is also quite good.

In economy you will be able to buy food and beverages. In avant class, free food is served. In both there a magazine (Spanorama) and you get a newspaper until 11 am. Crews seem friendly.

Besides, you can earn miles if you hold a Star FF Programme or the one of Spanair (Spanair Plus).

The negative perspective (and NOT so bad) is that they have an important ex-SAS MD fleet, which people dislike (as I dislike Iberia's MDs, compared to Airbuses). However, they are well maintained, and they also fly B717s and Airbuses. (Just check what aircraft you will get).

The last thing is that they operate flights from Madrid's T2 (the old terminals before T4 was opened). T1, T2, and T3 are now being remodelled to make them equivalent to T4, so you may find a non fully operative terminal and you won't see the nice T4. On the other hand, I have to highlight that avoiding T4 is to some people a positive thing, since T2 is now much emptier than before, so easier to navigate through. (IMO, T2 shows its ages, but is a very good part of the airport.)

To sum up: Málaga is a very popular destination (Iberia sends there their A321!), so in peak season Iberia can be overbooked, and that's why you get high prices. (The fact you only purchase a one way ticket also matters!). Spanais is for sure a good alternative and if you don't care the airline, it's for sure a good option.

We just flew with them from Barcelona to Copenhagen. They were o.k. No problems, liked the magazine, but they were selling all these products (besides food) which I thought was a bit tacky, though I did try Antonio's fragrance (didn't care for it, but was suprised they were spraying it on flight as some people can't tolerate some fragrances.)