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We are travelling Glasgow-London-Madrid-Lima then return. One rep said the Glasgow-London legs were free as we are going long haul another said because the internal legs were followed by short haul (London-Marid) the long haul benefit was not applicable. Does anyone know which is correct?
Is this a cash or avios booking?
Also, is it not possible to get a flight from Scotland to Madrid, rather than having to transit in London as well?
Avios + 241
Ideally you need to book the outbound starting in MAD, or you’ll be charged UK departure tax, defeating one object of using the 241 on Iberia. There’s at least one poster on this forum who books a separate flight from EDI to MAD then connects to the Iberia long haul, though you need to make sure, of course, that you build in enough time for this.
On the way back, you don’t lose anything by booking all the flights on one PNR, so you might still have to transit in London (though I think Iberia does fly MAD-EDI, which you’d need to pay some avios plus cash for).
Have you tried booking either leg online? It could be that BA’s system sees the UK domestic leg as connecting to short-haul and charges you accordingly, but it’s not clear whether either agent actually tried to price up the itinerary for you.
Is this a cash or avios booking?
Also, is it not possible to get a flight from Scotland to Madrid, rather than having to transit in London as well?
There is a seasonal MAD-EDI IB Express flight but it doesn’t operate every day.
Thanks for the feedback – I’ll explore these – I have checked Scotland to Madrid and nothing came up. First time using either Avios or a 241 so its all a bit confusing, more so when the reps give different answers!
Should have said they did price up the flight. What is a PNR?
It’s your booking reference, so will apply to all the flights in a single booking. On BA it’s 6 characters, e.g. ABC1DE.
There are several articles and threads on this site on using the 241 on Iberia, including a lot of useful info in the “How to book the return at T-355” thread, though it’s very long.
Do a few “dummy” bookings online to compare how the cash element changes if you start in MAD rather than the UK.
What prices were you given?
Iberia fly to MAD from Manchester daily, so that could be another option for you. Trains between Glasgow and Manchester are usually pretty frequent and it’s only about 2 1/2 hours. I did think someone had posted about doing EDI-MAD on an LCC though.
*There does look to be a seasonal Ryanair service between EDI and MAD. When are you planning to travel?
Also see, for example:
https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/01/14/where-can-you-fly-on-iberia-2/
Possibly the agent who said you’d need to pay for the UK leg was correct, because you wouldn’t be connecting to a long-haul flight departing from the UK, but I’ve not seen anyone post about this before so it’s hard to say!
Iberia fly to MAD from Manchester daily, so that could be another option for you. Trains between Glasgow and Manchester are usually pretty frequent and it’s only about 2 1/2 hours. I did think someone had posted about doing EDI-MAD on an LCC though.
Um it’s closer to 3 1/2 hours and mostly on Trans Pennine Express with small, crowded, unreliable trains which isn’t pleasant.
Friend of mine used to do Glasgow to Manchester and some of his tails of woe are toe curling. I don’t think things have improved since he swore off them.
Um, TP Express are actually fine these days, especially if you can pre-book a table. Apologies for getting the timing wrong, I was thinking of Preston where I normally start and end!
But even at 3 1/2 hours (direct) to Manchester Airport, it’s as quick as flying GLA-LHR when you factor in having to be at the airport at least 2 hours beforehand.
From Manchester Airport station, it’s a short walk to most of the airport hotels, unlike at LHR!
Of course the MAN experience is notorious, however IB (and soon BA, apparently) now departs from the much better T2, and even MAN is preferable to the sheer misery of arriving into LHR and having to clear immigration and then security again before a domestic flight, especially if you find yourself being shunted between concourses.
*All that said, I would still avoid trains on winter weekends …
EDI-MAD now year-round I think but currently only operating on Saturday and Tuesday. Might be more in sumner. I think @Burnfield best advised to book Madrid to Lima with 2-4-1 plus separate positioning flight to Madrid. IB from EDI or EZ from GLA if they have flights. Personally I’d take IB for flexibility plus bags on avios redemption. Downside is cost of hotels in Madrid, Crowne Plaza at airport is often a good deal so could buy points for that. Hilton Airport tops out at 40k/night IIRC.
I did a separate Inv-lhr-Mad Avios booking on BA with a night in Madrid ( just in case!) then used 241 on Iberia Madrid to Quito and BA back from Santiago – Lhr -Inv.. works for us as Edinburgh is still a 3+ hrs drive from us so no use
easyJet fly once a day at least 5 days a week from EDI to MAD.
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