If you’ve ever spent anytime in Europe during the summer then you know just how magical it truely is! Especially in May, before the weather gets too hot and the crowds start crowding. After one month, it was time to go home, & in true Sheena fashion I had no flights booked. A quick Google Flight search tells me most of the business class flights from Madrid to JFK are hovering around $3k one-way. OUCH! I cross reference with SkyScanner and what do you know. Walla! Some business class Air Europa flights for about half the price!

 

HUGE TIP! BE FLEXIBLE IN YOUR DATES OF TRAVEL!

Especially if you’re booking last minute flights. Being flexible in your dates could literally be the difference of $100s of dollars! 2nd tip. Don’t be me, don’t book international flights so last minute! Last tip. Don’t just use one flight aggregator, use multiple! I always start with Google Flights and cross reference with Skyscanner.

 

 

BOOKING

Gotta be honest here, I was a little apprehensive when I saw that Air Europa would be the airline flying me over the Atlantic Ocean. Main reason being I had just flown with them the week prior Madrid to Ibiza and booking that flight did not go well. I don’t know what was going on but the first two times we tried booking directly with Air Europa, our charges went through but we received no flight confirmations. We gave it a day and still nothing so at that point we called the airline. Air Europa confirmed the charges but said they were being refunded because something was going on with those payments.

 

Me: Ok no problem, since we have you on the phone now let’s book the flights together.

Operator: Ok

 

3 more accepted payments for a total of 5 charges now with 3 different credit cards and this was going nowhere. Their payment system was accepting our payments but unable to confirm our flights so then an immediate refund was being initiated. The operator was just as flustered as us and recommended us to go to their in person sales location to book the flights, which wasn’t an option for us since that sales location was at the airport, a 1.5hr round trip by Uber. And of course, this flight was also at the absolute last minute. Ooooops! While all this was going on I had the genius idea to hop into my Capital One Venture X travel portal and I saw the flight we were desperately trying to book and gave that a try, and BOOM…CONFIRMED. What the heck Air Europa?

That interaction obviously left a salty taste but once we were pass the booking debacle, everything else thing else went smoothly.

So when it was time to book the big flight home, I went directly through Capital One. INSTANT CONFIRMATION! Awesome, but here came the next little struggle. Not a huge deal, but if you are an avid traveler as myself then you are definitely grinding airline points. Air Europa is part of the SkyTeam Alliance network, so that means they are partnered with Delta. Since we paid cash for this flight, I was excited to add my Delta SkyMiles number to the reservation. But when I entered my SkyMiles numbers, the website kept saying that my account numbers were not a valid.

 

CUE: ANNOYED SHEENA ALL OVER AGAIN!

 

I quickly log into my Delta account just to make sure things are all good and of course they are. After a few more tries, I give up, take a deep breath and keep things moving. I continue to scroll down the drop menu and see that Etihad is also an option so I give that a try and no issues. Again, not really sure what was going on but happy to one of my airline accounts worked. But obviously being an American who’s also currently living in America, the Delta points are far more valuable to me than Etihad, a middle eastern airline.

 

FLIGHT DAY

I’m never one of those people who are excited to go home after a trip, but this time was a little different. Mostly because this was going to be my 2nd time flying a business class international flight so that’s always fun and because I’m moving into my own apartment just a few days after I get back home. Also, let’s be real, because summers in Florida are great too!

Flight Details

June 8,2024: Barcelona-> Madrid-> New York City (JFK)

We Ubered to Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport and was able to check in our bags in pretty quickly. I guess business class tickets get priority luggage tags but the airline attendant was out so he started hand-writing “priority” on some blank tags for us. I told him, it was really no big deal at all, but he insisted with a such a warm smile. So cute!

So far we’re off to a good start. Priority security line was a breeze and a quick one hour flight later we landed in MAD.

I was throughly impressed with the first leg of the flight (BCN->MAD) as I’ve never seen lay down beds available for just a one hour flight.

 

We walked over to terminal one where our flight gate was and OMG there were so many people lined up already waiting to get on the flight. I was a little surprised because there was more than hour to go before boarding and also a few seconds of research told me that this specific flight is usually delayed 40mins-1hour. There are not many food options in terminal one at Madrid airport and I was too lazy to walk to the nearest lounge so I just grabbed a bag of Cheetos and chilled. Our flight was in fact delayed about an hour and a half.

 

Once business class was invited to finally board, we shuffled our way to the gate to only have to wait again at the aircraft door to physically board the plane. It was a bit unorganised and people were starting to show their frustrations but after about another 20 minutes we finally were able to board the aircraft. YAY!

 

FLIGHT EXPERIENCE 

 

The best part of this whole blog… it’s FLIGHT TIME! My first impressions of the aircraft was WOW! Then I just had to stand there and take it all in because like I mentioned earlier, this is only my 2nd time flying business class on an international flight so I was feeling extra grateful!

 

The flight attendant came over and greeted us with champagne and a detox drink of carrot/ginger juice. She helped me get set up with the mattress pad and presented us with a menu for dinner. The configuration on this flight was a 2-2-2 and we were seated in 5A/C which are left window seats.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by all the extra storage and additional outlets I had built into my seat. There was a bin located behind the headrest, small shelf below the inflight-entertainment tv and a cubby under the footrest where my blanket and pillows were. To the left side of the seat was the universal AC outlet, USB port, headphone jack, privacy divider, seat controls,  and the TV remote.

 

One thing I love about business class flights is the amenities bag they give you! My hands and face get so dry on flights so I was excited to see not only a lotion for our hands but also one for the face. In addition to the lotions were a pair of socks, an eye mask, earplugs, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a comb.

 

I found the in flight selection of movies, shows and games to be quite decent. It was a touchscreen, but the remote seemed to work better for me as I was reclined back in my seat. It’s rare that I watch a whole movie anymore on a flight but for this one I did watch most of Alice in Wonderland, the Johnny Deep version.

 

Everything since boarding till now has been great! That was until it came time to connect to the wifi. I was SHOCKED that as a business class passenger we had to pay for the wifi! For the price you pay for a business class ticket how is the wifi not included? That was so strange to me. I’ve been on economy flights that didn’t charge for wifi so for a business class flight to charge for wifi I just found that to be so ridiculous. On top of that the wifi was absolutely horrible and so so expensive! I paid for the “social media and surf” package at $21 euros and it barely worked. I ended up just not using the wifi at all because I was getting more frustrated with it as the flight continued.

 

FOOD

Now for my favourite part of any flight…THE FOOD! Some people love airplane food and some people just hate it! I am the former, I LOVE AIRPLANE FOOD! I don’t know why, I don’t know what it is but I have just always found it enjoyable to eat on a flight even when the food is just ok.

I love how the flight attendants come around and take your drink/food orders as if you’re sitting at an actual restaurant. We had a really awesome FA too! She had a bubbly personality and man did she like to pour our wine HEAVY!

First Course: red wine, creamy white asparagus soup and some mixed nuts

 

This flight had a bit of a set menu with the optionals being the main courses. My bf and I always get different things so we can taste each others meals. While he opted for the fish option, I went for the pasta option.

 

This will be a hill I die on but as much as I love airplane food, I do not think fish is a good option on a flight ever. My bf’s dinner choice continues to prove this fact to be true. The fish option was a cod vizcaina style and it was just not that good. There was hardly any flavor and the texture was just really rubbery. On the other hand, my purple potato ravioli with puttanesca sauce was fire! And yes of course I shared. I couldn’t let him go hungry like that!

 

We finished our meal service with a selection of cheeses plate, some ice cream and of course more red wine.

 

This is the part where I throw on a movie and pass the eff out ✌🏽

Before I knew it, it was time to eat again!

The snacks consisted of assorted fruits, different veggies with baba ganoush, and your choice of a chicken stew or a sea bass/prawn yellow curry. I choose the chicken stew and to my surprise my bf went with the yellow curry. His reasoning was that as long as the curry sauce had good flavor then it was going to be ok, and he was right! Both dishes were really yummy! I really liked the presentation too with both meals coming in a small cast iron dutch oven.

 

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I had a great flight with Air Europa! There were a few inconveniences and annoyances leading up to the flight but nothing to traumatizing that I wouldn’t book them again. Once we were on the flight everything went great! The pilot was able to make up some time to compensate for the delay in take-off which we really appreciated as we had one last flight to catch to Tampa from JFK.

If an over-the-top luxury flying experience is what you’re looking for, I wouldn’t say this is that. But if what you’re looking for is a comfortable/relaxed ride with friendly FAs, good food and great service at a more affordable price point then this Air Europa business class flight will satisfy those needs.