Amsterdam to Madrid (or elsewhere in Spain) - what are my (cheap) options?

I swore that I wouldn't fly China Eastern Airlines again but I have just spotted an unbelievably cheap price for a return flight from Auckland to Amsterdam of NZ$1,400!

However when I look for cheap transport from Amsterdam to Madrid or elsewhere in mainland Spain departing beginning of June and returning end of August I either find flights that wander around Europe for 19+ hours or prices well over NZ$400 return.

For NZ$1,800 return I can fly Auckland to Madrid via Shanghai , which is similar to my flight last year but that one was Auckland to London via Shanghai. This year the London flight is around NZ$2,300 return.

Anyway, am I missing something obvious? Is there cheapish transport from Amsterdam to Madrid or elsewhere in mainland Spain that doesn't take 19+ hours?

PS. I know that Rome2Rio shows cheaper airfares but when I check for the dates that I am travelling then they magically increase in price.

Burton Axxe said:

Wondering what the issue with the Chinese airline was for you. I was thinking of using them on my next Japan- Europe jaunt.

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Actually, most of my issues were with the Chinese visa process or more correctly the visa free application process.

Anyone flying via China has to either get a visa for China or apply for a visa free waiver for transit.

Last time that I flew with them I forgot because I am so used to transiting via Doha or Dubai where they just issue me with a transit visa when I arrive.

I got to Auckland airport (departure point) went to check in and they refused to check me in without seeing my visa waiver. Of course this is standard practice and I can't really fault the airline for this although it would have been useful to be advised of it when I purchased my ticket from them (not an intermediary).

I went to the website using my phone which was the only internet capable device available to me and discovered a site that was mostly in Chinese script despite it being the English language version. The site was obviously designed for a PC screen and so was almost impossible to navigate using a phone (as background I have a PhD in Computing and I have worked with computing technology for over 50 years and I keep up-to-date with current technology).

Then the form asked me questions that were simply irrelevant such as my address while in China. I had to guess that I could put invalid information into these fields because I couldn't proceed without filling in the fields and the airline staff refused to help (most airlines have a policy of not helping passengers with immigration information).

As a general rule I don't enter invalid information or information that I know is untrue in official forms and so I had to step outside my usual way of being to put the invalid information into the form.

After about 45 panicked minutes I finally had the form completed and when I went to submit the form the website crashed and refused to allow me to reconnect.

By then the flight was boarding and so I re-approached the gate staff and showed them that the website was refusing to let me connect. The lady shrugged her shoulders and turned away.

Fortunately there was a young 20 something guy next in line and he offered to help. For me this was the ultimate insult but I saw no other option and so I handed over my phone. He had obviously done it many times before because he went to a new URL from memory, punched a few details in , handed it back to me to enter my information, then back to him for a couple more fields and then Hey Presto I had my visa waiver and was allowed to board the aircraft.

When we landed in Shanghai I found that there was a separate queue for people without a visa waiver and they were simply pointed to a nearby computer terminal where they entered their information and a visa waiver was printed out, simple!

The flight itself wasn't too bad considering the cost but certainly not comfortable but value for money.

On my next leg to London I flew with Virgin Atlantic and they were absolutely miles better in every way.

Lastly, I didn't find that Shanghai airport was particularly welcoming for transit passengers.

BarbaraW said:

If you have time you can get from Amsterdam to Barcelona in a day by comfortable train. Fares from 74 euros if you book early enough. Details at https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Amsterdam.htm#Amsterdam-Spain.

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Fabulous , thank you very much!