Have made flight arrangements, next May, as far as Madrid. Can anyone recommend which airline to use to connect to Lanzarote? Have been trying to book a flight with Air Europa over the internet, but they do not show any flights available on the day I want to fly in - May 13th.
Also, hope to stay in Puerto del Carmen. Looking for slightly higher end accomodation (2 bedroom house or apartment) rather than just a hotel room (will be rooming with a friend who is used to the “good life”!) Any suggestions/recommendations?
Any other information would be greatly appreciated. PM’s are welcomed.
Thanks!
Carolyn
PS Just watched the 2006 IML DVD last night. Am wondering what I have gotten myself into…!! Actually, it looked incredible. I was blown away watching it…
Carolyn,
You won’t be disappointed with Lanzarote the island or the race. My wife and I went a couple of years ago and had a great time.
We stayed in Puerto del Carmen as well. It was more convenient that Club La Santa. There are many nice places to stay there but if you are expecting US quality 5 star hotel they may not fit the bill. However, you can rent a house in the area and have most of the “at home” comforts.
As for the flights we recommend flying direct to London and book straight through all the way to Lanzarote. British Airways would be the best route to take as Lanzarote is a haven for Brit tourists. Good Luck!
Thanks for your input! London would have been a good option, but we’re flying from Canada to Madrid via Frankfurt so I have to make a connecting flight from Madrid. I’m hoping for someone to suggest a website for house rentals that they have a personal (positive) experience with. Hoping to find a 2 bedroom place with a nice view and possibly a small pool that’s in a quiet location but fairly close to the race site. I’ve looked at a few rental websites but I have no idea if they’re reputable or not…Thanks again…
Never been to Lanzarote, but I might suggest trying to alter you flights… you could get screwed buying the separate ticket to fly within europe. Apparently there are different baggage allowances depending if you book it alone vs. booking it with your US based flight.
This happened to me this summer thanks to SAS. Flew over on United. But booked a separate flight on SAS mainly because it was a great price. The great price went out the window once they had to charge me for “excess baggage.” Basically I was over their weight; so they charge per kilogram above the limit (I think about 40 kg). 100% within the allowance for US Flights. Its a rip off. SAS were complete jerks–really bad attitude when we asked any question…
Booked the flight using points, so we couldn’t get all the way to Lanzarote. Madrid was as far as the flights would go - leaving us to make our own connection to Lanzarote. Don’t think we can change things now unfortunately, but thanks for the heads up on excess baggage charges. Will try to fly “light” (for once in my life!)
From Madrid to Lanzarote, you might want to look into SpanAir (www.spanair.com) - I used them going to Lanzarote in 2002 (along with EasyJet, I went Geneva - Barcelona - Madrid - Lanzarote, I know it wasn’t very direct but it also wasn’t very expensive). Iberia was a bit more direct, but they were also more expensive. From the website it looks like it would be €49 each way.
For baggage, I seem to remember paying for my bike with EasyJet to Barcelona, but then with SpanAir from Barcelona - Madrid - Lanzarote no charge for the bike. Not sure of their policy now…
for accommodation try Ocean Club Holidays, they are a UK based company who have some really nice villas at good prices, Grotty is a top top event and until Canada this year it was my favourite IM, enjoy the heat, the wind, the wind oh and a little bit more of the wind