RDU > LHR > MAD
Our flight out of Raleigh was on time and Eric managed to snag us main cabin extra seats in the bulkhead area so we had two seats to ourselves.
Neither of us slept that well but we weren’t cramped at least. We made the Heathrow T3 to T5 terminal change with no issues and managed to get into one of the lounges in T5 where we found seats and some breakfast. As we were boarding the plane, the kiosk spit out a seat change sending us from row 37 to 52! The staff said there was an aircraft change and we boarded the largest jet I’ve ever been on for a two hour flight. Even the flight attendants were confused, “something about cargo.” So, even though we were four rows from the rear of the plane, we actually had just the two seats again (and plenty of bin space) which was quite nice.
We arrived in Madrid about 1.5 hours late because of weather delays in London, but somehow the new biometric entry in Spain was way quicker than previous visits. Uber was 30€ so we decided to top up our Madrid card with the 3€ airport supplement and just use the subway.
Train from Madrid to Gíjon
We had opted for the really early 7:04am train out of Chamartín because I got a good deal on the 1st class car. We tried to use the FreeNow app to call a taxi but it assigned us one 15 minutes away and I wasn’t willing to wait, so we asked the hotel front desk to call us a metered taxi. In the end, we paid the same amount, about $15, mostly due to traffic near the station itself.
The baggage scan had multiple lines open and went quick, then finding the track was easy and there was plenty of space in our car for the luggage. First class seats had a little more space, but weren’t that much softer / more comfortable. I wouldn’t pay a lot extra for this perk in the future. We left about 15 minutes late but the ride itself was smooth, reaching speeds of up to 250km/hour in some spots!
Sixt car rental – Picos de Europa (1/3)
I had accepted the car I was assigned from Sixt while on the train north but we stopped in to the office to get clarification on where the garage access was located. Once there I just scanned a code and got our keys. We had to circle the garage once because we didn’t know we had to scan another QR code to let us out of the parking garage BEFORE we got to the exit, but once that was sorted, we were on our way! Even though we drove about 650 kilometers I only needed to fill the car up once, which was great because it was 59€ for 3/4 of a tank! Our little Skoda even had enough trunk space for all our bags. Great car.
Sixt car rental – Gijón to A Coruña (2/3)
Pick up was easy since we already knew where the garage was. This time we had a diesel car, an Audi A2 that was an ‘upgrade’ from my initial request. We decided to pick up the car, then park briefly near the apartment to make luggage transfer easier. This car didn’t have as good of gas mileage and the 1/4 of a tank we used cost almost 35€ to refill. Finding the return ramp in A Coruña was a bit tricky, as the entrance was on the side of an elongated roundabout so we had to circle downtown an extra time, but once we got in the garage, we dropped off the keys in the box with no issues.
Train from A Coruña to Santiago de Compostela
We caught the 2pm train from the provisional station, and decided to take an Uber as the station was a 45 minute walk from our hotel. Too far with luggage! The waiting area doesn’t have a lot of seating but the trains are pretty spaced out so it ever got that crowded. Our train left on time and even though it was a regional train, we had assigned seats and there was plenty of space above our seats for the bags.
Sixt car rental – Santiago de Compostela (3/3)
Again, I had okayed my car ahead of time, so pick up at the Santiago station was easy. The only issue was the woman working there couldn’t find where her co-worker had stashed my keys! This time we had an Audi A1 that takes gas, not diesel, yay! It was compact and sporty but the trunk space didn’t fit all our bags, which was a negative because it meant we couldn’t stop on the way out and back to Pontevedra. Drop off was easy, we found a spot in the same parking lot next to the train station and turned in the keys to the same woman we saw 3 days before. No fuss! Surprisingly, the gas mileage on this one was the worst of the three rentals.
Train from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid
Our train station experience was very straightforward – scanned our tickets, then our bags, and we waited on the tracks for our train. There was less than 8 minutes to board everyone, so several people were still getting situated when the train started moving! We had 1st class again but with seats facing backwards and in a 4 configuration so we were looking at other people the whole time. Not great. Overhead space for our bags was good though, with enough depth for the bags (looking at you UK and Italy). Our train left on time and arrived nearly on time. No complaints. Easy enough to take the subway two stops on Line 10 to our hotel.
MAD > PHL > RDU
At check-in the day before our flight, we were asked to put in an amount of compensation we would take for a different flight. We each put $650. When we got to the airport, the check-in desk followed up about this and gave us some alternative options and told us to check in when the flight was boarding to see if they needed to voluntarily bump us. We were happy to take the $650 AA credit each, plus a hotel and food vouchers but it turns out they didn’t need our seats after all on this day.
lunch in the lounge made the time pass nicely
The flight to Philadelphia was uneventful, and freezing cold, but we scored bulkhead seats again so we could stretch out.
We cruised through Global Entry in less than a minute and then proceeded to wait 90 MINUTES for our checked luggage to come out. No joke. Barely any communication from the airport as to why other flights that arrived way after us where getting their bags. We hustled over to the bag recheck and then tried to get into the TSA PreCheck line, only to be told it had closed 15 minutes prior, at 6:45pm on a Friday. Everyone in the regular security line was super stressed out and I am sure loads of people missed their connecting flights. All told, our 2:30 layover was completely eaten up with standing in lines and waiting for our bags. Then, our flight to Raleigh boarded on time but we sat at the gate for nearly an hour because of storm rerouting. At least our bags and us made it home eventually.