Chicago to Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, or Marseille

[Tom from Chicago]

Hi everyone,

I'll be quitting my job in early July and heading off to law school in mid-August. I know it's not a good time at all for airfares, but I'd like to spend a week or two in Madrid and/or Barcelona and/or Marseille and/or Lisbon. Here's what I've found so far:

Using the Price Checker on this forum (I tried 7/10/06 - 7/20/06 to avoid the weekend rush), the best deals are all around $1,000, with the lowest being $1,006 on AA/Iberia via Dublin.

Looking around on my own, I can get from ORD to Dublin for $655.40 total on Aer Lingus, and then to Madrid on Spanair for $237.80 (via Travelocity"]Travelocity). This is a total of $893.40.

Ryanair et al. do not seem to work - due to the flight times, I would have to add an extra day on both the outbound and inbound legs. The prices are EUR 99 each way from both Dublin and London Luton/Stansted, so it doesn't look like it would be a great deal, anyways.

Since I'll be off of work, the dates and times are totally flexible. I also love airports (?!), so long Priceline layovers are no problem for me. Any suggestions for bidding on Priceline (or other tips)?

Thanks,

Tom