Madrid at $324 RT

Time for an airline nerd magic trick (come on, it's literally my job).

In 2019, Airbus announced the next iteration of their Airbus A321: the XLR. Appropriately standing for Extra Long Range, these narrow-body aircraft were meant to serve "long-thin" markets—that is, cities that are 11 hours in the air apart or less, with enough demand to fill a smaller plane but not enough to fill a wide-body like the A330. 

The XLR first took off in November of 2024, and the launch customer was, well, Iberia! And that first ever flight? Boston to Madrid! Since then, the program has been going great, with tons of new fun routes being launched, including Nashville & Indianapolis to Dublin and DC to Madrid.

But the best part for us has been the massive savings. XLR's only cost 30% as much to operate as a wide-body, and airlines have transferred those savings onto customers. Since the launch last year, we've routinely seen fares from the East Coast to Madrid & Dublin below $350 RT every other month. So as this plane launches to more customers (American just announced their first XLR route this morning,) get ready for even bigger savings :-)

Ok, you made it to the end. Here's a video of a cute kitten as a treat.