Iberia Airlines connection question

If you booked the AA ticket to/from Europe as one single ticket, then when you fail to show up for the Madrid to Zurich flight, your ticket back to the US will automatically be canceled.

Why not book an open jaw into Madrid out of Zurich? ("Multi-City" one ticket, not two one-way tickets.) Might be cheaper.

FYI, you have 24 hours to cancel a ticket to get a full refund, at least one booked with a US airline.

I'm pretty sure your luggage would be checked through to Zurich anyway from the US - but if you don't get on the flight from Madrid to Zurich as scheduled, maybe your luggage won't go after all - could get taken off in Madrid.

by no using the Madrid to Zurich leg will it mess up my return from Zurich?

Maybe. If you paid for a round-trip ticket, probably.

• Did you (A) buy a single, round-trip ticket ticket from Chicago to Zurich (with the connection in Madrid), and a return flight home to Philadelphia as part of the same ticket?
• Or did you (B) buy separate tickets - one ticket from Chicago to Madrid (or from Chicago to Madrid to Zurich), and another (completely separate) return ticket back to Philadelphia?

This is critically important.

If (A), then you can't do what you are proposing: if you fail to get on the plane in Madrid for your connecting flight to Zurich, your return flight to Philadelphia will be canceled. You might get a partial refund/credit for another flight, or it might all be lost.

You need to know this and be sure. If you have any doubt, call your airline ASAP and ask them if you have a single round-trip ticket or separate tickets for the outbound and the return. This could get very expensive and cause major headaches.

Did you buy a ORD-( via MAD)-ZRH, ZRH-(via PHL)-ORD as one booking?

If so, your plan to take a separate earlier flight MAD-ZRH, will cancel the return trip. It is also unlikely you would be able to retrieve your luggage in MAD. When you check in at ORD they will almost certainly tag on to its final destination.

If you booked separate one way tickets then your return trip should still be valid. Its the issue of retrieving your luggage, in Madrid that will be the problem.

You may need to pay a re-booking fee to get flights with better connections or resign yourself to the long layover

Thanks all, I got the Geneva ticket cancelled, then talked to American and they said it would cost over a $1000 per ticket to change, no thanks. Our two tickets, main cabin with luggage only cost me $433 each. Guess my next question will be what to do during a 7 hour layover in Madrid.

I am totally brain-dead after a (sleepless) overnight flight and would not trust myself to make the decisions necessary for leaving the airport and returning to it on time. Assuming you are not that far gone after a transatlantic flight, there are numerous forms of transportation that will get you from the airport to Atocha Station in Madrid. I hopped on an airport bus. Near Atocha is are a Botanical Garden (modest fee), the huge Retiro Park (free), the Reina Sofia Museum (fee) and the Prado (fee). There's a left-luggage service inside Atocha Station; I've never used it, but the best I can tell there are lockers available there, so you wouldn't need to line up at a counter to drop off and retrieve your bag(s).

I thought about just seeing if I could get a hotel room for a few hours and try to sleep but not sure that would work for us.

That's definitely what I would do! I suppose my second choice would be simply to walk the concourse, back and forth.