Mallorca: January Adventures and the Cost to Do It

We’ve just wrapped up a two-week stay in Europe, most of which was spent on Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. As previously discussed, we jumped on what was essentially a free flight to Frankfurt, Germany, spending a night on either end of the trip there. We also leaned on our five key tips for saving money while traveling abroad. Shall we take a look at some pretty pictures and tally the final bill?

Frankfurt, Germany

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Mallorca

Spending Totals

All costs are in US dollar amounts (converted from euros) and are totals for the two of us. The trip lasted 15 days to and from our home in Colorado, USA, and we’re not holding back on any secret spending. Full frontal transparency for you!

Flights:

Flight (Denver to Frankfurt): $250. The tickets were technically free, but the above costs reflects various associated fees. We used our Chase Sapphire Preferred rewards credit card to fund this flight, as discussed in this introductory post.

Flight (Frankfurt to Mallorca): $236. Ryanair cheap intra-Europe flight. Includes baggage fees.

Transportation:

Rental Car: $282. I called her Miss Clio — our tiny manual transmission economy car. She did not tell me my future, but did get us around the island in an affordable manner. We did not purchase insurance, relying on the included coverage from our Capital One Venture Card. We booked through Autoslash, which automatically found the cheapest option based on our memberships (Costco, flight and rental car club memberships, etc). I re-booked (at no additional cost) a week before our flight when a cheaper option became available.

 Fuel and Transportation : $150. Fuel costs are much higher in Europe than in the U.S. Prices on the island were in the range of $5.60 per gallon (converted from Euros/liter), compared to the U.S. national average of $2.26 per gallon at the time of writing. However, a small econo car has much better fuel efficiency than our comparatively enormous Subaru Outback back home, so we didn’t break the bank. Having a car on the island was 100% worth it for us, allowing us to drive 1,045 km (or 650 miles).

We paid $94 in fuel and the remainder was spent on various forms of airport transportation (Uber, light rail, etc).

Lodging:

Lodging (Frankfurt): $100 total for two nights, one on either end of the trip. Our first hotel was in the city center, while the second was located close to the airport. Both were comfortable, clean, and got the job done.

Lodging (Mallorca): $833.We stayed in the mountainous region of western Mallorca, in the small city of Soller. The orange tree-lined valley of Soller is surrounded by impressive limestone-capped rocky ridges. Our “flat” was well positioned in sub-5 minute walking distance of the local bakery and supermarket, and a 10-minute walk to the city center.

Our Airbnb was one expense where the cost might have slightly outweighed the value. We generally aim for something in the $60-$80/night range, and while this fit the bill, the value was a bit muted for what we’ve had elsewhere in Europe during more peak seasons.

January in Mallorca is the low of the low season, so we were a touch disappointed to pay $67/night for essentially a studio apartment with minimal hot water and no particular noteworthy amenities (aside from location, which is worth something, I suppose). We’ve paid the same (or less) for entire houses on the European mainland in the summer.

I will add that our options were limited. Almost all Airbnb options on the island have strict cancellation policies. When we booked in October, Ryanair was still experiencing strikes and labor issues that had us worried about actually getting to Mallorca. We wanted accommodations with flexible cancellation policies, so this is what we got. Perhaps without that restriction we might have gotten better value. YMMV. Below is the full price breakdown.

Food and Drink:

Food: $442. This certainly exceeds our typical food budget, but includes all grocery and “eating out” spending. As usual, we sourced the majority of our food from local markets and larger supermarket chains. We sought out grocery items unique to this region and attempted to cook in a way that resembled the local scene. Sometimes we crushed it, some nights we just ate eggs and vegetables. Such is life.

But no international trip is complete without sampling the local fare. Well, maybe not to Canada, but we’re talking about Spain here. We enjoyed a few meals out and a couple of stops for ever-present tapas. The food here is, as you might imagine, heavily influenced by the proximity to the sea, featuring fish, calamari, cuttlefish, and huge prawns. Cured pork is a staple, as it is on mainland Spain. Fortunately, the orange harvesting season was in full swing during our stay, and the fruit seemed to hang from every tree. Everything we ate was incredible.

Booze: $27.We’re not big drinkers, but we can’t pass on European wine. For 2-5 Euros (approximately $2.30-$5.70 USD), one can acquire a bottle that would easily cost $15 stateside, so we popped a few more corks than we otherwise would — mostly in the form of Spanish Rioja. Similar to the mainland, Estrella and San Miguel beer is everywhere. Interestingly, beer appears to be winning the popularity contest over wine with the locals.

Entertainment and Other:

Museums/Entertainment/Parking: $92. This included a couple of gym visits, two museums, and a few inexpensive parking fees.

Extra Phone Expenses: $10. When our electricity wasn’t functioning in our Airbnb, I was forced to use my $10/day Verizon plan. Without Wi-Fi I had no other option to contact my host. Rude.

Reimbursements and Estimated Total Savings

In the game of travel rewards, travel-related expenses such as Airbnb lodging cannot be directly booked with points. These purchases can, however, be expensed with a flexible spending card such as the Capital One Venture Card or the Barclaycard Arrival Plus. Any purchase that codes as “travel” under the merchant categories can be retroactively erased using accumulated points. Very good.

Normally for a big trip like this we stack and save points for a year or more, allowing for near complete reimbursement. This trip was planned on short notice, allowing for only a partial reimbursement.

We’re hardly a textbook case of travel rewards success, but we were here for two weeks and not at work in cold Colorado. We’ll take what we can get.

Total Reimbursements from Flex-Spending Cards: $272

Total Estimated Cost Savings from “Full Price” travel: ~$2000.

This estimate assumes that full-price airfare from Denver to Frankfurt would sell for $800 per ticket (plus fees), which is probably a good deal anyway. We’ve also added back in our reimbursed expenses. Additional luxuries or more dining out would obviously drive the full price much higher. Either way, it’s at least $2000 back in our digital pockets.

Expense	Cost
Flight (DEN-FRA)	$250
Flight (FRA-PMI)	$236
Rental Car	$282
Fuel/Transportation	$150
Lodging	$933
Food	$442
Alcohol	$27
Entertainment/Other	$102
Rewards Points	-$272
Grand Total Out-of-Pocket	$2,150

Pros and Cons of January

It should come as no surprise that there are pros and cons of off-season travel. Tanja over at Our Next Life did a great job of highlighting some of the downsides, and I’ll reiterate a couple of those here.

Weather

The off-season is the off-season for a reason, and usually driven by less-than-desirable weather. Honestly, aside from a couple of partially rainy days, I didn’t understand why no one was here. With highs in the range of 50-60 degrees and plentiful sunshine, this felt like a wonderful escape of the winter of more northern latitudes. Yet, we ran into few tourists. Oh well, more for us.

Those desiring high amounts of in-water time will certainly want warmer weather. But for climbing and hiking, temps were perfect, if not a touch warm.

Cerrado

“Closed.” Get used to seeing that one a lot. When the big Euro spenders aren’t here, the shops and restaurants can’t be bothered to keep the lights on. Being anti-shoppers, this wasn’t an issue for us. However, in a few cases we were bummed to find select restaurants closed for the season. That being said, what is open is very likely to be authentic and representative of the local flavors; the locals are keeping it open after all.

In general there was a subtle ghost town vibe that permeated through some of the smaller towns and villages we visited. A lonely cafe or bar might cater to those passing through, far from the mid-summer packed squares typical of Europe. Those on the streets tended only to be locals going about their daily life.

Summary

So was it worth it?

Of course! Next question…

Mallorca has become what our trusty Lonely Planet guide coined “the ever-popular star of the Mediterranean,” and I can see why. A place with seemingly everything — stunning beaches, dramatic topography, great and affordable food —what’s not to love? I can say with certainty that this place provided some of the best scenery I’ve seen on Planet Earth.

But the peak season of Spring through Fall brings millions of tourists, testing the limits of the island’s hospitality.

Frankly, I couldn’t be happier we chose to come in January. The perceived gong show of peak tourist season is certainly not our scene, and almost always results in a watered-down experience. The weather was beautiful, the crowds were non-existent, and we felt like we belonged.

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