August on Mallorca is the version of the Mediterranean you picture when someone says “Mediterranean.” Warm water you can actually get into, coves the color of a swimming pool, dinner outside every single night because it does not rain. The island fills up in August, which is exactly why a cheap flight in is worth grabbing the second you see it.

I found a 4-star sitting right on the water in Santa Ponca, a beach town on the southwest coast about 20 minutes from Palma. Calm bay, sand instead of pebbles, and an old town close enough to walk to for dinner. Flights from New York are at $911 round trip right now.

Here’s the exact trip.

There’s no nonstop from New York to Palma, so every option connects in Europe. The cheapest is $911 round trip, Norse Atlantic and easyJet out through London, with a longer patched-together return. It’s a self-transfer, meaning you recheck your own bags between airlines, so only take it if you travel light and don’t mind a long day.

If you’d rather one clean airline the whole way, SAS runs about $999 and gets you a much saner 13-hour return through Copenhagen. Condor is around $1,181 with a single stop each way through Frankfurt, which is the one I’d book if the extra couple hundred doesn’t sting. Prices on this route move fast, so pull up Skyscanner and lock it in.

H10 Casa del Mar is right on the beachfront in Santa Ponca, a few steps from the sand, and it’s a 4-star holding a 4 out of 5 across 988 reviews. The location is the whole thing here. It overlooks the beach, the reception is bright and airy the second you walk in, and our room looked straight out over the pool.

Breakfast was excellent and the service matched it. Staff actually paid attention, the kind of attentive that makes a place feel easy. And you are not stuck eating in the hotel: there are good restaurants a short walk in every direction, plus a genuinely great supermarket right next door for when you want a beach-day picnic instead of a sit-down lunch.

Quick booking note that saves you money. H10 will offer a flight-and-hotel bundle at $1,899 a person. Skip the bundle. Book the flight on its own through Skyscanner, then book the room straight through H10 Hotels, and you keep the difference. Same hotel, same week.

Step 1: Pull up Skyscanner, search JFK to Palma (PMI), August 9-16. The $911 option is Norse Atlantic and easyJet with a self-transfer. SAS at $999 or Condor at $1,181 are the cleaner routings.

Step 2: Book H10 Casa del Mar directly through H10 Hotels. Book the room on its own, not the flight bundle.

Step 3: That’s it. You’re on a beach in Santa Ponca with a pool, breakfast sorted, and a supermarket next door.

Flight plus a week on the water, from New York, on a Spanish island in peak summer. You’ve spent more on worse weekends.