ALSA Bus - Lagos to Seville

We took the ALSA bus twice on our trip in Spain, and we arrived about 30 minutes prior to departure.
Two hour does sound a bit excessive to me. Perhaps you can contact ALSA with your question?

Roxanne,

I was intrigued by your question, so I sent a question to ALSA last night. This is the reply I received this morning:

Buenos días, Priscila,

En trayectos internacionales, es necesaria una antelación de 2 horas a
la salida del autobus, menos en el caso entre Portugal - España,
debido a que es una ruta más corta en comparación con las lineas que
vienen desde Europa, por lo que con 1 hora de antelación es
suficiente.

Un saludo.

Servicio de atención al cliente de ALSA.

Translation:

On international journeys it is necessary to arrive 2 hours prior to the bus departure, except in the case between Portugal and Spain, due to the fact that it’s a shorter route in comparison to the bus lines that come from Europe, so 1 (one) hour before departure is sufficient.

Hope this help!

Thank you! This is helpful :)
Roxanne

We are also traveling from Lagos to Seville in September 2019. How were you able to book your bus ticket so early? I have not had any success on the Alsa site. It appears they are not booking that far in advance yet? Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks Tim

Tim, there is really, truly no need to buy bus tickets so far in advance. They probably don't know what the schedule will look like yet, or have the fares set.

In my experience, most companies only allow you to buy your tickets only up to 2 months in advance, some only 1 week in advance. And for the trip to Sevilla from Lagos, don’t bother going more than 30 mins in advance! We got there 1.5 hours early as it was indicated on the ticket that we should arrive 2 hours early. When we got there the guy at the information desk laughed at us... There’s no customs to go through at any point during the trip.

Thanks everybody. Planning an itinerary now for Portugal and Spain and getting from one area to the next is always the most challenging part. I will start looking at the buses again 2-3 months out as you have suggested. Thanks for the quick replies! Tim

another question regarding the buses. I notice both the eva and alsa sites offer discounts for seniors. Does anyone know if this is just for Portugese and EU citizens or do they apply to US seniors as well? Also, does the ticket price include luggage? What about carry-ons- what can you bring on board and is there storage above the seats? Thanks, Tim.

Tim, I can’t comment on the senior discount. As for luggage, I had a large suit case and a backpack. My suitcase was under the bus and my bag was in the bus above my seat. This is included in the ticket.
Roxanne

I've only paid to store luggage in the hold of a bus in some of the Balkan countries (including Croatia, I believe). It cost only about $1 per bag. Everywhere else it has been free.

Thanks Roxanne and acraven. I'll keep checking on the senior discount. Many of the sites of interest have this as well ( eg. Alhambra, Alcazar, etc. ) so it is worth it for us. Regards, Tim

Tim - note that the storage space inside the bus (over your seat or at your feet) is much smaller than on a plane or train. So, if there's something you don't want stored under the bus, or want to have accessible during the ride, make sure you have a small bag to put it in and take onboard with you.

One of my Alsa buses had a USB port at every seat and one electrical outlet for every seat pair, so do bring your charging cords on board if you'll be using your phone for music, movies, browsing etc. The bus also had Wi-Fi (actually faster than one of my hotels!) - look for the code on the window behind the driver.