Airline Routing

See if you can get to Sevilla going through Lisbon.

Edited: You could also check about flying into Jerez de la Frontera from Madrid. Neither is a perfect solution.

Given that Anchorage does not have international flights to Europe that time of year, your best bet would be to layover a night some place in North America that you can get a direct flight to from Anchorage (i.e. : JFK, ORD or ATL) with direct flights to Madrid and then take the train to Seville.

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Hi Tammy—-when I was preparing for a 2011 trip to Spain using Tripadvisor forums, many people suggested not flying into Seville, because the flights are so limite, and can be unreliable (especially in winter and spring) due to high winds causing flight cancellations. They suggested flying into Madrid and taking the train. The AVE fast train only takes 2 h 45 minutes, and you end up right in downtown Seville. Depending on the time of arrival of your flight in Madrid, you could continue on to Seville the same day. If not, it would make for an easier overnight in Madrid to use the train rather than returning to the airport for another flight.

That would open up a lot more choices, flying ANV—X—-Madrid.

Another possibility would be to fly into one of the gateway cities in Europe (London, Frankfort, Amsterdam, etc.), spend a night there, and then hop on one of the low cost carriers directly to Seville the next day.
From London (for example) there are about a half dozen low-cost direct flights to Seville daily.

Thank you all for your suggestions! Right now, I’m leaning towards flying into Madrid and overnighting for 2 nights as I’m quite sure a 2 1/2 hour train ride would be too much after all that flying. Plus, we have never been to Madrid! Going to keep looking at options, but thinking this trip will need to be longer than 14 days.

Good plan, Tammy, there's a lot to see and do in Madrid. It will be cold in February but not for someone who lives in Alaska! Give it a few days, then an easy train to Seville. Cordoba is a very good stopover along the way if you're interested in Moorish architecture and medieval cities.

Hi, Tammy. Have you checked cheapoair.com? Although I always book through the airline website, I search on cheapoair to see my options. They often quote basic economy rates but the site is useful as it’s easy to see the connections, etc for each flight. You can filter the departure and layover times among other filters.

You may find this site useful. Good luck with your planning!

Tammy - You know better than most of us, you live at the end-of-the-line (well, OK, it's not exactly Adak, but close enough...) and you have to adjust your expectations for some things. Plus, Sevilla is not a major market for long-haul flights, so that's gonna make it harder (but fortunately, it is connected to multiple major European hubs).

You pretty much have to just get to Seattle, then you have some decent options for flights to Europe that will get you all the way to Sevilla with just one connection, and I don't think you need to spend the night en route (I certainly wouldn't - as a fellow west coaster, I've made my peace with arriving a bit tired, but I want to arrive at my actual destination when I do...not some interim overnight stop, so once I start flying, I always try to "push on through" to my actual destination before I hit the sack).

All flights from SEA to Europe are overnights, you arrive in Europe sometime in the morning; you just need to find a single-ticket same-day connection to Sevilla (SVQ) and that should not be hard.

With a quick 'n dirty search, I'm seeing the following one-stop-from-Seattle option on a random day:

• Via Paris CDG on Air France, 12 hours 10 minutes end-to-end from Seattle to Seville, no overnight stop necessary (your flight from SEA-CDG is your overnight). That Air France flight looks doable without a hiccup, with a 3 hour connection in CDG.

Air France & Delta are codeshare partners; the SEA-CDG flight is probably on Delta metal anyway, the CDG-SVQ hop may be operated by an Air France partner (but it's a short hop, and a single ticket so low risk).

☝️ Important Note: Some fights don't operate every day, so check plus-or-minus a day (or two) to see all your options and try to be flexible.

If it were me, I'd look at that Air France option via CDG (assuming you can get to SEA on a separate, cheap AS ticket that gets you there in plenty of time). It'll be a long day in the saddle, but no worse than plenty you've done before, I suspect.

Hope that helps.

Thank you David, I will look at that option!

I would recommend Malaga as a good place to fly into and decompress.

1. Airfares into Malaga are often quite reasonable. Check SAS. Not the most luxurious airline, but competent and economical. You'll need to connect through Copenhagen, and the connection may be an overnight. Pros and cons there.

2. Trains from Malaga to Sevilla are frequent, fast and convenient. Check Renfe for schedules.

3. Malaga itself is a relaxing, scenic beach city with fine historic sites, both Roman and Moorish. Seafood is first rate.

Worth considering. Check Google Flights to see fare possibilities.

Tammy,

Alaska to Seattle is always easy and Aer Lingus flies directly to Dublin from Seattle. Dublin is the hub for Ryan Air and there are flights to many cities in Spain, including Seville.

Thank you jphbucks and Molly. I am checking out all my options!