Just started looking at possible flights for 2024 following a My Way Spain that concludes in Sevilla. Would it make sense to look at flying out of Madrid instead? It seems the flights would work better for us. If so, what is the best way to go to Madrid? Train? Or is Sevilla the better option? I’d like to minimize stops along the way although realize we will need to stop somewhere. Whatever we do, it is rather disheartening to find that the airfare might be more than the tour!
There aren’t many flights out of Seville early enough to catch an onward departure to North America, so repositioning the night before is a common solution.
The train from Sevilla to Madrid is fast and easy.
From Sevilla you probably would have to connect through Madrid anyway. You might look at Malaga. We come home one year via Malaga but someone posted recently that Malaga does not have international flights anymore. Ya, airfares are high but time is on your side. On the other hand take an extra couple of days and work you way to Barcelona.
Skyscanner shows nonstop flights from Seville (SVQ) to Frankfurt (FRA) and from Frankfurt to SEA for less than $1,000 next spring: https://www.skyscanner.com/.
Google Flights shows Air France has nonstop flights from Sevilla to Paris (CDG) and from CDG to SEA: https://www.google.com/travel/flights. To learn more check Delta’s website?
If you decide to take the train from Sevilla to Madrid, you may want to book the train in advance to save money. The AVE trains are fast but a bit pricey and you will save about half, is my recollection.
If you are using Delta, airfare from Madrid is generally the least expensive option.
One thing I always recommend is arriving a few days prior to the start of a tour to adjust for jet lag. I always like to stay a few days after, as well. You could spend time in Madrid or take a day trip. There a many options from Madrid.
In looking at the flights it is best to depart from Madrid. Delta, Air France and KLM have some decent one stop routes. Take the train to Madrid the day before your flight and either stay in town or out at the airport.
The one-stop SVQ-SEA routes mentioned above, via Frankfurt or Paris, would likely require an overnight layover. It may seem like six/a half-dozen, but I'd rather take a train to Madrid, then two flights in one day to get to SEA.
Prices may be a wild-card, but the American/Iberia partnership will offer the most options, by far.
For October I booked a separate Vueling ticket for Sevilla to AMS, then doing an hotel overnight, next day flight from AMS nonstop to BOS.
I could only find one nonstop (Delta) from Barcelona and none from Madrid. It was unreasonably early for me (630 an) which I avoid after a tour.
It required getting from Sevilla to Barcelona and
matching trains to flights which didn’t work for me,
Iberia’s flights were all multi stops.
I just booked my flights to Spain for late September to October. My tour ends in Sevilla. I looked at a lot of different combinations of flights and found that returning from Madrid was the best option. I looked at flights and trains from Sevilla to Madrid and decided on taking the train. It takes a lot of work to go through the many options to see what works for you. I used Google Flights and Kayak.com to get ideas, then went to the airlines to booked my tickets.
The European hubs for flights to/from Seattle are London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Paris. You might find a flight from Sevilla to one of those, where you could connect to SEA. But Madrid will have more choices, including flights to US hubs that serve SEA. Madrid is an easy train ride from Sevilla -- stop over in Cordoba if you can -- and then I think there's a bus out to the airport. Or, as suggested above, give yourself some Madrid time.
Presumably you're looking at round trip or open-jaw flights between SEA and Spain, much cheaper than two 1-way flights. So your choice about returning from Sevilla may be influenced by what fare and schedule you can get for both ends of the trip. Again, it may be worth a train ride to get a better fare from Madrid.