Fly out of Seville or Madrid?

When we went to Spain, we flew in and out of Madrid. I found the airport easy to navigate. When we arrived, we immediately took the train to Sevilla. So you would be doing that in reverse. From Sevilla you can take a high speed train to Atocha station. There you change trains to get to the airport. Easy and you can do some googling to familiarize yourself with Atocha and the airport.

We flew in and out of Madrid because it was much less expensive for us. It would also give you the opportunity to take some day trips out of Madrid if you like.

I can't speak to Sevilla's airport. Sevilla is a very large city so I'd assume they'd have a fairly substantial airport, but that's just a guess.

Have you actually investigated your flight options from both airports yet? Seville has limited flights compared to Madrid. You may find that the available flights make this choice for you.

Which airlines are you considering?

I have flown Iberia in and out of Madrid a few times. It's a very modern airport, but the distance between long-haul, non-Schengen gates and short-haul, Schengen gates can be far. Budget plenty of time in transit at MAD.
I know nothing about Seville.

I would choose the Madrid option. The train from Sevilla to Madrid is only 2.5 hours, and will get you to a better flight. From what I have read online, the Sevilla flights can be canceled due to wind/weather, and do not directly to the US.

The AVE (bullet) train from Seville to Madrid Atocha takes 2.5 hours.

Taking the train to Madrid on the same day as a flight to the US would be a little risky, so best to plan for an overnight in Madrid if you choose that flight. (Or 2 more nights in Madrid, and explore the city a bit more before going home.)

We fly open jaw via Miami on Iberia via Madrid to our starting destination (e.g. Granada) and then depart from our last destination (e.g. Seville) via Madrid returning to Miami. We find the effectiveness of using one mode of transport (plane) easier to manage our time and maximize journey enjoyment.

Assuming you have compared the actual flight options, do you want to go back to Madrid, or would you rather finish in Sevilla?
I'd bend over backwards to depart from Sevilla after my experience at MAD this month. I made my flight, barely--the passport control line for nonEU was hundreds long.

Are you planning to spend any more time in Spain after the tour ends? If you have to leave that day, you'll probably have to fly from Sevilla. Most transatlantic flights leave in the morning. The only way to get to Barajas Airport (2-3 hours before departure) would be an expensive driver or taxi. Google maps says 5-6 hours by car with no traffic. Realistically that means either leaving the tour on the last night - there's an 8.58 pm train to Madrid - to spend the night in Madrid or staying at least another night in Spain so you can enjoy the farewell dinner, perhaps see a bit more of Sevilla or spend a few hours sightseeing in Madrid.

The high speed train from Sevilla to Madrid takes 2.5 hours. The train station is near the old town where you probably would be staying. (maybe a mile, we walked it) The airport is out of town and would require a taxi ride.

Looking at actual itineraries, I see that the flights from Seville to Seattle with only one connection take 25-30 hours because they require an overnight somewhere. For the One World group (British Airways, American, Iberia, etc)., that overnight appears to be in London. For the other airlines (Lufthansa, Air France, Delta, etc.,.) the overnight could be in Frankfurt, Paris, or possibly elsewhere.

The other options are all flights with two connections, and given how chaotic and uncertain air travel has become this summer, I would strongly advise against such an itinerary. Too many ways that could go wrong.

So it looks like you will have an overnight somewhere, no matter what. You may as well take control and decide where you want that to be.

I was unable to find any direct flights from Madrid to Seattle, but perhaps someone else has better ways to search than Google flights. If not, the route by train to Madrid and flight home from there is not a bad choice even though you have to make a connection somewhere. You could depart Seville the morning the tour ends, and have the afternoon and evening to spend in Madrid, overnighting there (we stayed in a nice hotel within walking distance of the train station and the airport bus). You’ll get a good night’s sleep and have a more enjoyable, all-daytime journey home to Seattle the next day.

If you are still looking for flights, try Condor. I see they have flights from Seattle into Barcelona and back from Madrid, with one connection at Frankfurt either way, with an overall flight time of 13-15 hours. Depending on the day you fly, the price could be under $1300 RT in economy.

I had a hard time finding a good flight out of Seville when I took this tour. I ended up taking the train to Madrid, spending a night there, and flying home from Madrid on a non-stop flight. On my extra day in Madrid, I went to one of the museums that I had missed during the tour.

A couple of people on my tour went to Cordoba after the tour for a couple days before returning to Madrid for a flight home.

I think your flight choices and the amount of time you can spend after the tour will probably dictate whether to fly out of Madrid or Seville.

Robert - We just finished the Best of Spain tour on June 3rd and we took the AVE train to Madrid after a leisurely breakfast. We stayed two extra nights in Madrid because the options for flights and the costs of the tickets were more favorable. We were able to get a return flight home to Santa Barbara with a single connection in Dallas. During COVID, we figured the fewer connections and the fewer airports we were exposed to, the fewer risks of exposure.
We stayed off Puerto del Sol at another hotel recommended in the RS book and enjoyed the 2 extra days in Spain. We asked the hotel to call a taxi and we got to the airport the morning of our flight with plenty of time to spare, although it was Sunday, so traffic may have been lighter than the average weekday.
Enjoy your trip. We had an amazing guide and fantastic group and it was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken. Ellen

Robert

I’ve spent some time pondering the options for this tour. We will join it at the beginning of October.

There are no direct options back to the US out of Seville that I could find. My choice was to leave via high speed train for Madrid (option to stop at Cordoba) or fly out of Seville to Madrid on the morning of the tour last day. We decided to fly out from Seville on the last day. After two weeks on the road another logistical gauntlet just didn’t seem worth the effort. Another day of train travel to a location that may not be interesting in Madrid plus the cost of the hotel didn’t add up.

Hopefully we’ll find this to be a easy travel day home.

Good luck. It should be a great tour.

Bill

Whenever we end a trip in Seville, we have always flown to Madrid and then on to the US.