Hi - new to the forum - thanks in advance for any advice. On our party of 5's last day of travel, we need to go from Malaga to Mardrid Barajas and catch a flight on Norwegian to LAX departing at 5 pm (on a Sunday). I'm trying to decide the best way to get to Barajas. I'm figuring we need to be at Barajas by 2 pm. From what I can tell, Norwegian departs from terminal 2. The options I have considered are train and flight.
The train options are to depart Malaga 0900 and arrive Atocha at 1150, or depart Malaga 1055 and arrive Atocha at 1340. We would then need to get to Barajas from Atocha, which I'm guessing would take 45 min or so (?), putting us at Barajas at 230pm (if we took the later train) - a little tight?
For the flight options, there is an Air Europa flight departing Malaga at 1200 and arriving Barajas at 130 pm. I'm not at all familiar with Air Europa. It looks to me like they are also in terminal 2 at Barajas, though I'm sure we would have to exit the domestic area and check in to the international area, which can take a while (though we'd have plenty of time assuming the flight is on time). The flight is about $40/person more expensive than the train. (the flights on Iberria get us to Barajas at either 1035 am or 250 pm - not ideal)
I'm leaning towards the flight but would greatly appreciate any insight as I've never navigated Barajas or Atocha before. Thx so much!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11179 posts
Keep in mind Norwegian closes boarding 20 minutes prior to scheduled departure.
I suspect many would advise against same day travel over that distance to get an international flight.
If I were to do the same day travel you propose, it would be the flight that arrives at 1035AM. Much better to be bored for a few hours than to have the thrill and excitement of trying to find 5 tickets at walk up prices on a flight ( at least for me)
With one exception flights that leave after yours, take 24+ hours to get to LA and have one or more stops. The only less than 24+ hour flight is priced at $2800+ for a random date in August
Plan wisely
Posted by
Missouri, USA and Essex, UK.
991 posts
You will do better to have several hours at the airport in Madrid than risk missing your Norwegian flight. I would take the early options and arrive at 10:35 am. Ideally, you should get to the airport the night before - so as not to miss your long-haul flight back to the US. As the previous post mentioned, walk up fees are very high and Norwegian may not even have a next day route back to US. I had not flown through Madrid, but I was in Malaga airport a month or so ago. Its pretty easily to navigate.
Posted by
St Paul
138 posts
We flew from Malaga to Madrid in April, We arrived in Term 4 and took the train from there to Atocha. I had read that people found the station confusing and that was also the case with us. So, a couple days before we left Madrid via Atocha to the airport, we went to Atocha to be sure we knew exactly where to buy our ticket and where the train departed. It was quite a walk to find the local trains, depending on where you entered the station. So, if you choose the train, make sure you have plenty of time and aren't rushed as the station is unfamiliar to you and the trains only go every thirty minutes. I believe the Atocha train only goes to Term 4 and the journey itself is close to thirty minutes. Once we arrived at Term 4, we assumed we had to go outside to a shuttle bus to our departure terminal. There was some signage. We followed some people off the train through the airport lobby and out to the curb where we found the shuttle. When we eventually took off in the shuttle to go to the other terminals, we were surprised at the distance and time it took. I would say it was a good twenty minutes on the bus and I don't recall if we got out at Term 1 or 2. Once inside, we went through security quickly.
You will have to decide what makes sense and is comfortable for you and your group. : ) Good luck!
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
2 posts
Thank you all very much - this was very helpful!
Posted by
Washington DC
27111 posts
I'm in the go-to-Madrid-the-night-before camp. For me, the financial risk is too great.
I haven't flown out of Barajas, but I flew home from Barcelona in 2016. I arrived at the airport at least 3 hours before my departure time, and I needed every bit of that time. You never know when you'll encounter a long line at the airline counter and/or at security.