Need flight advice. Return to U.S. from Malaga or Madrid?

Posted by nytraam on 09/12/18 03:42 AM

We will be doing 3 weeks in Spain next May. Flying into Madrid from Seattle

I have already booked lodgings in Madrid, Cordoba, Sevilla, and Ronda. But the last week is undecided. We would like to spend a few nights in Granada and several relaxing in Nerja before returning home and Malaga will be our closest airport. But departure is a quandary. Direct flights to the US are more regular from Madrid than Malaga. Starting in Ronda, I seem to have 2 options. Ronda-Granada-Nerja and fly or train from Malaga to Madrid. Or Ronda-Malaga-Nerja-Granada and return to Madrid directly from there.

Does anyone have experiences they can share on returning from southern Andelucia?

Posted by David from Seattle

Seattle, WA, USA ☔️

09/12/18 04:43 AM

6790 posts

Direct flights to the US are more regular from Madrid than Malaga...

I believe this might be a significant understatement. Not just "more regular" from Madrid, but I'd suspect also less expensive, and more importantly, better (fewer) connections. It's probably worth exploring all the things that would be different between those flights, I bet options from Madrid look much, much better overall. Personally, I try hard to get a nonstop, or at least a long flight to/from somewhere in Europe to/from somewhere on (or near) the west coast of US or Canada - the worst is having to connect on the US east coast - which often means 2 or more connections, and always results in flights that are long but not quite long enough to get any real sleep on.

Posted by Mira

Midwest

09/12/18 10:48 AM

2768 posts

I am not sure about getting to Seattle. Going to places like NY, Chicago, and Toronto (my experience) it's fairly easy from Malaga and Granada. You can get an early AM flight to Madrid in plenty of time to catch a non-stop out of there, if there is a non-stop to Seattle. I think I have taken a 7AM out of Granada to Madrid then an early afternoon international flight to one of the above cities. I believe doing the same, but to Barcelona, is an option. Also, I believe Malaga has pretty good connections to London. An early flight to London then you can connect most anywhere.

In general I find it much easier to leave from your last city visited. That is, don't attempt to leave Malaga the day before in order to catch a flight to Madrid. That pretty much wastes most of your last day and night, changing hotels is a hassle, one night stays are annoying, and you will find it easier to stay near the airport, which is boring for your last night. So I'd either fly from Malaga (or Granada) or actually do my Madrid visit last - spend my last several days visiting Madrid and leave from there.

Posted by David

Huntsville, AL, USA

09/12/18 10:53 AM

8319 posts

Out of SEATAC, your nonstops to Europe will mostly be through London Heathrow and Paris. Norwegian Air Shuttle has "seasonal" flights into London Gatwick--an airport with many inexpensive EasyJet flights to just about everywhere in Europe.
Your best bet would be making connecting flights through one of those airports to/from Spain.

Posted by nytraam OP

09/12/18 10:13 PM

2 posts

Thanks to everyone for taking a moment to share advice. Several of the points made reinforce the issues I'm trying to work out.
I don't really want to waste the last night moving closer to an airport. But that would seem like the only option for Malaga. Nerja is far enough away that getting to the airport for an early flight to a larger international hub isn't appealing.

Meanwhile, ending our trip in Granada at least puts us next to the airport. Freeing up a day for other things.