We are ending our Spain trip with five days based in Barcelona but our return flight is out of Madrid. If we fly Veuling or Spanair from Barcelona to Madrid are we flying in to the same airport as our international (American Airlines)flight leaves from?
If we can make a morning flight from Barcelona it saves having to get a hotel again in Madrid (we will of already spent three days there earlier in our trip).
Veuling and Spanair both have cheap flights arriving Madrid anywhere from 8 am to 10 am. Our flight back to L'estados Unidos is at noon. What (scheduled) arrival time to Madrid would be recommended to esure the connection?
Any preferences or good/bad experiences with Veuling v. Spanair v. ???
As always, THANKS!
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Frankly, I get nervous if I'm not my departure city the night before. However.....
You face a problem of timing versus terminals. Vueling uses Terminal 4, which is the same terminal your AA flight departs from. However, since it's not a "connecting" flight, you'll still have to pick up your luggage, check in, and go back thru security. You'll need to be at the AA desk by 10 am at the latest, so an arrival no later than 9 should be OK.
If you take Spanair, you'll arrive at terminal 2 or 3, which is way across the airport from Terminal 4. So not only will you have to grab your luggage, you'll have to take the commuter bus across to T4 to check in again. An 8 or 8:30 a.m. arrival should be OK for that.
Posted by
OP
Bellevue, WA
106 posts
Norm - Thanks.
Veuling's first flight arrives 8:15 am (50 Euro/seat)
Spanair's first flight arrives 8:45 am (35 Euro/seat)
We won't have any checked bags, just one carry on each. We've traveled many times with these bags and have not (yet) been asked to check them, even on the smaller plane from London to Edinburgh.
Flying instead of going by train saves transfers in and out of Madrid city and also saves a hotel move. Based on all of this and your help I'm leaning toward taking the Spanair. Of course, I still need to consult my wife to see if she agrees!
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Phil....that Spanair flight should be fine.
I understand the reasoning behind your decision. But, for me personally, I get nervous if I'm not in my departure city the night before. I'm a firm believer in Murphy's Law...and while I'd be able to cope if there was an issue with getting to Barajas airport from Madrid, I'd be out of luck if there was a problem with my flight out of Barcelona.
Posted by
Atlanta
3262 posts
I agree with Norm! We always get to the city we're departing from the day before--for us, it's a lot less stressful.
Posted by
naches, wa, usa
182 posts
i agree with all. came back from spain in late march. the airport in madrid (barajas) is really big and really slow i thought. i too would always stay in my departure town the night before. if not, allow lots of time. i went four hours before my departure, and needed three of those hours to get through. have fun, be safe.