Early Flight from Florence to Madrid

The flight departure time isn't the essential figure; you need to calculate what time you must be checked in to the departure lounge. The fine print on Vueling's website says this: "The check-in counters will open two hours before and close 40 minutes before scheduled flight departure, even if the flight is delayed...." That means you have to be through check-in and security by 6:25 a.m. at the very latest. The alternative is a cab, which might bring the total price closer to the more expensive but more convenient later flight.
(For others' information: There are a couple of exceptions to Vueling's policy but not at Florence.)

Good point! Thanks for that information. I hate running through airports... There is a RyanAir flight from Pisa to Madrid that leaves at 10:15. The Terravision shuttle from SMN to Pisa airport starts running before 5 am and is the same price as the Vola in Bus shuttle to the Florence airport. And the flight is the same price as the VeulingAir one. I think I found my option 2...

Small correction. You have to be checked in by 6:25, you do not have to be through security by that time. European checkins seem to be fairly rigid on that point. But Florence is a small airport and you should be OK at that hour of the morning.

If your flight departs from FLR at 7:05, if you get to the airport 1 hour ahead (6:05) it will be sufficient time. I always come back to SFO from FLR (via Frankfurt or Paris), also on early flights, and I usually get there about 1 hr ahead. The departure terminal at Florence airport, although they just inaugurated the new check in hall last summer, is smaller than some people's houses. If the VolainBus leaves at 5:30 from the station, that will be sufficient time to get you to the airport by 6:00. At that time in the morning it's about 20 min to the airport. If you take a taxi, including the night surcharge before 6:00am, the taxi fare will be under 25 euros. Add 1 euro for each piece of luggage to that. Even if you leave a 2 or 3 euro tip (which I don't, because leaving tips is "unitalian"), the cost will be 30 euro (that's what I usually pay coming from near Viale Europa, which is across town from the airport). Unless the airfare price difference is really substantial, going to Pisa makes no sense. Terravision will charge you 6 euros per person one way and it takes almost 1 and 1/2 hours to Pisa airport by bus. That means you have to leave your hotel at least 3 hours prior to the flight departure (plus the stress if there is a traffic jam or accident on the freeway to Pisa). PS: If you are far from the station and you must take a taxi to the station to get on the VolaInBus, I suggest you take the taxi all the way to FLR airport. It's probably just as expensive, especially if it's more than one person traveling together.

I really wouldn't mind going to Pisa. In fact, Terravision is having a sale where the one-way route is only 4.99. Flight doesn't leave until 1015 so even with the 70 minute drive, I still have time for the "things you didn't anticipate" part of going to the airport. I dunno - it may seem out the way, but it does buy some peace of mind... We are staying in Via Dei Cerchi, near Piazza della Signora. We would have to walk some as the area is pedestrian only, so even with getting a taxi, that is something to taken into consideration. Where would one get a taxi from that point?

From via de cerchi it's a long way to walk to the station if you have luggage. You should call a taxi from the hotel. They'll pick you up where you are. If not in via de cerchi, they'll pick you up at the corner of via della condotta. I think there is a taxi stand in Piazza San Firenze and one in Piazza della Repubblica, but at that time in the morning I'd call a taxi. Why bother. Let the taxi come to you. The fare is the same as walking to the stand. I would take that taxi at about 5:30am from via de cerchi straight to the florence airport. You'll be there 1 h and 15 min ahead of your 7:05 flight. I wouldn't bother with the VolainBus either to go to Florence airport. By the time you pay for the taxi to the station + the volainbus, you've spent the same fare to go by taxi all the way to the airport. (25 euro) I wouldn't travel to Pisa, unless the flight is cheaper than vueling flight from FLR. You still have to get up early (you need to leave no later than 7 am from your hotel to make the 10:15 flight), you still need to take a taxi from via de cerchi to the station to catch the terravision, so the ground cost is the same as taking a taxi straight to the Florence airport. As I said, unless the airfare from Pisa is cheaper enough to justify all the inconvenience of traveling 60 miles to Pisa, I would fly out of Florence.