air travel within Spain
 

We want to travel from Lisbon to Bilbao/San Seb to Madrid and all of the airline reviews I find seem to tell horror stories about all of the low cost (and even big name) airlines that operate in Spain. I can't believe the tales of cancellation, late flights, rude/unattentive FA's, etc. Can anyone share some reliable information as to just how good or bad the airlines are. Or, should we train it? Is there any good news out there regarding this topic?

You always find someone will complain and post about it. You never hear about the millions who travel without complaining do you?
To give you a good over view of what you want to know you should perhaps give us some details of flight companies and links to all of these horrendous reviews.

Fortunately all flights, except to the Canary Islands are quit short.. from 20min to an hour.

You won't feel like a rock star but you certainly should be able to get from point A to B with no problem if you follow ALL the luggage and boarding rules.

Not a defence, but how often did you post about a good or normal flight? For me, thirtyfive years experience, greater than three hundred flights, including only two internal flights in Spain, never.

Madrid to Barcelona on whatever Lufthansa's budget airline is: no problems. Efficient check in, all business travelers. It may be the "Lager Lout Lines" that have the problems.

I've had numerous normal flights on almost every existing airline in Spain. Would I post about them? If you are so concerned, just tske the train.

But my first 1 hour 38 minute AVE ride to Madrid turned into 5 hours due to something foreign on the track a mere 15-20 kms. outside Madrid. So go figure.

We didn't even get reimbursed that time because it was due to circumstances outside the realm of the AVE company.

I flew twice with Spanish carrier, Vueling, but about five years ago. No problems at all and probably better than our flight with Iberia.

You can also check www.airlinequality.com for passenger feedback.

I confess that as long as I arrive safely and reasonably on time, good service is the icing on the cake!

My experiences on air travel within Spain (and I ahve taken various airlines such as Spanair, Air Europa, Iberia)have been no better or worse than any other air travel experience. Just book the cheapest/best itinerary and dont sweat it.

Have flown Vueling and it was fine. Bilbao to Barcelona for 35 euros. They will charge for extra bags though. Cheaper than the train but anytime I can take the AVE train I will do it. Costs more but very relaxing and no airport stress.

Thanks you all of you for some positive reinforcement. I had been reading reviews about Spanair, Vueling, TAPortugal, Iberia", etc. and found almost all comments to be quite negative. I realize that one gets what one pays for on all discount airlines, but my concern was based on the frequency of comments about cancellations and excessive delays that would cause problems with forward travel. I have used Easyjet numerous times in the past and have had no problems other than the "cattle car" syndrome that one expects from low dollar flights. Anyway, thanks for some reassurance and anything more that can be offered will be appreciated.