Mallorca to Barcelona - fly or ferry
 

Would appreciate advice for best way to get from Mallorca to Barcelona. We only have a day / day and half in Barcelona so would like to be efficient with our time. Flights seem to range from $50-100, and at least one of the ferries is $75-150 (I think that is the per person rate). I saw one ferry takes 5-7 hours, which may be about the same as flying, if you factor in arriving early to the airport and going from airport into Barcelona???? I saw that there was a hi speed ferry but couldn't find a website / link. Thanks in advance!
cdc.

If you stay at Alcudia, take the https://www.balearia.com high speed ferry. From all other places, take the http://www.trasmediterranea.es/night ferry (extremely expensive) or fly (with low cost carriers like http://www.vueling.com/es/

I would fly. It's a small airport and you only need to be there about 1hr before departure. The trip into the heart of Barcelona is less than 30 minutes by taxi.

We are staying near Alcudia, on that side of the island, so will definately look into the Baleria trip. Seems to be about the same cost of flying around that time of day - but takes about 8.5 hours. Thanks!

One follow up question re the airport we fly into in Barcelona - does it matter if we fly into BCN, GRO (Girona C Brava) or REU (Reuss SP Tarragonna). It seems like they are all relatively close to the 'downtown' area. Thanks.

BCN is within city limits, only 9 miles away from Barcelona City Centre.
Girona Airport is around 60 miles away.
Reus Airport is around 65 miles away.

Interesting - will I be spending the money we save on the airplane tix flying into the Girona or REus airports on taxi services? Does it make sense to book your transfers in advance, or are there taxi cabs available at all of those airports?
If efficient/ handy, we would consider taking a train. We shouldn't have too much luggage.
Thanks!

Stick to BCN. It takes over an hour plus city traffic from the other two. Some budget airlines use BCN.

You're overthinking this.

There is NO WAY a 7+ hour ferry ride will have an equivalent in flight time, including arrival because the actual flight is about 50-60 minutes, tops. If you're not carrying much luggage, you can easily arrive at the airport 60 minutes ahead of time. The taxi or train to central Barcelona will be less than 30 minutes. That's 3 hours total time, not 7+ with travel from the port. If a flight TO BCN is less than, equal to, or within a few E of the ferry, it's simple - fly. Are those extra four hours that you could spend in Barcelona worth nothing to you? Stop trying to save nickels and dimes while spending four extra hours on a ship.

But is the key to fly into BCN, and not one of the regional airports, because it is that much closer and has the rail service or taxi service available? It does appear that flying would be more efficient. Thanks.

The Alcudia - Barcelona ferry takes 6 1/2 hrs. That's about 1 hr more than the flight solution (bus to Inca, train to Palma, bus to airport, flight, train from BCN to Sants).
The afternoon boat (46 EUR)is slightly chaper than the flight solution.
Flights to Girona or Reus would probably be more expensive.