Hello everyone, I am trying to find a convenient flight to Sevilla. I am hoping to depart from Newark airport on Continental Airlines and arrive at Barajas airport in Madrid. My flight would arrive in Madrid at 9:25 am, with a connecting flight to Sevilla at 10:35am. I worry that the time frame is too tight, and I'll miss my connection. I have also looked at flights that arrive at LGW in London with only an hour and 15 minute connection time. My question is, do you have to go through customs and immigration at either of these airports, and is luggage automatically transferred, or do I have to do check-in all over again? I would really appreciate any help anyone can offer on this matter. My dream vacation to the south of Spain has become a real hassle because of this.

if your bags are ticketed to sevilla you do NOT go through customs to collect bags, but through to connecting flights. <BR>very big airport.. just make sure you get boarding pass for that flight IN LUGGAGE area, where it says connecting flights desk.<BR><BR><BR>if your flight is on time.. you will make it, in fact, you may even get in early. it does happen. <BR>and if you do miss your flight, they will put you on next available one.<BR>have a nice trip.<BR><BR>is this legal changing time as far as arilines are concerned?<BR>if this is not all on one ticket.. it is more difficult to make receving airline responsible to re-book you.<BR><BR>you know there is a wonderful high speed train every couple hours which is a lovely way to go also if the plane doesn´t work out.<BR>

Hi Maria,<BR><BR>Last June my son and I took that Continental flight to Madrid , connecting to Sevilla in Iberia . I was afraid of the tight connection and opted for a flight that was scheduled to leave Madrid at noon. Unfortunately that flight was delayed for a couple of hours. It is true that you don't have to collect your bags in Madrid or do customs. When you check in for your flight to Madrid at Newark make sure you tell the agent that your final destination is Sevilla and that he tags the lugagge correctly. The agent we got didn't know how to do this and initially told us he couldn't do it! We had to call a supervisor who straightened everything. When you get to Madrid you go down to the bagagge claim area and check in the Iberia counter where you'll get your Sevilla flight boarding pass. We had to take a transfer bus that takes you to the domestic terminal and then walked to the gate.<BR>It's a huge airport! It seems that we walked forever! Although the 9:25 flight is a legal connecting flight I don't know how it would work given the way the airport is. You can always book this one and if you miss it , see if they have space in the noon flight.

Topping

If you are not totally comitted to flying, you may want to explore the AVE (high speed train), with multiple departures each day to Sevilla from Madrid's Atocha station. It costs 62 Euro each way in tourist class, with a discount for round trip purchase. Tickets can be reserved over the phone or on-line (www.renfe.es) or can be purchased at the RENFE counter in Atocha. While you would have the added expense/time of getting to Atocha, and the train takes 2.5 hours as opposed to 1 hour on the plane, you have more flexibility in case of delayed flights as there are a lot more departures each day. <BR><BR>

Thank you all very much for your responses. It has helped me tremendously. The folks in this board are life savers.<BR>

taxi from airport to train station about 30 Euros.

For goodness sake ,just take the next flight! By the time you go through passport control, collect your luggage, get and pay for a taxi,wait in line to buy a ticket, haul your luggage to the correct platform(the signs at Atocha are ?), you would most likley be landing in Sevilla,just make sure your luggage is checked through to Sevilla and relax !

I agree. You are better off staying at the airport to get the next flight. Otherwise you have to wait at the baggage claim for your luggage, wait on the Customs line, and then take a taxi to the other end of town. Unless it is a Sunday, expect a long drive through a lot of traffic. Unless you are very lucky with timing, you could still have an hour or two wait for the next train.<BR><BR>If despite all this you still want to take the train, you should buy your train tickets before leaving the USA. Otherwise you would have to buy the tickets at Atocha, and the lines there can be VERY long.

i agree to take the flight, but anyone else thinking of pre-paing tickets on a train in spain.. will lose their money if they miss the train connection.<BR>they do NOT honor late arrivals and put you FREE on next train.<BR>at least that is what has happened to several people i know who missed connection to barcelona from valencia on the euromed. <BR>

lina,<BR>according to www.renfe.es <BR>they DO honor late arrivals and put you on the next train for free as long as there's space available.<BR><BR>the "fine print" from the ave page:<BR><BR>"Unlimmited changes may be done for the same day without any expense".

If you do not buy the train ticket ahead of time, you will have to wait on line at Atocha. The lines there can be very long, especially for the long-distance trains. Also, when you finally reach the front of the line there may be no seats left on the next train to Seville, so you may have to wait another hour or two for a train with available seats.<BR><BR>You are much better off just waiting for the next plane. Even if you buy the train ticket ahead of time, you would still get to Seville faster by just waiting for the next plane.