Tye

I am flying into Madrid airport (T1) from Portugal with only 2 hours to spare. I have to make it through customs/immigration, check in, security, and make it back to fly out of Delta airlines which is also in T1. Is that enough time for me to go through all of this and make my flight ontime??

Also I was wondering if there are any transfer buses involved in my travel from T1 to immigration back to T1..Please give me an estimated time if possible.
Thanks

jamikins

You don't have to go through customs and immigration as both Portugal and Spain are in the schengen zone.

Alec

First, your post is tagged as trip report.
Secondly, when you change planes at Madrid, you have to show your passport (takes minutes) as you are leaving Schengen and go through security (quite detailed because of TSA rule; secondary check at the gate also likely). Your luggage should be tagged to your US destination in Portugal.

While 2 hours should normally be ample, if your incoming flight is delayed, you will be pushed for time because you are catching a US-bound flight with longer connecting time.

Tye

Thank you! I'm new to all of this. Can someone if possible walk me through the steps of where to go and what to do since my time is limited.

Keep in mind I don't have any luggage. Just my carry on luggage . Since I don't have to go through Customs or immigration what exactly do I do when I'm off the plane?

Lastly , I purchased two seperate tickets out of T1. Flying easyjet and then Delta. This is not a connecting flight

Thank you

isabel

The following is from a trip report I wrote a couple years ago (2010). I was flying from the US to Barcelona with a change in Madrid. I don't want to scare you but things certainly took longer than I am used to on US/Euro flights. Also, I don't say in the report which terminal it was in Madrid that I was changing at and I don't recall. You should be able to find out by seeing which terminal Iberia uses, it may be different from Delta.

Flight – Iberia. I’ve flown Iberia before and found it to be fine. Planes are a little on the old side but they get you there (no individual seat entertainment for example). Food was so-so, flight attendants were perfectly nice. Flights were on time. HOWEVER – strange experience. On the way over my flight from Boston to Barcelona had one flight number even though it stopped in Madrid. I did know it would require a plane change but was told the gates would be “close”. Ha. Try 4 escalators, a tram, passport control and security and a ten minute speed walk. Took at least a half hour. Didn’t even have time to use a rest room and got to the gate for the second flight just as it was boarding (remember – this was all listed as one flight). Also the second flight had about 4 different flight numbers. Oh well. The return was even more interesting. I got to the airport at 7:30 for an 11:00 flight because my traveling companion’s flight was earlier and I was up anyway with nothing else to do. Good thing. Check in lines at Barcelona’s spiffy new Terminal 1 were huge – took over half an hour. Then security, another 20 minutes. Thought it strange that my boarding pass said 9:30 for an 11:05 flight but whatever. Got to the gate and around 9:30 people started getting up and talking to each other. Turns out we were all waiting for four different number flights (to NYC, Boston and Miami, plus a shuttle flight to Madrid), some of which were scheduled for 10:10 and some for 11:05 – and it was all on the same plane! And it was at gate A6, not A10 which was what all of our boarding passes said!

Good thing I got to the airport so early, made the flight an hour earlier than I thought I was on, because when we got to Madrid we had the same 4 escalators, tram, power walk, passport control – and then, way at the far end of the huge Terminal 4 were 3 gates for US flights with a special security set up. Every single person got a pat down and hand check of every piece of luggage. Plus there was a cute little (actually he was huge) German Sheppard bomb sniffing dog. Unfortunately, despite the impressive security they still didn’t go through everything in the bags, for example they didn’t look in the bag that contained a small pair of scissors I have. The scissors made it through the three other security checks on this trip (all of which were the regular xray machine variety). I’ve carried a similar pair for years but last year they got confiscated on my last leg of a trip (having made it through 3 previous screenings). Go figure.

Robert2533

Since you are not flying on one ticket, two hours will not cut it. Delta, as well as all other US carries, normally require you to arrive at least 2-1/2 hours before departure on international flights. If you are a premium frequent flyer you can check in at the first-class checkin counter, which usually saves time.

Once you arrive at T1, you have to go upstairs to the departures area, check in with Delta to pick up your boarding pass, then go back through security and out to the international departures area, a good 15 minute walk. You can add another 15 to 20 minutes to your time if they have set up the extra security check point before you reach your gate. You never know when flying internationally.

Southam

Tye: Read the easyJet website very carefully about carry-on luggage. They mean what they say about size, weight and number of items. The company is consistently stricter than US-based international airlines about carry-ons.
Also, Delta wants you in the departure area, not the ticket desk, well before the stated time of take-off. They can cut off access to the plane 20 minutes early, or more.

Southam

One further thought: You may feel more secure if you review the information on the airport's website http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/...id-Barajas/en/

lincasanova

T1 is much ore manageable than T4, and if you are very LUCKY with the timing.. you may have no problem. I hope so.

Do pay heed to the Easyjet website on carry-on size of luggage.

I hope all goes smoothly for you. Not what I would want to deal with, but if you can´t change anything then you'll just have to hope for the best.

Christina

Good luck, but I also want to emphasize that Easyjet is serious about their carryon restrictions. I've flown them several times and think they are great, but I pay to check my main bag (when doing that as a leg during a longer trip so I have more luggage).

In particular, when they say one carryon, that literally means one. It does not mean one suitcase plus a "personal item" as is allowed in the US and many other airlines. You are only allowed one carryon of any kind. So if you have a purse, computer bag, small tote bags, etc., it has to fit inside the suitcase when in line and boarding, so leave extra space. The size of the one carryon is reasonable, as I recall, but they do mean only one.

I've seen several people refused boarding because they either didn't read it or didn't believe it and tried to board with a small suitcase plus some large tote bag, purse, or backpack. They were denied boarding that way.

nytraveler

You have several threads running on the same topic. Click on your name to find them.

And if you read them - you will see that almost everyone is telling you the same thing - you need to get an earlier flight to Madrid in order to be sure of making your international connection.