Vueling Airline
 

Flying into Madrid and out of Barcelona 1st week of Dec. Thinking of going to Seville for a few days before Barcelona. I see I can get a flight from Seville on Vueling Airlines...thoughts on this flight or should I avoid it?

what are you considering for other options?

Thoughts in what sense?

Vueling is one of IAG budget carriers. IAG is the group that owns BA,Iberia and a few others.

Like most other budget airlines it's bus with wings. Follow the rules and unless you get unlucky you'll arrive on time (Maybe early? ) Bored. All for not much money.

We flew Vueling from Marseille to Madrid, and had no problems at all. Arrived on time. We did pay for checked luggage, but cost was still much cheaper than any other airline. My daughter, who lives in France, flies Vueling for work trips and hasn't had any problems with them.

Just wondering why Vueling should be avoided, it´s a great airline, medium cost (not really low cost), flying plenty of places in Europe from many airports in Spain since 2004 (originally, Click Air and now part of Iberia)

I would take the train. I won't be much longer when you consider door to door travel and will be more enjoyable and better for the environment.

I love trains but saying "it will be more enjoyable" without saying why...well, no.

I would have thought the reasons that trains are nicer than planes is completely obvious.

No need to travel to/from the airport (both Seville and Barcelona airports are at some distance from the city centre); no need to get to the airport well in advance of your flight; you get to see the country you're travelling through; you travel from city centre to city centre; there's more space; you're more likely (I find) to have a conversation with the person beside or opposite you; you can easily move around the train; it's far, far better for the environment (for those of us who care); it's often cheaper, especially if purchased in advance and avoiding the cost to get to/from the airport; trains seem to have less likelihood of travel delays; no restrictions on luggage; no need to worry about checkin or luggage collection (or lost luggage); much less stress (maybe that's just me?); you can byo a picnic of gourmet goodies; etc, etc. Give me a train any day over a plane.

Train journey time from Madrid to Seville is not too bad but a train from Seville to Barcelona is a very long journey (5-6 hours vs 1.45hrs flying). For domestic flights there is no need to be at the airport more than 1 hour in advance, if you have done online check-in. Luggage storage can be an issue on trains, either you have to have it with you if there is room for it or put it somewhere out of sight in a non secure storage area. Seville and Barcelona airports are about 10 miles from the city centres.

So, the flight is say 2hrs plus 1hr in advance (I'd be there earlier if it was an unfamiliar airport but that's just me). If you take public transport to/from the airport to/from your hotel, that's approx 1hr plus wait time and assuming you know where you're going and how to buy a ticket. That's at least 4hrs. And, at best, the journey is boring.

But I guess in the end it's just what you feel comfortable with. We can all do something different.

As a small piece of anecdotical info...the name of Vueling is a mix of Vuelo (Volar is "to fly" in Spanish, that is, "I fly") and the English gerund ending, -ing. So, it´d mean "Flying".

I flew with them a few years ago with no problems. But one experience doesn't say much. You're better off Googling for reviews and any NPS, etc scores you can find online rather than the few anecdotes that you'll get here.

I've flown them, found them no better or worse than Easyjet, Norwegian or BA. Slightly less annoying than Ryanair in terms of not constantly trying to sell you stuff. I'd happily use them again.

I tend to agree with dreamon about the train might be worth considering if you can get a low advance price.

The 1 hour flight will take around 4 hours in total, when you include the relay-race of a bus to the airport, lengthy airport check-in and security, the actual flight, another airport, then taking the local train the rest of the way to Barcelona.

Airport stress and 10 times the CO2 emissions - really, no-one should now be flying such short hops when they can easily avoid it and aren't even on business, but on leisure.

The train takes 5h36 city centre to city centre with virtually no check-in time.

The train has big picture windows at ground level, and the ride SHOWS YOU SPAIN! It's PART of your Spain experience, seeing their excellent high-speed AVE rail network, enjoying a JOURNEY overland with a glass of Rioja to hand.

Vueling is perfect. We often fly Vueling from Alicante to Brussels.
With hand luggage only your total journey will take max. 2 1/2 hours (be in BCN 1 hour ahead + 1 1/2 hour flight). Whicih means a half day more vacation time in Sevilla!
The airport bus will take you to the centre of Sevilla in 35 mins.
If you arrive by train at Sta. Justa you will still have to take a taxi (or walk the 4.5 kms to the centre).
I don't see any advantage in taking a 5h36 train ride.

I've flown Vueling several times with no issues (not within Spain). I'm definitely a train fan.

We fly Vueling within Spain regularly without problems.

From Sevilla to Barcelona there is a 2:50 pm AVE train that arrives at Barcelona Sants at 8:22 pm but that is the quickest (5 hours, 32 min.) ride of the day, followed by the 8:50 am train arriving at 2:25 pm (5 hours, 35 min), which I'd personally prefer.

From Sevilla to Barcelona if the fares are equal, I would opt to fly, although I've taken the Bilbao to Madrid train several times, 5 hours, 8 min. in preferente (business) class without complaint.
But if you don't mind a slightly longer ride, you can book now on some dates for the first week of December (12/3, 12/4, 12/7) for a heavily discounted promo rate for 70.70 on the 8:50 am train on renfe.com. On Renfe those who have problems using their non-Spain credit cards can use PayPal. Or first compare the Renfe promo tariff to the Vueling airfare for your specific dates and include the Vueling extra cost of checked bags/seat assignments, etc.

Take a bus or the train! It's not gonna take much time plus it's faster than going to the airport, flying and etc.

Vueling reported AFTER landing that no bags at all were loaded onto the plane in Florence. Same for flight 6206, the previous flight that day. They claimed a wind incident at the airport (Lie no. 1: online reports show max 17 MPH at take-off itme). They claimed an over loaded flight (Lie no. 2: Half the seats on an Airbus A319 were empty). We filled out the requisite forms at the British Airways desk in Gatwick (they partner with Vueling and BA has the only terminal office for Vueling). The BA agent agreed that Vueling is horrible. Received one text message acknowledging our PIR number. Checking online shows that they are searching for our bags. Calling in to Vueling is a horrible experience. I could only find a human by mistake on the phone tree. The agent, Estefania, was the worst I have ever encountered. She would only tell me that the bags were not found yet.

No bags loaded at the Florence airport and they don't know where they are? Lie number 3. She told me that she could not connect me to a supervisor. She would not pass our case or contact info to a supervisor. A complete stonewall job. 2 days and no bags, no news.

We have perishable medications packed with a freeze block, about €1500 worth of vacation purchases (clothing, shoes, perfume, a chess set, etc.), and numerous items we use in daily life that we are without (phone chargers, electric toothbrush, bathroom kits, shoes, etc.). What an absolutely rotten to the core company.

It is true that an aircraft can be weight restricted even if seats are empty. This can be due to cargo. It can be due to weather/climate or altitude of the airport. It can be due to other things. If only it was as simple as looking around you and seeing empty seats to conclude there isn’t a weight issue.

You can’t know if wind incidents are true or not, you were not the flight dispatcher for those flights. I’m pretty sure weather reports you look at online are not going to the the same one airlines/flight dispatchers/pilots look at.

I’ve been on flights where nobody’s luggage was loaded for some reason. I’ve had luggage delayed for days. All part & parcel of travel. Airlines do give out essentials eg toothbrush etc or allowance for essentials. Medicine should be in hand luggage where possible.

And yes sometimes airlines don’t know where delayed luggage is, until it turns up somewhere, on the system or even on your doorstep. Agents like Estefania can only tell you what she sees in the system.

Vueling and BA don't partner. They're both owned by the same company.

Florence often has weather issues.That's why most people fly out of Pisa.

Not to pile on but you should never check medicines. I also wouldn't check a phone charger but at least these days those are fairly easy to replace.

I have flown Vueling and had no problems.

We have flown them without a problem but also had big problems when they canceled our flight and moved it to one at midnight!

Here is the recap of our Vueling flight from Barcelona to Granada from my trip report.

Arriving at the airport, the Vueling line stretched all the way to Madrid, but I spied another line with only a couple of people. “What could it hurt to try?” I thought. We did have boarding passes. It turned out be a good call, because we had something called Optima tickets, meaning we could go in this shorter line.

Attachment 7078
I pretended that I knew I had purchased them for this very reason. Hopefully, Kim, Mary and Tracy won’t read the trip report and find out I was just plane lucky.

Along with seemingly 200 other people, we got in line for our flight at about 12:45. We waited…and waited…and waited. It was now past our scheduled flight time, and still no sign of a plane. Then the intercom announced a gate change.

Attachment 7079
Suddenly we were at the beginning of the Boston Marathon as 200 impatient people all turned and scurried for the new gate. A little over an hour later, we settled into our Vueling seats for the short plane ride to Granada. The flight was uneventful (my favorite kind).

Gracias and adios Barcelona…we will return! Hola Granada"

With such a little time difference with all things considered, I'd go for the train.

Oops, see this thread is from 2019. Hope they took the train (:

It's unfortunate that you had a bad experience. I've learned over the years to always keep my medications and charging cables & battery pack with me for the exact reasons cited here.

Florence airport has one of the shortest runways I've ever been on and doesn't even have a taxiway. At 1750m / 5700 ft long (which is very short by any standard) that can also limit takeoff weight...The last thing anyone would wish for is an overweight plane traveling at 200mph failing to take off.....

People often forget that one has to get to the train station - it may not be as far as the airport - it still takes time.
Also, one assumes, most travellers prefer to be at the station more than a few minutes before departure of their train.
The last time we were in Seville, there was a language security check at the station.

[QUOTE=dreamon;17012750]So, the flight is say 2hrs plus 1hr in advance (I'd be there earlier if it was an unfamiliar airport but that's just me). If you take public transport to/from the airport to/from your hotel, that's approx 1hr plus wait time and assuming you know where you're going and how to buy a ticket. That's at least 4hrs. And, at best, the journey is boring.

But I guess in the end it's just what you feel comfortable with. We


People sometimes forget that one has to get to and from the train station - it may not be as far as the airport - it still takes time.

@danon - with few exception (e.g. the TGV station for Aix) train stations are in the middle, or near the middle, of cities. Airports are not (well, aside from London City, but how many tourists use that?). Also, I cannot see requiring more than fifteen minutes, more likely ten, before departure for a train. The luggage check in Spain is unusual, doesn't happen in all stations even in Spain and is a quick trip through the X-ray machine. Elsewhere you just walk into the station, check the departure board and head to the correct platform.

Well, whatever one prefers. I found Berlin ‘s huge Hauptbahnhof rather difficult to navigate and Madrid ‘s Chamartin a shlep from the city centre.