Best airport to come into from the states

[Zazee]

Hi all,

I will be starting from SJPP [Sept] and coming in from either San Francisco or New York. Which airport...Paris or Madrid?

 

[Zazee]

My bad. Will post this in traveling to/from Camino. Sorry.
[Ivar: I just moved this there.. ]

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Zazee,

Welcome to the forum. I have a couple of observations but no hard and fast recommendation. First, I would check into open jaw tickets -- I have been surprised to see that sometimes it's no more expensive to land in one place and fly out of another.

Second, take a look at the posts on getting to St. Jean. From Paris, it's a couple of trains (and sometimes a bus if the train isn't operating, not sure what the status is now). From Madrid you would go to Pamplona and then take a taxi over the Pyrenees. Getting to Pamplona from Madrid is very easy.

What might tip the scale for me, if an open jaw ticket is too expensive, is that it's much easier to get from Santiago to Madrid than Santiago to Paris at the end of the walk.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I flew into Paris, spent a night to adjust to time change, then train to Bayonne, spent the night, then bus to SJPdP. I liked having a few days to adjust to the new time and environment. It made my start a good one. I flew from SDC to Barcelona on Vueling Airlines (I recommend them!) where I continued traveling around the world. So technically, I had an open-jaw ticket (although I flew out of Rome to continue my travels). I think an open-jaw ticket is the best idea, but sometimes they can cost more. This might be one of those instances where it is best to contact a travel agent to see what kind of deal they can get for you. Airtreks is good for this. I would also check a flight aggregator like kayak.com or fly.com to look at flights.

 

[WolverineDG]

Here's what's worked best for me: Open Jaw tickets between Paris & Madrid. If this costs more, it's not by much & not enough to come in under costs of traveling onward to SJP & then back to the same airport from Santiago.

I got a great deal on Expedia in 2009--routed me through Heathrow before heading on to CDG, with a late afternoon arrival BUT saved me over $700, so who's complaining?

From Paris, you can either take the train to Bayonne, then SJP OR fly Easy Jet or Air France from CDG & Orly (be careful when checking which airport for departure) after spending the night in Paris. Depending upon what you do & what time your flight to Biarritz leaves, you may want to consider staying at a CDG airport hotel, even if only using "day rates" (usually gets you about 6 hours, time to shower, sleep, catch some "alone" time--to me that's worth it, for others maybe not). If staying at CDG, check out the Ibis Terminal, which is AT the airport itself & can be reached for free by using the "CDGval" (signs in the terminal).

If you want more info, feel free to contact me.

Kelly

 

[Zazee]

Thanks for your advice. Am going to look into an open-jaw ticket as I will be doing some additional traveling after the Camino.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

If you are going to do travel after the Camino, then definitely look into an open-jaw ticket. I flew to Barcelona after the Camino, spent a week there before taking a ferry to Civittavechia (sp?) just north of Rome. Best time ever!!! I knew that I had from April 16th until June 21st (when my flight left Rome for the Middle East) to finish my Camino, so there was no rush. I ended up having enough time for a week in Barcelona and two weeks in Italy (including a visit with distant relatives).

 

[viajero]

I have flown on Iberia from the US. Flying into Pamplona (via Madrid) and out of Santiago (via madrid) has cost less than $100 more than a straight US-Madrid Roundtrip flight.

 

[Nandy61]

You may want to look into Aerlingus (if coming from NYC) into Dublin. I often book open-jaw tickets with them. I flew from Boston to Dublin, got a great fare, and then took Ryanair's 29euro flight into Biarritz. On the return trip I flew Aerlingus back into Dublin as they left on the date I wanted to. Aerlingus runs that route in the summer, so who knows if they will be continuing it this year. And of course, all of the above advice is dependent upon where you will be starting your camino.

Good luck!

 

[bdovan]

I am going on my first camino the end of May 2013 and also wondered where to fly into from San Francisco. I plan to start at SJPDP. From what I've read on the forum, either Paris or Madrid to fly into, depending on your plans after the camino. I would like the one that is most convenient, easiest, and going home afterwards. I do not know what open-jaw tickets mean, but I'm guessing it is either multi-city tickets, or open-ending tickets?
Thanks,
~Bic

 

[Deleted member 3000]

open-jaw tickets mean, but I'm guessing it is either multi-city tickets

Yes. Iberia probably can deliver you to Pamplona and return you from Santiago. Between April and August, the bus company probably will operate at least one bus per day from Pamplona to SJPdP. They have not announced for 2013 yet.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Example:

Flight details
JOURNEY1 - Tuesday, May 14, 2013
San Francisco › New York

Departure
7:10 / San Francisco , San Francisco International , Terminal 2
Arrival
15:50 / New York , John F Kennedy , Terminal 8

Departure
18:00 / New York , John F Kennedy , Terminal 7
Arrival
7:15 Day 15 / Madrid , Barajas , Terminal 4S

Departure
8:40 / Madrid , Barajas , Terminal 4
Arrival
9:35 / Pamplona
Duration
17h: 25m

Fare
Reduced

JOURNEY2 - Sunday, June 23, 2013
Santiago de Compostela › Barcelona

Departure
22:10 / Santiago de Compostela
Arrival
23:45 / Barcelona , Airport , Terminal 1

Departure
7:10 / Barcelona , Airport , Terminal 1
Arrival
8:35 / London , Heathrow , Terminal 5

Departure
11:35 / London , Heathrow , Terminal 5
Arrival
14:25 / San Francisco , San Francisco International , Terminal I

Duration
25h: 15m

Fare $ 1,410.17 (x 1 adult)
Reduced

 

[bdovan]

That was quick, Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

My pleasure. With my ankle elevated in an immobilization boot since my last camino, I have pretty ready internet access (and plenty of idle time).

 

[Deleted member 3000]

By the way, with all the recent mergers and code sharing, Iberia, British Airways, and American Airlines are the same thing! If you have American frequent flyer miles, you might be able to use them to get to Spain.

United and Aer Lingus are the same as well. I had an Aer Lingus flight direct to Madrid using United miles.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

That is way too much money to spend on a ticket (not to mention one of the most painful itineraries I have EVER seen! There are one stop flights out of SFO, I know because I am helping a pilgrim book their flights for summer....absolutely no need to have that many stops)...I would wait until February or early March to buy and set up a fare alert on Kayak.com and airfarewatchdog.com

Open jaw means fly into one airport and out of the other. If you have time, fly into Paris, train to Bayonne, local train to SJPdP...walk the Camino...then decide where you want to fly out of...you can fly out of SDC (more expensive usually), or you can get a Vueling flight to BCN or a RyanAir flight to MAD, then a regular international flight out of either of those cities. American Airlines tends to have the best prices and routes out of SFO.

If you want to save some money PM me.

 

[nreyn12]

Try this website to sort out the best routing and fares: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Then go to the airline's website to buy the ticket.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

American Airlines has several offerings at about $1133 into Pamplona and return from Santiago. A lot of them are actually Iberia flights. Transit time seems to be 19 to 25 hours.

Carrier Flight
# Departing Arriving Aircraft
Type Cabin AAdvantage Flight
Miles Meals Travel Time
City Date & Time City Date & Time

AMERICAN AIRLINES 24 SFO
San Francisco Apr 15, 2013
07:00 AM JFK
New York Apr 15, 2013
03:45 PM 763 Economy
View Seats 2586 Food For Purchase 18 hr 15 min

AMERICAN AIRLINES 66 JFK
New York Apr 15, 2013
05:15 PM BCN
Barcelona Apr 16, 2013
07:15 AM 763 Economy
View Seats 3832 Dinner
Continental Breakfast

AMERICAN AIRLINES OPERATED BY AIR NOSTRUM FOR IBERIA 5474 BCN
Barcelona Apr 16, 2013
09:10 AM PNA
Pamplona Apr 16, 2013
10:15 AM CRJ Economy
View Seats 216 N/A
Alert: Overnight flight or connection.

AMERICAN AIRLINES OPERATED BY IBERIA 5630 SCQ
Santiago De Compostela May 20, 2013
06:50 AM MAD
Madrid May 20, 2013
08:00 AM 320 Economy
N/A 23 hr 10 min

AMERICAN AIRLINES OPERATED BY IBERIA 5683 MAD
Madrid May 20, 2013
11:55 AM ORD
Chicago May 20, 2013
02:15 PM 340 Economy
Lunch
Snack or Brunch

AMERICAN AIRLINES 1399 ORD
Chicago May 20, 2013
06:15 PM SFO
San Francisco May 20, 2013
09:00 PM 738 Economy
View Seats 1846 Food For Purchase

 

[bdovan]

I am grateful for all the input. I am using frequent flyer miles with American and am slightly limited in my choices after reading all of your advice. I chose roundtrip SFO/MAD. I have four weeks for holiday and need to plan which segments of the Camino I will walk and which parts I will use public transit. I read about the most difficult parts, which ones not to miss, etc. I had to decipher some of the information since I am not familiar with the terminology or places yet. I plan to do my homework. For instance, I didn't know that PM meant "Private Message" until now (as well as open-jaw). Do you have suggestions or a guideline for me to plan my Camino? Next I'm buying the Brierley book.

Thank you all for your assistance. My ticket is bought. I'm going on the camino!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I would suggest Madrid to Pamplona by bus from the airport, and start the Camino in Pamplona. That shaves 3 to 4 days from the Brierley 33 stages. If you need to catch up days later, you can do it easily on the bus. If you get to Santiago with more than three days, you can walk to Fisterra.

Buen camino!

Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 Pamplona 01:15 06:30 5h 15min 29.46 Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 - Pamplona - 01:15 (abre en nueva ventana) LMXJVSD
Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 Pamplona 10:15 16:40 6h 25min 33.32€ supra Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 - Pamplona - 10:15 (abre en nueva ventana) LMXJVS
Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 Pamplona 10:45 15:30 4h 45min 29.46€ Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 - Pamplona - 10:45 (abre en nueva ventana) LMXJVSD
Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 Pamplona 11:15 17:15 6h 00min 30.93€ Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 - Pamplona - 11:15 (abre en nueva ventana) LMXJVSD
Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 Pamplona 13:15 19:45 6h 30min 29.93€ Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 - Pamplona - 13:15 (abre en nueva ventana) LMXJVSD
Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 Pamplona 15:15 20:15 5h 00min 29.46€ Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 - Pamplona - 15:15 (abre en nueva ventana) LMXJVSD
Aeropuerto Madrid-barajas T4 Pamplona 19:45 01:00 5h 15min 29.46€

 

[wawpdx]

I read about the most difficult parts, which ones not to miss, etc.

It is a lot of information to take in all at once. You really do not need to figure it all out ahead of time, and if you think you have ....

Remember that some of the same sections that show up in the threads about the most difficult parts can also, not always, be sections not to miss. I found that having done some reading ahead of time, I had a sense of accomplishment when I arrived at a "landmark" that stuck in my mind. When Santiago was still far away and the sequence/names of the cities and towns a muddled blur, I felt a sense of progress when I stood with the iron sculptures, heard the chickens crowing, and left a piece of Oregon obsidian at the iron cross.