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Flying Ryanair from SCQ to Madrid

hfenton

hfenton

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino de Invierno (2023)
I have an 11:05 flight from Madrid to the US and am wondering about the wisdom of flying Ryanair from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid that same day. There's a flight that leaves SCQ at 6:45 AM and arrives in Madrid at 8:00 giving me plenty of time to catch the 11:05 flight.

Is Ryanair a good option? Otherwise I'm looking at traveling to Madrid by train or bus the day before my flight back to the US.
 
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I've done this exact route SCQ - MAD - EWR (USA) twice before without issue. I've never had an issue with Ryan Air to be honest. I have flown them many times as I actually worked in Limerick for several years and was a frequent traveler with them. As a counter balance, I have actually taken a train from SdC to Madrid and that served me well too.
 
hfenton said:
I have an 11:05 flight from Madrid to the US and am wondering about the wisdom of flying Ryanair from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid that same day. There's a flight that leaves SCQ at 6:45 AM and arrives in Madrid at 8:00 giving me plenty of time to catch the 11:05 flight.

Is Ryanair a good option? Otherwise I'm looking at traveling to Madrid by train or bus the day before my flight back to the US.
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I cannot comment on Ryanair's reliability and on time rate. The only issue and it is a big one is if for some reason the flight is cancelled or delayed and you are on a separate ticket and you miss your flight back to the States the airline will not honor your ticket because you were late. I would think you would lose either a substantial amount of money or all of it if you miss your flight. I have no idea if travel insurance covers this type of loss. It may be more money but you could fly the day before and stay in a hotel with free airport pickup. More money but far less stress. It is what I would do but we all have our own parameters.
 
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In June 2022 I flew on Ryanair from Santiago to MAD Barajas, 6:45-8 AM. Fight was fine. Had ample time and no trouble catching my 11:15 AM United flight to the States. Go for it.
 
I have taken the train from Santiago to Madrid, then stayed is a small hotel 2 metro stops from the airport. I didn't have to rush or worry about getting to the airport on time the next morning.
 
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The issue is as @It56ny says, you’re relying on a connection with no contractual consequences to get you to your expensive flight home. Ryanair is a reputable airline; somewhat spartan but for a domestic flight that’s not an issue.

Personally I’d err on the side of caution and get to Madrid the day before.

I’d prefer the train as the scenery for the first couple of hours out of Santiago is spectacular. You think the driver is stuck in first gear until they get to the high-speed line half way through when you then start thinking that the brakes have gone.
 
For our four caminos, three times we flew Santiago to Madrid and once to Barcelona. These cities are so amazing we spent the additional night there savoring our last night in Spain before catching a flight home the next day. Bob
 
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Mark Greenwood said:
Train, Ryanair is a pain to anywhere!
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Disagree. Ryanair's punctuality is often better than many. Issue s happen later in the day so usually first flights are never a problem because the aircraft is at the airort (unless awaiting an inbound) so, if very concerned go the night before to madrid so you've plenty of time.

Madrid is a huge airport so give yourslef plenty of time for checkin and walking to gates.
 
Predicting if your flight will be delayed is not the right question to ponder. I think you need to follow the “How much would it suck if….” rule. Fill in “my flight to Madrid causes me to miss my flight to the US”. Everybody has a different answer to these questions. If you have lots of time and money then it would suck much less than for another person who has less time and money. The combinations of time and money are infinite in this situation and only you can answer the question for yourself.
 
lt56ny said:
I cannot comment on Ryanair's reliability and on time rate. The only issue and it is a big one is if for some reason the flight is cancelled or delayed and you are on a separate ticket and you miss your flight back to the States the airline will not honor your ticket because you were late. I would think you would lose either a substantial amount of money or all of it if you miss your flight. I have no idea if travel insurance covers this type of loss. It may be more money but you could fly the day before and stay in a hotel with free airport pickup. More money but far less stress. It is what I would do but we all have our own parameters.
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Thank you for the reply. You make a good point I hadn't considered.
 
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Desert Bruce said:
I have taken the train from Santiago to Madrid, then stayed is a small hotel 2 metro stops from the airport. I didn't have to rush or worry about getting to the airport on time the next morning.
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Thanks for the reply. What's the name of the hotel?
 
hfenton said:
Thanks for the reply. What's the name of the hotel?
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If you check on booking.com there are lots of hotels with free shuttle service to and from the airport. THere are many hotels within 5 kilometers of the airport. I do not know what your budget is and do not know your dates but I just plugged in a date in August and they start at about $65US a night.
 
hfenton said:
I have an 11:05 flight from Madrid to the US and am wondering about the wisdom of flying Ryanair from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid that same day. There's a flight that leaves SCQ at 6:45 AM and arrives in Madrid at 8:00 giving me plenty of time to catch the 11:05 flight.

Is Ryanair a good option? Otherwise I'm looking at traveling to Madrid by train or bus the day before my flight back to the US.
Click to expand...
We just flew Ryan Air to Madrid from there and it was fine. We went to the Hotel Senator Barajas near the Madrid airport the day before and walked to dinner in the cute neighborhood nearby where there are a lot of good options for dinner. The hotel has a free shuttle to the airport the next morning for the flight from Madrid. We have done this twice and highly recommend it. No stress
 
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Holly West said:
We just flew Ryan Air to Madrid from there and it was fine. We went to the Hotel Senator Barajas near the Madrid airport the day before and walked to dinner in the cute neighborhood nearby where there are a lot of good options for dinner. The hotel has a free shuttle to the airport the next morning for the flight from Madrid. We have done this twice and highly recommend it. No stress
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Thank you for your reply and suggestions.
 
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