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Madrid Airport

Eddiebee

Eddiebee
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances SJPDP to SDC May & June 2017
My Delta flight lands Sunday at 8:45. The bus to Astorga leaves T4 at 10:00. The last time I flew into Madrid we landed about 40 minutes early and it took less that 30 minutes to clear customs. Is there anyone that has been there in the last couple of weeks that could give me some idea about how long it took them to clear passport control and how much longer it might take to get to Alsa at T4. Many thanks
 
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Good luck and buen camino! I can’t give you first hand information, but here on the forum I have recently read of both very short trips through immigration and some longer ones. Customs is usually a total non-issue, just as you leave the terminal, but I rarely see them pull anyone over.

I think it will just depend on how many planes have landed at the time yours does. Fingers crossed that there aren’t many and you can get through quickly.

The other piece of good luck you need is that the intra-airport bus comes soon after you get outside your terminal. They are usually very frequent.

I’m hoping there are others with recent first hand information, but I would make sure about which level the bus leaves from and arrives on. Since arrivals and departures are on different levels in both the new and old airports, you will save a few minutes going with the kowledge of where to get on each bus.

You can click here to see the intra-airport itinerary.

I am not 100% sure about what happens once you arrive at T4, but this is what I remember. The intra-airport bus will drop you off at the departures level. But the Alsa bus leaves from the arrivals level. I’ve done a little google searching and what I find coincides with my memory, but I would make sure to find this out because you will have a tight connection. Knowing that you may have to change levels at the airport will be an important heads up. I don’t know if there are still agents requiring you to show a boarding pass to get into the departure level at T4, but this could be another issue, because getting from departure level down to arrival level is easiest to do from inside the airport.

Sounds more complicated than it is, but I think having a clear understanding of the mechanics will make it more likely that you can make your connection with this amount of time. Buen camino, Laurie
 
I went to Madrid about 2 weeks ago. Pretty fast but now in addition to passport control you have to have your health screening. All they do is look at the paper. Takes an extra 5 minutes. All of that is on Delta website, we flew Delta also. All pretty fast and easy. I would say 30 to 40 minutes for us tops. We had our bags in about 45 to 50 minutes.
 
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Getting to the ALSA buses just outside the exit at T4 takes only a few minutes. I believe there's an ALSA kiosk on your left just before you exit.
 
The challenge with Madrid airport is the distance between the terminals if you do not land at T4. I was there at the start of the month and everything was very efficient but travel out of the airport was a challenge (I should have taken the bus to Madrid but did the Metro which involved many changes)
 
It depends on how full your flight is and division of eu/non eu passport holders. I landed Madrid 2 weeks ago at 1110 with a 1315 bus. I waited about 10minutes in a pretty long line before one of the guards pulled me up bc of my stroller and toddler. There was only One police guard checking the passports. It didn’t take long bc I got pulled out. I also did see ppl asking to cut bc they had a bus to catch and most ppl obliged. The health check is also very quick just a walk through showing the QR code.

I landed in T1 and the bus ride took about 10minutes but they drive like a bat outta hell to t4!

Then like the previous posts mention it is on a separate floor across the taxi lanes outside but everyone and anyone will direct you where and it is very close.

1hour and 15minutes is cutting it close and if u have to take a shuttle bus from airplane to t1 like we did. But then we had a good 30min wait for the bus.

I hope u make it or bought the superflex to change it to a different time. buen camino!
 
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Thanks to everyone for all the info. I am flexible. I have not yet bought a ticket to Astorga. I have a paid reservation in Astorga so a late arrival there is not the end of the world. There is a later bus and a train might even work, but it is confusing to understand the different train stations and how to get to them. I could even pay a fortune for a taxi to Estacion Sur and catch the same bus that leaves the airport at 10:00 about 45 minutes later.
 
It’s easier to take the bus I promise ! Don’t pay the extra especially with the interterminal bus is free!
 
What terminal are you arriving at?
 
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Philip Nelson said:
We had our bags in about 45 to 50 minutes.
Click to expand...
As others have said you can never know what things will look like at Passport Control on any given day or time. It is just a crapshoot.
Philip Nelson checked luggage. I do not know if it was just his backpack or other things too. I highly, highly recommend that if you are just coming with your backpack there is no reason to check your pack and risk the airline losing your backpack. I have flown many times with my backpack and have never had a problem bringing it on the plane and fitting it in the overhead.
 
A week past Sunday I arrived at Madrid T4 at 1500hrs and had a ninety minute Q. But, part of my group arriving at 1800hrs only had a 30min wait getting through passport control

A week later, leaving from T4 it took 60 mins from arriving at the departure terminal doors to navigate through the various controls and levels to get to the departure lounge, and that was with no queues at security.
 
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