Possible to make a 10.10 am flight from Barcelona?

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

We have a cruise on Enchantment ending in Barcelona the 13th of Nov and I wonder if it is possible to make an international flight departure from BCN airport at 10.10? I know we need to be there two hours early but I have also read that people have selfdisembarked at 5-6 in the morning.

The tickets I am looking at is dirt cheap, 30 eur per person instead of 200-250 eur each in the afternoon or the day after...

[topnole]

1 minute ago, UnregisteredUser said:

We have a cruise on Enchantment ending in Barcelona the 13th of Nov and I wonder if it is possible to make an international flight departure from BCN airport at 10.10? I know we need to be there two hours early but I have also read that people have selfdisembarked at 5-6 in the morning.

The tickets I am looking at is dirt cheap, 30 eur per person instead of 200-250 eur each in the afternoon or the day after...

It is certainly possible.   But a hiccup in things and you would miss the flight.   Depending on the airline, the line for checking bags could be long.   If your airline has self check in I’d feel better about it.   Symphony TA arrived at Barcelona around 5 something.   Self disembarkation was before 7 as I recall.  
 

The line through passport control was a good 20 minutes for us.   We were to the airport by 8am or so.  

[Tlbecker1]

5 minutes ago, UnregisteredUser said:

We have a cruise on Enchantment ending in Barcelona the 13th of Nov and I wonder if it is possible to make an international flight departure from BCN airport at 10.10? I know we need to be there two hours early but I have also read that people have selfdisembarked at 5-6 in the morning.

The tickets I am looking at is dirt cheap, 30 eur per person instead of 200-250 eur each in the afternoon or the day after...

I would never risk doing this.  The ship can be delayed and you might not get to the port at the scheduled time. 

[sgmn]

7 minutes ago, UnregisteredUser said:

We have a cruise on Enchantment ending in Barcelona the 13th of Nov.I have also read that people have selfdisembarked at 5-6 in the morning.

The tickets I am looking at is dirt cheap, 30 eur per person instead of 200-250 eur each in the afternoon or the day after...

Even if the ship arrives on time at say 5am  it can take a  hour or two before the captain is cleared to allow disembarkation.  Lines can be long for taxi's but it moves quickly and it's a short distance to the airport. 

Our flight was at 1130 but the airline has changed it to 1055, I'm a little concerned but I think it will be OK 🤞

[gumshoe958]

Yes, it’s perfectly possible as long as you disembark by 7.30-ish. But as ever with these questions, the answer depends on your attitude to risk.
 

The odds are very much in your favour but there are always dangers - late ship arrival, long line for cabs, traffic delays, long lines for check in, security or passport control. 
 

Edited April 16, 2023 by gumshoe958

[read2learn]

If you carry off your bags it may be doable. There are taxis lined up outside and the traffic is leaving from the city not going into it so it is much lighter. I know I have had early flights from there and no problem but I can't remember how early. If you had the global entry or TSA card it would help . 

[nimbex1970]

eeek, ok, no one wants to wait in the airport, check. earlier flights are cheaper, check. For 10:10, I wouldn't do it with the best trip insurance.  Each person's bu$$ pucker is different with flights and this is an extreme pucker time for me. I couldn't enjoy my last night or morning stressing on it.  If you are flexible and don't mind the work and possible change fees, then by all means.  

 

I also am very particular where I sit on international flights, I would hate to miss what I choose and paid for to be slotted in wherever there was space on the next flight.  Sure you might get your premium or first class fee back, after months of fighting, but ugh.  the headache. 

[George C]

I wouldn’t attempt anything that early, lines at Barcelona airport were huge and slow even with priority first class.

[HicksRA]

Possible but too stressful for me.

[texmex.ferr]

We were on Wonder TA last April, and Symphony TA in March of this year, and had flights leaving Barcelona Airport at 11.10 (KLM flights).    We also arranged our transport to the airport, through Royal Caribbean, (and the flights were booked through Air2Sea),    We disembarked last April at 6.45, but this year we were later getting off.   It was after 7am before we disembarked, there was a hold up somewhere.    We still made it to the airport in time, but the airport was a lot busier in March, than what it had been last April, and it took us a while to check in at the check in desk.     Security was slow too, but we still made our 11.10 flight on both occasions.

 

Good luck in getting to the airport to catch your early flight

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

Thanks for all replies. It is a 3 hour direct flight to my destination in Europe, thats why I was considering it. Not that I can't afford the higher price later in the day (or the day after) but I am a sucker for great deals and at 30 EUR per person a direct flight was tempting vs a non direct 5-6 hour 250 EUR flight  later in the day.

I don't think I will do it however just because that would spoil the last evening on the ship, no drinking, needing to go to bed early and be off the ship very early and stressing to the airport. This is something I have to accept when traveling at work but not when on vacation 😂Will probably spend a night in Barcelona and fly home the day after instead.

[gumshoe958]

11 hours ago, read2learn said:

If you carry off your bags it may be doable. There are taxis lined up outside and the traffic is leaving from the city not going into it so it is much lighter. I know I have had early flights from there and no problem but I can't remember how early. If you had the global entry or TSA card it would help . 

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck are of no use whatsoever at Barcelona, even if the OP was flying to the US.

 

Dublin is the only European airport with US pre-clearance.

[gumshoe958]

57 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck are of no use whatsoever at Barcelona, even if the OP was flying to the US.

 

Dublin is the only European airport with US pre-clearance.

Sorry, and Shannon too. Also in Ireland.

[Sigyn]

I would highly doubt it, having flown out of Barcelona myself. Admittedly, that was in 2017, but the lines to get through the area where you show your passport were hundreds of people deep and took well over an hour. It was crazy. 

 

Edited to come back and say never mind - IGNORE ME. The aforementioned experience was in Rome. Not Barcelona. I have lost my mind. Barcelona was busy but not like Rome. Rome was the busiest I've ever seen.

Edited April 17, 2023 by njsmom

[Kathscof]

3 hours ago, UnregisteredUser said:

Thanks for all replies. It is a 3 hour direct flight to my destination in Europe, thats why I was considering it. Not that I can't afford the higher price later in the day (or the day after) but I am a sucker for great deals and at 30 EUR per person a direct flight was tempting vs a non direct 5-6 hour 250 EUR flight  later in the day.

I don't think I will do it however just because that would spoil the last evening on the ship, no drinking, needing to go to bed early and be off the ship very early and stressing to the airport. This is something I have to accept when traveling at work but not when on vacation 😂Will probably spend a night in Barcelona and fly home the day after instead.

A great excuse to stay in Barcelona for a night! Hopefully that 30 euro flight is available the following day! 

[Tapi]

All I can say is that the stress associated with booking an early flight is not worth it. 
 

We booked a 12:25pm flight about 11 months in advance. A few months before departure, the airline changed it to 11:25am. Then to 11:15am. 
 

Once on the ship, we learned that due to some technical issues at the port, we wouldn’t be docking until 8:00am. I wasted the last 24 hours of my cruise stressing and obsessing about getting off the ship in time and making it to the airport, and made my family’s life miserable in the process.
 

Long story short, we did make the flight, but we didn’t make it to the gate area until 10:30am. In our case, there was only one flight home on that day, but if you’re flying somewhere that has more flights, pick a later one, even if it’s more expensive. A good bargain on a cheaper flight can quickly become very costly. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Tapi

[topnole]

5 hours ago, UnregisteredUser said:

Thanks for all replies. It is a 3 hour direct flight to my destination in Europe, thats why I was considering it. Not that I can't afford the higher price later in the day (or the day after) but I am a sucker for great deals and at 30 EUR per person a direct flight was tempting vs a non direct 5-6 hour 250 EUR flight  later in the day.

I don't think I will do it however just because that would spoil the last evening on the ship, no drinking, needing to go to bed early and be off the ship very early and stressing to the airport. This is something I have to accept when traveling at work but not when on vacation 😂Will probably spend a night in Barcelona and fly home the day after instead.

For 30 euros I’d probably try and if you miss it you aren’t out much.  I think our flight departed at 9:40 and we had plenty of time to spare.   I saw many do self check in with bags which seemed to move at a good pace.  I guess I’m a

bit of a gambler and we were certainly aware that things could go sideways on us.  We had a couple hiccups that morning and still has plenty of time to spare.   Our situation is as either go for the morning flight or wait for 3pm.  There were no in between direct flights so it was worth the gamble to us.  Had there been the same flight 2 hours later we would’ve done that one.  
 

Note: We were flying to another European city so no passport control for that flight.   If I was flying out of Europe I’d certainly give it much more time.  But I think you mentioned you will be flying within the EU.  

Edited April 17, 2023 by topnole

[TheHawk1]

I was also thinking of an 11:15 am from Barcelona after disembarking from Symphony.  But this would be to London Gatwick to continue on with more vacation, not back home to North America. Given that would be an EU flight and not international, I thought it was doable, but the hesitation from others on this thread is giving me pause.  The alternative would be to wait for the next flight at 3:00 pm, which is 5-6 hours of sitting at BCN airport.  Maybe it comes down to risk tolerance?

[gumshoe958]

16 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

I was also thinking of an 11:15 am from Barcelona after disembarking from Symphony.  But this would be to London Gatwick to continue on with more vacation, not back home to North America. Given that would be an EU flight and not international, I thought it was doable, but the hesitation from others on this thread is giving me pause.  The alternative would be to wait for the next flight at 3:00 pm, which is 5-6 hours of sitting at BCN airport.  Maybe it comes down to risk tolerance?

The UK is no longer in the EU, and it most certainly is an international flight.

 

Even so, I’d have no hesitation booking an 11:15 flight. Disembark between 8 and 8:30 and you’ll be at the airport in plenty of time. There is an over-abundance of caution on this forum which is understandable for once-a-day transatlantic flights, but really not needed for a short-haul destination like London.

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by gumshoe958

[nimbex1970]

11 hours ago, UnregisteredUser said:

Thanks for all replies. It is a 3 hour direct flight to my destination in Europe, thats why I was considering it. Not that I can't afford the higher price later in the day (or the day after) but I am a sucker for great deals and at 30 EUR per person a direct flight was tempting vs a non direct 5-6 hour 250 EUR flight  later in the day.

I don't think I will do it however just because that would spoil the last evening on the ship, no drinking, needing to go to bed early and be off the ship very early and stressing to the airport. This is something I have to accept when traveling at work but not when on vacation 😂Will probably spend a night in Barcelona and fly home the day after instead.

love a bargain, hate the stress more.  happy sailing to you!

[jencruzin]

We are in a similar situation. According to the schedule, our ship arrives back into Southampton port at 0530; a coach we booked departs Southampton at 0700. Our flight back stateside leaves at 1245. Hoping we can depart the ship self-assist earliest and then make the bus back to LHR.

[gumshoe958]

7 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

We are in a similar situation. According to the schedule, our ship arrives back into Southampton port at 0530; a coach we booked departs Southampton at 0700. Our flight back stateside leaves at 1245. Hoping we can depart the ship self-assist earliest and then make the bus back to LHR.

Wow, that is tight. If the stars align it’s doable but you’re counting on being allowed to disembark by 0630.

 

At least there’s a Plan B option of the 0900 coach which is due into Heathrow at 1100, which is still enough time to catch your flight.

[topnole]

8 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

We are in a similar situation. According to the schedule, our ship arrives back into Southampton port at 0530; a coach we booked departs Southampton at 0700. Our flight back stateside leaves at 1245. Hoping we can depart the ship self-assist earliest and then make the bus back to LHR.

The arrival times in the documents or website are estimates if I understand it correctly. For us we got in much earlier than the documents on our last TA.  But when I talked to the concierge about it several days earlier, she said they had yet to be told the time we would arrive and start disembarkation.   She did know that exact info the day before however and it was exactly as she stated.   So it seems it can vary and they don’t know until closer till the end of the cruise.   
 

Make sure you account for the time it takes to get through passport control as you exit the pier.  That alone took us a long time as there were seemingly a lot of folks trying to be off early like us.  Catching a 7AM coach could be an issue if there is even the slightest delay.  No idea how it is in South Hampton, but I’m guess it could be slow at times there too. 

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

9 hours ago, Kathscof said:

A great excuse to stay in Barcelona for a night! Hopefully that 30 euro flight is available the following day! 

Unfortunately its not. It's a lowcost Spanish airline that only fly Mon, Wed and Sat from Barcelona to Gothenburg Sweden. The flight on Wed cost 60 eur, still cheap but I can't really take 3 full days off the week after the cruise since we will take 7 days before the cruise in Greece. 

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

7 hours ago, topnole said:

For 30 euros I’d probably try and if you miss it you aren’t out much.  I think our flight departed at 9:40 and we had plenty of time to spare.   I saw many do self check in with bags which seemed to move at a good pace.  I guess I’m a

bit of a gambler and we were certainly aware that things could go sideways on us.  We had a couple hiccups that morning and still has plenty of time to spare.   Our situation is as either go for the morning flight or wait for 3pm.  There were no in between direct flights so it was worth the gamble to us.  Had there been the same flight 2 hours later we would’ve done that one.  
 

Note: We were flying to another European city so no passport control for that flight.   If I was flying out of Europe I’d certainly give it much more time.  But I think you mentioned you will be flying within the EU.  

This is an option I am considering. Booking the cheap tickets just in case. The 60 eur possibly lost is nothing but I am afraid the stress might affect my last day on the cruise. The only risk is that it could be expensive to buy tickets for the following day with such short notice if we don't make the flight home on debarkation day..

But I think we will spend one night in Bercelona before flying home on Tuesday just to be on the safe side.