Vueling Barcelona to Seville Spain
 

I have never flown Vueling before and was wondering a little about them. We are planning to fly Barcelona to Seville Spain one way with Luggage and trying to see which would be the best fare to book. Our flights would be in May and I was wondering if joining the Vueling club would help lower the fare which right now is about $76 USD PP one way. Since I know nothing about this airline, how reliable are they for being on time? What types of aircraft do they fly within spain? I Appreciate the assistance.

If you search the forum you'll find a bunch of threads regarding VY, mostly of people who didn't read the T&Cs.

BCN Is their hub so any irrops should be dealt with reasonably well, but they are a European LCC so read carefully their baggage conditions before showing up at check-in.

In the air they are ok, they fly A3XX aircrafts with a relatively dense configuration, and everything is BoB.

You could try to compare with a train journey and decide what's best for you.

Vueling is like any other European low cost carrier. You won't receive any Oneworld miles or status benefits. Vueling Club will only get you a handful of Avios.

Generally new planes in a dense configuration. Charging for everything from seat assignments to luggage. Charging even more if you arrive to the airport without having done your homework. Not a great reputation for on-time arrival and can really go bad during peak travel periods. If checking luggage at BCN you need to arrive very early for your flight.

You're not really spoiled for choice on domestic Spanish routes that avoid Madrid. The train, Vueling or Ryanair. Each has substantial disadvantages...

Instead of trying to "lower the fare", you should be conscious of buying everything you will need during the booking process and not getting drawn in by cheap headline prices.

Looked but can't find Vueling T&C regarding Baggage
 

[QUOTE=malmostoso;30616460]If you search the forum you'll find a bunch of threads regarding VY, mostly of people who didn't read the T&Cs.

BCN Is their hub so any irrops should be dealt with reasonably well, but they are a European LCC so read carefully their baggage conditions before showing up at check-in.

I have looked but obviously not in the correct places for the T&C for Vueling Airlines so i searched google and found the size/weight restrictions. I would like to read on FT about others issues with Vueling regarding baggage restrictions but I cant seem to find any and would appreciate your pointing me to the correct place on FT for comments about them please. i have flown Air Norwegian and ran into similar restrictions if that is what you are meaning but if Vueling has something more restrictive, I would like to read about what others have run into.

I considered the AVE but we are time restricted and on a limited travel schedule so flying looks to be the best option. Is there a better option Barcelona to Seville than flying Vueling? Looks to me like Ryan Air and Iberia express are the only two other options and I have not flown either of them as well. I realize we will have to pay for a seat assignment and any food but I am not concerned about those extra fees.

Your typical US roll-aboard won't be allowed on Vueling or any other European low cost carrier. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you end up paying a fortune to gate-check your roll-aboard. The rules are clear, but nobody can really say whether they will be enforced on your specific flight.

I tend to prefer Ryanair ex-BCN (when there is no major alliance option) because T2 is more convenient for the train from the city and there are far fewer flights (so fewer check-in queues). And with Ryanair once you've paid for priority boarding it is actually enforced and you can rely on overhead bin space for your appropriately-sized bag.

Iberia Express involves a connection in MAD so you'd be better off on the train most likely, unless you have Oneworld status.

I'm looking at EAS-PMI via BCN for $112 each one way on an IB code share operated by Vueling, (4 hrs 10 minutes with an 2 hr 10 minute connection in BCN) vs. $207 each one way on Iberia (operated by Air Nostrom from EAS-MAD and Iberia Express MAD-PMI) (4 hrs 45 minutes with a 2hr 5 minute connection in MAD).

Both tickets include one carry-on and one checked bag. I was all set to go Vueling based on the shorter flight time but now that I read the Avoid Vueling thread, I'm having second thoughts.

Is booking the Vueling flight under the IB code share more of a probem in case of IRROPS? Or will I have more options (i.e., going through Madrid) in case of IRROPS if booked through Iberia. The IB codeshare is cheaper for the Optima ticket, but not the basic ticket (not offered on IB website). Given I want seat assignment, I don't think the Basic Vueling is an option.

Any other comments?

I would only fly Vueling direct. Connecting in BCN is probably as easy as connecting in MAD but 2 hours is a long time without lounge access (no Oneworld status is valid on Vueling), and it's far more likely that Vueling goes horribly wrong than IB and I shudder to think about how jammed Vueling desks at BCN would become if there are system-wide issues.

As for codeshares, under IRROPs it will be Vueling's responsibility to take care of you, no matter who issued your ticket. However if something happens in advance (schedule change, etc.), you might have better luck dealing with IB instead of Vueling directly.

I also tend to book my Vueling flights as IB codeshares whenever the pricing is neutral. You will be able to select a seat in the front half of the plane as an IB codeshare, but not row 1 or exit row IIRC - you would need to book via Vueling and pay extra for those seats.

There are a number of nonstops to PMI from BIO, if you want a nonstop from a nearby city. VY tends to be reliable. Like any LCC, when things go wrong, they go wrong, but that happens in <3% of cases.

Thanks Palal and Craigthemif!

I'll be flying on Vueling O/W Malaga, Spain => BCN (95 minute flight). It's an IB codeshare, so I have the option of booking on IB Economy for $91, or booking on vueling.com for $41 in Basic, $70 in "Optima" or $76 in "TimeFlex". As far as I can tell the differences between the Vueling fares are that Optima gets you one free checked bag and free seat selection, and TimeFlex gets you free schedule changes (just pay the difference in fare) plus priority boarding. I'll be checking a bag so I'm not flying Basic. I think I care just enough about free changes to pay the $6 extra. Am I missing anything? Is there any reason at all to consider paying extra to book on IB?

Flying on vueling I can choose to earn Avios on their own program (which I'd have to sign up for and then transfer the Avios to IB/BA) or on IB. I don't care about tier points. Would I earn more Vueling Avios than Iberia+ Avios or exactly the same? I realize it's going to be a tiny amount, but might as well get it right.

IIRC Vueling Club pay out based on spend - i.e. 3 or 4 Avios per euro. Whilst IB+ codeshares still pay out based on % of distance flown.