ticu

My international flight to Toronto is scheduled to depart at 8:50 am.
Arriving at arround 6:50 am at the airport (by 203 airport bus from Atocha station) would allow me enough time to get on board (pass security and arrive at gate in time, no bags to check , only carry-on)?
The bus starts running at 6:00 am.
If this is not giving me reasonable time, what other best options I have? Staying at Hotel Agumar close to the station.
Are Ubers reliable in Madrid and easily available?
Is taxi better than Uber?
I know they also have other rideshare options (Bolt etc) but I wouldn't mess around with those unless strictly necessary. I don't have the apps , I haven't used them before, so I would stick to Uber and/or Lyft that I am familiar with, even if the cost would be higher.
Thanks in advance.

csycsycsy

The bus is 24/7 but before 6am it starts at Cibeles which would have been the second stop after Atocha, it'll be a 15min walk up.

Taxi is 33E, cabify bolt at those early hours around 20ishE. Don't know Uber prices. Ride sharing is quasi regulated so the experience would be similar as taxi, I would say better.

The lounge if you have access will have the usual continental breakfast but also self pour booze if that recovers some extra value by taking a car/walking to Cibeles.

ticu

Thank you. But my question was also if arriving 2 hours before departure is enough time for clearing security and arriving at the gate in time for boarding.

csycsycsy

Btw you also need to go through passport control.
But yes, since you have no luggage to check and assuming OLCI (but docs check?) then it's enough time.
I'd pay for extra for the ride (20ishE - 5E for the bus) or walk up to Cibeles, and enjoy the lounge breakfast, assuming you have status/PP card etc.

Palal

Arriving 2h before is plenty of time. Check-in closes an hour before.

csycsycsy

Funny AC guidance
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...es.html#/home:
60min check in closes but 45min "Boarding gate deadline" which is "the latest you should be at the departure gate, ready for boarding", not really a "deadline" per se

ticu

Weird. I just checked in online and on the boarding pass they advise to be at the airport 4 hours before the flight is scheduled to depart. I'm not sure what to do.

csycsycsy

They don't change the recommended 4 hrs even though you've OLCI and doing HBO.
Nothing AC/MAD specific.

ticu

I got at the airport 3 hours and a 30 minutes before the flight. I was at the gate (B20) in 20 minutes.
Very few people in the airport, which was good I guess.
i took an Uber from hotel, 22 Euros, I tipped 3 Euros.
Now it's 5:55 am and still nothing open for a coffee or some breakfast.

tom tulpe

I hope you found somenthing in the end (in theory the main food court near area C should be open by 5:30, and most of the cafés would open around 6 am).
But it's not like we didn't tell you...

ticu

Yes after 6:00 they started to open. There's a coffee place right by gate B19. BTW for some reason I was charged an extra 20 cents for some sort of support event AREAS REDONDEO S0LIDARIO or something like thst. Not understanding well Spanish, the lady might have asked me if I want to contribute and I may have said yes, but I only saw the charge to my card after I got home. First, I thought my card has been compromised, but then I saw also on the receipt the 20 cents charge, so I hope all is ok. Still I don't understand how they took the money, I only tapped the card once for my coffee and croissant but my cards shows two charges. Anyway of course not a big deal, but if anyone else ran into something similar, please explain what you think/know that is.
The incoming flight was early so boarding started earlier for my flight and we arrived in Toronto about a half hour earlier.

csycsycsy

Areas is the catering company group, redondeo is rounding, so thank you for the rounding up donation to cancer research!
https://es.areas.com/es/noticias/are...t-joan-de-deu/

ticu

Thank you. You seem to know everything Madrid! 👍
Great city. I was visiting first time.