Madrid Barajas Airport

Connecting through MAD is an infuriating process where 90 minutes doesn't leave you enough time to make your flight. Terminals 4 and 4S might as well be an ocean apart. Leaving from Mallorca to Chicago (via MAD) we still had to go through passport control. We were offered no Express Connection (let's you skip the passport line) for this. Why are people subjected to all of this seemingly unnecessary security? There are many escalators, an extremely crowded and infrequent train, -duty free shops to traverse, and long terminals. Signage is very confusing. Terminal RSU? Turns out that the terminal has lettered gates - and then each of those have numbers. Seating is almost nonexistent, and I think I realized that the reason for this is because so many people are running through the terminal to make their connecting flights that there's no time for sitting down. Terminals 4 and 4S are massive structures, yet you'll only find sparse, low-quality options to grab a quick bite. It's so weird because despite the terminal being gigantic, most of the space along the center seems dedicated for facilities (bathrooms, utility, etc) which leave little room for the part of the airport where passengers spend time. It amazes me that Iberia and its partners like American allow connecting flights through MAD with under 90 minutes. It is totally unacceptable.

This is the most disorganised airport I have been to. Took nearly 1.45 hrs to do a transit / connection. Once I arrived I had to go passaport control and bag check twice. Yes inside the same airport - twice. The queues were extremely long and the staff were very rude. I'm extremely disappointed and I will never fly again to Madrid or even use Iberia.

The airport is really big and well-organised. I visited terminal T4 and T4s. Terminal T4s (long-haul flights only) is one of the best, really clean ,you can find food in good prices and not very crowded. On the other hand terminal T4 (short and medium haul flights) is a bit overcrowded, with not so clean toilets and you cannot find many choices in order to eat and the prices are a bit higher.

Madrid is one of the nicest airports I have flown through in Europe. The place is clean, easy to navigate and there is enough to do during several hours in transit. WiFi is available and there are plenty of shops and food choices.

Madrid airport is not well structured. The airport terminals are located so close together, the lines to different destinations often overlap, causing chaos when trying to board. Some of the staff are not particularly helpful, and convey very vague instructions. They had a process of boarding seats from 1-10 and 50+, which slowed down the boarding process considerably. The overall airport is relatively nice, there is a wide variety of shops. However the cleanliness of the bathrooms and some restaurants is not up to the standard of most airports. They claim to have free wifi at the airport, however it is only free for 30 minutes. After that you can no longer access wifi unless you pay. This is extremely inconvenient given it is now 2015, and free wifi is accessible at the majority of shops, stores and airports.

A very easy airport to navigate staff helpful signage good and security efficient and pleasant. You do a good bit of walking to get to your gate area but there is seating available throughout. I don't appreciate the lack of refreshment facilities early in the morning the only food outlet open offered some very unsavoury looking offerings indeed. The only other place to get a coffee was Starbucks. It seemed to me that the catering offerings had deteriorated dramatically since my last visit.

The designers of terminal 4/4S should be condemed to fly in and out of Terminal 4S twice a day for five years! Marathon journey from check-in in T4 to gate in T4S via numerous escalators and a rubbish train. Gate numbering on boarding card very confusing. S gates split across two wings of terminal 4S - so when you finally get to point where wings go off one is forced to wait in a crowded area till gate number comes up then another long hike to gate. Crazy system for paying for trolley. Wheelchair access (if needed) to and from flights a nightmare journey. Sometime long delays for luggage to arrive and confusing displays on luggage belts.

We used T4 both for arrival and departure. T4 and T4S (its satellite terminal) are very large in size comfortable walking shoes are a must here because you will walk a long way in a long time. Goodness knows how much it all cost. Signage is confusing but once you realise that the downward pointing arrows seen mean walk straight ahead it becomes slightly easier to navigate. There is not much in the way of restaurants either landside or airside. The Iberia lounge is located in the middle of the Duty Free area off to the left hand side and is very nicely appointed.

Very modern and spacious facilities. Not impressed with lack of open eating establishments early in the morning. No problems with signage or directions. Biggest gripe is no gate assignment until about one hour prior to flight time so you are left second guessing until it's time to board the aircraft. I've never experienced this with any other airport except Madrid even when you are issued your boarding pass no gate assignment you must check the monitors until you see the actual gate assignment very inconvenient if you are on the other side of the building from your gate.

Madrid Barajas is a complicated airport. For a start it would be more adequate to describe it as a tale of two airports. Terminals 1-2-3 are within walking distance to one another. Terminal 1 is mostly used by low cost airlines and has the ambience and charm of a bus station. It is also used by non-Schengen flights except those operated by Iberia and other Oneworld airlines. The non-Schengen section of the Terminal 1 is a bit quieter and modern. There is only one overpriced eaterie queues for check in and security are long but overall it does its job. Terminal 2 is pretty similar but is used by Lufthansa Swiss and Star Alliance airlines. Occasionally however I have caught the odd Easyjet/Ryanair flight from there. Terminal 3 is more modern and airy definitely the best of the bunch with Skyteam airlines mostly using it. Terminal 4 is located about 4 kms from the main three terminals and it is connected by a frequent and free shuttle bus (I don't understand some passengers' complaints about connection from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4). It is used by Iberia and Oneworld airlines as well as those airlines that have a code-share agreement with Iberia. It is architecturally impressive and compared to the other terminals feels relatively uncrowded however there are three things that really bother me about it 1) long walks from one gate to another 2) the fact that now you find it impossible to transit from one area to another without having to pass through some Duty Free and 3) any eating place is almost twice as expensive than in the city. Despite its shortcomings one thing that sets Barajas apart from other airports in Europe and the US is the public transport which is excellent from all Terminals. I live in Madrid and moan about Barajas but when I travel via CDG or FRA (not to mention US airports) then I realise that it's not bad after all.