Madrid Barajas Airport

T4 for a BA departure to LHR. Never in my life have I experienced such a dogs breakfast of an airport terminal!. I felt completely lost and totally disorientated. Despite its massive size trying to find an airport employee to assist with navigation was impossible. Signage confusing. Catering facilities the most inappropriate that I've ever seen. God help you if they change your departure gate at the last minute.

We arrived at 6.30 am 3 hours before flight time so queue was short. Low rating is because of inconvenient boarding area with lack of places to eat nearby. The walk toward the A gates and blocked until 8 pm. No stores nearby only food in money machines. Though there were only about 15 passengers waiting to get down to Gate A4 the personnel admitted the 1st class passengers to go on to the passenger lounge several minutes before those in economy. We had a 1 hour wait before boarding but there was no food for sale near the gates. The rows of passenger seats in the lounge are arranged in rows school auditorium style 40 or 50 feet from the counter on either side. Uncomfortable seats no tables and inconvenient for noting signage above counter.

Arrival and departure into Terminal 4S with British Airways. Arrival efficient - no queues at automated passport control. The waiting time for baggage was similar to other airports of this type. Taxis into the centre of Madrid now operate a flat fee system of €30. At least you know what you are going to pay in advance. The journey was quick as traffic was light on Saturday evening. Departure - This time I took the Metro at €5. Once at the airport the directional arrows take a little bit of getting used to at first. Check in at BA counter quick with no queues. The fast track security also had no queues. Just missed one of the satellite shuttles but the next one came within 3 minutes. I cannot comment on the eating and drinking facilities as I didn't use any. The passage to the gates was through the duty free section - an unavoidable nuisance at a lot of airports now it seems. On time departure and no queuing on the taxiway. Overall an excellent experience.

I have been to Madrid-Barajas countless time in my life and it deeply hurts me to say that this once great airport is going down the tubes at an ever-accelerating rate. Back in the mid-2000s (when Spain was a booming economy) Barajas was obviously growing at a staggering rate yet it's three well laid-out terminals were very convenient the staff was friendly it was clean security was a breeze and the airport in general had this unmistakable Spanish charm somehow present throughout it. Then one fateful day T4 opened and for me this marked the beginning of the downfall of Barajas. Since the opening of the nonetheless good-looking terminal Madrid's airport has become nothing more than your typical big airport with astonishingly rude staff members (except those at the check-in desks) dirty facilities (T2 is the only terminal that is somehow clean) laughable shopping experience strict security lines increasingly confusing signalling. But one thing in particular makes Barajas actually a desperate case: the fact that it is increasingly resembling London-Heathrow in every single way possible. Maybe its because Iberia is now BA's pet but everything from the shopping experience to the staff members to even the general atmosphere has become a carbon copy of Heathrow. Such a shame. I hope the management of Barajas takes action as soon as possible.

I use Barajas a lot. Your experience of the airport really depends on which terminal you use. Lately I have used Terminal 2 which I think is the best of all of them. Lots of choices of places to eat good views of planes etc and normally very clean. I can speak Spanish so no language issues. Very easy access to Metro also.

The only way to navigate your way off a flight is to follow the person ahead of you. Everything converges in Duty Free - boarding and landing - somehow you do what you do at Ikea and follow the white line on the ground! Why on earth go up and then down and then up and down - like a helter skelter! When you go through departure security - you have to take a basket and fill it - take off all jewellery. I was allowed to leave on my wedding ring! You roll your stuff forward as if going through the machine but you reach a glass window and then have to take stuff off the belt and carry it round and put it back. Architecture is not logistics! When you are at an airport what's important is the ease of flow not the flow of the eaves!

My only experience of this airport is T4S and I'm so pleased I'm not alone with my poor experience maybe they'll take note and improve with the numerous complaints and all basically the same. Due to very poor gate information I missed my flight as the monitor changed the departure gate. They do not make public announcements for flight departures or last minute gate changes and finding anyone to help is ridiculous in this labyrinth of a building. I was forced to return to ticket sales which means back tracking all the way back and exiting the airport building and returning. From T4S this is no joke. The return trip to purchase a new ticket was around 50 minutes of vigorous walking with gritted teeth. Yes of course it was my fault for missing my flight nobody else would take the blame for their useless airport terminal! Maybe I've just become complacent as I've been a frequent flyer for 34 years and have enjoyed far better service. In case you are wondering no I have never missed a flight before. Traveller beware.

Arrival at T4 terminal (gates HJK) with just cabin baggage was a painless experience and we get out of the airport and in to the subway in minus twenty minutes. We verified that a half the terminal was closed by panels because of some kind of renovation but that was not a issue to us. Unfortunately a few days later we have to depart from this airport and that was another story. Be warned that Barajas security has a foot fetish so better be wearing some warm socks because you will have to work barefoot in addition to all the other security rules and the pleasure of standing in line with trays in your hands. Beware that just because your home printed boarding pass says gates HJK in terminal 4 that don´t means that you and a lot of other people after a 10 minutes commute in a APV (automated people mover) will not find ourselves in gate M-terminal 4S where the only people amenities are a small duty-free and some vending machines. Be warned that if you need to retrace your steps to terminal 4 you will have to pass a security checkpoint and repeat all the procedures again.

The building (T4) is impressive with all the facilities you could possibly need just avoid the staff. They all seem to find it too much trouble to help passengers with anything (even the ones manning the help desks). A shame really as it ruins the overall experience (as did the hunt for a functioning toilet!).

The others reviews are spot on but the key highlights include: 1) If you arrive at terminal 4 it takes about 45 mins to get to the baggage reclaim area. This includes trips up and down about 20 escalators for no good reason. It also includes a trip on an underground railway between immigration and baggage claim this is very disconcerting as the signage is not clear enough to explain that you will still get to your bags. After the train ride you still have to wait another 20 mins for your bags. 2) The signage is comedy - a down arrow actually means carry on rather than go down. This includes signs in front of the lifts - a down arrow means you actually need to go up! The gates are also lettered S R J and H. 3) The gate numbers are in the opposite order to what you expect with the lowest number gates often being the furthest away from you. 4) The airport is huge and you need to set off about 4 hours before boarding to allow for getting lost and working out what the signs mean! 5) All staff work at about the same speed as tectonic plate movements. Fast food is not fast food in Spain. 6) Check in was a joke. You can't use your online boarding pass without getting a ticket for your luggage from one of the automated tills but of course that wont read your passport so you have to go to a totally different set of desks instead! 7) The lady checking boarding passes was having a competition with herself to see how long she could take to check each document. Avoid the airport at all costs if you value your sanity.