Madrid Metro Airport Supplement

Hi,

I’ll be in Madrid for 2 days in April.

I’ve watched a few YouTube videos about the ticket arrangements and I have a question which I can’t find an answer to.

When using the metro I understand the first thing to do is purchase a multi card from a machine, then add 10 ‘multibus’ journeys to it. I’m with it so far.
However, I believe there is a supplement to pay for trips to and from the airport on the metro. Where I start to get confused is how to add this airport supplement to the multi card.
Is it the case that once I’ve purchased the multi card with the 10 trips added, I remove the card then reinsert to add the airport supplements separately? For example I’ll need to go to and from the airport so I’ll need to add 2 airport supplements, is that right?

Thanks in advance

You want the 2 day tourist ticket, those are exempt from the card fee and airport supplement so work out as €0.40 cheaper for zone A.

cool110 said:

You want the 2 day tourist ticket, those are exempt from the card fee and airport supplement so work out as €0.40 cheaper for zone A.

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I was wondering about that.
I've used the Cercanias service from Chamartin to Barajas T4 (faster then the metro) and it was cheap (€2.60 in 2015).
But today's Cercanias map puts Barajas in zone B2, so to use this service you would need a "Zone T" tourist card at double the Zone A price.
Zone T then gives you a wide validity extending well outside Madrid (eg to El Escorial).

It's also worth remembering that T1 (the old terminal used by LCCs) and T4 (new terminal, full service airlines) at Barajas are physically a long way apart.
The free shuttle bus between them takes ages, involving the use of local motorways.

Thanks.
There’ll be 2 of us travelling, I believe we can buy one multi card and share it, and can add 10 trips which will be enough (we should need 4 trips each). That’s €6.10 for the 10 trips plus €2.50 for the card itself, then 4 x €3 airport supplements. Total that would be €20.60 which is cheaper than us each buying a 2 day tourist card at €17 each.
Would you agree with my logic here?

Back to my original question - is it the case that I add the airport supplements to my metro card in a machine? If so can I add all 4 at once?

You can add the 10-trip Metrobús carnet and a pair of airport supplements in the same transaction when buying the card itself—no need for separate transactions.

Bear in mind that the airport supplement is only valid on the day of purchase, so you’ll need to buy/load another pair on your second day before travelling back to the airport.

Also bear in mind that the Metrobús ticket doesn’t cover the Cercanías, as LNW-GW says. This caught me out the other week when I couldn’t initially work out why the Cercanías gates wouldn’t accept my Multi card, having assumed the fares were interoperable, so you’ll be limited to the Metro from Barajás instead. Depending on where you’re heading to in Madrid it’ll probably involve a[n extra] change and another few minutes’ travel time, but it’s no biggie.

We visit Madrid two or three times a year. Generally fly into T1 on Ryanair and take the free airport bus to T4 for the Cercanias, which is cheaper, no supplement and can be more convenient for central Madrid. The buses are every few minutes and the transfer time is less than 10 minutes or so. Using the metro to the airport oftentimes needs three separate legs to get there. The metrocard is valid for 10 years although I would hope they move to tap and go before then!

The Snap said:

Thanks.
There’ll be 2 of us travelling, I believe we can buy one multi card and share it, and can add 10 trips which will be enough (we should need 4 trips each). That’s €6.10 for the 10 trips plus €2.50 for the card itself, then 4 x €3 airport supplements. Total that would be €20.60 which is cheaper than us each buying a 2 day tourist card at €17 each.
Would you agree with my logic here?

Back to my original question - is it the case that I add the airport supplements to my metro card in a machine? If so can I add all 4 at once?

Click to expand...

You can share it, but you need to validate it twice when entering the station. We got caught out by this a few years back when at the airport.

realaledrinker said:

We visit Madrid two or three times a year. Generally fly into T1 on Ryanair and take the free airport bus to T4 for the Cercanias, which is cheaper, no supplement and can be more convenient for central Madrid. The buses are every few minutes and the transfer time is less than 10 minutes or so. Using the metro to the airport oftentimes needs three separate legs to get there. The metrocard is valid for 10 years although I would hope they move to tap and go before then!

Click to expand...

If you're going to Atocha the yellow bus from T1 is much easier than two changes on the Metro or going via T4. At 5€ last time I was there in 2022, it was the same as the Metro fare with airport supplement.