The Aeropuerto bus is part of the Madrid city bus fleet--except it's canary yellow instead of blue like the rest of the buses. It's a great idea and very reasonable at 5 Euros one way.
Why the low rating? The drivers. They must be under the gun to be on schedule or else! I went to the stop near my hotel. A city bus pulled in to where buses are supposed to pull in to discharge and take on passengers. An aeropuerto bus pulled in behind it--out of the bus stop area. I strained to see if the front door was open. It didn't look like it. But it went sailing by without stopping after the city bus cleared the area. I set courtesy aside and pushed my bags to the curb so that they could be seen.
In 16 minutes, the next aeropuerto bus arrived. I got my carry-on and briefcase aboard and the driver slammed the door shut and started off. I had to pound on the door and yell to get him to stop for my large suitcase. At the airport, I asked which terminal served my airline. The driver jerked his thumb toward a neatly typed list of airlines and terminals. I followed the info posted and found it out of date. I had to push a luggage cart a half mile to the next terminal to check in! The metro has announcements about the next station. Why can't the Aeropuerto bus do a little better? (The airport at Barajas does well at keeping the info a secret as well--no signs outside to help with picking a terminal!) read more