Inexperienced traveller at Madrid

Hi Elaine,

Madrid is a large international airport with plenty of places for your daughter to shop or get something to eat or drink so she has plenty to keep her occupied. Probably the best bet for her stopover and to make sure she doesn't miss her flight is if you arrange for her to rest in one of the airport lounges which are fully staffed so she will be quite safe. If she is flying in from Washington she will be in Terminal 4 and Iberia have 3 VIP lounges there. You can find out more on their website at http://www.iberia.com/OneToOne/v3/program.do?prgOid=536884522&tabId=3&menuId=
03010400000000&language=en&country=ES&market=ES&IS_ANONYMOUS=true and by clicking the link to VIP lounges.

Hope you feel a little less concerned now.


Linda

Dear Gary:
My 28-year old daughter (a very "young" 28!) will be travelling to
Cairo, Egypt from Washington Dulles, through Madrid, and back again
in March.
She has never traveled anywhere by herself before, and I am growing
increasingly panicky at the thought of this trip (visiting a friend
in Cairo). On the flight out, she has a 6hr45min layover in
Madrid; coming home, the layover is 13 hours (she arrives at 3:40AM
and leaves at 4:40PM) - my fear is that she will fall asleep in the
airport and either a: miss her flight home, and/or b: get robbed if
she falls asleep. Is there a safe place for her to nap in the
airport (she doesn't want to leave the airport)? Do you have any
sage advice that will help her to stay safe on this adventure? She
is traveling on Iberia Airlines, and they have informed me that she
is too old for their escort service (cutoff is 17 yrs. old).
Thank you so much -
Elaine