Waiting for Family at Madrid's Barajas Airport Terminal 1

[Yodapsy]

In almost exactly a month, my wife will be flying from Beijing to Madrid and arriving at about 6:35 in the morning. The same morning my kids and I will be flying from the U.S. and arrive at 10:05 am. Her flight and our flight will arrive at Terminal 1. My wife will probably have to wait 3.5 hours before we emerge from Immigration and Customs. This is my wife's first trip to Europe and she speaks decent English and very beginner Spanish (Level 1 Rosetta Stone). Is there a safe place for her to wait for us in Terminal 1? If our flight is on schedule, I want her to purchase train tickets for the Madrid-Atocha to Pamplona train that leaves at 15:05 (probably too tight to make the 11:35 train, right?) Is there a RENFE taicket office in T1? Rob

 

[whariwharangi]

I spent a large part of a day at T1 several years ago waiting to catch a late night flight ... the airline baggage check didn't open till close to departure time ... never again. Almost all of the services are on the airplane side of customs.

T1 is not a particularly comfortable place to wait but it is safe.

There are online maps for Barajas airport ... find a cafeteria as an agreed on meeting point.

The Metro is at the far end of the terminal building ... past T2 and T3. It runs every 5 minutes.

Customs, baggage, and the vagaries of airline schedules ... plus the hour to take the metro and get oriented at Puerto Atocha ... no you wont make the 1135.

No there is not a place to buy Renfe tickets at T1. There is no problem to purchase tickets at Puerto Atocha.

My experience is there is no point in making a tight schedule. Delays often occur and cause nothing but stress.

 

[Sojourner47]

The metro is quite a long walk from T1 arrivals - a good 15 minutes I would say....