Washington (Dulles) airport? Or tips on flying alone?

[alittlemind]

In just three weeks I am going to visit my boyfriend for a few days! I am very excited, but this is the first time I will be flying alone.
I'm 16 years old, it can be a little stressful. On the way there I'll most likely be fine, since I'm going through Chicago (O'Hare) airport (which I've done twice already) with a 2+ hour layover. My concern is on the way back, the best option I could find sends me through Washington (Dulles) airport. I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced this airport and tell me a little bit about it so I'm not completely freaked out when I get there. I have about an hour layover, should I be able to find my way in that time?

Also just some tips on flying alone would be really helpful?

Thanks so much

[kittyo9]

I flew out and into that airport when I went to Greece. I had no problems making my flight home (within the US) after returning through it, and the airport isn't bad to navigate. There are lots of typically American restaurants. The one thing I did have a little trouble with was checking into my flight-- the automated kiosk they had wouldn't read my passport and so I had to do this complicated check-in process since it was a group flight. You should be fine, though-- you should already be checked in, and you can ask anybody who works there if you need help. Obviously everybody speaks English, so no language barriers. :P A bunch of other people from the group I went with were also flying home to their respective parts of the US on the way back, but because we arrived very late on one of the busiest days of the week (Friday), a lot of people had their flights delayed or cancelled. Since you're flying internationally, though, I don't think you should have as much of an issue. Just remember to check the monitors that display flight information every once in a while for updates.

As for flying alone... if you like flying, you'll enjoy it. You don't have to wait for anybody to catch up to you in the airport. :P Most people are helpful when you ask them questions. If you aren't sure about your connection, you can always ask the flight attendants as you're getting off the plane, or just get inside and check the monitors. I was really nervous about flying alone for the first time, but it ended up going really smoothly, and now I'm totally ready to hop back on another plane.

[Tooki]

You should be able to navigate the airports. I've flown through Asian/Arab/European airports and everything sign is also listed in English. (You are in the US, so you won't have any problem with that either).

Everything is pretty clear and simple to navigate. As kittyo9 said, just ask a worker at the airport if you have any problems. They will know it like the back of their hand.

(Flying alone is really fun in my opinion. You don't have to wait for anybody!)