Transferring through Atlanta

[Big Mack]

Hi Guys

had a bit of a panic this week when i found out that Delta had cancelled there service from Edinburgh to Orlando via JFK which i had eight people booked on for our trip this Christmas.

After sometime on the phone we are now going Glasgow-Amsterdam-Atlanta-Orlando.

Question is, how easy is it to transfer through Schipol and Atlanta, i have never been at any of these airports before and have a party of eight to look after ranging from my 11 year old daughter to my 74 year old FIL.

We have 90 minutes between each connecting flight. Any advice or experiences from members who have travelled this way would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Mack.

[Katys Grandad]

Both are pretty straightforward and you'll have absolutely no problems at Schipol with a 90 minute connection.

While I don't want to put you off, I'd say that 90 minute connection in Atlanta including immigration and customs for a a party of 8 is a bit tight. OK if you have no delays, but not much margin for error there. If you can get a later final leg, I'd go for it.

[Karen]

I would also say that 90 minutes at Atlanta is not enough. We had 1.30 minuets connection time and due to the length of the queue going through customs missed our flight and due to bad weather it was another 4 hours until we managed to get on another flight. If there is a 2.30 connection I would go for that.

[Snapper]

Hi Mack,

If Delta have given you that routing they themselves must be happy with the connection times. Atlanta is Delta's main hub so they should, you'd hope at least, know what's what.

That's not to say that Karen and Grandad (above) are wrong. Atlanta is a huge airport. Really huge! If heaps of flights all arrive at the same time their queues at immigration may take some time. If you then have to re-clear security (I'm not sure if you will or not at Atlanta) and there are long queues it could get really tight.

There isn't much you can do about immigration, and I think you will have to collect your baggage at Atlanta, clear customs, and then deposit it back with the airport straight after customs, so there isn't much you can do for time there.

If your flight looks like it is going to be in late, you can ask your cabin crew if they can expedite you off the aircraft so that you are at the front of the immigration queue.

If you do have to clear security again, tell one of the airline / security people who patrol the queues and they might well take you through as a priority. If you can find a Delta agent they certainly will help.

Atlanta has a train that runs between the different terminals. If you are short of time don't be tempted to try to walk instead - it's miles!!

You should be fine - so don't worry about it (if anything does go wrong it's Delta's problem, not yours) and have a great trip.

[wilfy]

We've gone through Atlanta in less than 90 minutes more often than not, but it cannot be gaurenteed of course. Peak times like Easter + Christmas then probably not.

You may be able to help yourselves, and get seats as far to the front as you can, so that you are first off the plane.

Also, Delta have between 5 and 7 flights a day from Atlanta to Orlando.

[Big Mack]

Thanks for the help guys. I will keep my fingers crossed that all goes to schedule [msnsmile2]

Mack

[ellie]

I am not sure that the airlines really care whether you have enough time or not – or actually know if there is time to make a connection. [msneek]

We flew via Washington a couple of years ago and were given a time of one and a half hours to catch our connecting flight on the way back. Now you would say that is fine, what's the problem? You don't have to collect your luggage on the way back so it should be plenty of time. Wrong. We did not realise until later that we had to change AIRPORTS! Yes, we were arriving at one Washington airport and had to pick up our transatlantic flight from the other one - and this on New Year's Eve! It was obvious that we would not be able to pick up our luggage, get a taxi, go through central Washington at peak time, and then get through security.

United would do absolutely nothing and neither would the agent we booked flights through. They said 'If United think you have enough time then we can't do anything about it!' But it didn't take an expert to work out the logistics of such a journey, and that it definitely would NOT work.
Thankfully a ticket agent in Washington airport on the way over (when we had to get another flight as we had missed our connection!) saw the madness of this situation and changed our flight from Orlando so that both arrived at the same airport.

So I would take the advice given on here and if you can, try to give yourself plenty of time. Atlanta is a huge airport - the train takes several minutes to get you from one side of the airport to the other, and we nearly lost our connection recently when we flew into this airport. We were an exceedingly long time getting through Immigration, over an hour, and then had to collect our luggage and go through security and then catch the train. We had an hour and a half but we realised we were never going to catch the flight. I have to say that nobody in Immigration was the least bit helpful. We did mention to one of the officials that we had a short time to catch our connection and he said so has everyone, get back in line! They certainly were not willing to give anyone priority - and we did ask several people. Neither was there any sign of any Delta staff anywhere between the aircraft and the next gate. You definitely DO have to go through security, too.

It wasn't until we were about to get on the train that I asked an airport worker how to get to the right gate and she was brilliant. She rushed us on the train, jumped on with us and then used her phone to try to call the gate to say we were coming - by this time we had 10 mins before the flight left. She then got off the train with us and ran to the gate to tell them we were there, and it was a very long way - thankfully the flight was delayed so we caught it, but she was fantastic.

I hope you do catch your flights. If you are not too late there are several flights to Orlando, so if you miss your connection they will try to put you on the next one.

My suggestion, if you have a lady of 78 (depending on how agile she is!), is maybe to talk to the special assistance department at Delta and I am sure they would give you help at the airport as long as they know in advance.

[Mr G]

Ours friends managed Atlanta transfer in less than 90 minutes and it is their first time to the USA.

They are a party of four adults and four young children so a challenge to say the least, but all managed ok.

[Sniff]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ellie
I am not sure that the airlines really care whether you have enough time or not – or actually know if there is time to make a connection. [msneek]
[/quote]
I think you're abolutely right Ellie. In my experience most airlines systems still allow a minimum connect time of 1 hour when calculating routings. That was probably OK a few years back, but since 9/11 and increased security checks and immigration checks, it is probably not enough anymore, especially when transitting a large, busy airport. I am not aware though, that many airlines have increased their MCTs to compensate.

In my experience most airlines will usually wash their hands of the issue as long as their aircraft landed on time. They take the view that if they got you to Atlanta for 13:00 for example, it's not their fault if it took you 2 hours to get through immigration/customs and so you missed your 14:30 connection.

[Susan J]

Just flown via Atlanta -
On way home we had a 90 minute transfer............we arrived, went through customs and security and had50 minutes in the First class lounge- a very relaxing transfer, and no probs- same on way out.