Atlanta. Domestic to International

Our Delta booking only gives a 44 minute connection time in Atlanta going from a domestic arrival to an international departure. Will we have to go through security?

The flight isn't until October so I'm looking into seeing if we can get an earlier domestic flight to give us more connection time. But so far, there'd be change fees plus substantial fare difference.

We are scheduled to arrive 4:42 pm from TX and depart 5:26pm to Barcelona.

Is this doable at all? I didn't think airlines could schedule a less than 45 minute connection.

You won't have to go through security again but I wouldn't do it. International flights often start boarding up to an hour before takeoff just to get the 3-400 folks on board. You could end up having to go from T or A gates all the way to E or F which could take a while factoring in getting off your flight, walking down to the train, taking it 5 or 6 stops, and walking to your gate in the other terminal.

Because your flight is not until October why not wait for the inevitable schedule change.

There is no way we can guess which concourse, or gate, you will arrive/depart from but I can recall we caught a Barcelona flight out of either T or A. Both of those concourses were originally built to accommodate the larger planes. Your concourse options would be T or A or E or F.

We fly through ATL for almost every flight and I do share your concern for a 44 minute connection time. Delta tweaks its schedules on the weekends and if projections have any merit, we just had a change for a July flight. If you have a change which takes you below the minimum 35 minute connection time or over 90 minutes, or a cancellation you can change your flight(s) without penalty.

We were in E last week about the same time you are departing and it was very crowded. The majority of international departures are evening flights.

If you are not familiar with Hartsfield Jackson google the airport layout before you travel. It's a simple layout with 7 parallel concourses connected by an underground train.

Good luck and hope for a time change.

As already mentioned, you will not have to re-clear security when you arrive at ATL on a domestic flight. All terminals are connected by the underground plane train, so you just get off the plane, walk to the center of whatever concourse you're in and take the escalator down to the train, ride to appropriate concourse and go back up the escalator.

It's only a minute or so between trains, less than a minute between stops, and probably no more than 30 seconds at each stop. Even if you arrive at T and depart from F, the entire train ride will be less than 15 minutes.

45 minutes doesn't give you much wiggle room, but if your flight arrives on time and you don't have any mobility issues, you can do it. However, personally I like to allow a bit more time when connecting to an international flight, simply because there are fewer options (usually) than there are for a domestic connection in the event that my inbound flight is late. The advice to wait and see if DL changes its schedule is wise; chances are they will, and you can then make a change without paying a change fee or difference in fare.

Thank you for all your answers. In April Delta only made schedule changes of less than ten minutes. We are senior citizens and my 85 year old husband has a bum knee so requires wheelchair assistance. Usually the wheelchair escort is on time at the plane but sometimes they are short-staffed. So that is another factor.

I think I'd better see about the possibility of an earlier domestic flight now while there still might be room, even if we have to pay a change fee. I think it's too iffy to hope for a schedule change that would benefit us.

Thank you each for your answers. At least I know we won't have to go through security. That's a relief.

Thank you for all your answers. In April Delta only made schedule changes of less than ten minutes. We are senior citizens and my 85 year old husband has a bum knee so requires wheelchair assistance. Usually the wheelchair escort is on time at the plane but sometimes they are short-staffed. So that is another factor.

 

I think I'd better see about the possibility of an earlier domestic flight now while there still might be room, even if we have to pay a change fee. I think it's too iffy to hope for a schedule change that would benefit us.

 

Thank you each for your answers. At least I know we won't have to go through security. That's a relief.

With your mobility limits, you absolutely need more time. You can not be certain of getting off your flight quickly, no guarantee the w/c will be waiting for you etc. Was it you who booked this flight or a TA for you? It might well be worth the change fees in your case.

As your team has some major mobility issues and requires assistance, I would not want to be in your shoes with that connection time. Even as an able-bodied person, old as I am, but able to quickly jog sometimes an airport, I would not be comfortable with only 44 posted minutes for a DOM-INT connection at ATL.

Would you share with us your itinerary? The type of plane you are on for the leg to ATL could be important; the larger the plane, the longer it takes to debark. Sometimes, at ATL, the flight lands "on time", but has to wait for a gate. That could chew up some of that 44 minutes. At your originating airport, the departure time is (I believe) when the jetway is taken away, not when it leaves the runway for the air - the flight may be delayed by taxiway congestion, another plane in the way in the terminal "alley" that has to move before your plane may actually physically leave the gate, etc. So, you may "depart on time", but still be on the ground for an extended time beyond what is built into the schedule. The MTC you have leaves no room for any little "gotchas", in my opinion.

With your mobility limits, you absolutely need more time. You can not be certain of getting off your flight quickly, no guarantee the w/c will be waiting for you etc. Was it you who booked this flight or a TA for you? It might well be worth the change fees in your case.

This was the return of a roundtrip ticket that I booked.

You're right that a change would be worth the fees. Luckily I was able to make a change with no fees.

As your team has some major mobility issues and requires assistance, I would not want to be in your shoes with that connection time. Even as an able-bodied person, old as I am, but able to quickly jog sometimes an airport, I would not be comfortable with only 44 posted minutes for a DOM-INT connection at ATL.

 

Would you share with us your itinerary? The type of plane you are on for the leg to ATL could be important; the larger the plane, the longer it takes to debark. Sometimes, at ATL, the flight lands "on time", but has to wait for a gate. That could chew up some of that 44 minutes. At your originating airport, the departure time is (I believe) when the jetway is taken away, not when it leaves the runway for the air - the flight may be delayed by taxiway congestion, another plane in the way in the terminal "alley" that has to move before your plane may actually physically leave the gate, etc. So, you may "depart on time", but still be on the ground for an extended time beyond what is built into the schedule. The MTC you have leaves no room for any little "gotchas", in my opinion.

You have named some of the same concerns I had, especially since hubby would have to be one of the last off the plane.

I got lucky though in getting a really helpful Delta clerk on the phone today and was able to make the domestic flight change with no fee change. :)

The drawback is that the only other morning flight that day gets us to ATL at 11:15am and boarding for our departure isn't until 4:45 so a long day in the airport, but much preferable to that worrisome short connection time.

Luckily I was able to make a change with no fees.

 

Great! The fact that your husband has mobility issues makes it a whole new ballgame, and a greater connection time is an absolute must.

I have a two hour 20 minute layover between my domestic flight and international flight to Barcelona on Delta. I plan to have a nice lunch in the Atlanta airport before boarding relaxed and ready for the long flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

One Flew South. Concourse E. Definitely should be on the radar of anyone who's spending several hours at ATL.

One Flew South. Concourse E. Definitely should be on the radar of anyone who's spending several hours at ATL.

I did eat there last time on advice from this board. It was great and the service outstanding.

I have a two hour 20 minute layover between my domestic flight and international flight to Barcelona on Delta. I plan to have a nice lunch in the Atlanta airport before boarding relaxed and ready for the long flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

We're hoping that is a possibility. In some airports the wheelchair escort wheels hubby to the pre-boarding area at the gate, leaving him in wheelchair. Not conducive to going elsewhere.

A heads up for all One Flew South fans. They "released" their chef earlier this month. We are truly depressed, especially if they take the duck confit off the menu. They subbed an Angus burger for the Kobe burger late last year so we ate elsewhere last week.

Will report back after our next ATL stop over.

A heads up for all One Flew South fans. They "released" their chef earlier this month. We are truly depressed, especially if they take the duck confit off the menu. They subbed an Angus burger for the Kobe burger late last year so we ate elsewhere last week.

Will report back after our next ATL stop over.

Thanks for the heads up! Hopefully any more changes will only be for the better. It would be a shame to see this wonderful option become just another ho-hum airport restaurant.

One Flew South. Concourse E. Definitely should be on the radar of anyone who's spending several hours at ATL.

Finally got a chance to try it a couple of weeks ago and it was good...for airport food :)

As we have some ATL experts here, may I please ask some questions about a possible similar connection.

I would be flying FLL-ATL on DL, and then on to LHR with BA; two separate tickets. There would be over 7 hours between flights at ATL, so that isn't a concern.

I'm assuming that DL's current baggage through-check policy will apply to me, ie no through-check so I will have to collect at ATL.

Am I right in thinking that what I basically need to do is this?

• Go from the concourse to the domestic terminal
• Collect my bag there
• Go to the Ground Transportation Center
• Take the free airport shuttle to the international terminal
• Check-in with BA there

Am I also right in thinking that once I've done that and cleared security in the international terminal, I can then easily go over to Concourse E for dinner and get back to Concourse F using the inter-terminal train?

Now the small complication is the possibility that I might meet up landside with some family between flights. Does anyone have any recommendations for somewhere landside that is OK to sit down for coffee and nibbles? It will be mid-afternoon, so I'm not really looking for a full meal. Is the international terminal better than the domestic terminal? With a bag in tow, I'm not keen on traipsing over to the Marriott unless there really isn't anywhere sensible in the terminals. But the website isn't encouraging (or even particularly informative so far as the international terminal is concerned).

And finally, I see that One Flew South doesn't take reservations. Do the queues get lengthy, or do I not need to worry about factoring this in?

TIA!

I transit ATL all the time but have never done a domestic-Internat'l on separate tickets there. What you've described sounds correct though, as far as getting bags at T (Domestic), checking in again, getting to F etc.

I can tell you definitively though that YES- once you have gone through security at F (international terminal) you CAN use the plane train (or walk) to go to any of the concourses. As far as One Flew South it just depends. I've never seen a long line per se, but I've seen it so crowded we couldn't get a table. I think when it's that busy people just tend to go somewhere else rather than wait in line. But there have been far more times that we have been able to be seated right away. If I had 7 hours that's where I'd be headed for sure.

One note: I don't know whether BA has a restriction on how early you can check your bags. If you get through T and get to F quickly, I suppose you could be told you have to wait a bit before you can check your bags but I'm really not sure.

Thanks, waterbug123! That's a great help.

Indeed, BA check-in won't open until about 3 hours after arriving in ATL (ie about 4 hours before the flight), but that will be easily soaked up if the meet-up works out.

Now to work out whether to pay $15 over the normal economy fare for Comfort+ or a further $57 for First - bearing in mind that the latter is actually only $32 extra because it would include the bag fee that we'd otherwise have to pay! I suspect I already know which way I'm going to go on that one.

NM Lady,

Just a suggestion with a long wait time between flights: buy a day pass for the Delta Sky Club in the International Terminal. It is a very pleasant facility with plenty of snacks and beverages so that one does not have to leave the Club to have lunch. The wheelchair escort could take your husband and you there and return to take you to your international flight.

Two points:

1) It is not a "day pass" but is now "single visit". Meaning only one club, one time.

2) The cost has now risen to $59 per visit. That's $118 per couple, which could otherwise be spent at various food and drink outlets in the terminal - while getting back some change.

We live near Atlanta and my hubby works at the airport. Everyone has given great advice. Have fun and enjoy ATL. :)

Globaliser- I looked back and saw that you also asked which was better, T or F. IMO, F is the far better place to wait. It is much newer than T, and the space is designed to be much more open feeling. Also, the Sky Club there is large, and also has the outdoor Sky Deck; depending on the weather that can be a nice alternative, so if you're thinking about buying a pass or have access through an Amex Platinum or reserve card, the club in F is definitely better than the one in T. But even if you're just waiting in the main concourse, F has a much more open feeling. Go to E to eat at OFS, then back to F for the remaining time.

Check with Delta but if you fly in first on the domestic segment that boarding pass will probably give you access to their lounges that day. In which case it would be a no brainer to pay for the upgrade!!

I agree with waterbug123 that the Club with the Sky Deck is really pleasant. If the weather cooperates, sitting out on the Deck watching the activity in the area is interesting, in my opinion.

Thanks Flyertalker about the new definition of what once was a Sky Club "Day Pass". On my last visit to the Club, I did see stamped on the pass "Single Visit". I now recall thinking "that is new" because I have used the "day pass" at more than one airport on the same day in the past.

In my opinion, even at $59, the pass is worthwhile if there is a long wait between flights. I was at DTW over dinner time and there were two soups, several salads, sandwiches, crudites/dips, etc. The comfortable seating, good food, open bar, newspapers/magazines/TV, and, if needed, agents on site to help make it worthwhile for me.