Atlanta International Terminal

[spunkie4]

We will soon fly from Jacksonville to Atlanta on Delta. Our flight to Amsterdam and then on to Barcelona will be on Delta/KLM.

 

My question: Can anyone offer information about arriving at the domestic terminal in Atlanta and departing from the international terminal?

 

"thanks" to Delta for re-routing our flight. Initially it was wonderful...Jacksonville to JFK, then directly to Barcelona.

 

We will only have an hour in Atlanta, so we will be running as fast as our old legs will carry us!

 

Thanks.

[Novastar]

I think all the international flights leave from Concourse F. When you arrive from Jacksonville, just follow the signs to all the concourses. You will need to take the escalator to the lower level and take the people mover to concourse F. It's pretty fast - certainly faster than walking. I believe the trains come about every 2 minutes.

[spunkie4]

Novastar, Thank you for your input.

 

Shirley

[FlyerTalker]

I think all the international flights leave from Concourse F.

Not quite. International flights predominantly leave from both the E and F concourses, not all from F. Also, some services to Mexico and Latin America also leave from other concourses, depending on the equipment being used.

 

TATL flights will almost always be E or F, with an occasional T.

When you arrive from Jacksonville, just follow the signs to all the concourses. You will need to take the escalator to the lower level and take the people mover to concourse F

Be careful here. At the center of the parallel concourses (A through D), escalators will go down, but there are two sets of them. Be sure you take the one labeled as being to the appropriate concourse for your flight.

 

How will you know what concourse? Immediately after you exit the jetbridge from your flight, there will be a monitor hanging right above as you exit, either to the immediate right or immediate left. THIS is the most important monitor to look at. Why? Because each gate monitor shows the connecting flights for passengers departing that arriving flight. Just those booked for those onboard. Nothing else. So rather than search for a hallway monitor in the concourse and then search for your flight, this one will have the edited list of only appropriate connections. It will be ordered by cities alphabetically.

 

Which also means....don't go looking at the monitor at another gate, because that will be tailored to those passengers and your flight might not be there.

[spunkie4]

FlyerTalker:

 

Thanks so much for your input. I am breathing a little easier now.

 

Shirley

[willieg]

I will be taking that same flight to BCN in Oct so I have been checking on the terminal and gate. That flight uses F. There is good signage to direct you to the plane train that will take you over there. Be sure to check your luggage all the way to BCN.

Check the aiport website a few days ahead to see which gate that flight is using. Gates can change, but the Terminal usually stays the same.

[4774Papa]

We live in South Georgia and fly out of JAX a lot. We generally fly Delta and go through Atlanta. I think the Atlanta airport is one of the easiest to transfer flights.

 

The underground subway connects each terminal, including the International Terminal. The terminals all run parallel to each other. Upon arrival, check the nearest departure information, determine where your next flight departs from, go down to the subway, which will take you to your terminal. If you don't want to take the subway, you can walk or take people movers.

 

You can check your flights ahead of time to find out what gate and terminal your flight arrives and your next flight departs.

http://www.atlanta-airport.com/flights/

[LEtue]

I have done Tampa to Atlanta twice to connect to a Barcelona flight. For such a large airport I find it easy to get from terminal to terminal quickly so assuming your flight from JAX is on time you won't be as rushed as you think.

 

I rather connect in ATL than JFK - based on my experiences :)

[spunkie4]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.

 

We normally like more than an hour connection time.

 

Shirley

[FlyerTalker]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.

 

We normally like more than an hour connection time.

Given that DL runs 10 flights a day from JAX to ATL, it's not like that is the only one you could take. Is there some reason you didn't ask for a longer connect in ATL? Or did you just take what they gave you and then posted here for info?

[spunkie4]

Given that DL runs 10 flights a day from JAX to ATL, it's not like that is the only one you could take. Is there some reason you didn't ask for a longer connect in ATL? Or did you just take what they gave you and then posted here for info?

 

FlyerTalker: We phoned Delta on Sunday, but couldn't make a change since we booked our flight using our travel agent. Phoned her on Monday. The penalty would be over $300 to make the change. Really disappointed, especially since Delta made the changes.

 

Thanks for your input. We are just going to have a positive attitude!

 

Shirley

[rdsqrl]

FlyerTalker: We phoned Delta on Sunday, but couldn't make a change since we booked our flight using our travel agent. Phoned her on Monday. The penalty would be over $300 to make the change. Really disappointed, especially since Delta made the changes.

 

Thanks for your input. We are just going to have a positive attitude!

 

Shirley

If Delta made the change to your flights, then you should be able to get booked on an earlier JAX-ATL flight at no additional cost. It is (or used to be) called a Rule 240 change. Your travel agent should know this and should have gone to bat harder for you on this. Call her back and tell her to try again; if she doesn't know what you're talking about, escalate to her boss.

 

And I concur with the previous poster -- ATL is a far better airport through which to connect than JFK. Except for the hour cxt time, I'd be dancing in the street about this change.

[willieg]

Our flight to Barcelona from ATL has been changed twice. Each time we were able to make changes for free because it was Delta's change, not ours. We were able to choose the flights that we wanted. Talk to your Travel agent, again. We booked directly with Delta. Sometimes it takes patience, but can turn out OK.

[Lexi731]

Shirley -

 

Are you sure it was Delta that made the changes? Or was it the TA?

 

Karen

[NMLady]

FlyerTalker: We phoned Delta on Sunday, but couldn't make a change since we booked our flight using our travel agent. Phoned her on Monday. The penalty would be over $300 to make the change. Really disappointed, especially since Delta made the changes.

 

Thanks for your input. We are just going to have a positive attitude!

 

Shirley

 

If it was Delta who made the change they should be willing to do a more convenient routing change for free. When another airline changed us to a later flight which made a tighter connection than we liked we called the airline, explained the problem their change caused and they gave us an earlier flight with no change fee. Our TA had told us there'd be a fee, but there wasn't since it was the airline who'd made the original change.

[willieg]

On our flight Delta changed us to an itinerary we didn't want which was a tight connection in AMS. We called and they changed it to our choice which gives us more time to make the connection both ways. The first change Delta gave us a flight through Paris that we didn't want at all.

On our account on delta.com there is a notice that a change was made and we had a choice to make changes. You might want to set up a account, if you don't have one and check.

[waterbug123]

You will need to take the escalator to the lower level and take the people mover to concourse F. It's pretty fast - certainly faster than walking. I believe the trains come about every 2 minutes.

 

Out of curiosity I timed it once. It was less than a minute between trains. That may vary a bit throughout the day though.

[FlyerTalker]

I am thinking we are missing a few details.....you say that you booked it "through your TA". Does that mean you booked cruiseline-air, or did your travel agent just buy you a regular ticket from the airline? BIG difference, because if the latter, then you do NOT need to work through your TA for change issues. However, if you have cruiseline air, then that consolidator ticket means that you have to work through the TA that sold it via the cruiseline.

 

So....which was it? Or did you think a ticket is just a ticket?

[spunkie4]

We booked through our travel agent, which we have used for many years. However, this is the first time we did not book directly with the airline (big mistake) since the travel agent "had a much better price." I think, after going through all this, that the travel agent actually booked a consolidator ticket for us.

 

Delta changed our flights several months ago, so I guess that was our "one-time change with no charge." the route was bad. JAX to LaGuardia. overnight. Leave from JFK. Then Barcelona. At that time the connection in ATL did not seem so bad. Since that time hubby had surgery and we were concerned about his energy level in making the connection.

 

Lesson learned, as they say.

 

We will have a positive attitude, limit what we carry on the flight and follow the directions given earlier on this thread about reading the monitors and using the people mover.

 

We fly out on Tuesday. Cruising for 32 days before arriving in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Thanks for all the input.

 

Shirley

[jsmeeker]

I beginning to think a lot of travel agents just never travel. Only way to explain the how one would book something like this.

[FlyerTalker]

I beginning to think a lot of travel agents just never travel. Only way to explain the how one would book something like this.

One other explanation...it was a "cruise travel agent" who specializes in cruises and knows little about airlines, hotels and other aspects of the game.

 

Whenever you get a "much better price", there is almost always a catch. I would come straight out and ask the TA if they bought you a conso ticket. If they hem and haw, we know the answer. Maybe they will fess up at this point. And if they did buy you a conso and did NOT advise you a) of that basic fact and b) the significant restrictions on your ticket, I would begin to ask some questions about your relationship. A many-year business relationship can easily devolve into being taken for granted. Or worse.

[anthk333]

One other explanation...it was a "cruise travel agent" who specializes in cruises and knows little about airlines, hotels and other aspects of the game.

 

Hey, some of us "cruise travel agents" also fly over 100K a year and know the game (and have GE, airline club memberships, etc)...:D

[FlyerTalker]

Hey, some of us "cruise travel agents" also fly over 100K a year and know the game (and have GE, airline club memberships, etc)...:D

And note that I said "and knows little about airlines...." Hopefully no offense taken by those who do know.

 

There are good cruise TA's who know more than just ships. But there are also those that only know cruising and nothing else.

 

Which is why a customer should do due diligence on their agent. If all you need is an order taker....well. But if you do find an agent who knows the gamut of travel, all the better. But those are rare and special.

 

Try this question.....ask "What happens in an irop?". If they think that's an Arabian sandstorm, run for the doors. ;)

 

Continuing my mantra....the educated, informed consumer is the best consumer.

[D4]

...At that time the connection in ATL did not seem so bad. Since that time hubby had surgery and we were concerned about his energy level in making the connection.

 

We will have a positive attitude, limit what we carry on the flight and follow the directions given earlier on this thread about reading the monitors and using the people mover.

 

You could contact your airline now and request a wheelchair for DH. They often have the pre-ordered wheelchairs waiting when you get off the plane. The benefits are the person pushing it knows exactly where to go and DH doesn't have to feel rushed.

 

If you don't want a wheelchair, here's something else to consider. My DH has mobility issues. Those escalators are really steep in Atlanta. My DH isn't steady enough on his feet to feel comfortable using them. There is an elevator near each group of escalators. Don't worry if it looks like the elevator is near the set of escalators that has signs specifying a different set of terminals. Once you ride either set of escalators down, you end up in the same long hallway. So just check the signs to see which way to go after you get off the elevator.

[anthk333]

Try this question.....ask "What happens in an irop?". If they think that's an Arabian sandstorm, run for the doors. ;)

 

Too easy, someone will think it's an Apple product. :p I think the better question is "can you explain the difference between rule 240/120.20 and rule 80. Also what about EC 261?" :D