40 Min in Atlanta?

[Kevenswife2]

Is 40 minutes enough time to get myself and DD11 from one Airtran gate to another at ATL in August? The flight I'm looking at is the last one of the day.

 

[Disney Ella]

Maybe, but I would be a little nervous, particularly since you are trying to connect to the last flight of the day. If your first flight is late, you might not be able to make it. If you book this flight, you might want to try to get a seat as close to the front of the plane as possible, so you can get off the flight fast. Once you're off, you won't have time for a bathroom or food stop, but will have to get right to your next gate. Personally, I would feel more comfortable with a little more time between flights.

 

[kevgraub]

We have 50 minutes on our upcoming trip, and I'm a little nervous about that as well. As the pp said, try to sit near the front of the plane so you can get off quickly, and head straight to your gate. Another thing you might want to consider is not carrying on any luggage that has to be stored in the overhead bins or would slow you down on your way to the next flight.

Part of the problem you might have is that Airtran operates out of both Concourse C and Concourse D in Atlanta. If you are on the same concourse, then I think you will be fine as long as your flight is not really late getting in. You should still be able to make it if you have to change concourses, but it will be tighter. I've never had to connect from one concourse to another in Atlanta, but it never seemed to be too hard to get on the train and take it to another concourse pretty quickly.

 

[maxiesmom]

We did connections of under 47 minutes thru Atlanta last year, and it was cutting it very close. Granted we flew Delta and not Air Tran.

On the way to Orlando we were going from a small plane to a big plane, which is a bit easier. We were close to the front on the small plane, so we were off quickly, and on our way. We didn't stop for anything until we arrived at the gate. And then we had maybe 10 minutes before our flight was called. And our flight in to Atlanta had landed a few minutes early.

Going home, it was a close thing. By the time we got off our plane and to the gate for our next flight, it was already mostly boarded. It ended up that they were holding the plane, and were still waiting on a few other people.

So I can't say as I recommend the short connection times.

 

[mdetloff]

Well, on another note with Airtran's constant flight changes you could take a chance and book it and when it changes call and get a better flight for the same price. We had a layover in ATL on the way down scheduled and after the third schedule change I called and was able to get switched to the nonstop. There was no charge to do it because of the schedule change. Pretty bad when you can almost count on a change with them! I will say though the customer service was great about this. I think they get that alot.

 

[mrscoobs]

That is close as you need to look at it as only a 30 minute chance for you to get to your other plane as Airtran closes the door to the flight 10 minutes before departure (stated on the boarding pass and they really follow that rule as close as possible in atlanta it seems).

 

[JennSaint]

We flew airtran and had a 40 min layover in Atlanta. Well guess what it turned into a 3 hour layover. Yup our flight departed 20 mins late and when we arrived and got off the plane we talked to the airtran rep and we only ended up having 20 mins she said we were too late already. We had a long way to go to the next gate so they rebooked us on a later flight and gave us vouchers for lunch. Personally I think 40 mins is cutting it way close. If you haven't booked yet I'd book something with at least a 1hr layover.

 

[fac]

I have similar situation for my trip coming up in Aug and decided not to take the chance.
It would have been a 31 minutes at ATL catching the last flight. I even considered getting a hotel room in ATL and possibility of flight time change, but decided not to take a chance and don't want to start our vacation with a rush. Therefore we decided to fly out from another airport and layover of 2 hr.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

Is 40 minutes enough time to get myself and DD11 from one Airtran gate to another at ATL in August? The flight I'm looking at is the last one of the day.

Just a reminder, you really don't have 40 minutes, due to the fact they close the door on departing aircraft about 15 minutes before departure time. Also, even an ontime flight takes 5-10 minutes past scheduled arrival to arrange for departing the plane. If you would be changing concourses, add 5 minutes to that.

IMO, it cuts it too close, better to get more time between flights.

 

[streets of paris]

first of all, last flight of the day is never a good idea

secondly, it can take 20 minutes just to taxi to the gate in ATL; with the 10 min door closing that gives you 10 min to possibly transfer between several terminals. even if you make it, your bags will not.

recommend a longer ATL layover. if that goes well, you can try standby for earlier flights maybe?

40 min is too short for ATL. 1 hour min.

 

[taylor3297]

I have had no problems with a 40 minute layover in Atlanta and have had to go from concourse D to concourse T. If you know your way around it helps. Also, tell the FA that you have a short layover and sometimes they will help you get off more quickly by asking others who don't have a short layover to let you by.

Good Luck!

 

[GranddadTom]

We flew into Atlanta twice in the past few days and I can tell you that 40 minutes is cutting it close. The first time we landed at gate C6 and flew out of C10 (most of the Air Tran flights seem to use the C concourse). That was no problem. The next time we came into D2 and were scheduled to leave on C1. Both are at the very end of the concourse. It took use a little over 20 minutes to get from one to the other.

 

[NJtoATL]

I live here and I would never ever tell people to do a layover under an hour. Between the weather and the amount of travelers that go through this airport, I would not recommend that.