Atlanta Airport...short layover

[wdwcoltsfan]

I would see if there is a flight with a little more time. We have had many connections through ATL--always on Delta. We have made the 45 min connection, but we have also missed a flight because our incoming flight was 15 min. late and they wouldn't let us on the plane. We were that couple running through the airport to the gate and I had my flip flops in my hand so I could run faster.

There is so much out of your control--does the first flight leave a little late(I'm talking 10-15 min can make a big difference), are you at the back of the plane and it takes 15 min to get off the plane after pulling up to the gate, where is the connecting gate, etc. It can add a lot of stress to a vacation and it isn't worth it.

I know Delta seems to have a lot of standby passengers, but I don't know at what point seats are given up to people flying standby.

 

[sam_gordon]

Thanks for all the replays. It is a Delta flight and the 41 minute layover certainly has me worried. I think I'll likely look for another flight even though the flight in question has the best price and would get us to WDW the earliest.

Did you already book the flight? If you didn't and you're uncomfortable, don't book it. If you did, try to plan so you can have the best possible odds of making the connection...

1) Select seats toward the front of the original flight (even if you have to pay some).
2) Use flightaware.com and see what gate the same flight numbers are arriving at and departing from (no, there's no guarantee it will be the same when you travel, but you might see a trend, at least on concourses).
3) Download the Delta app to your phone and make sure you can sign in and navigate around before your trip. You want to be able to check gate assignments as soon as you turn off the runway.
4) Before the plane arrives at the gate, figure out which way you will need to turn to get to the central part of each concourse (unless on the rare possibility your departing gate is the same half of the same concourse)
5) Wear comfortable shoes that you can move quickly in.
6) Eliminate as many large carry on bags as you can (if you have to gate check, that will slow you down)
7) Hope Delta makes a change to the reservation (if they change the departing time of your first flight or the arrival time at your destination by more than 60 minutes, they will let you change your reservation to any other flight that day for free).
8) You can also see if there is an earlier flight between your home airport and ATL earlier in the day. Show up at the airport for that flight and ask to change to that flight. It's $50pp.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I must be missing it, but how would one make a connection through their home airport?

I think my home airport (MCI) is great to leave from and arrive at, but probably not as great to make connections through.

Agreed on MCI. It's a large reason why the city wants to change the airport and all us locals (well ok the majority of locals) don't want it to be changed-we generally like it the way it is: leaving and arriving are awesome IMO but I concede that for connections it may not be the most ideal.

 

[bookgirl]

It probably depends on the airline.

I've had a layover in Atlanta a few times with Southwest. It's always been in the same terminal. I think one time I actually had to do the end to end gate search, but it was a short walk. I do admit I'm a bit of a worrier about that kind of stuff so I never book unless I have 45-1hr + on a layover so 41 minutes would make me nervous.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

My sister was just stuck in Atlanta Friday night because her flight was delayed out of Miami. That caused her to miss her connecting flight to Grand Rapids. She hung around the airport, but there was no room on another flight to Grand Rapids. Saturday night they got her on a flight to Lansing. Her husband had to pick her up in Lansing, then they drove to Grand Rapids for her luggage. They did put her in a hotel Friday night about midnight, and she had to return to the airport really early Saturday to wait all day again. This was Delta.

 

[elgerber]

Just for your own information, Delta (like many airlines) has a habit of changing flight times/equipment after you book the flight. I have booked flights with comfortable amounts of time to make a connection, only to have the airline change one of my flights so that my very comfortable window of time narrowed down to their minimum connection time. No matter how well you plan, sometimes these things just happen.

It's just...part of the adventure of travel.

This is so true, I just got an email this morning that Delta changed my September flight 30 minutes earlier. For our England trip in April they changed us from a non-stop leaving Heathrow at 1pm to a connecting flight leaving Heathrow at 9 am. Yeah, that didn't fly, I made them book us on a different day with the non-stop.

All that said, I have a 45 minute layover myself in Atlanta in September with Southwest. It's just me this time, and I am on the last flight of the night, but I am not super worried. We have done it a few times there, and only once had an issue, but they held the plane for us thank goodness.