Atlanta Airport

[pixiepower04]

We fly in to Orlando via Atlanta from Manchester next month and am unfamiliar with the procedure once we arrive.

We have 2 hours 25 minutes in between flights, is this plenty of time to do everything?

Many thanks xx

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

Yes, it should be fine. Plenty of time for a snack and a look in a couple of shops as you don't have to reclaim luggage and check-in again. We have gone via Atlanta twice and its a nice airport plus we went through immigration etc there and we could just get our suitcases and go for the hire car as soon as we landed at MCO.

 

[wayneg]

Sounds like you are on the same flight as we were on on the 4th August.
We have flown via most hubs from UK to Orlando, all of them including NYC we have had no problem with 2 hours but Atlanta has to be the worst there is.

Both times we have been in Business class so 1st off the plane, last August we were fast tracked as Karen had a bad back and they provided a wheelchair. Our friends also in Business but were not fast tracked missed their connection.
This year no Fasttrack but 1st off plane, luggage took forever to come thru, security was a nightmare, all in just about 2 hours from landing to getting to gate for connection.
You should be OK with 2 hr 25m if the luggage is not too long, you get off plane ASAP, security keeps moving and you go direct to your gate(they often change last minute so you could need to find another gate when you get there, thankfully ours only moved a few gates away)
Any other hub I would say you had plenty of time to bowse shops, snack etc but not Atlanta, its just enough.

 

[wayneg]

Yes, it should be fine. Plenty of time for a snack and a look in a couple of shops as you don't have to reclaim luggage and check-in again. We have gone via Atlanta twice and its a nice airport plus we went through immigration etc there and we could just get our suitcases and go for the hire car as soon as we landed at MCO.

You have to collect luggage and re-check going out but not going home.

 

[kristieuk]

I have had a different experience to Wayne. We have been through Atlanta a few times and have not found the experience very troublesome at all. It is a major hub so it is massively busy, but it is set up for that. Maybe it depends on the time of year - we have been through there in April, October and November.

As Wayne says, on the outbound flight, you go through immigration, collect your luggage then re-check it immediately. When we were there, you just re-checked it in the same area, you didn't have to go to the main departure area but this may have changed? You then are highly likely to be flying out of a completely different part of the airport, and get on a transit to take you there.

That is pretty much it. If you were to miss your connecting flight, you would be bumped to the next available, but based on our experiences, I think your transfer time sounds fine.

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

It is a few years ago now, but I wonder why both times we didn't have to collect our luggage? It was MAN - ATL - MCO and we had just one ticket that was valid for all parts of the journey and the luggage got labelled for MCO and that was were we got it . TBH, that was a much better system, wonder why they scrapped it . Same happens for Mauritius via Paris or South Africa.

TBH, Wayne that has made me rethink going in-direct in future! I'd get far too stressed about it.

 

[wayneg]

It is a few years ago now, but I wonder why both times we didn't have to collect our luggage? It was MAN - ATL - MCO and we had just one ticket that was valid for all parts of the journey and the luggage got labelled for MCO and that was were we got it . TBH, that was a much better system, wonder why they scrapped it . Same happens for Mauritius via Paris or South Africa.

TBH, Wayne that has made me rethink going in-direct in future! I'd get far too stressed about it.

We did once all the way thru via Philly, scrapped it for security, you have to recheck all inbound luggage for them to screen.

Makes absolutely no difference to us, direct or indirect, Immigration is done at 1st airport so makes it far better on arrival at MCO. Some people don't like indirect but me don't mind at all.