How Long For Layover

[johnnyr]

I may have to take a flight with a stop in ATL. How much time should I allow between flights if I find something?

 

[ToddyLu]

Always allow an hour in Atlanta. There are several terminals that may require lots of walking to or use of their underground subway between terminals...there are moving walkways but it is easier to go downstairs and hop on the subway.

 

[DebbieB]

I agree, I would allow at least an hour. I've done it with as short as 40 minutes but most of the time lucked out that the second flight was late (after running). I did have my luggage delayed one time because of a short connection. It was on the next flight (it was at my home airport, I ended up waiting for it about an hour).

 

[ToddyLu]

But in the same vein, I try not to have a two hour lay over in Atlanta.

 

[sam_gordon]

To me, it depends...

If it's just me travelling, I'd be willing to do a 40-45 minute layover.
If it's with my kids (13, 8, 6), I'd try for ~1 hour, but I've made a 40 minute with them (and that's going from the end of concourse C to the end of concourse B).
If it's with younger kids (dealing with strollers, etc), I'd look for 1:15-1:30.

Of course, if anyone has mobility issues (walkers, wheelchairs, etc), add time.

 

[maxiesmom]

At least an hour is preferable. However, if you are daring you might be able to do it in less.

One time we took a 47 minute layover, and we made our next flight. Luckily, our first flight arrived early, and we booked over to our next flight. No stops until we got to the gate and saw that they were just about to start boarding. We then ran to the bathroom, ran back, and they were boarding. We probably would have made it if our first flight had landed as scheduled, but it would have been close.

We also had 3 kids in tow, though the youngest wasn't thrilled at being dragged thru the airport. If you can avoid a short layover, do.

 

[figment_jii]

Generally, I'd allow at least an hour for a layover anywhere (90 minutes is better) because that gives you time in case the inbound flight is late arriving, or the inbound flight has to wait for a gate, or it takes forever to de-plane, or the connecting flight is on the other side of the terminal. Also this gives you some time to visit the bathroom, get something to eat/drink, etc. I'd rather have to wait at the airport for a bit, than miss the connection.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Legal connection in ATL is 45 minutes, so anything above that is fine. Depending on the airline, 45 minutes may be easy or could be a good jog.

 

[Ed J]

Delta Ait Tran or US air maybe? I've had short connection times on all of those airlines and had 3 terminals to travel between legs and would do it again in Atlanta. Even if you miss you connection, ATL being a hub for many airlines there are many flight going out of that AP. 45 minutes would be my choice if it's available.

 

[maps]

We just did a connecting flight in ATL to Jamaica last week on Delta. Going there we had a 47min layover and the flight was 10 minutes late so we had to run from Terminal B to E--that was fun!

On the way home, what a nightmare! First, all flights were delayed due to weather on Friday. The airport was crammed full of people all trying to get home. If we had missed our connecting flight, they told us it would be at least 2 days before they could get us on another flight! Luckily the connecting flight was also delayed but boy was it stressful.