Layover in Atlanta-Is there enough time?

[mmbrad02]

DH and I think we have finally found a way to make flying work into our budget. We have found round trip Delta tickets from Louisville to Orlando and back for $217. We would leave Louisville at 7:00am and arrive in Orlando at 9:05am, direct flight. That sounds great to us, and would leave us nearly a full day at a park.

Departing, we would leave Orlando at 8:45pm (this would be our fifth day there, so we would get to spend till at 5:00pm doing parks or whatever), and stop in Atlanta, which scares me to death. I've flown through there once, seven years ago, but we had a lady with us who was an experienced flyer and led us right through it. It felt like a blur to me. DH and I are level headed people, and it's just the two of us, so I think we could handle it. Problem is, there is 55 minutes between the time our plane should land, and the time the next plane would take off. Is that enough time to manuever our way through the airport and get to our next destination? I like the idea of not sitting there for hours and waiting, but I don't want to miss the last leg of my trip.

If we could work this out, we can cancel one night of our stay, which makes up for more than the price of one ticket. So, is it possible, or should we scratch it and start looking again? Help pelase!

 

[ducklite]

Even though Harts Field is a large airport, 55 minutes is more than enough time as long as you do'nt dawdle.

Anne

 

[salmoneous]

The airlines wouldn't schedule you with a 55 minute layover if they didn't believe the vast majority of people could make the connecetion. That's well more than enough time for a connection. You start to worry if your plane is late getting to Atlanta, but you've probably got up to 30 minutes of safety margin.

If you aren't flying Delta, your two gates will likely be near each other so getting between then is a snap. If you are flying Delta, your two gates could be just about anywhere, but Delta is very good about telling people where their connecting gate is and you can look at a map to visualize where you are going before you land.

 

[OKW Lover]

Atlanta's airport really isn't hard to navagate. Don't let the large size of it bother you. All you have to know is what gate you're arriving at and what gate you are going to. There are 6 concourses (T, A, B, C, D, & E) which are all connected by an underground corridor.

If you were to land in A2 and be departing from B22, all you would need to do is walk to the center of the A concourse and take the escalator down to the walkway. From there you can either walk to B or take the train. (We usually walk because its quick and we like to stretch our legs.) When you arive in B, go up the escalator and walk down the concourse to your gate.

Nothing to it.

 

[Cookie55]

I have connected in Atlanta MANY times...You will be fine...My only advice would be to make your way to your departing gate and then gauge how much time you have for a rest room stop or snack...Chances are you may have time for both...

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I also find it helps to check out the airport online so that you are familiar with how it is set up. For example, if you don't know that you have to ride an underground tram from concourse to concourse in Atlanta you might have a problem! I almost missed my flight in Baltimore because I was unsure of where I was going.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Truthfully, your more likely to run into trouble in either Louisville or Orlando with Delta. Just ask any airline representatives in Atlanta. I've never run into anyone there who was not helpful. We fly out of Louisville quite a bit. The Delta counter staff there is the most unfriendly bunch I've encountered anywhere! Also, if you fly out on a Saturday, be there PLENTY early. The lines can be quite long early in the morning. Flying back to Louisville from Orlando, our flights have NEVER been on time and have occasionally been cancelled/re-routed. Still, you can't beat flying out early in the morning and returning home late...when it works. We're looking to book an adults-only trip for mid-May. It's looking like we'll take our chances with Delta again.

 

[KJHawley]

The big question: are you flying Delta?

If not, ignore this.

If so, please be aware that Delta quite frequently leaves people stranded in Atlanta overnight. That happened to us the last time we went through there- our first flight ran late, and they didn't hold the next flight- they just put everyone up in a hotel. Many, many people said this has happened to them before.

The good news is that if it's happening on the way out, it's not hurting your vacation. I just wouldn't make any big plans for the day after you're supposed to get home.

 

[mmbrad02]

Thanks for all of your replies! We actually didn't end up getting the flight times we wanted, so we had to scratch this option. We ended up going with round trip tickets out of Louisville, direct flight down and then a layover in Cincy on the way back. It was $202. We are happy with this option, even though we might have been able to get a better deal if we had waited. We are flying Delta, and I never realized how much chaos this would cause... delayed flights, changing your flights, etc. Hopefully everything will go smoothly!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

The big question: are you flying Delta?

If not, ignore this.

If so, please be aware that Delta quite frequently leaves people stranded in Atlanta overnight. That happened to us the last time we went through there- our first flight ran late, and they didn't hold the next flight- they just put everyone up in a hotel. Many, many people said this has happened to them before.

The good news is that if it's happening on the way out, it's not hurting your vacation. I just wouldn't make any big plans for the day after you're supposed to get home.

Actually I flew over 150,000 miles with Delta in the last 2 years and the majority of those flights went thru ATL since I commute from SC to my office in Nashville once a month and I never ONCE got stranded in Atlanta overnight nor did I see anyone on my flights stranded in ATL. I did however get stranded in Memphis 2 weeks ago when I had to take a Northwest Airlines flight from Nashville home to SC. Blech.

Any time you take the last flights of the night with ANY airline, you risk missing a connection or being at the mercy of a cancelled flight so keep that in mind when booking your tickets. If you ABSOLUTELY have to be back on a certain day then fly home earlier in the day to be safe.

 

[DonnaL]

A few years back we had 55 minutes between connections at Hartsfield on Delta ........and we had DH, myself, two DS's (at that time 23 and 11), DD (20) and DGS (2 1/2), one stroller and a carseat!!!! We were able to make our connecting flight with a few minutes to spare. We were taking the carseat on the plane with us and gatechecking our stroller (a fairly new expensive jogging stroller) and Delta managed to completely break the stroller after it was gatechecked. When we picked it up at MCO I was sick when I saw the condition of it. However, that's another story.......... We haven't flown Delta since because of the customer service treatment we got.

 

[seashoreCM]

You might even hope that the airline modifies the schedule on you. This way, if they make the connection time shorter they have to let you reselect flights keeping your existing fare.

>>> broken stroller

If a claim directly with the airline does not work, a small claim in court may induce a settlement before you actually have to meet up with the judge. Use any vouchers you may receive before declaring you will never fly them again. Otherwise the airline "gets away with 'it' "

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm