ATL - domestic flight use security International terminal?
 

A friend is going to drop me at ATL for a domestic flight. I will have boarding pass and only carryon luggage. The International Terminal is more convenient for him.

I would assume I can enter through security in the International terminal, then walk or ride train to proper concourse for my flight. However, the ATL website reads that the TSA security checkpoints in the International terminal are for people with boarding passes for gates in E and F concourse.
I'd rather avoid taking the shuttle from International to Domestic terminal just to walk through security.

Any experience?

I haven't done it in Atlanta . . . but every other airport I've flown through you need a boarding pass for the same terminal to go through security in that terminal.

I would assume it is the same at ATL.

But maybe it's different . .

But aren't you leaving from Domestic Terminal, hence have to go there anyway?

No experience because I always come into the Domestic terminal, either a drop off or go in by Marta.

Yes, you can enter through the International terminal. Both I and D terminals feed the same concourses, just from different ends. If TSA questions anything just tell them you're leaving from E (changed since you got your boarding pass).

Thanks, NoFlyZone.

The two terminals feeding into the same set of concourses connected by train/tunnel is a bit different from other airports that people are familiar with. In ATL, the terminals are just for check-in/baggage, then once you are beyond security, there is a series of concourses with gates. While there are gates in the same building as the domestic terminal (T gates) and in the same building as the international terminal (F gates), the buildings housing concourses A-E in between are where most of the gates are.

I am curious if there is a way out of Concourse F besides through immigration/customs. That is the only door/exit I have seen from the terminal side, but I have never been inside concourse F looking for an exit from a domestic flight.

I don't believe they ever have domestic flights arriving at F. But if they do, I'm sure there's some way to get out bypassing I & C.

I was wondering about someone arriving at C with carryon luggage only going to F to exit through International terminal if it were more convenient for a local to pick up there. I know that terminal is much less congested than Domestic and Domestic roadways have been under construction for some time, messing up traffic patterns.

From all the concourses you can exit at either the domestic or international terminals. So C->F is no problem.

Earlier this month I had the joy of a domestic connection from one end of Terminal A to my next flight at Terminal F. At least I had plenty of time for it!

I just got on the train at Terminal A and rode it to Terminal F, got off, went upstairs, and walked to my gate.

The plane had come in from Jamaica, but it was going to Knoxville, TN. That was not the first domestic flight I had taken from Terminal F, either.

That said, the ATL website notes that domestic passengers must check in at the domestic terminal. If you can prove you are on a flight out of Terminal F, maybe they would let you in at the IT, but it sounds like even in that case you have to check in at the DT.

http://www.atlanta-airport.com/inter.../faqs.html#1.5

Q: Can I check in for domestic flights in the international terminal?

A: Passengers flying within the United States should check in at the domestic terminal. Please check with your airline for specific check-in requirements.

Keyword there is "should." That's for traffic flow outside and because fewer check-in desks may be available at F. But otherwise it's not prohibited. I don't even believe they check anything like that at the entry.

Note also the Terminals are only two: Domestic and International (although sometimes the Domestic will be differentiated into the North and South Terminal). All the other locations (T, A, B, C, D, E, F) are Concourses.

Terminals are pre-security and accessible from the outside world. Concourses are all post-security (in the sterile zone).