Delta Connection at ATL
 

This summer I am flying to Paris, from Seattle, with a layover in Atlanta. It is a tight connection so I am trying to get a feel for what I need to do to not miss the flight. I arrive from Seattle on Delta 2368, which Delta tells me usually arrives into gate A13. I asked them what area the flight to Paris (Delta 22) leaves from, but the lady at Delta was useless and did not give me any answer other than she didn't know. I realize that they don't have the exact details for July for that, but a general idea of what the norm is would greatly help me.

So, I am hoping there is someone here who is familiar with the Atlanta airport and Delta that can give me an idea of how far I will need to go to make the connection? BTW, I already tried to change the flight to have a longer connection, but that did not pan out.

Thanks!

International flights could leave out of any one of several concourses. You seem to have a connection time of about 2 hours. Regardless of gates used you have 2 hours to connect, generally more than enough time if your incoming flight is somewhat on time.

No, my itinerary says I have 55 minutes.

Are you sure that that is a legal connection to an international flight? Did you book it on Delta.com or some other site like Expedia or Orbitiz?
If you are coming in at A concourse your CDG flight will usually leave out of E concourse but sometimes it might be T or even A. I suspect the agent told you that they didn't know because it changes everyday what gate the various flights leave out of.

Frankly, it doesn't matter which concourse you arrive or depart from. Due to the layout, if you change concourse, you would walk to the middle of the concourse, hop on the tram, and then from there to your next gate. The total tram ride, including wait, would probably be no more than 3 or 4 minutes. All in all, going from A to E might not take much longer than walking from one end of A to the other.

There is nothing particularly special about a domestic to international connection that would make this more difficult than if you were flying SEA-ATL-MIA, for example.

All in all, this is a bit tight, but not impossible. I believe the minimum legal connection time for Delta is something like 30 minutes.

Thank you all so much:) Yes, I booked it online on Delta (using miles). I was hoping there might be a usual concourse, but it sounds like with the tram it doesn't much matter. The Delta rep was just overall not in the mood to help, if that makes sense. Which was too bad since the day before, I had to call on behalf of a friend with an emergency and get her miles back, etc and that agent was excellent.

Anyway, I haven't flown through ATL in years so wasn't sure what I was up against for making this connection. I will make sure to move as fast as I can:)

55 minutes connection time at ATL doesn't leave much wiggle room especially if you need to get from T to E or from A to E.
Your Seattle flight has to arrive at the gate on time and you'll have to keep your fingers crossed that passengers seated in front of you don't dawdle as they deplane. Oh, be sure you don't gate -check luggage, because waiting for it to be brought to the jet way will eat up too many of your precious 55 minutes.

I've done A to E and I'm estimating it took me 25 minutes after I exited my domestic flight to: walk to the center of the concourse, proceed down the escalator to the train, board train, exit the train at E concourse, proceed up the escalator , walk to my international flight's gate.

Since it's been a while since you flew through ATL it might be helpful to take a look at the airport's layout http://www.delta.com/traveling_check...ps/atlanta.jsp

You should be OK -- if your Seattle flight is on time -- but it will be tight. Question: Did you book the flight with a 55-minute connection, or did they change the itinerary?

I agree with Green-P. Travelling from A to E (your most likely path) can take 20-25 minutes. A 55 minute layover would make me nervous if missing my flight means I miss a day in Paris. Is that that last flight to Paris that day?

I booked it with this connection, but just plain wasn't thinking. There is another flight to Paris that night.

Update:) I kept thinking about this and was not satisfied. So I called Delta back today and they were wonderful. I checked the ontime rate for that original flight and it was only 71%, which made me even more nervous. Anyway, I explained to the agent today and she agreed that I was best off changing it. We looked at several options and I ended up with a new flight, leaving early in the morning out of Seattle, which gives me a layover in ATL of 1 hour 25 minutes, and that flight has a 96% on time arrival rating. When I looked online, it said it was more miles, but the agent said it was the same as what I paid, so that worked for me. So for the $150 change fee and peace of mind, I think this is a better solution.

I really appreciate all the feedback as it helped me decide what to do. BTW, the two Delta agents I spoke with today were wonderful. Very nice, very helpful, etc. A stark contrast to the agent a few days ago. Both times I made sure to stay on the line and do the survey, so hopefully that will help them a bit.

Glad to hear that it worked out-have a great time in Pairs!

MMS - I just flew through a connecting flight in ATL and it had also been a number of years since I had done that - I had an excessive lay over due to a Delta change ~ the I walked instead of taking the trams and got to the gate faster than my husband and stepdaughter who wanted to take the tram.

I don't know how you can transfer between concourse faster by walking than taking the train, unless the train is not operating properly. The train runs like every 2 minutes and takes about 30 seconds to get to next concourse. To walk between concourse, you still have to get down to the train level, and each concourse is about 300 yards apart. If you walk a normal 3MPH, that would take about 4 minutes.

For moving one concourse away, walking is quite often quicker. Remember also there are those flat escalator things which almost double walking speed for 75% of the distance or more.

For a two concourse move, it's not much difference. For longer, the train is quickest.

[Remember also to include the 1 minute average waiting time for the next train in the calculation.]

Well, I do not know either Kkkwan but I did :) - I kept walking, there were those moving walk ways and was right there - they ended up a little further away from our gate based on where the train let out. I wanted to walk anyway - I had been cooped up and needed to stretch my legs.

Ah, now that I thought about my own experience, I will agree with your guys. It's possible to be slightly faster walking for one-concourse switch, because of the wait of the train.

Depends on the concourses. They are not equal distance apart. D and E very close. Others much farther. The train is generally faster (my coworkers and I have "tested" this a lot :))

Looking at the satellite image from Google Earth, all concourse are equal distance apart, at about 330yd. Except E, which is about 360yd east of D. If you find D and E very closer, it may be due to the way the escalators are oriented and the location of the train boarding location. But looking from above, it's clearly not the case.

Mms - good for you. I hate paying for changing seats when it's so far in advance, (c'mon, tap some keys and the change is made - now a last minute adjustment could be something else) but isn't the peace of mind you now have so worth it? Enjoy your trip!

ccolor--That's it, the peace of mind:) I am meeting the apt owner as well as DD who is finishing up a study abroad term over there. So I want as few glitches as possible. I agree, I hate paying though.

We are back from our trip so wanted to follow up. The flight from Seattle was late in leaving as people just would not take their seats. I was ready to yell at them to sit down, lol! We left about 15 minutes late. I had a seat in the row right next to the airplane door, so I was literally the first passenger off the plane. I do carryon only, so got off the plane with my rolling bag and my purse and hurried to the tram. We arrived at T and my next flight was leaving out of E. From getting off the plane, I did not stop for anything, I went straight to my new gate, which of course was at the far end of that concourse. I arrived to find the flight was already boarding, probably about half the passengers were already on. I walked right up and boarded. I am SO glad I changed my flight and that this worked out!

So glad it worked out for you -- Delta is my main miles program so I have hurried through ATL many times. Glad you changed the tix and made your flight!

yeah! I want to hear about your trip!

Dawn--I have a trip report posted in the Europe forum:)

Thanks for the update.
This question comes up often for ATL, so your personal experience will be a real help to others.

Kay2--Thanks:) I figured it was the least I could do after asking for input.