Atlanta airport help

We have never flew into Atlanta airport before and was wanting some suggestions on how much time we need for a layover. We will be flying in on Tuesday night and wanting to know how busy costumes might be. Planning on getting plane tickets soon and would appreciate any insight we can get. Also planning on using Delta airlines since they are the cheapest with the flight time we want and would like to know if flights run on time and they don't change your flights like I have seen on here that American Airlines seems to do quite often.
Going to San Souci Sept 22- Oct 1 for our second trip to couples.

CTI 2012
San Souci 2013

Flights tend to get stacked up in Atlanta as the day goes on, in particular if there is bad weather. That being said, it seems that customs is busy at night, but not overly busy. Most likely 1.5 at a minimum is good.

We fly Delta through Atlanta often. We need at least one hour down and a couple of hours coming back. You have to go back through U.S. immigration coming home, reclaimed your luggage, and get through TSA. You also have to use the tram system if switching terminals.

We have 45 minutes on our way down this time. Which is cutting it close. We are praying our flight out of Iowa is not delayed. And hoping our luggage gets to Jamaica with us!

Life is good :)

We fly out of Atlanta every year (our home port). It is a very easy airport to get around. Always expect the unexpected due to weather and such. We always fly Delta and last year was the only time we had to wait on our flight -am flight - and that was due to the arriving plane being late. Delta's flights to Jamaica go out of the last concourse but the tram runs continuously so that's not a problem. The flight from Atlanta to Mobay is 2 hrs and 56 minutes. Remember, customs is only an issue when you are flying back into our country. They usually staffed heavy and it takes us about an hour from the time arriving back into Atlanta until we are out of the building. I hope this helps.

As far as i know ON costumes are required. Been there 3 times never had to wear one.

Very busy airport, have used it may times in the past traveling overseas and to the caribbean

You will have better luck not getting delayed in the a.m

You need at least 1 hour going from the US to MBJ for your connection and at least 2 hours from MBJ to the US because you will go through Customs on your return to the US.

There is a high speed train that connects the concourses. Our luck hardly ever finds us landing and departing from the same concourse so we hustle off the plane, down the escalator onto the train and to the next concourse and gate.

Delta has bben late for us several times in the past coming and going. Once they cancelled our flight and booked us for the next day because they decided they were not flying on tuesdays to MBJ during that time period. We were going to CSS that trip.

We missed our connection once because of mechanical coming back to the US and they did put us up in a hotel and booked us the next morning but it was a huge pia.

Our favorite connection to MBJ is USairway through Charlotte.

We flew into Atlanta on New Year's Day from Montego Bay, which was a Tuesday, and we had a 3 hour lay-over which gave us plenty of time to get our luggage, get through customs, have dinner at the Budweiser lounge, and sit at our gate for an hour before boarding our flight. I would say leave yourself an hour and a half if you want to get a quick bite to eat, but you shouldn't have any problems. We flew Delta and we actually got there a little early.

We have flown Delta through Atlanta many time to Jamaica. They are reliable and most always on time. Customs in Atlanta is usually a breeze. On an international flight, it's a good idea to allow yourselves at least two hours between your arrival and the departure of your next flight to clear C&I.

My recommendation is to make sure you have a minimum 2 hour layover when connecting through Atlanta. Much shorter layovers are "legal" but I have missed too many connections in Atlanta over the years to go with anything other than a 2 hour minimum.

We just returned from CSS thru Atlanta in January. It was a Saturday and we landed about 4:30pm. We only needed about 90 minutes to collect our luggage and go thru customs. The luggage claim was in the international terminal and near the customs counters. Rechecking baggage was easy too. Then we got on the tram and went to the departure gate. The process was very well laid out and efficient; in fact the best I've encountered. It was much better than Chicago O'Hare and a little better than Houston, TX. I gave us 4 hours and didn't need anywhere near that, but we had time to get a drink and some food.

2 hours should do it with cushion.

Chris

Atlanta is one of the biggest airports in country, so you definitely want to allow ample time for your layover on your return. I usually allow two hours for a layover if I have to go through customs/immigration (1 1/2 hours would be an absolute minimum). There are different websites that show on-time performance. I've had flights cancel with Delta, just like any other airline. However, for the time frame your traveling, you shouldn't have any major weather headaches (unless there is a hurricane, then all bets are off).

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Originally Posted by Beach-bum

We fly Delta through Atlanta often. We need at least one hour down and a couple of hours coming back. You have to go back through U.S. immigration coming home, reclaimed your luggage, and get through TSA. You also have to use the tram system if switching terminals.

We have 45 minutes on our way down this time. Which is cutting it close. We are praying our flight out of Iowa is not delayed. And hoping our luggage gets to Jamaica with us!

Life is good :)

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We do that flight from Iowa every year. This past year we left 30 min late out of DSM. And we still made the 47 min connection. Of course we were running through Atlanta, but we made it from Term B to E in 17 min. I think Delta held the plane back a bit for us.

There are 2 later flights to MBJ from ATL now, which helped the stress.

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Originally Posted by IACouple

We do that flight from Iowa every year. This past year we left 30 min late out of DSM. And we still made the 47 min connection. Of course we were running through Atlanta, but we made it from Term B to E in 17 min. I think Delta held the plane back a bit for us.

There are 2 later flights to MBJ from ATL now, which helped the stress.

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I am glad to hear that you beat the odds! A 47 min connection is barley "legal". My experience with Delta is they rarely hold a plane for 1 couple - if there are a bunch of people then that might be a different story. I believe the issue may be related to missing a departure slot and then having to wait even longer. I suspect they make a judgement call about delaying the flight vs. the effort involved in rescheduling the people who missed the flight. I have had several instances where I was just minutes late and the doors had been closed. Delta does knows who will miss the flights with late connections. I have been burned so many times that 2 hours is my minimum connection time in Atlanta, more so if it is last flight of the day.

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Originally Posted by IACouple

We do that flight from Iowa every year. This past year we left 30 min late out of DSM. And we still made the 47 min connection. Of course we were running through Atlanta, but we made it from Term B to E in 17 min. I think Delta held the plane back a bit for us.

There are 2 later flights to MBJ from ATL now, which helped the stress.

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I know we will be running also. We picked this flight so that we can get into Montego Bay early. We are flying out of Cedar Rapids and they normally get to ATL on time. I just hope our luggage makes it.

Life is good :)

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Originally Posted by tuccillo

I am glad to hear that you beat the odds! A 47 min connection is barley "legal". My experience with Delta is they rarely hold a plane for 1 couple - if there are a bunch of people then that might be a different story. I believe the issue may be related to missing a departure slot and then having to wait even longer. I suspect they make a judgement call about delaying the flight vs. the effort involved in rescheduling the people who missed the flight. I have had several instances where I was just minutes late and the doors had been closed. Delta does knows who will miss the flights with late connections. I have been burned so many times that 2 hours is my minimum connection time in Atlanta, more so if it is last flight of the day.

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We have never had more than an hour layover. April we have an hour an 5 minutes. One year we were 35 minutes late leaving LR. When we stepped off the plane in Atlanta we had two minutes to board. We ran but we were still the last to board the plane. They waited for us, but I think it makes a difference that I am a frequent flier and our Jamaica fights are always first class. I schedule an hour on the way to Jamaica and 4 hours on the way back. I have never made it through customs in less than two and half, but I know I can make it from one end of the airport in Atlanta to the other in 15 minutes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tuccillo

I am glad to hear that you beat the odds! A 47 min connection is barley "legal". My experience with Delta is they rarely hold a plane for 1 couple - if there are a bunch of people then that might be a different story. I believe the issue may be related to missing a departure slot and then having to wait even longer. I suspect they make a judgement call about delaying the flight vs. the effort involved in rescheduling the people who missed the flight. I have had several instances where I was just minutes late and the doors had been closed. Delta does knows who will miss the flights with late connections. I have been burned so many times that 2 hours is my minimum connection time in Atlanta, more so if it is last flight of the day.

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Technically we landed inside the window where they had to transfer our luggage. When we got on the plane, I looked out the window and saw our 2 bags being loaded.

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Originally Posted by IACouple

Technically we landed inside the window where they had to transfer our luggage. When we got on the plane, I looked out the window and saw our 2 bags being loaded.

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They have to hold the plane for international flights if the bags are not with the passengers. This happened once to a couple boarding our plane in Miami. We sat at the gate for an extra 30 minutes.

Life is good :)