Atlanta Flights

Baggage carousels are located in the western half of both North and South terminals, adjacent to all public and private transportation.

Your domestic flight will taxi in to concourse A, B, C, D or T. International flights will taxi into concourse E. In welcoming you to Atlanta, your flight attendant will likely tell you the number of the carousel where the flight's checked baggage will be delivered.

Follow the signs for Terminal/Baggage Claim. You'll go down an escalator or elevator to the transportation mall, Hartsfield's 1.75-mile-long backbone that connects the concourses to the terminal. Computer-operated trains (free of charge) run about every two minutes, traveling between all concourses and the terminal. Automated announcements will direct you onboard.

If you like, you may walk through the transportation mall or take the moving sidewalk, but I don't recommend this unless you are going only between near concourses. If your plane comes in at the last domestic gate on Concourse D and you take the train, you'll be at baggage claim in less than 15 minutes. The moving sidewalk route, which also involves long stretches of nonmoving sidewalk, will take closer to 30 minutes.

At the last stop, "Terminal/Baggage Claim" (do not make the mistake of getting off at the T-gates), you'll be directed up the escalator or elevator to baggage claim and all ground transportation. Here you'll also find the rental car counters.

Signs will direct you to the appropriate baggage area for your airline: north terminal baggage claim is to your right; south terminal baggage claim is to your left. Flight numbers flash over the various baggage carousels as the bags roll up the conveyor belt.

Since September 11th 2001, Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport has gone through dramatic changes in its security checkpoints. The Transportation Safety Administration now has Federal screeners at all security checkpoints.

You just never know how long it will take to pass through security. Using this airport often, sometimes I have been in the security line for 45 minutes. At other times it has taken me less than 10 minutes to get through this area. Holidays are expecially bad. Also the morning flights from around 7am-9am and the evening flights from about 3:30pm until 6:30pm or so.

I know a number of folks who have missed their flights because they did not allow enough time for this stage of their flight.

Forewarned is forearmed as they say.

Ticket counters for all airlines are located in the eastern half of the North and South terminals. Extensive curbside baggage check-in is also available in this area.

You can still stand in the old-fashioned ticket counter line as well as check-in yourself and your baggage that way.

But the best way to handle the crowds at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport is to use electronic ticketing. Then, instead of standing in line, you walk up to a nearby computer terminal, where you use your frequent flyer number or scan your credit card, press a few buttons, and in a matter of minutes you are checked in for your flight, you have your boarding pass in hand, you easily check in any baggage you have and you are on your way to the security check and then your gate.

That's the kind of situation that is becoming more and more common at Hartsfield now. Delta, along with some other airlines, has installed computerized terminals where passengers with e-tickets can check themselves in rather than wait in line to talk to a ticketing agent.

Delta alone has installed 32 of the kiosk terminals, 22 of which are at an old ticketing counter where airline agents stand ready to accept checked baggage. Another eight terminals are found on a pair of four-station kiosk quad units designed specifically for passengers who are only taking carry-on bags on their flight, and two more terminals are in the airport MARTA station.

Passengers can use the kiosks to check themselves in for an upcoming flight, as long as it is less than four hours or more than 30 minutes before the departure time. One must only scan a credit card with the name of the passenger listed on the e-ticket, or scan a Delta SkyMiles card used during the ticket purchase, to access the computer terminals.

Hartsfield bears the proud distinction of being "the world’s busiest passenger airport." The Airport has long been known as a major connecting hub serving numerous destinations around the globe. However, its vitality of growth is no longer merely a product of its role as a prime-interlining hub. Each year, an increasing number of air travelers start or finish their journeys in the Southeast region of the United States.

In this region of the United States there is a saying that "Whether you go to heaven or hell, you have to pass through Atlanta's airport to connect!"

Atlanta International Airport's passenger terminal complex consists of the connected North and South terminals, an international facility, 5 domestic concourses, and an underground transit mall. Throughout the complex, all the architectural elements work together to guide passengers to their points of departure. A wide variety of concessions and amenities are located on the two connecting bridges of the terminal and on each concourse.

Hartsfield International Airport is about 45 Football Fields of Elbow Room and Service large.

We drove 13 hours from New Jersey. It was a long drive. Flying would probably be the most convenient since I'm sure Atlanta's airport supports many airlines being that it's a major U.S. hub. A train ride might be fun too!

As a big city, you can get here from almost anywhere on plane. Daily flights departure from Mexico City, and from a lot of places in the US and all over the world.
I would strongly suggest the car rental. It is really a big city, traveling times from one place to another can take you from 20 to 40 minutes, and using a cab could be really expensive.

The HARTSFIELD Airport is excellent. It was renovated before the Olympic Games and it's really nice. It is also the busiest airport in the U.S. Don't worry though. I think it's really well organized and the info is outstanding.

The best way to get here is into Hartsfield International Airport, the busiest airport in the world. If you come into international arrivals, you have to take a train six stops and claim your baggage twice just to get to the main terminal. Luckily you can take the metro (MARTA) directly from the airport - if you happen to be going somewhere on the MARTA line, which isn't too likely. Clark Howard has some of the best travel deals coming to and from Atlanta and other places.
You're on your own here (see my traffic tips elsewhere, including The Atlanta Roadways Digest). On top of the car (or should I say SUV/minivan) problems, Atlanta is not a very pedestrian or biker-friendly city. Like I said, if you own your own helicopter you've got it made. Not being rich, I do not, though I've an XJS that doesn't go anywhere near as fast in Atlanta as it should.