Atlanta airport transfer

[Guest]

Hi there,
Off to Orlando for our first Disney trip 20th this month.
We fly from Manchester to Atlanta and then have a transfer
On to Tampa. Has anybody got any advice on what to expect or has done this transfer before. We have 1.5 hrs to transfer. And from what I believe we will have to get our bags off flight from Manchester and re check them in for onward flight to Tampa. With us not having much time in between flights. I want to be as prepared as I possibly can.
So any advice would be great. Cheers
👍

[TGT]

I've done Atlanta but can't remember specifics but standard procedure is to deplane, do immigration, collect your bags, exit via customs, then re-check-in your bags, change terminals if necessary, before proceeding through security and on to the departure gate.

90mins is tighter than I would like for this - I allow 2.5 hours+ - but on a good day it's usually fine. Check out the airport terminal maps on google and see if you need to change terminals (I think they have a monorail but could be getting mixed up). Hopefully someone here is a regular through Atlanta and can be more specific.

[xcited]

We did this route earlier in the year. As the post above says, then catch the train to the next terminal, they run every couple of minutes. Took us 1 hour from landing to arriving at the next terminal. Atlanta is a very smooth airport to get around.

[xcited]

And the immigration staff are way nicer than at mco or sandford.
Just something else to prepare you for, our cases didn't make the connection on time, and were put on the next flight a couple of hours later. Delta were brilliant and had them delivered to our villa later in the evening.

[ChrisS]

We flew Man to Atl to RSW last Nov. Our VA flight was late departing, left us with circa 65 mins, phew! Only just made it with 5 mins to spare, but as the pilot wanted to be up and away they closed the doors behind us and off we went. What did surprise, our single hold case not only made it but as we saw at RSW had been TSA searched too!

[Guest]

Thanks for he replies folks. Looks like a bit of research
In order.

[joolsleeds]

I’ve done the transfer at ATL a few times, and never had any bother, I’ve done it in less than 90 mins too.

The biggest delay is getting thru immigration, then you’re off! As other posts have said, you’ll clear immigration, pick up your bags, and check them again quite quickly, then jump on the train to one of the domestic terminals.

I would recommend doing your homework on the layout of the terminal, so you have an idea of which direction to go etc. It’s a big place!

One thing I would do is double check that you can check the bags through... sometimes I’ve been told I can’t at time of booking, yet when I get to bag drop, they are checked thru.

[Custancia]

We did this 3 years ago, Manchester to Orlando via Atlanta. It was my first ever indirect flight and I was really nervous! It was absolutely fine. It is a big airport, but there are a lot of connecting flights/passengers so it was very clearly signposted with plenty of staff making sure everyone knew what they were doing. At each stage, immigration, collecting bags, changing terminals using their skytrain, dropping off bags, it was clear what we needed to do next. Bag drop was just a case of sticking our bags in a pile with a chap with a huge trolley...whereas I was expecting a check in style bag drop. They arrived when we did at Orlando though so I needn't have worried!
Enjoy your holiday.

[Guest]

Cheers guys feeling a little less anxious about now.
😁

[mrsshuggie]

anyone done this the other way, we are coming back from MCO to Man via Atlanta and have only 41 mins layover time, Virgin have told me that is enough time but researching this the minimum layover time at Atlanta is 60 minutes so now we are panicking