# 2 hours to get from domestic to international terminal in Atlanta, doable? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687 "2015-04-14T22:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/1 "2015-04-14T22:01:34Z")
I’m taking a Delta flight from O’Hare to Atlanta arriving at 4:36 pm on a Saturday in May. I then need to connect to a Virgin Atlantic flight to Manchester, England, leaving at 7:10. Can I do this ? I looked today and the incoming Delta flight landed at gate 55C. It’s all in one ticket booked though Virgin so I shouldn’t have to redo security changing terminals in Atlanta, right? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/2 "2015-04-14T23:39:53Z")
It’s a big airport but it’s not THAT big. I’ve done that trip in twenty minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/3 "2015-04-14T23:53:40Z")
Take the shuttle. Forgo the African sculptures. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/4 "2015-04-15T00:07:38Z")
You’ll have time to stop and eat plus some shopping. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/5 "2015-04-15T00:39:39Z")
Domestic to international, no problem. It’s the other way around that causes problems, when you have to go through immigration and customs. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/6 "2015-04-15T00:48:29Z")
Absolutely. They’re not that far apart. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/7 "2015-04-15T02:14:56Z")
What **TroutMan** said, going out two hours is leisurely, coming IN I’d want a minimum of 4 and hope everything moved as programmed. Between concourses the inter-terminal subway takes you w/o exiting the security zone. Biggest concern would be a delay of your first leg and as it stands you have as much as an hour’s buffer to play with. Hartsfield is optimized to operate as a connecting hub. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/8 "2015-04-15T02:36:14Z")
They allow international flights out of Georgia? Isn’t that considered un-American? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/9 "2015-04-15T03:02:27Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > They allow international flights out of Georgia? Isn’t that considered un-American? Don’t worry, the flights are exclusively deportations and soldiers returning from overseas. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/10 "2015-04-15T03:20:27Z")
Keep an eye on the weather that day. My family and I spent an extra day in Atlanta on a trip to Rio de Janeiro—our domestic flight left Newark a few hours late due to storms that were nowhere near New Jersey, and we arrived minutes after the Rio flight had departed. If you end up in that situation, don’t bother waiting in line at the ticket counter, just call your airline from the domestic plane as soon as they allow cell phone use. Weather delays suck since the airlines don’t have to compensate you for them (e.g. no hotel vouchers). ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/11 "2015-04-15T12:43:52Z")
You’ll be fine. You’d be fine with half the time. ATL is enormous, but it’s very walkable, even if you don’t want to use the moving sidewalks or the shuttle or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/12 "2015-04-15T12:58:58Z")
I’m no flyer, but what airport CAN’T you traverse in 2 hours? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/13 "2015-04-15T13:51:55Z")
> [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](#): > > Don’t worry, the flights are exclusively deportations and soldiers returning from overseas. Hey, come on now, we’re not Arizona. We don’t deport our undocumented; we lock 'em up. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/14 "2015-04-15T14:06:30Z")
[This site](http://www.ifly.com/hartsfield-jackson-atlanta-international/terminal-map)has a diagram of the ATL airport layout, including the new(ish) international terminal. Per the site: > [@](#): > > The passenger terminal complex at Atlanta Airport consists of two main terminals - (a) the Domestic Terminal (with North & South ‘Terminals’) and Concourses T, A, B, C & D, and (b) the International Terminal (‘Maynard Jackson Terminal’ or IT / TI) with Concourses E & F. The International Terminal (on Aviation Blvd., near Loop Road) is one mile from the Domestic Terminal - connected by free underground Plane Train serving all domestic & international Concourses. From concourse C you are about half way between the domestic terminal and international terminal, a distance of about .65 mile (it’s 1.3 miles from the terminal building to international concourse F, or roughly 1000 feet between concourses). Be aware, however, that coming back the walk and time involved may be much longer. If your arrival gate is in concourse E, which still handles about 10% of incoming international flights, you’ll have a up to a half mile walk, depending on the gate, to get to the customs check point in concourse F. Then, after waiting in line, you still have to get from there back to your connection concourse/gate. That whole process takes a lot of time. TL/DR - As other have said, 2 hours is plenty of time going out, cutting it close coming back. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/15 "2015-04-15T14:14:55Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m no flyer, but what airport CAN’T you traverse in 2 hours? Not all airports have transportation/paths between terminals, AFTER security. So you could find yourself in another 90 minute security line if you have to change terminals. Logan airport in Boston is like this. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/16 "2015-04-15T14:23:27Z")
ETA: need to type faster … > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m no flyer, but what airport CAN’T you traverse in 2 hours? Any airport where you have to wait in line once for immigration, then wait for baggage claim, then in line again for customs and finally one more line for security. Which is exactly the standard rigamarole when arriving in any country from another country and then continuing your journey domestically in the new country. Thankfully that’s not the OP’s situation. But it will be when they return from Manchester UK. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hours-to-get-from-domestic-to-international-terminal-in-atlanta-doable/717687/17 "2015-04-15T22:30:29Z")
I’m actually taking a direct flight back from Heathrow to O’Hare so thankfully I won’t have to deal with connections on the return. I was surprised that Virgin Atlantic didn’t offer non stop from ORD to MAN.