New entry from I-75
Longtime TICKET reader Daniel Woodruff was one of 1,600 volunteers chosen to take Atlanta’s new International Concourse F on a test drive this week. The new concourse will officially open on May 16. We were able to grab Daniel for a few minutes of Q&A about his experience at the trial and got some great insight that we’ve not heard anywhere else:
Q: What’s the most surprising thing you learned about the new terminal that you think business travelers need to know?
A: That not all international flights will actually depart from this terminal. While everyone will check in here, some international flights will still depart from Concourse E, necessitating a walk or train ride through the concourse tunnel.
Q: What are your thoughts about taking the shuttle bus vs the airport train between F and the main terminal?
A: The train will be faster, but travelers need to be checked in already to take it. The biggest issue with the shuttle bus is going to be the time and effort needed for travelers checking in rental cars or arriving via MARTA who then need to move all their luggage and themselves over to F to check in. [The airport says that the shuttle bus ride between F and Main is 12 mins; 15 mins to the car rental center.]
Q: Overall, do you feel that this is an improvement over Terminal E?
A: Very much so, and in two significant ways. First, inbound travelers with Atlanta as their final destination will not have to re-check their luggage after clearing customs and immigration only to reclaim it again as they do now – that added over an hour to my last return from London. Second, this terminal will offer more truly “international” amenities, such as short-term rest facilities and common lounge areas for travelers with long wait periods.
Q: What advice would you give a business traveler heading out on an international flight in June?
The biggest thing to remember is to plan out your new route to the airport! The new terminal is located off of I-75, so heavy-duty travelers can’t just go on autopilot when they drive to the airport for their International flight. And when they return, they need to be very careful getting onto I-75 again – the HOV on-ramps are easy to mistake for the regular ramps, and a ticket isn’t a great way to end a long International journey!
Daniel Woodruff is a 48 year old marketing communications consultant with extensive experience in the hospitality industry. A native of San Francisco, he has called the Brookhaven neighborhood of Atlanta home for the past 18 years. As a former road warrior, he now only travels once or twice per month and enjoys the extended time at home. When he does travel, his favorite destinations are California and Europe and his favorite seats are lie-flat business or first-class seats and his least favorite are business class recliner seats. The one flight schedule he’d add to the current Atlanta roster would be a daytime flight to London!
Stay tuned for more coverage from The TICKET as the opening date approaches. In the meantime, do you have any questions about the new international terminal? If so leave them below and we’ll try to get an answer for you.
I learned today when leaving the ATL international airport, getting back onto I75 can be expensive.
If you’re not familiar with the area, it’s very easy to end up in the HOV turn lane . The signage indicating the left turn for I75 North is an HOV on ramp doesn’t provide drivers enough opportunity to safely move out of the turning lane.
Clayton county Officers sit at this particular HOV on ramp pulling over vehicles three or four at a time. Clayton county officers must issue hundreds if not thousands of tickets each week.
Has anyone disputed their traffic ticket?
Stephen: Regrettably, once you’ve cleared customs and exited the airport at Conc F, you cannot board the train for a ride to the main terminal. It’s because the train is in a “sterile area” and once you’ve exited customs, you are outside the sterile area. Therefore, the only way to get back to the main terminal is by the shuttle bus. STAY TUNED FOR A FULL Q&A WITH ATL AIRPORT OFFICIALS ABOUT THE NEW CONCOURSE F COMING SOON IN THE TICKET!
Chris, I’d like to know: when one returns to Atlanta on an international flight into Concourse F, will he/she be able to catch the plane train at F to Delta’s baggage claim at South Terminal after clearing customs. Many MARTA riders would find this to be convenient. I am hoping that you don’t have to take the Shuttle bus back to that terminal but I am thinking that you will.
What a hot communications mess. And one thing that I have always loved about Hartsfield is that you haven’t had to deal with a shuttle bus. Looks like those days are over. Sounds like the plane train is totally useless if you are departing Atlanta and need to get to Concourse F.
Look forward to some clarification on some of the questions above. Until some granular details come in I am having flashbacks to some bad experiences at Charles DeGaulle.
By the way, as we toured and explored the new terminal and Concourse F last Wednesday, we looked for the you Chris! Guess you were not there. 🙁 I wonder how the Open House on Saturday went.
I too was one of the 1600 who joined the simulation. The new terminal is awesome!
“I ALWAYS take MARTA to the airport and assumed I would take the newly named plane train from the main terminal to either E or F for international flights. Is he saying I have to START, that my entry point to the airport, is at F?” — If you arrive by MARTA for an international flight, you have to take a shuttle bus to the international terminal for check-in. And, that was far from a smooth process during the sim. Also, if returning a rental car, you get to ride a shuttle bus instead of the automated rail.
“* if ATL is our home, how do we learn where our plane leaves from? F could only handle about 1/3 of total international departures so this is not a major impact.
* gate announcements are always changing…how would one learn of a change and what mess would result”
— No change from how you learn about gate assignments today. You get your gate assignment when checking in online and on boards at ATL. All international departures use the new terminal for checkin regardless of gate though so it is a non-issue.
“* what is the availability and price of parking on the F side?” — There is a Park & Ride garage which is $12/day and an hourly lot. I think $12 is a bit steep, but it is a very short ride, and they are selling it as covered parking. I saw no other options. And, many of the private lots on I-85 will not shuttle to the new terminal meaning you will need to take the ATL shuttle to the new terminal.
“* go into the details of this “train” from F to E; I returned from Europe last week and didn’t see any noticable extension of the plane train from E…I assume this is another train?
* can one simply change from the E/F train to the T/E train by walking out of one and into another?”
— The Plane Train is simply getting extended to F.
“* will there now be 2 locations that do immigration entry and customes? I can’t believe they will scotch the huge one in E. What will arrivals in F use? Will there be another one?” — There is a new CBP facility in F. It will be used in conjunction with the existing one on E.
“Great interview, useful info. As one of the 1600 who joined the simulation, I add one glitch that I personally experienced. At the check-in kiosk, you can choose to use various ID options including passport. If you use passport, it identifies you and all your flight information correctly, but does not pick up your frequent flier info. Result: you risk not getting miles credit and status (early boarding etc.) treatment. Helper had to re-do it and enter my frequent flier number into the kiosk and print a new boarding pass.” — I don’t think any FF info was included on the tickets as it wasn’t requested on the volunteer forms. I had no trouble adding mine though at check-in using my passport to access my res.
The signage getting back to I-75 definitely needs improvement. Also the exit route from the Park & Ride lot is terrible as it forces you to head toward the terminal instead of turning left.
I feel for all of the Delta TechOps folks who will now have to deal with all of the new terminal traffic when getting to and from work. And, travelers better watch out if arriving or departing anytime around a shift change.
Reading about the head-on collision possibility really makes me want to fly back into atl after a long international flight. What about business travelers flying into atl and not realizing they are in an hov lane? Is this just a ploy on the part of the city of atl to collect additional revenue that a business traveler isn’t going to want to fight? Can you tell how cynical I am such “add-on”?
We also noticed the EXIT ramp just before and side by side with the north ON ramp. It needs more than just a “wrong way” sign!
Sent via email from Richard:
Great interview, useful info. As one of the 1600 who joined the simulation, I add one glitch that I personally experienced. At the check-in kiosk, you can choose to use various ID options including passport. If you use passport, it identifies you and all your flight information correctly, but does not pick up your frequent flier info. Result: you risk not getting miles credit and status (early boarding etc.) treatment. Helper had to re-do it and enter my frequent flier number into the kiosk and print a new boarding pass.
Driving back towards I-75, there is a potentially fatal turn onto the on-ramp that first presents you with an opportunity to turn on going the wrong way IMMEDIATELY before the correct lane. Head on collision very easy for folks unfamiliar with that entrance.
Bob,
Thank you! At least that makes sense.
Bob,
The simple answer as to why you have to reclear security after arriving international. The reason is you have access to your checked bags. Without the requirement to go back through security, nothing would stop you from pulling out a weapon in your checked bag and then carrying it to your connecting flight. Because you must claim your bag and go through customs with your bag, you have to be screened after having access to your bag and dropping your bag off.
With terminal F, you will be able to leave customs and exit the airport with your bags without having to enter a sterile area of the airport.
THanks Jim and everyone else! Sounds like the airport has got its comms work cut out for the next few weeks. We are hoping to have a full Q&A with airport authorities published in The TICKET in the coming week. Stay tuned. Keep the questions coming! — cheers, Chris
Chris,
There is a large need for a much fuller explanation of how this F terminal will work. Enough with the comments of nice ceilings. We travel warriors need a comprehensive discussion of each permutation of travel:
* if ATL is our home, how do we learn where our plane leaves from? F could only handle about 1/3 of total international departures so this is not a major impact.
* gate announcements are always changing…how would one learn of a change and what mess would result
* what is the availability and price of parking on the F side?
* what are the logistics if an ATL person parks at F and their flight ends up being E or something else?
* will international flights still leave from T?
* go into the details of this “train” from F to E; I returned from Europe last week and didn’t see any noticable extension of the plane train from E…I assume this is another train?
* can one simply change from the E/F train to the T/E train by walking out of one and into another?
* what does “checking in” mean? We can already do this on line…what does it mean if we read “you cannot check in in the main terminal”…is this just checking luggage?
* if someone parks and enters the current main terminal and you learn it’s an F flight, what happens? Where would you check luggage? Do they make you go on some bus for a ride to the other side of the airport?!?
* I will buy anyone a dinner that can walk out of the main terminal and be walking into the F terminal in 15 mintutes. I bet you have to wait 15 mintues just to board the next “bus.” What if there are 200 people waiting to step onto this bus? Last time I took a bus with luggage it took 20 minutes just to load. I’d put this as a minimum 45 minute event. Wouldn’t it be incredible if ATL spent $100+ million and we ended up riding busses in traffic?
* will there now be 2 locations that do immigration entry and customes? I can’t believe they will scotch the huge one in E. What will arrivals in F use? Will there be another one?
* many more questions that a good query of frequent travelers would ask. I didn’t even get into those that non-ATL living people would have. Someone at ATL better be doing some serious planning and communicating if they want to avoid a logistical mess. And, they better get going quickly – I haven’t a clue on any of the above and I have been looking for this.
I was also one of the 1600 (great experience by the way – even with problems on my AF flt to Mumbai) and after reading the interview with Daniel, I am now confused.
I ALWAYS take MARTA to the airport and assumed I would take the newly named plane train from the main terminal to either E or F for international flights. Is he saying I have to START, that my entry point to the airport, is at F?
That would be as dumb as rechecking luggage at E to get the the main terminal (yet another reason for carry on luggage – it does not have to be rechecked)
By the way, what is the justification for having to recheck luggage, anyway? I think it is just to trap unwary travelers who buy liquids in duty free only to have them confiscated. Anyway…
Bob Ames asked about clearing security when in-bound, saying no one has ever explained. That’s because in-bound international (until May 16) requires you to enter a secured area of a U.S. airport. U.S. Homeland doesn’t trust international security to have properly screen people from entering the U.S. domestic air system. Even though you already took a flight, it wasn’t a domestic flight. This isn’t at all unusual. For instance, when you leave ATL and land in Tokyo or Seoul and connect to another flight, you will also clear security again. When you fly Tokyo to Detroit and connect to Atlanta, you will clear security in Detroit. etc.
I presume beginning May 16, you will still clear security inbound if you want to connect to a domestic carrier. If you are simply exiting the airport, you’ll only clear immigration and customs, but not Homeland Security screening. ATL’s old set up didn’t allow for this.
Why won’t travelers be allowed to check-in for international flights at the main terminal? This makes no sense. Especially on a tight schedule from returning a rental car etc? There is no way the shuttle bus can be run in 12 min during rush/peak hours. Not unless they have a special road to travel across airport property.
Did not say if going through security AGAIN just to get out of the terminal
is required as in Termn. E. That is the biggest delay and nobocy has ever explained why it is required…
What’s the answer…, please…?
Bob
I toured it back in mid February with the general manager of the development at an HVC event. It was beautiful, I have been too busy to post photos – the Sky Club is believed to maybe have an outside area to sit and watch planes. Though no one has confirmed.
I fly out on KE on 5/18, and I think with their 12 gates, and DL having 5 (all when you first walk in), it’s going to be fantastic. Also great you can check in for domestic their too.
Funny how the train is now called the “plane train” – Freeway exit signs all setup as well!