ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 26 May 2009 : by Bill Atkins

Customer Rating : 4/5

Atlanta is one of the rare airports where someone seems to keep evaluating how to make things better for travellers. It is very crowded sometimes and seating in the Food Court pre-security can be short at peak times. However the whole check-in/security/transportation deal is well- organized and most people involved are polite and friendly.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 25 May 2009 : by Ralf Klein

Customer Rating : 4/5

Considered that ATL is a very large and busy airport I think it is amazing how fast one actually gets through immigration, baggage claim, customs, baggage recheck and security screening. I really appreciated that the last few times I used ATL as a port-of-entry when travelling to the US. I also like the airport lounges in Concourse E and the food court. Another plus is the quick train connecting all concourses.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 25 May 2009 : by M Steinfeld

Customer Rating : 4/5

Hartsfield seems to be kind of a hit-or-miss deal. If you're connecting, leave plenty of time (don't take a 30-45min layover, because it won't be enough if things start going wrong). When arriving/ departing from Atlanta (ie. not connecting through), I have never had a problem. Sometimes it takes bags a while to display in the terminal, but other than that, the ground is usually as efficient as possible. However, for connecting flights, the major issue seems to be weather. On a good-weather day, I never have problems. But once bad weather hits, everything starts to break down. Delta has always been good to me if I needed to rebook, but again, all we can do as passengers is to give ourselves a decent layover time to account for the possible delay. Overall, the facilities are pretty good compared to other US airports. Especially Terminal E. There's plenty of food options, as well as decent shopping. The airport staff is usually extremely nice and always helpful - just be polite. But as with all airports, I've found that those passengers who plan ahead and know what to do if there's an unexpected delay, etc. are the same people that are least impacted by that delay.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 18 February 2009 : by J Walton

Customer Rating : 1/5

So much for southern hospitality! I live in the Atlanta area and I hate and avoid this airport like a plague! If you have to pick up anyone from an arriving flight bring plenty of patience with you. The patrolmen directing traffic are the rudest I have encountered. They do not know how to relay what they want you to do, they only want you moving - people in the crosswalks? Run over them - that is what I was directed to do on 3 separate occasions! When I did not listen to the officers demand to continue on through the pedestrians he demanded I fight my way to the curb in my car, to give me a tongue lashing threatening to give me a ticket for holding up traffic - what a joke! I am not amused by this airport at all. Rarely is anyone helpful. Thank God for Birmingham. It is worth the extra hour I have to drive to get there. The people are nice and helpful and they have a wonderful idea - the cell lot! This is a place you can sit waiting on arriving planes in your car. An information board is set up so you can see arriving flights and you can wait there to receive a call from your passengers without driving around the airport making more traffic.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 27 January 2009 : by Roy Manry

Customer Rating : 2/5

This should be a warning to anyone arriving Atlanta Hartsfield concourse E that has to clear customs. Two things are needed, patience and a xanax! If it's busy, hang it up. After arriving from France and clearing customs, they took us apart again at security even confiscating small bottles of water Delta had given us prior to landing. Also saw wine and duty free confiscated. Really stupid. When will the US get over this paranoia complex?

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 19 January 2009 : by S Koenig

Customer Rating : 3/5

Arriving on an international flight, the usual procedures are followed: go through Immigration, pick up check bags at a baggage carousel, then go through Customs. At many airports one would then simply go to a transit desk (if taking a connecting flight) or leave the airport (if not taking a connecting flight). However, even if departing the Atlanta airport (we were staying at a nearby hotel and taking a connecting flight the following morning), one has to take their bags to an attendant to be shipped on the intra-airport train, and then go through security before boarding the train, then ride the train to the main terminal and wait for one's bags at the baggage carousels. Confusing. This is a very big and very busy airport.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 20 December 2008 : by M Anderson

Customer Rating : 4/5

Landing and clearing immigration at Concourse E I have always found to be quite quick compared to other major US airports. At least for Delta your luggage for international flights usually pops out on the carousel about 20 to 25 minutes after your flight begins disembarking. Immigration officials here are quite courteous and efficient in my opinion. After picking up luggage, tyhen handing a customs official your customs declaration Delta has it's own luggage handling checkin for ongoing connections which is quite nice. But as noted in some other posts the security personnel with TSA here in Atlanta are the rudest I have experienced on many occasions. Don't get far from your belongings as when things drop from the Xray transfer belts they even have laughed at times. All in all clearing immigration and transfers to ongoing flights is quite easy in Atlanta. Any veteran traveller should have no problems, but then again actually reading signs where to go helps wonders.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 26 November 2008 : by E Eriksen

Customer Rating : 2/5

ATL is deplorable because it has such a record of delays and congestion. Why don't they construct a second airport and relieve some of the horrible congestion at ATL? I avoid ATL at all costs. Of course, part of this is that Delta has so significantly declined in its quality.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 9 October 2008 : by G McGowan

Customer Rating : 2/5

I avoid ATL like the plague. The only thing keeping me from giving it one star is the terminals are not run down like old DTW or MSY. However there are frequent delays and because of the layout of the runways it is possible to spend 30 minutes or more taxiing to the gate, which can be a serious problem if you have a tight connection. Once inside, the concourses themselves are extremely crowded and since there are no moving sidewalks it seems like you are at the running of the bulls in Pamplona - except there are no bulls, just many harried travelers rushing to make their connections.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 27 August 2008 : by D Iles

Customer Rating : 2/5

Have used Atlanta on number of occasions as entry point to USA, starting holiday and this year saw a marked downturn in service. Upon arrival at immigration waited approx. 45 mins and whilst familiar with need to recheck bags was surprised to see several hundred suitcases waiting to make the journey to their final collection point. Having waited some 30 mins for the bags to arrive I spoke with a staff member in the baggage hall and whilst very polite he indicated I could wait up to 90mins for the cases to make the 1800m journey from the international terminal, E, to the main collection area. Appreciate Atlanta is busy but they really must look at their inbound baggage handling systems as this surely cannot be the best they can do? Return trip yesterday to LGW was very easy though no queues at checkin nor security so it can be done

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 27 August 2008 : by L Moulton

Customer Rating : 3/5

I have flown through this airport 20 or 30 times and had different experiences. There are a few good things about this airport one being you can almost always make a connection no matter how short your layover is (I once had a 20 minute layover for a flight to London-made the flight and luggage made it as well) due to lots of frequent transport between the terminals. There are also plenty of restrooms throughout the terminals (something I've found lacking in a few nicer airports). Now-on to the bad. The airconditioning system is a hit or miss, not a good thing for Northern Georgia, The restaurants are usually very crowded and many times I've had to wait 20 minutes for a table. The passport control and customs area is a nightmare - especially on a day the aircon isn't working. Overall this is an ok airport but I'd recommend another such as JFK, Detroit, Washington.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 21 August 2008 : by M Brown

Customer Rating : 5/5

One of the best airports I have used. Staff were extremely helpful and friendly. Facilities were excellent and included places to recharge electrical items and free wifi in certain areas. The quality of food was excellent (not just the usual fast food junk) and this was the case after security as well which is often not the case. The airport was easy to get around and was very clean. Departures were prompt. A really enjoyable experience.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 5 August 2008 : by K Morgan

Customer Rating : 1/5

I give this airport such a poor rating because it's the only airport I have been to anywhere in the world where you have to wait for your bags twice if you arrive on an international flight. You have one wait to get your bags before clearing customs, then after you clear you must give your bags back and pick them up again at the main baggage claim and this second wait is always much longer than the initial wait. Considering every other airport in the world is able to figure out a way for you to only wait one time for your bag I find this totally unacceptable. This airport is basically a big domestic regional hub and not a true international airport.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 30 June 2008 : by S Srinivasan

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recently went through Hartsfield on a day trip from Dallas, and have used this airport a few other times over the past year or so. I really didn't have an issue with the arrivals/departures area outside, as I decided to use the MARTA train to get downtown (a great system, by the way - the station is right outside the terminal door and gets you downtown in 15 minutes). They also appear to have opened a new security checkpoint at the far end of the terminal, by the American ticket counters, which didn't have much of a line to it (surprising for 5:45 in the evening). This airport also doesn't seem to have trouble with ATC delays, unless the weather is acting up, and I've never had problems transiting despite the airport's monstrous size. On the other hand, I've been stuck in horrendous security lines on other trips, the main problem being only one checkpoint (apparently now there's two) for the entire airport in the main terminal. Food choices, especially at the T gates, are also dismal, though I guess no worse than other airports. Taxi times to/from the gate can sometimes be a problem, though - and much like DFW, ATL seems to suffer from incompetent ground crews, who can't seem to get the gates ready by the time a flight arrives.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 30 June 2008 : by Mitchell Baird

Customer Rating : 4/5

Yes security is long, but its just a tad worse then at other airports. As a local area resident I rarely have trouble navigating the airport - a couple of years ago T-gates and baggage were at the same stop, now they aren't. Here are some tips. first the gate your flight departs will have a letter and a number in the name. The letter is the concourse that you want to get off at. when you get off the train look up for signs, usually their is a map at each train station. If your flight is at the end of the concourse and you begin to feel out of breath, then get onto one of the many courtesy golf carts that are driving around. And finally the best tip, if you get lost or confused ask an airline or airport employee as they will gladly direct you to where you would like to go.

ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT review : 30 May 2008 : by M Schnaufer

Customer Rating : 4/5

I recently used Atlanta as a transfer point on my way from Vienna to New Orleans. Immigration was the breeziest I have experienced for a long time as I only waited 10 minutes. Baggage arrived without any mentionable waiting time - US customs quick in processing the lined passengers and recheck of my bags took a moment. On my way back I had to kill eight hours which I spent in Downtown Atlanta - easily accessable by MARTA subway. Security checks in the main terminal to get back to concourse E took approximately 15 minutes. Good food choices and well-stocked duty-free shops. I have seen more exciting airports than Atlanta, but more boring ones as well.

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by William Bone

17 March 2008   Customer Rating :

Its the worst airport and its supposed to be fairly new. When your plane finally lands you drive around for 30 min for the pilot to find a parking place. I fly Delta a lot and they used to be better but I think most of the problems I've had weren't necessarily because of the airline but the airport. The airport is fairly new yet they couldn't get put in moving sidewalks. Good luck if you get dumped at a far end of the terminal and your next flight is at the other end or usually in another terminal. Getting between terminals is easy but then getting from one end of a terminal to another is about 4 miles, or so it seems.

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by A Taveira

16 March 2008   Customer Rating :

I had the horrible experience of going through ATL this month. Departures wasn't so bad, but Arrivals was horrible. Too much confusion, there are no signs for baggage claims on the trains or anywhere near the stations, immigration was a mess. I have never seen such a huge line, and I fly international in and out of JFK and EWR. But what took the cake was security to leave the airport. I have never seen such a thing in my life. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Maybe someone can explain this one to me.

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by D Banks

12 March 2008   Customer Rating :

The set-up and operation of the security entrance is poorly managed. Passengers are divided up into narrow entry lanes that zig-zag endlessly until you finally reach a x-ray machines. Security personnel search you over and over again - I was body searched in the exact same sequence four times. Security guards the rudest I've ever met. The signage is confusing. The trains list A, B, C, D, E, and T concourses as destinations but not baggage or terminal. I spent quite a while wandering around trying to figure out how to get out of the terminal. Hotel shuttle buses have to navigate a narrow lane with lots of diagonal parking spaces. it takes a huge amount of time to get in and out of the airport via hotel shuttle buses. Outside the security entrance, the food court restaurants offer a fairly diverse choice of meals at not-too-expensive prices. Once you get past the security entrance, the prices of food go through the roof. I suspect that these restauranteurs know that you won't want to exit to the outer lobby for a meal and then go through the security maze again, so they feel no need to offer any reasonable price meals. I was stuck in Atlanta Airport for over almost 48 hours because of cancelled flights due to snow emergencies. It was a bad dream that is taking me a while to recover from. If you value your sanity, avoid Atlanta airport.

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by A Bonelli

12 February 2008   Customer Rating :

The layout is very simple and logical. Yes the concourses are a bit long but not any worse than airports of its size. You enter in the MIDDLE of the concourse which makes sense. My flight came into A13 and my connecting flight was C33. Considering Delta gave me a connection time of only 40 minutes I was a bit worried but I made it over to C in about 10 minutes. I also like the renovations. Much brighter than before and new tiles also makes the place look a bit updated.

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by M Bodin

31 January 2008   Customer Rating :

I have flown through Altlanta's Hartsfield airport for many years. In recent years the aiport has become overcrowded and chaotic. A recent trip through Hartsfield left me winded as I had to sprint from concourse B to concourse E when they changed gate. No announcement, no warning, in fact an announcement about a flight to Peoria had supposedly been changed to gate E35 - but it turned out to be my flight! In concourse B terminals showed my new gate number E35 - but as I raced (swift walk, can't run in airports anymore!) through the underground the terminals said my flight was at the original gate number. When I got to E35 they confirmed that this was the gate for my flight. Nothing on the display - and 10 minutes later they started boarding. I wonder how many folks got to spend additional hours waiting for the next flight?

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by Justin Cidonia

17 January 2008   Customer Rating :

It is the worlds busiest airport getting 86.8 million passengers a year. And the recent renovation looks amazing when compared to what it look liked before. Don't miss the MLK artifacts in Concourse E. Concourse F is to be located on the east side of the airport Arriving international passengers whose final destination is Atlanta will be able to retain possession of their baggage as they proceed to exit the airport through the new entrance. It is expected to open in 2010 at the earliest. When built, Jackson International Terminal (Concourse F) will have 10 new gates: F1 - F10, and a new customs facility. The South Gate Complex (name unofficial) is scheduled to be built after completion of the JIT. This new terminal is planned to have up to 70 gates.

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by T Jackson

8 January 2008   Customer Rating :

As an Atlanta resident, I feel very fortunate to have an airport such as Hartsfield-Jackson minutes away from my home. As a connecting airport, Atlanta is wonderful. Unlike many of its northern counterparts (NYC area airports, ORD, DEN, etc.), ATL does not suffer chronic weather delays. Getting from concourse to concourse is a breeze, using the automated people mover system. Also, the art exhibit between the T-Gates and Concourse A in the underground walkway is interesting. Not to mention, there are plenty of dining and shopping choices. Immigration queues (at least for US residents) tend to be short. As a destination airport, ATL stands for a little improvement. Baggage claim can be a mess as claim carousels can be jammed with people from a multitude of flights. (Delta and AirTran are currently updating their baggage systems and carousels - hopefully improvement is not to far off.) Traffic congestion in the pick-up/dropoff area is awful. The best way to get around this, however, is to take MARTA (Atlanta's subway/light rail system). The station is located within the terminal and it can have you in downtown in less than 20 minutes. All in all, this airport is a great airport. While it may not be the prettiest airport to look at, it is functional and efficient.

Atlanta Hartsfield Airport review by J Baum

4 January 2008   Customer Rating :

Hartsfield Airport is one of the worst designed and most poorly managed of large airports. Just a few of anecdotes from recent visits: I arrived on a weekday mid-afternoon from Charlotte hoping to get picked up and out of the airport before rush hour. But my bags from Continental were late in getting delivered to the carrousel, where 12 other flights also had bags arriving at the same places! In addition, no passengers from an international flight which came in an hour earlier had picked up their bags from the same carrousel because of delays in immigration, so lots of bags were going piling up and getting knocked off from the overload. No one was there to manage the chaos. Meanwhile, carrousels on either side of ours were empty. No was in charge. Also, be sure to bring your cell phone. Airport pay phones don't work! I tried at least 10 of them, running out of coins in the process, before being kindly directed to a free phone at an obscure service desk. One more thing: the concourse trains are poorly signed and the announcements reveal very little useful information. Even locals didn't know what stop to get off for baggage claim, and we scrambled to run out the doors when we realized that an extra stop had been added recently which was beyond the baggage claim station. Also, no other large airport I know has arrivals and departures curbs adjacent to each other, causing chaotic traffic. In short, this airport is a mess.