Atlanta Hartsfield Airport

Arrived after a 12 hour flight from Malta/London feeling nauseous and not that good. Little did we realise that it would take another 2 hours to get out of the airport! The usual interrogation at immigration then the inexplicable procedure of collecting your baggage only to have it taken away again with no explanation of how to collect it. Then another 45 minutes standing in line to go through security just to leave the airport. Can someone please explain why this is necessary as no-one seemed to have a good explanation as to why we had to suffer this ordeal. Then we were directed to a tube-train crammed with people and when we eventually arrived at the baggage reclaim there was our daughter and son-in-law (who live in the States and had come to meet us) standing with all our bags which they had collected for us!!! Some security - anyone could have walked off with it. I will never go there again - it was a nightmare and I still see no reason for it.

What a nightmare place! Immigration officials who suddenly leave their desks to go on a break without a word leaving a bewildered queue. Your luggage snatched away from you within seconds of retrieving it without any clear idea given of where or when you will ever see it again. Having to go through full security just to get out of the airport. Officials barking orders left right and centre. Never again if I can help it.

I have traveled through many airports over the years and employees of Hartsfield Airport are the rudest I have seen. They act as if they hate their jobs and bark orders at people. Customer service is not part of the job skill. It's a shame because the rest of the south have warm and welcoming people with great attitudes. I would not recommend going through this airport unless there is no other choice.

Went thru Atlanta from Frankfurt to San Diego. Customs was empty thus pretty fast though the USA treats its visitors like potential threats. Hand screen iris screen what is next? Footprints? Getting the checked in luggage took quite a while checking back was fast. Only downpart is the security check right after. Did not we just got off a plane? Anyway all facilities decent ground transportation is efficient and layover can be rather short without being afraid to miss connection.

Southern hospitality it was not at Atlanta Jackson-Hartsfield airport! Upon arrival from Amsterdam we reclaimed our baggage - and then told we had to queue and go through security again Plus we had our baggage screened and taken away from us to be reclaimed a second time around! What was the point? Were they afraid that passengers who got off after a safe flight might hijack the bus or something? I am all for security but this was craziness banking on paranoia. As far as I know no other US international airport does that. The staff at security and customs were also rude and unwelcoming shouting and ordering at passengers like badly-trained prison officers. I will avoid Atlanta Jackson-Hartsfield like the plague. The airport does not know how to make visitors feel welcome.

I have used this airport for over 20 years to catch connecting flights to PA. Only once did I use it for outbound international travel so have not experienced the inbound international travel situation as described by others (I re-entered the US via EWR). I have always encountered courteous employees throughout the airport and I think the layout of the airport was well-planned I especially like the subway that connects the terminal and all the concourses together. And I really like how you can go from concourse to concourse withOUT having to go through security again like I experienced at a major European airport. Also I like the many dining options available in every concourse. Rarely have I experienced any flight delays as I normally fly in the early morning hours to avoid any weather-related issues like those that usually occur in summer afternoons! Last month I chose to travel in the afternoon and sure enough our inbound flight was put into a holding pattern for approx. 15 mins and the outbound flight sat at the gate for 20 mins before backing out due to the local weather situation. Now with all that said the only real drawback I can find is the lack of moving sidewalks in the concourses. I do realize there are moving sidewalks parallel to the subway line but I think with the length of the concourses moving sidewalks would have been included as well!

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.

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.

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.