KDS

I have had many itineraries where ATL is my first US port-of-call, and I then continue to other locations via connecting, domestic flights. The TSA checkpoint between customs desk and the gates does not have a PreCheck lane nor PreCheck "Lite".

I'm considering doing something a bit different the next time I go through ATL -- namely, go through customs, drop my bag with airline for my domestic flight, go through the exit door to leave the area (as if I had no connecting flight), and then go to the regular TSA checkpoint that does have PreCheck.

Has anyone done this? Any thoughts or cautions about this idea?

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Done regularly at many different airports.

lmsalman

This may not work in ATL depending on whether your flight arrives at E or F. If you arrive at E the passengers are split depending on whether you're connecting or ATL is your final destination. If you arrive in E and are connecting you go through customs and clear security in E, however if you arrive in E and ATL is your final destination you go through customs in Terminal F which allows you to leave the airport without needing to clear security. If you arrive you E and are connecting there is no way to leave the airport after customs but before the TSA checkpoint.

KDS

Thank you for this information.

Assuming I have a long enough layover time after arriving in Concourse E, wouldn't it be possible to go into the line with no connections, go through immigration/customs that way, leave the sterile area with my checked bag, and then recheck the bag with Delta ticket counter and go back through security for my connecting flight?

MSPeconomist

Not if you have a checked bag. The checked bags for connecting passengers are sent to E not F. I don't think DL will let you "short check" a bag to only ATL if you're connecting unless you have a very long connection there.

Depending on the time you arrive, F might not have open TSA SkyPriorty or PreCheck lines. You can take a bus to the main terminal and do security there, but service isn't very frequent and this can be a hassle.

lmsalman

This is exactly right. Checked bags are sent to different places depending on whether you're connecting or final destination is ATL. You can go to F as if you're not connecting, but your bag won't.

KDS

Thanks for the information about the ATL international arrival area. I came through ATL today; plane landed at gate in E concourse, and as noted above, connecting passengers were sent to E for immigration/customs, and non-connecting passengers were sent to F.

To my surprise, there now is a PreCheck lane in the E international TSA checkpoint. My last trip through here was in April, and there was no such lane then. So it appears that ATL has been "improved" for the international TSA checkpoint.

KDS

I must have been delirious when I wrote the above statement. The TSA "improve"? Ha. No way.

Came through ATL today and the PreCheck lanes for international arrival at Concourse E was closed. No signs or anything. Just locked doors.

Apparently, the TSA would be overburdened to provide a service for which many people paid money to the TSA. (I don't pay, but I know many others who have.) The TSA today was its usual example of completely moronic setups and processes. I watched over 10 people be put through the WTMD because the lines for the MMWs were too long. Yes, MMWs are so critical to security......just watch how the TSA behaves.

Today's excursion through government bureaucracy solidifies my distaste, disdain, and disbelief in a government service that purports to "protect" me. I despise even more than before the TSA and what it represents.

(Sorry for the editorializing here in this forum. I am just so disgusted today.)

KDS

Came through ATL E international again today. PreCheck again closed. So I asked my "groper" why PreCheck lane exists but is always closed. He said that TSA took PreCheck away from them and doesn't know why.

Figures....