Have been doing frequent YYZ-ATL-YYZ trips the past 5 years and have had to endure the crappy D terminal - and equally crappy D11 Gate 11.
Just completed my first ATL trip since AC moved to the newly opened International Terminal F. It’s brand spanking new - spacious, bright and airy – the exact opposite of D. What a pleasure. Air Canada’s gate is F14.
On Arrival:
- Follow-signs to Baggage Claim (regardless if have baggage or not) and exit the terminal. It’s close to F14 – no long walk or train required. Pretty painless.
- Just past the exit are shuttle buses that go directly to the Rental Car Centre (RCC).
- IMPORTANT - Disregard any announcement by the gate agent in ATL (he got on the plane when we got to the gate) about needing to go to the old terminal to take the train to the RCC.
- The shuttles seem to run all the time with minimal wait time. Notwithstanding the proximity of F terminal to the other terminals, the shuttle bus takes 12-15 minutes to get to the RCC. It seemed longer!
On Departure:
- Signage to the airport is a little confusing as you are heading South on I85 – as there are now signs to both International and Domestic terminals. The International sign routes you to I75 South but if you have a rental car stick to 85 South as it takes you right to the RCC. I just followed the Domestic Terminal signs on 85 South and then to the RCC exit as per NOP.
- Shuttle bus from RCC to the F terminal took exactly 14 minutes.
- Dropped off about 50m from the Air Canada check in counter - … what a pleasure!
- Short walk to security across beautiful new concourse
- Through security in a flash (at midday) – no crowd of thousands and chaos as per the old security funnels in the North and South Terminals (may be a little more crowded for flights later in the day)
- The Air Canada gate – F14 - is very close to security exit. Tons of seating. Huge duty free store and a number of other upscale boutiques
.
All in all - major improvement over D. Many pros, only con is the longish shuttle to/from F to RCC.