Layover question from a newbie.
 

Hi all,

So I made my first flight internationally as an adult back in December, from London Heathrow to Tampa, non stop/direct, using Business class.

One of the issues I have with flying is I suffer from anxiety, generally and socially, so it was rather difficult and I felt very overwhelmed by it

But, I enjoyed it

I'd like to take the same trip again in November, but, I want to fly to Sarasota instead, plus I'd like to try a different company who offer business class, namely Delta.
Delta do a flight from Heathrow, stopping at Atlanta, then from Atlanta down to Sarasota, with a 3 hour layover.

I've never done a layover before and I'm just wondering how it works?
From what I've read my checked luggage gets automatically put on to the next plane, but the Atlanta airport arrivals page seems to says otherwise (seems to suggest I need to collect and recheck baggage for the connecting flight?)

So was wondering if any of you could advise?

Thanks in advance!

You always have to collect your bags at your first point of entry into the US to pass through customs.

Basically, the bag tag will say Sarasota on it, but when you get to ATL you will go through immigration, pick up your bag, go through customs, then drop off your bag immediately afterwards for transfer to your connecting flight.

Swiftaw is right. You have to do all the customs and immigration paperwork at your POE in the US. Which means you collect your luggage and go through Customs Inspection at that point. It's no different than when you went to Tampa. You will be able to re-check your bags just past the Customs site. Since you are in the US you will yourself go to a domestic terminal to connect. 3 hours is more than enough time to do that comfortably. Since you're on Delta in Business crossing the water, I think you'll be able to use their lounge while waiting for a domestic flight.

Nice, thanks very much
I assume the luggage being transferred to connecting flights automatically is domestic-domestic flights and not international-domestic?

Yep. A USA-USA or USA-international flight will have luggage transferred to connecting flights automatically.

You will also need to re-clear security at ATL. If you're flying on Delta Biz across the pond, there's a nice Sky Club in the F Concourse just beyond the international arrivals checkpoint.

In a rest of the world scenario, transits on a single ticket (say EK LHR-DXB-NRT), you would get both boarding passes when checking in, bags would be tagged to NRT and then you would only see it in Tokyo. The transit in Dubai would not have customs or immigration and there would only be security.

Only in case of leaving the airport as part of a layover, you would clear immigration & customs in DXB to be able to leave the airport but bags would still be checked-in.

Routine transits will almost always be like this.

If you flew DL LHR-ATL-NRT, you would clear immigration, customs, collect your bags and then drop them at a bag drop-off which is usually close to customs. There will also be security once you reach the departures concourse. The same applies for an international to domestic connection.

For that reason, it is advisable to have sufficient time to make your connection though Delta will put you on the next flight if you miss. I suggest checking the Department of Transport's website for average processing times for the time at which your flight arrives. In places like JFK, 120 minutes and above can easily be spent at immigration. Not too sure about ATL.

Ro

Why create additional anxiety for no good reason? OP ought to relax. The DL service LHR-ATL will arrive in the afternoon. The customs / immigration workload at ATL is nothing like JFK. The three-hour layover OP has in mind ought to be more than OK. If it isn't, for whatever reason (inbound delay, weather, etc.) there will be about four more flights to Sarasota before day is done, and OP will be automatically rolled over to the next available seat. Nothing to worry about really.

Ahh didn't know that, thanks :)

And, if there's any glitch in the process, as a business class passenger you can use Delta lounges (called Sky Clubs). Go to the nearest one as shown on any airport map or the overhead signs. There's at least one in every ATL terminal. The agents at the desk there are rebooking experts. They will take excellent care of you.

You might also want to download Delta's app for Android or iPhone, if you have a phone that works in the U.S. It's the best way to keep informed of flight status and changes.

As regards picking up your bags: that happens pretty much everywhere, worldwide, when you need to clear customs and immigration. The point at which that happens may vary from country to country, in the U.S. it's at your point of entry, but the concept is the same: when you go through customs, the customs authorities may want to look into your bags. They usually won't do that, but they want to be able to. Hence this procedure.

Makes sense.
Thanks again everyone, reading these responses puts my mind at ease, so much appreciated.

ATL has free wifi so even if the OP doesn't have a local SIM or phone plan that lets him use his phone in the US, he can still connect to wifi and use the Delta app.

I've never heard of ATL getting that bad. Three hours is, IMHO, the perfect connecting time for something like this. 4-5 hours would be overkill...I'd get bored, even in the lounge. 2 hours would actually probably be okay, but might make me a bit nervous and I certainly wouldn't advise it to a new flier.

3 hours...plenty of slack to allow for modest queues at immigration and security, and 90+% chance it lets the OP enjoy the lounge for an hour and a half or so.

Because you are coming from the UK, you will have to get your bags prior to passing through US customs at ATL, then recheck.

This is unrelated to the UK. It applies to travelers from any* location outside the U.S. Please see post 2 in this thread and several subsequent ones.

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*Except those that have U.S preclearance. Flights from those airports are treated like domestic flights on landing in the U.S. The list includes most major Canadian airports plus some in Ireland, the UAE and the Caribbean. It does not, however, include any UK airports at this time.

On the plus side, "recheck" in this case is typically just a bag drop a few meters after exiting customs. It's already tagged Sarasota, so you're usually just plopping it onto a belt and having it whisked away. There will be one or two Delta employees there, but you probably won't have any need to interact with them. This part is easy and requires no queue (and usually not much of a walk with your bags).