flying out of atlanta friday... (cabin, airport, train)

[cabin]

...and have never done so before. How early should I leave? My flight leaves at 7:40 PM and I was thinking of leaving at 3 PM. The drive there should take 2.5 hours but I dont know how long it will be with traffic. I'm not checking a bag and will be checked in online. Anyone made the trip before that could offer some advice?? Thanks.

[g-man430]

I'm flying out of the same airport next Thursday. $600 cheaper than flying out of GSP. Get there at least 2-3 hours early.

[cabin]

Are the security lines that bad??

[g-man430]

Originally Posted by cabin

Are the security lines that bad??

Not sure, but it's Atlanta. (the world's busiest airport) Don't be expecting to be standing in line for only five minutes like at GSP.

[Art123]

I just did this last weekend for the first time. The Atlanta airport sucks and sucks hard. It is the worst airport I have been through. It's overcrowded, poorly designed and confusing.

However the biggest variable is probably the traffic in Atlanta. If your flight is at 7:40 and you need to arrive 2 hours early, that puts you in rush hour traffic in Atlanta. If you are traveling with someone, stay in the HOV lanes and go right through downtown on 85. If you are alone, plan on sitting in traffic for a while. My coworker told me it has taken her four hours to get to the Atlanta airport, just due to traffic.

[g-man430]

My flight leaves at 3pm. I did this on purpose to avoid traffic.

[p2y2r7o]

Atlanta is the main hub for Delta, so there are lets of connections being made there. I don't really like it, but the worst airport I've been to is Newark. It's 10 times worse than Atlanta.

Anyways, it is the busiest airport so I would get there 2-2.5 hours before my flight. Most other airports, most recently Charlotte, we show up an hour before our flight at the most and we're fine, but who knows what kind of hold-ups and lines they'll have in ATL. So taking into account Atlanta traffic, especially at 5:00, I'd say leave here by 3 at the latest. 2pm might be better.

[rlbarth]

Check out parking at a Marta station and take the train down. You'll spend less on the train fare than you would on gas; less on parking at a Marta station than at the airport; and probably a LOT less time in transit via Marta than driving through downtown Atlanta during rush hour.

Sure schlepping luggage onto a Marta train is a bit of a pain, but it's really not horrible. Been there; done that.

Just my two cents.

[cabin]

Where would I get on the Marta? Sorry - havent done this before. Thanks.

[g-man430]

I always get on at the Chamblee Station and ride it into Five Points. I'll be doing this tomorrow seeing how i'm going to a Braves game then. Unfortunately, I won't be able to use mass transit next Thursday when I go back to Atlanta to hop on a plane due to the fact me and my party have more bags of luggage than we can count.