Atlanta Airport - Airline Service & Routes Updates Thread (Dublin: approval, rated)

[testa50]

Lufthansa W15 Long-Haul Operation Changes as of 28MAY15 | Airline Route

Lufthansa is bringing the A340-600 to Atlanta! That's a pretty big plane, carrying over 300 pax.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by testa50

Lufthansa W15 Long-Haul Operation Changes as of 28MAY15 | Airline Route

Lufthansa is bringing the A340-600 to Atlanta! That's a pretty big plane, carrying over 300 pax.

They probably trying to compete with Virgin Atlantic 340-600 service, nevertheless great news. I also imagine Germany traffic is growing because of Mercedes.

[cwkimbro]

Well the Lufthansa flight I took to Atlanta a couple weeks ago was full or near full.

I just hope that any new equipment has more economy premium seats. That was absolutely wonderful. It isn't like the Delta economy comfort. They took one seat off the row and made it wider and gave a foot extra leg room. That also allows for much more seat tilt. It compared much more to a first class seat on a domestic route. I'm not likely to ever put he money down for the extra spacious business class on a long-haul route, but that premium economy seat really hit the spot.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Well the Lufthansa flight I took to Atlanta a couple weeks ago was full or near full.

I just hope that any new equipment has more economy premium seats. That was absolutely wonderful. It isn't like the Delta economy comfort. They took one seat off the row and made it wider and gave a foot extra leg room. That also allows for much more seat tilt. It compared much more to a first class seat on a domestic route. I'm not likely to ever put he money down for the extra spacious business class on a long-haul route, but that premium economy seat really hit the spot.

Good for you, this upcoming Thursday will be my first trip on the super heavy Korean A380 to Seoul, Korea. I looking forward to flying on that big baby.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Good for you, this upcoming Thursday will be my first trip on the super heavy Korean A380 to Seoul, Korea. I looking forward to flying on that big baby.

Have fun!

It is a really nice plane. An economy seat is still just an economy seat, but it is new. The entertainment and ventilation will be better. It is also quieter from what I remember.

The service is a bit better in economy than the typical American Long-haul airlines.

The one annoying thing about this route is when you fly back to Atlanta. The A380 can only park at two gates at the end of the E concourse on the southern side of the airport. If Atlanta is your final destination you have to go through customs in the F concourse. It is an amazingly long walk from the gate to the curb. It is the longest path through ATL where you can't use the people mover.

Other international flights arriving in Atlanta make a similar trek, but the A380 is always guaranteed to be at the southern end of concourse E.

Also, expect a 15-20min security line in Incheon on arrival. Walks to the gate after that are usually short and easy.

[emcee squared]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Good for you, this upcoming Thursday will be my first trip on the super heavy Korean A380 to Seoul, Korea. I looking forward to flying on that big baby.

I flew on an Emirates A380 last week. It was spectacular because I had the whole four seat middle section to myself, a very generous TV to watch movies on, and the flight attendants were top-notch.

Korean puts out a good product, also.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Have fun!

It is a really nice plane. An economy seat is still just an economy seat, but it is new. The entertainment and ventilation will be better. It is also quieter from what I remember.

The service is a bit better in economy than the typical American Long-haul airlines.

The one annoying thing about this route is when you fly back to Atlanta. The A380 can only park at two gates at the end of the E concourse on the southern side of the airport. If Atlanta is your final destination you have to go through customs in the F concourse. It is an amazingly long walk from the gate to the curb. It is the longest path through ATL where you can't use the people mover.

Other international flights arriving in Atlanta make a similar trek, but the A380 is always guaranteed to be at the southern end of concourse E.

Also, expect a 15-20min security line in Incheon on arrival. Walks to the gate after that are usually short and easy.

Thanks for the info about Incheon, that seems pretty fast. Should I exchange currency at Hartsfield or wait until I get to Korea. I also heard Seoul has the best transit system in the world.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Thanks for the info about Incheon, that seems pretty fast. Should I exchange currency at Hartsfield or wait until I get to Korea. I also heard Seoul has the best transit system in the world.

I wish I could help you out there, but I have never actually been to Seoul outside the airport. I'm always in transit/connecting.

I spent a short time in Busan and had no trouble using my credit card in a taxi and a few other places there.

I had a friend that went to Seoul and he went on and on about how great it was. He mentioned the subway was very extensive and he said it was really cheap and easy to use.

In all my travels I just started using ATMs. Most are networked with the major banks in the US. Typical fees are about $4-$6 per use. Your home bank does the currency exchange and I have found the rates are more consistent favorable with that, than the exchange stands. I think it is a true market rate exchange with a 2-3% hidden fee. The most expensive one I had was $10 for the transaction fee and I don't have to carry too much cash on me, just a contingency/emergency amount.

Bank of America is actually a part of an international ATM alliance that won't charge the transaction fees, so I can go to a Deutsche Bank in Spain or Germany and get cash out without the ATM fees. Sadly, there is not a bank in Korea a part of that alliance.

The currency exchanges to me are rip offs, particularly at airports. They are more competitive on the street, if the area in question has lots of exchange businesses. They charge an up front fee, give you bad exchange rates, and then might still charge a percentage exchange fee on top of that.

The only thing I would comment on... and this is more of an Asia thing (and to a large extent from my trips to Singapore)...

Look really carefully at all of the ATMs lined up at a bank. If any of them have a sign that mention anything about International or international cards, even if it is just one... be sure to use that one! If any have a sign that says domestic, don't use it. Generally I found that if there was no sign that said either way, it would work just fine.

I never had trouble finding an ATM, but some ATMs apparently couldn't handle their needed security to verify an international card and the machine would mistake the foreign ATM card as a fake and eat the card. It happened to one of my coworkers once and we never had trouble with it again. It was also never a problems in the airports.

[kayoticworld]

Turkish Airlines Coming to Atlanta | Thirty Thousand

Saw this in my FB feed this morning. Looks like Turkish Airlines will start next May to Istanbul. I Also checked this on their website to be sure.

Also Qatar Airways to Doha next summer.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by kayoticworld

Turkish Airlines Coming to Atlanta | Thirty Thousand

Saw this in my FB feed this morning. Looks like Turkish Airlines will start next May to Istanbul. I Also checked this on their website to be sure.

Also Qatar Airways to Doha next summer.

June 15, 2015

Turkish Airlines Adds Atlanta Service from May 2016
by JL


Turkish Airlines starting 16MAY16 is adding another new US destination, with the launch of Istanbul Ataturk – Atlanta route. This will be served by 2-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on daily basis.
TK031 IST1330 – 1910ATL 77W D
TK032 ATL2200 – 1655+1IST 77W D
Reservation for this route opened late last week.
Read more from 2016, Turkish Airlines, [Star Alliance]