Can you go through security at ATL without a ticket? Gate passes and where to meet
No. ATL lets only ticketed passengers through security. An airline may issue a gate pass for one adult with a disabled passenger or a minor flying alone.
No. ATL’s passenger security page says only ticketed passengers are allowed through the TSA checkpoints. So the goodbye happens at the curb, and the welcome happens at baggage claim or, for a flight from abroad, in the International Terminal’s Arrivals hall.
The one exception: a gate pass
ATL says airlines may issue gate passes that let one adult accompany a disabled passenger or a minor traveling alone. Each airline decides whether to issue one. ATL’s page doesn’t say how to ask or what an airline requires, so contact the airline before the day. For a child flying alone, the unaccompanied minors guide shows where the adult checks in, gets the gate pass and meets the child.
That leaves out a friend who wants to walk you to your gate, and ATL’s page names no other exception.
Where you can be without a ticket
Atlanta City Council legislation restricts access to the Domestic and International terminals, the SkyTrain, the Rental Car Center and the parking decks, around the clock. ATL’s page lists ticketed passengers, personnel, individuals meeting or greeting passengers, people doing facility maintenance and others with legitimate business. Meeting or greeting is named. Saying goodbye isn’t, and ATL’s page doesn’t settle whether it counts. It points to a set of access FAQs for the detail.
ATL says passengers can reach all concourses and gates from any checkpoint, so your passenger can go through the checkpoint closest to where you part. Each checkpoint’s hours are on the security page, and the dropping-off guide covers the curb.
Where to meet someone instead
For a flight within the U.S., meet at baggage claim. ATL says the Plane Train takes arriving passengers to their flight or to baggage claim. The Domestic Terminal has a North baggage claim and a South baggage claim. ATL’s flight results can list a bag claim number and a terminal side, North or South, for an arriving flight, so search the flight and meet your passenger at that claim. The arrivals and departures guide explains the columns. If the page shows none, have your passenger text you which claim they’re at.
For a flight from abroad, ATL’s FAQ says family, friends and others can wait in the International Terminal’s Arrivals hall for Atlanta-bound passengers arriving at Concourses E and F. The ground transportation area, the pickup area and the hourly parking facility are just outside that hall. The airport’s directory lists the International Terminal’s bag services at international arrivals.
Driving? Wait in the free cell phone lot, which ATL calls the Park and Wait Lot, until your passenger texts. The pickup guide has the route and the decks.
If you can’t reach them
ATL says it can’t page passengers or visitors, and it sends you to the passenger’s airline for paging. The airport’s Customer Experience Representatives can answer questions and give directions at the Domestic Terminal’s west crossover and in the transportation mall by the Plane Train.
Sources
- Our security page, arrivals and departures guide, cell phone lot page, North baggage claim, South baggage claim, pickup guide, dropping-off guide and unaccompanied minors guide
- ATL’s FAQ, plus ATL’s passenger security page, flight results page, Customer Experience Representatives page and Plane Train story