Missed connection at Atlanta airport: what to do first

Open your airline’s app before you move, since our flights page doesn’t show live gates or times. Delta says that when it cancels a flight or delays it significantly, it tries to rebook you at no extra cost and puts the new itinerary in My Trips. If the app has nothing that works, go to a person. On Delta that means a help desk on Concourse A, B, C, E or F. On any other airline it means the phone number ATL lists for it. Our airlines page shows where each airline checks in and departs.

Check the app before you queue

Delta says it tells you about a rebooking by email, text message, phone call or the Fly Delta app. To pick a different flight yourself, open the Fly Delta app or My Trips, or use a Delta kiosk, and choose “Find Alternative Flights”. A new date or cabin can cost the fare difference.

Those steps cover a canceled or significantly delayed flight, which Delta defines as 3 hours or more for a domestic itinerary and 6 hours or more for an international one. Its page names a misconnect only once, in the hotel and meal line further down. A connection you miss after a shorter delay isn’t described, so if My Trips shows nothing new, go to a desk.

Delta’s same-day change options won’t fix a flight you’ve already missed, because they cover only flights that depart earlier than your original one.

If you booked through a travel site or agency, Delta says to go to that site or agency for changes. On American, the contact page says you can change or cancel a trip online or in the app with your 6-character confirmation code. It also offers a virtual assistant for travel questions 24/7 and a live chat option.

Find the nearest desk

Where you’re standing decides the first stop.

From Concourse T or D, ride the Plane Train to a concourse with a desk, or call. None of the desks lists hours. At night, Delta’s reservations line is the sure option, because Delta says it’s open 24 hours a day.

ATL’s Customer Experience Representatives can answer questions and give directions too. ATL stations them at the west crossover in the Domestic Terminal and around the Plane Train in the transportation mall, apart from the information desks in the table.

What Delta may provide

Delta lists a misconnect alongside a delay of more than 3 hours and a cancellation. When one of them is within Delta’s control, it says it may be able to provide:

• complimentary hotel accommodation, based on availability
• complimentary ground transportation to and from the hotel
• meal vouchers

For those, Delta says to check with a Delta agent at the airport.

If you pay for a hotel or a meal yourself, Delta’s reimbursement form is open to U.S. and Canadian residents. It covers a flight that Delta canceled or delayed by 3 hours or more because of an issue Delta caused, and it doesn’t name a misconnect. Delta gives air traffic control delays and weather delays as examples of causes outside its control. The flight canceled guide lists what Delta’s form does and doesn’t cover.

If the new flight leaves tomorrow and you pay for the room yourself, the AC Hotel Atlanta Airport Gateway and the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway are on the free SkyTrain, which runs around the clock. The Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel shuttle picks up at stalls C6 to C8 on Aisle C of the Ground Transportation Center. ATL’s own shuttle lists name more hotels, so ask your hotel for its pickup spot.

Phone numbers for the main airlines

These are the numbers on ATL’s airline list. The phone numbers guide has the other airlines.

Delta Medallion Members have a dedicated number under Contact Us in the Fly Delta app.

Getting to the new gate

Get the gate from your airline once the new flight is booked, as ATL’s flight search page advises, and check it again in that search before you set off.

Between concourses, follow the signs to the Plane Train, which runs through the Transportation Mall to every concourse. ATL calls it the fastest way across the airport. ATL’s story about the train gives a 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. peak period and says the train operates 24 hours a day, in a two-train shuttle mode. Its only shutdown is Wednesday mornings at 1 a.m. for track maintenance.

ATL publishes no ride time between concourses. The connection time guide has the Plane Train wait ATL does publish, and the Plane Train guide says what to do if the train is slow or stopped.

Delta says it makes every effort to reroute checked bags onto the new flight, but that may not always be possible. If a bag doesn’t arrive, Delta says to visit its Baggage Service Office at the airport and make a report. The lost baggage guide covers who takes the report.

If you landed from abroad

After passport control, international arrivals reach baggage claim on the International Terminal’s Arrivals level. A transition area sits past baggage claim on Concourse F. Passengers with connecting flights to other U.S. destinations turn left there to the baggage recheck counters, then follow signs to the Concourse F Plane Train area or the pedestrian walkway. ATL says both reach every other concourse and the Domestic Terminal.

The international connection guide walks through the recheck, and Concourse F’s two desks are in the table above.

Sources

• Our Delta page, hotels page, information desks page and listings for the Delta Help Desks on Concourse A, Concourse B, Concourse C, Concourse E and Concourse F
• Delta’s delayed or canceled flight page
• Delta’s same-day flight changes page
• Delta’s Help Center
• American Airlines’ contact page
• ATL’s airlines, flight search, maps, FAQ, Plane Train and Customer Experience Representatives pages