<p>If I have a connection in the US to an international flight, is the connection an international flight? Example–Atlanta to Chicago to Amsterdam–how early do I need to be at the Atlanta airport?</p>
<p>It isn’t. I connected through Philly to Rome and arrived at LAX at the normal time for the flight to Philly. So plan according to your normal timeline for that particular aiport. I would make sure you have plenty of time between flights as at that point you will likely need to go to a different part of the airport.</p>
<p>Actually, the international portion DOES begin in ATL, in your case, as far as TSA and the airline are concerned. You should arrive 3 hours prior to your first departure. That gives them time to process your bags and your documents. If you show up at the normal time, nobody will turn you away, as long as there are no problems. But if there are problems, or long lines, they will hold you accountable for the troubles.</p>
<p>The information given in the second post is not accurate. From the standpoint of the TSA and the airlines, your international routing absolutely does begin in Atlanta, and therefore you should follow the recommendation of arriving 2 hours early to check your bags, etc. 3 hours is not necessary, however, unless you anticipate inordinately long lines or unless you have some unusual circumstance, such as mobility issues or a disability. </p>
<p>You’ll want to check in Chicago whether your Atlanta-Chicago flight comes in at the same terminal as your Chicago-Amsterdam flight, or whether you have to change terminals, which can take some time. The international terminal at O"Hare is Terminal #5, though at least on United, some international flights (such as London or Paris) take off from the regular terminal (#1) right next to domestic flights.</p>
<p>The United flight to Amsterdam also departs from Terminal 1, in addition to the flights noted by Pizzagirl - so there is no need to re-clear TSA security. However, if your flight to Amsterdam is on KLM (codeshare Delta) it will depart from the International Terminal 5. There is a convenient people mover/tram from the domestic terminals to the remote International terminal - but you will need to go through security at Terminal 5. The security line times at T5 can vary widely.</p>
<p>The last trip I made I actually saw the airlines let late people cross the line to make their trip…not that I would risk that. I get to the airport two hours in advance and have never had a problem.</p>
<p>What do you mean - cross the line? Do you mean have them move to the top of the security line, or just not go through security at all?</p>
<p>Because I have to admit, I’m one of those who would have no hesitation whatsoever, if I were running late (which I generally don’t, I’m pretty prompt), to politely ask the people ahead of me in line if I can go ahead of them since my flight leaves in X minutes. The worst that can happen is that they say no. Similarly, if someone asks that of me, if I can spare the time, I’ll let them go ahead. I’m kind of east coast brash like that :-)</p>
<p>My son and his roommate were in Amsterdam in May. Son came back a day earlier and was at the airport (at my insistence) two hours ahead of time and made the flight. His roommate flew back the next day and got to the airport a little over an hour before the scheduled departure and they wouldn’t let him board. He had to re-book for the following day.</p>
<p>Even though I know PizzaGirl is a very experienced international traveler and have no reason to doubt she never had a problem, I have seen TSA not allow people to cut ahead of others even with permission. I always get there 2 hours before the flight. You never know when you’re going to get someone who is a stickler for the rules. IMO, it’s better to get there early and relax than to have to deal with the stress of possibly missing a flight. </p>
<p>I can’t tell you the number of times we have gotten to the airport early and were thankful we did. One time we were leaving Heathrow and their entire computer system shut down. We ended up standing on the ticket line for over an hour before we even got to security. Another trip, we were leaving Australia and got behind an extremely large group of American high school students (I think it People’s Ambassadors) and it took almost an hour to get through security.</p>
<p>Just the title of the thread made me laugh. DH is a fan of the “get there at the last minute” so what if you have to jump a line or run for the gate club." I’m the “let’s be early and have a nice coffee at the gate before we board”. I have learned and now I just lie about the flight time. Been married 25 years so I finally figured him out :)</p>
<p>Yes Pizzagirl… an attendant came on the line at Continental and asked if there were any people for flight XYZ to step forward and they were put on the front of the line. I thought it was very nice that they did that, considering it is pretty clear that everyone should be at the airport two hours in advance. I would ask people as well if the lines were very long and I would miss a flight…especially if I got there two hours ahead of time.</p>
<p>You need to be checked in by the minimum required security checked in time (45 minutes if checking bags and flying Delta out of Atlanta), but that is the bare minimum and would really only be feasible at smaller airports and with priority check-in and security access. As a general rule, I arrive at the airport 2 hours prior to departure. If it doesn’t take that long to check in and clear security, I walk around the terminal before my flight.</p>
<p>Also, pay attention to your connection time in Chicago. Airlines have minimum connection times (MCTs) for airports based on flight type (domestic or international) and operating airlines. Call the airline to make sure that you have a comfortable (for you) connection time, even if it is a legal connection. For example, Delta allows domestic connections in both Atlanta and Detroit to be as little as 35 minutes. While people can often make connections in less time than that, it is not usually a good idea to book such short connections if you have to be at your destination by a certain time and/or there are only a few flights per day.</p>
<p>Minimum times are different if you are going internationally - even if your first leg is still wholly within the US. It’s 1 hour if you are going just ATL-ORD (or ATL-ORD-other US city) but 2 hours if you are going ATL-ORD-Amsterdam. It doesn’t matter that the first leg is the same. From the airline perspective, you are starting an international journey in Atlanta and you need to get there early regardless of whether it’s a direct overseas flight or not.</p>
<p>^Totally agree with PizzaGirl. An international flight generally requires a 2 hour check-in regardless of where it originates. </p>
<p>Also - be careful to adhere to the 1 hour minimum check-in when you are flying domestically. A few years ago when we were taking son to visit U of Chicago, we got to our local airport 50 minutes before the flight left. This was at 6am. Because it’s a smaller airport the one person at the ticket counter had left the ticket counter to man the gate (I’ve never seen them do that before - maybe someone got sick), so we had no way to check in luggage though I did have boarding passes and have already paid the luggage fee. I was the only one checking in luggage and it was small enough to check at the gate so I opened my luggage and took out all the liquids and put it in an extra zip-lock I always throw in my carry-on. You never know what you might encounter at the airport. We’ve run across many unexpected issues over the years.</p>
<p>I flew cross country twice last month. all flights were full and two were overbooked with the airline requesting volunteers to be bumped. You absolutely want to allow plenty of time. If you aren’t at the gate in the boarding area on time you can lose your seat.</p>
<p>We’re taking a lengthy international trip in late November…departing Hartford (where there really isn’t an “international” terminal at all) to Dulles to points overseas. We will get to Hartford well over 2 hours ahead of time. Our original itinerary had us at Dulles for only 1 hr 20 minutes but with the multiple terminals, and that we are arriving there on a commuter flight and departing on an international one, we are actually leaving Hartford four hours earlier…thus having a longer layoever at Dulles.</p>
<p>Ebeeee…is your husband MY husband’s long lost twin?</p>
<p>My DH flies constantly, but would still leave plenty of time to get to the airport for an international flight (well ,he’d hang out in the airline’s lounge, probably). </p>
<p>If you are flying from Atlanta, check the airports website for tips on wait times, etc. There are several different places you can go to get from the terminal to the gates, and some lines are much shorter than others.</p>
<p>The other piece of advice for international travelers is - avoid connections in Heathrow (LHR) at all costs. It seriously takes 1.5-2 hours to get from one gate/terminal to the next, and you can easily miss what you thought was a generous connection. If you need a “gateway” to Europe, try Paris (CDG) or Frankfurt (FRA). Also, LHR only allows you one carry-on, so if you traveled with, say, a backpack and a roller board, you’d better be able to shove your backpack into your roller board and treat it as one.</p>
<p>And I am about to offer mandatory seminars on going through security, the first rule of which is - dear lord, put your shoes on the conveyor belt FIRST before all your other stuff, so you don’t clog up the line at the other end.</p>
<p>I had a horrible connection in Paris–riding a sloooow bus around the terminal and then running to catch my flight. My wife had a bad connection in Frankfurt.</p>
<p>So allow plenty of time for your connection, whereever it is.</p>
<p>Last time I was in Frankfurt there was a bomb scare and they opened up only one security line and went through everyone’s carry-ons by hand.</p>
<p>DH likes Frankfurt and avoids Paris at all costs because of that infamous “slooow bus”. </p>
<p>Re: shoes. I never had to remove shoes going through security in Germany or in Sweden; but things could be different now. When DH was flying back home from his business trip to Moscow, he removed his shoes and put them on the conveyor belt first, like he always does. Boy, he got quite a scolding from the security agents! Apparently, that airport had special baskets designated for footwear to prevent dirty shoes from contaminating the Xray machines and the other type of baskets used for clothes and small items. So pay attention to what your fellow travelers are doing and follow the local rules.</p>