I am not saying this to worry you, but to affirm your instincts are correct and that the few times I have been in the airport, *I* would have appreciated an escort.

Both Lewis and I are well familiar with Atlanta-- as an airport, it has a lot to recommend it and I don't mind it, as an experienced traveler. However, experienced though I may be, *I* would be freaking out over a 35 minute connection, if it was me traveling. That it's my kids? Oh, hell yeah, they get an escort.

Okay, I'll quit being all MEMEMEMEME, now. Thank you, my Bitches, for helping to keep me sane and reassuring me that no, I am not overreacting in my desire to yank Incompetent! Travel Agent's spleen out through her left nostril.

Barb, just make your children aware that they should tell someone as soon as they get on the plane that they are expecting an escort when they land and tell someone again when the plane lands Also tell them that they have a quick connection. It pays to be pushy in these situations.

I have such a hard time seeing the Atlanta airport the way a stranger would. It seems much simpler than a number of other airports, particularly O'Hare, Dallas and St. Louis.

eta: I know the airport well, and I'd think the chance of making a 35-minute windows as maybe 50-50, unless it's in the same terminal and preferably the same airline.

Also, what sj said, plus they should also point out how short the time is, so a flight attendant will call and make sure the escort is there and get the kids out quickly. I point out that I'm making a close connection if it's important I get somewhere at a specific time or I'm changing to the last flight of the day. There are, I'm afraid, some airlines whose response has been "Sucks to be you."

Barb, that is utterly fucking ridiculous.

Yay smonster!!!!!

Barb,

I will also add (Ginger may disagree with me on this point, which is fine, I welcome it!) - every single time I have flown on Delta through ATL, my flights have been late.

I actually dismissed the 35 min connection thing as the least problematic for this reason.

Ginger,

the first time I was in ATL was around 1996 and I didn't see the tram to move people from terminal to terminal and baggage claim. I had walked through 2 terminals (with 3-4 other adults) before I figure out - OH! there is a tram! My experiences only have gone up from there. :-)

I like Delta in a lot of ways. I've found they're more likely to at least act like they care, and they're good at luggage. My experience has been that with connecting flights, flight number one is invariably running later than flight number two.

Oh dear. I'm been at the airport a few times when the people mover wasn't working, and it was hell.

Barb, I can't even imagine. Also, what Ginger said about booking online. Jesus.

I grew up flying in and out of Newark (not often, but we were there a lot when my dad traveled), and then Philly, which is not really small but has always seemed really manageable to me. Then I was flying out of Syracuse, which is about the size of Barbie's dream house, and SO nice to deal with (except for the fact that you can't go many places directly).

I'll never forget the Denver airport. I had, like, a four-hour layover there once, and I literally (literally!) gave up on finding my way outside to smoke.

Amy, one of my friends will only connect through airports with smoking lounges. I think that's SLC, Atlanta, and Cincy.

Atlanta has them. They're glass cubes so full of smoke that you can barely see in.

Laga, I love that male lingerie shop. I wish I had a man to dress in that shit.