SFO to EDI (Edinburgh), layover in JFK or ATL?

I really prefer to get over the pond on my first flight . Once you're in Europe, there's so many options if your connection is canceled or delayed. But if you're in the US, and your US connection is canceled, you could be spending a night still in the US, as there are just not than many alternatives. Many carriers only fly 2-3 times a day over the pond. This has happened to me in the past, so never again.
Seems like me you might be Delta customers......

We flew LAX > Paris (non stop) in Premium Select last year. The seats are larger/wider and on each side of the plane ours was 2 seats only. Definitely better than economy, but still had disappointments.
I was disappointed by a number of things. At LAX they lost control of boarding so the economy people who jumped the line actually took up our space in our designated overhead bin. Flight attendant just shrugged. So our carry on ended up well behind our section. There was almost no space to put anything under the seat. When the person in front reclined, I had to throw my legs up over our arm rest to climb out to use the restroom. My husband couldn't use the footrest because it was too close to the seat in front of it. (Average male shoe size.) I was fine to use the foot rest. It was all so weird. Not sure what type of aircraft we had but it was a 2-4-2 seat arrangement.

So anything less than Premium Select had to be worse. I don't know; I still shake my head at the experience.

Well I have no experience yet…but I am doing the flight thru Atlanta on Delta in June. There is a direct flight from my home airport of Spokane to Atlanta, then the ATL->EDI flight.

I haven’t had much recent experience in Atlanta although I did fly home in 2022 from Rome via ATL and passport control was so easy I don’t remember it. I also have GE. To me it’s a pretty easy airport to get around as you don’t have to change terminals. You take the escalator down to the Plane Train level and zip between concourses that way.

Years ago I changed at JFK coming back from EDI and changing terminals was a PIA. Poor signage at that time, wound up walking thru a garage, good grief. So no, never for me thru JFK.

Coming back I’m routed EDI->AMS->SEA->Spokane and that will work well. In 2023 I flew into/out of Aberdeen and transiting thru Schiphol from a non-Schengen to non-Schengen was awesome. No passport control, no security. I literally could have done the transit in 30 minutes.

In response to Pat, I’ve read that it’s better to have a US layover vs a European layover as some may require you to go through immigration and security, as well as recheck bags again in Europe. Is this true? I worry about missing the connecting flight if that’s the case. There is a flight option that flys to AMS direct from SFO, then to EDI, but the layover is only 55 min… I’ve flown through Schippol before and they lost my luggage, and I was without it for almost 5 days in Italy, so I don’t have the best impression of the airport or airline (KLM, a Delta partner). Since I’m traveling with my mother, I’m trying to find the scenario that’s less stress for both of us (mainly me as I’ll be handling the luggages and travel itinerary).

I also prefer going to Europe first, then onward. SFO has many choices for direct flights to big hubs - Amsterdam, London, Dublin, Paris. I'd pick any of those over a layover in ATL or JFK, but I've had not great experiences at both airports. The longer layover at ATL would be wise, as depending on where your inbound flight lands you might need to go quite a way to the international terminal. Same advice on return.

I can only speak for JFK.

If both of your flights are on Delta then you stay in the same terminal. It's a very big terminal but there is no change of terminal.

If your flight is on a Delta codeshare then you might have to change terminals which means taking the Airtrain to another terminal and going through security again.

Have you looked into taking a nonstop SFO-London and then connecting to EDI?

If you connect somewhere else in Europe, you should not have to go through immigration as the UK is not part of Schengen.

I've actually looked at flights from SFO to LHR, then to EDI, and could not find anything from the same airline / same ticket. I've flown Virgin Atlantic from SFO to LHR a few years ago, and enjoyed that airline, but they code share with Delta and KLM, so I'm actually seeing the same options when searching for flights. Many of the flights to Europe from SFO arrive mid-afternoon, meaning connection to EDI will have us landing in the evening, which wastes actually two days due to traveling. The Delta flights I've mentioned above seem to be the best in terms of morning or early afternoon landing in Edinburgh, where we will still have time to explore for the day.

For coming back, I think ATL might be better. It has the plane train that connects all of the terminals airside, which means you go through customs and you can immediately recheck your bag and go back through security for your onward connection. At JFK, on the other hand, there's no airside transfer so you have to take a bus or the airtrain to change terminals after customs but before going through security again.

For getting to Europe, if you connect at AMS or CDG or any of the big European hubs, you should be able to connect airside without having to collect your bag (and you might not even have to go through any immigration checks either) because your connection would be outside of Schengen.

We are going to Scotland this Fall out of San Francisco on British Air with a connection in Heathrow. Having experienced it first hand when our flight from Bend to SFO was delayed and we missed our International flight, we now spend the night in San Francisco before an international flight. I agree with others, if possible, make that connection in Europe especially coming from the West Coast. It was horrible trying to get another flight in SFO. In Heathrow, we will go thru their security again and they will check our passports but last year it was quick and easy between flights.

Again, ask yourself how upset you'd be if you had an unplanned night in Altanta or NYC. You have so many great direct ( across the pond) flights from a big international airport like SFO.

I just looked at Google Flights and several carriers go over the pond and have connections to EDI. (British Airways, Aer Lingus, etc.)
Good luck!

I avoid ATL. I would choose JFK over ATL.

Layover in ATL is either 3.5 hours or 1.5 hours (depending on how
early I leave SFO, there are a few options). Layover in JFK is 3.5
hours.

I like changing planes a bit better in ATL vs JFK. A 1.5 in ATL is a doable thing but its a holiday and I would want things as smooth as possible. So with all of that said, if it were me, I would take the least expensive 3.5 hour layover, or since they are the same price, the shortest trip in hours but I preseume thay are both about the same, so the 3.5 hour ATL flight wins my vote.

I would consider the direct flight to Amsterdam with the change to EDI even though your luggage was lost last time. Was that the summer of 2022? That was when there was a huge melt down at Schiphol and Heathrow and thousands of bags were not delivered. I will say that I travel with carry on only so no experience with checking recently.

As mentioned above, when transiting Schiphol from the US to the UK you do not go thru Immigration or Security. Your bag would be checked thru since you are on a Delta Codeshare. I would look to see how many more flights there are to Edinburgh that day. I suspect there are several others on the KLM CityHopper flights so if you miss that first one you will be put on the next one with space.

I would rather transit thru AMS than Heathrow where you would have to go thru Immigrations. If you go via Amsterdam you'd do Immigration at Edinburgh at the end of your flight.

editing to add: I just looked at the number of flights from Amsterdam to Edinburgh on KLM. There are 4 direct flights a day, looking at a random date in May. 7:55, 12:05, 3:55, and 9:15P.

Pam's experience at JFK is mine. ATL is absolutely our favorite airport because the Plane Train is so easy.

If it can be arranged, flying directly to Europe and then taking a second flight to EDI would be my choice. Once in Europe, there are many more options for getting to your destination in case something goes belly up. If that is not possible, I'd opt to change in ATL as it is much easier to navigate (in my opinion) than JFK.

cala, funny story about the Plane Train that will go through the entire length of my life on earth with my son. Back when he was in college, maybe when he was 18 or 19, he and I took a trip and had to go through Atlanta airport. This was before we had smart phones. Our plane was delayed connecting into Atlanta and we had what was an already short window connection made even shorter. This was maybe my second time flying, his first if I recall correctly. Our incoming plane pulled into ATL the furthest gate away from our outgoing plane. Of course we did not know that until we landed. So we are racing through the terminal, my chest hurting bad, pulling our luggage. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack because I was breathing so hard lol. He sees the plane train and says, “ Mom, I think if we get on that we’ll be able to get there faster.” I dismissed him because I didn’t think he knew what he was talking about. Yes, this take charge Mom was an idiot. After about another five or 10 minutes, (it seemed like five hours!) of running, he put his foot down, practically grabbing me and said, “Mom we are getting on that train!”

We barely made it to the gate, and had we not gotten on the plane train we would’ve missed our flight. He will never, ever, ever let me live that down! I will say I listen to him A LOT more these days! (but I will eat crow about not doing so then until my last breath) :)

I flew United SFO to EDI and my layover was in Dulles--posting this to say that while I am typically of the mindset to get over the ocean before a layover, this actually worked really well for me. Layover was a couple of hours, flight to EDI left at 10 pm or so and I arrived at EDI around 10 in the morning--the shorter flight had me arriving much less weary and frazzled than usual, I was able to hit the ground with quite a bit of vigor, so I'd consider this again.

I'd choose JFK over Atlanta...just a bit closer to EDI.

I fly between Paris and Tulsa via Atlanta several times a year. Changing planes in Atlanta is easy, and because Delta has such a big operation there, there are always alternatives if you miss your connection to your flight to Europe.

Coming back, going through Global Entry there is easy too.