Philadelphia Airport review by Bill Atkins

23 April 2008   Customer Rating :

Sad to say after my experience on April 13, Philadelphia still merits a negative review. Came in on international - very quick immigration as no other plane being processed at the time. Had only hand baggage - PHL does a lousy job of luggage so I always try to travel without check-ins. As always, security was like the descent into hell - rude, lazy employees yelling at everyone and basically making the whole process much harder than it needs to be - which is about the same story as every other airport in the US. For an airport so recently modernized everything looks dirty and run-down. Clearly very badly managed and no pride on the part of the employees.

Philadelphia Airport review by L Becque

19 March 2008   Customer Rating :

The worst airport in the USA for losing your baggage or bags not making your connecting flight. Baggage problems are especially bad if you are connecting through a commuter / small plane out of Terminal F. I fly almost every week and Philadelphia is the only airport where I have had this problem. Last year they lost my bag at least twice, once for 3-4 days. The other issue is that the Terminal F flights can experience much worse flight delays than the big planes. I've experienced 2-4 hour delays due to incoming flight delays stacking up on top of outgoing delays. This last Friday I told them to put me in a hotel overnight rather than waiting 3 hours to leave and arriving at my destination at 3am. They couldn't divert my bag but I said that was OK - my bag didn't arrive till the next morning anyway so if I had taken the late flight the previous night I would have been missing my bag anyway!

Philadelphia Airport review by Bill Atkins

21 February 2008   Customer Rating :

What is it about the TSA in PHL? They are hard to deal with in most US airports, but in Philly it seems their aim in life is to slow the airport experience as much as possible and enhance it with a generous dose of rudeness. All the shouting and marshalling of passengers makes it feel like animals in a slaughterhouse.

Philadelphia Airport review by William Kelly

18 October 2007   Customer Rating :

Living in the Detroit area, my business and family trips to Philadelphia are always via Northwest Airlines, which practically has a monopoly in Detroit. In PHL, the terminal that Northwest uses is narrow, horribly crowded, sorely in need of serious upgrades. Worse still, the TSA area is very narrow, crowded and obviously temporary, consisting of painted plywood walls and serpentine cattle chute lines. Lines at this terminal's TSA almost always back up down the long corridor connecting the terminal with baggage claim and the parking garage. On my last trip (early Oct 2007), I had to wait in line 35 minutes to clear security. At this location, TSA personnel like to shout directions at passengers, all of which is totally unnecessary and adds to passenger stress and confusion, mainly because most passengers can't hear what is being said amid the background noise. While connected to the other terminals, for some reason PHL doesn't permit passengers to move around. If you arrive early and want a better selection of restaurants than the terrible ones on offer at the terminal used by Northwest, PHL forces you to go through TSA twice! A major construction project is now underway and, when completed in 2008, may cause me to redo my review. For now, there isn't a lot to recommend.

Philadelphia Airport review by Edgar Fedorkao

28 August 2007   Customer Rating :

PHL can be a pleasant to travel through but not always. Traffic on the taxiways can lead to long delays on the ground when your waiting to depart the runway. The facilities are updated yet cramped and there are plenty of food and shopping selections. Using Atlantic City, BWI, or Newark may fair better in the future but for now, I'm sticking with PHL.

Philadelphia Airport review by Steve Maier

9 August 2007   Customer Rating :

Philly has improved a lot. It is still the most crowded of all airports, but security waiting time was improved since I flew last. What I liked most is the new Business Lounge of US Airways in Terminal 1A. Large and open, nice seating and good food. If only the planes would be half as good as the lounge, US Air would be a nice choice. What I like also about Philly is the nice shopping and food court in the C concourse.

Philadelphia Airport review by A Johnson

9 August 2007   Customer Rating :

During peak times, the narrow concourses and insufficient seating areas become clogged with passengers. Walking between concourses takes a while. Not all concourses are connected both airside and landside, which often requires you to walk outdoors to go to another terminal. Queues for TSA grow quite long at peak times, and since there isn't much room for people to wait near the checkpoints, the queues snake back down the corridors toward the ticket counters. PHL has only two parallel runways, which are insufficient for a major domestic hub and increasingly popular low fare destination, especially when bad weather hits. Even when the weather is perfect though, delays can quickly stack up.

Philadelphia Airport review by Olivier Fernandez

27 July 2007   Customer Rating :

All the US Airways flight must be landing within a 2 hour window not counting AF, LH and BA flights. Therefore, the passport control took over 2 hours if you landed between 02:30PM to 04:30PM A nightmare... add another 45 minutes to 60 minutes for security check. Please do allow 3 hours in between your connecting flights.

Philadelphia Airport review by Peter Roozemaal

23 July 2007   Customer Rating :

Used PHL yesterday for a BA flight PHL-LHR-AMS. Facilities on the land side of terminal A-west checkin could be better. I went to international arrivals for a seat and a cup of tea to pass the time till BA counters would open. Facilities in the A (international) terminal are good, sufficient seating, selection of restaurants and shops. TSA check was certainly not worse than at other US airports (they say "please" nowadays). I like the Philly "one terminal" concept.

Philadelphia Airport review by David Guenthner

30 June 2007   Customer Rating :

The ticketing and baggage claim areas were cramped and outdated, and the baggage claim for my airline (Southwest) was in a different terminal than where my flight arrived. The line for security extended back into the skybridge connecting the terminal to the parking garage. Terminal food selections were mediocre although not too horribly overpriced by airport standards. Passenger lounges mediocre. There is a train that connects the airport to downtown, but its primary passengers appeared to be airport employees. On my train to downtown, the air conditioning unit was soaking the first three rows. The worst part about Philadelphia is that, despite its status as a major low-fare hub and international entry point, it only has two runways for commercial service. If there is any kind of bad weather - as happened the morning I flew home - the flight delays just compound. When I left for the airport three hours before my scheduled departure, my flight was supposed to leave 30 minutes late. When I got to the airport, the delay had increased to 70 minutes. Once the delay got bumped to three hours - - meaning that I would be stuck in Nashville overnight if I got out of Philly - they re-routed me through Chicago. However, that meant switching concourses - and having to go through another clogged TSA checkpoint. I didn't even have time to re-tie my shoes before having to run onto the jetbridge of my new flight. The next time I have to go to Philadelphia on business, I'm flying to Baltimore and taking a train.

Philadelphia Airport review by David Thornton

29 March 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

Flew into PHL from MAN (US Airways) then connected to RSW. Have to disagree with previous comments. One of the most efficient American airports I have visited. Through immigration, baggage and customs in 15 minutes. Easy connection (on foot rather than train or bus) to Terminal C. Return just as easy. Good food and shopping options. Significantly better experience than ATL, LAX or JFK - would travel via PHL again.

Philadelphia Airport review by Bill Atkins

20 March 2007

A third world country could be proud of this airport. Every aspect is wrong and reflects apalling managment. Arrived from overseas - only one INS agent for all US citizens - at least this delay meant that we were not waiting in the baggage hall as long - an hour in PHL is not unusual. Toilets all disgusting. Employess surly and inactive - mostly standing around in groups talking, which is presumable why the bags take so long and the toilets are dirty - no-one seems in any way accountable for what they are paid to do. The city of Philadelphia should be ashamed of this place as the first aspect of their city many people see.

Philadelphia Airport review by Kuhan Kandiah

26 January 2007

Although there was a terrible delay on my flight out of this airport while on transit, I managed to study a little of Terminal F and I think it was a great terminal with several bookshops, cafes and toilets. However, it lacked internet facilities such as an internet kiosk which can be handy when on delay such as my flight.

Philadelphia Airport review by David Stein

18 July 2006

Having flown out of Philadelphia International Airport for many years to both domestic and international destinations, I have noticed many improvements. If you arrive up to2 hours early, check in is painless and takes all of 10 minutes. I found security no more or less crowded than in other airports. Access to the airport by train is a wonderful convenience. There is room for improvement The baggage areas can use substantial upgrading and sections of the airport seem like they are under construction. PHL is not a beautiful ultra modern airport but is very practical and user friendly.

Philadelphia Airport review by Mark Arnold

8 July 2006

I've used PHL several times now, on flights to and from MAN with US Airways. I could not disagree more with the previous correspondents. The route from the gate to the Homeland Security desks was very swift, as they all are from A West. The Security was very swift; no stupid questions or anything silly. On my return to MAN the folks at check in were very polite and very, very quick. The TSA were, well, TSA, but they could have been a lot worse (have you flown international into SEA or DFW lately?) . The US Airways exec lounge was a cash bar though which was a shock and a major downer.

Philadelphia Airport review by Dorothy Tonks

3 February 2006

Having been a resident of NJ for 30+ years and traveling all over the country using both Newark Airport and Philadelphia airport, I always wondered why everything was always so much more difficult dealing with the employees at Philadelphia airport. Now having moved away but still flying in to Philadelphia because of the convenience to where I am going, I find everything remains the same. The nickname City of Brotherly Love sure didn't come going and coming through the airport. Security employees both inside and the police outside are horrible. What's the saying about a give someone a little power and it goes to their head? I now have the opportunity to travel quite a bit and there is nothing that can compare with the utter disregard for decent treatment of the people that use the airport in Philadelphia to the many airport facilities within the US lumped all together. I have no problem going through the security checks, taking off my shoes, my coat and following the rules, but for someone to go through that because some big strong man has a power complex or a bad day! Whoever is responsible for these employees should be ashamed. I know the public can be rude, but do employees have to take their frustrations out on those who are not.

Philadelphia Airport review by Richard Walder

5 December 2005

I have to say, that using PHL for the first time, it was appallling. We arrived on a US aIr flight from LGW and had a connecting US Air flight to SFO later in the afternoon. Arrival after a 9+ flight was on time, but chaos ensued from the moment we left the aircraft. Poor signs, cramped walkways and little info. Immigration was, I must say painless and efficiently handled by a friendly officer, and only a short queue, but as to getting our luggage & the changeover to internal flight was painful. After depositing our luggage, we then found we had to go through another security check, why, we had already been through two very good checks at LGW. The line was about half a mile long, moving slowly and even the staff trying to administer this chaos admitted it was ridiculous. We were lucky we had nearly three hours connection, but other poor people stood no chance to get through this connection and security. Why have only two or three machines working and being ridiculous about shoes off, belts off and then a full slow personal body search by a very unfriendly security guard, while all your property is just left lying around unattended at the end of the conveyor belt. This needs to be improved for international passengers who have already been through proven efficient security checks in Europe. Getting between terminals might be good if you want, or indeed need the shops, but after a 9+ hours transatlantic flight a mile walk seems very hard work. More moving walkways would help or a "buggy shuttle service". Returning to LGW, from SFO via PHL was even more painful. The US AIr flight landed on time, but was held for over 40 minutes on the taxiway, due to terminal congestion and when we eventually got off the flight we only had minutes to make the long, long trek to the international gate. No help from US Air ground staff, not interested in advising the other gate staff we were on our way, despite asking specifically. After walking quickly about half way to our gate, I managed to stop an empty buggie and asked the friendly woman driver if there was a chance in getting dropped at our gate as we were rushing to make the connection. She willingly obliged and we made our connection, just, as last passengers boarding. Our luggage did not make it, but followed us to England 24 hours later. Having rushed to board, we then left the gate on time, to sit in traffic on the taxiways and waste nearly an hour before finally taking off. I would not make plans to use PHL again for any trips to the USA where connections were concerned based on these two experiences, preferring other hubs who seem from our experience to handle transatlantic and domestic flights much more efficiently. Shame as it looks a pleasant modern airport, what we did see of it.

Philadelphia Airport review by Doug Mitchell

29 October 2005

The previous comments deserve an "amen." Why can't this attitude be changed? It's such a pervasive, enduring thread throughout 2 years of passengers' commentaries. Specifically, we arrived from Paris via USAirways about 5:00 PM Monday, Oct 24, along with many other flights - hundreds of incoming passengers coming through customs. Beautiful Terminal A had a large walkway toward all other terminals, but inexplicably it was blocked off. NO signs, instructions or personnel to direct anyone to any other terminal! The only available path was to 3 elevators which opened to the multi-level parking lot. We trekked about 3 blocks distance to the far end, to entry to TSA security, as if we had come in from outside the airport. Once we recleared TSA (with attitudes displayed just as described in other commentaries), we gained access to Terminals B-F. If I had not previously visited this airport, especially if a non-US person, I would have been completely disoriented, without a clue. What is wrong with this the management of this place, that permits the only pathway to other gates to be closed without an identified alternative?!

Philadelphia Airport review by M Bolivar

24 October 2005

Really clean airport. Easy to move through the different terminals. Horrible lines waiting for customs, specially when a few flights arrive at the same time. I was not lucky at all with the officer, and despite of being european and student, I had to wait in line for a long time, and then go through a really unnecessary questionnaire with an immigration officer in his office, specially taking into account that I was in transit to Canada. Obsessive security, so much that they could even open your luggage, and if you have christmas presents in it, you will find them opened at home when you will arrive, without the envelope, nice surprise, thanks to the National Security Agency. Pretty fast baggage claim. Terminal A is really clear and full of services, what it doesn't happen at all in Terminal F, used by US Airways Shuttle. Small terminal, uncomfortable seats, dark and total lack of anything interesting in it.

Philadelphia Airport by P Walker

29 August 2005

The 100% no-smoking policy may sound like a great idea, but what it really gets you is irritated passengers (especially if there's a long delay) and toilets that smell like ashtrays. Where's the harm in ventilated smoke rooms? Every other airport I've been to has them.

Philadelphia Airport by Sue Mattingly

22 August 2005

I live near PHL and agree completely with everyone here who said that PHL employees are the worst in the universe. I can deal with delayed flights and lost baggage fairly well, but the rude staff just takes the cake. There is nobody around to help if you have a problem - and if you fly out of or into philly, you'll have a problem. The staff act like they're on some kind of a power trip, they purposely withhold information; they are intentionally vague and they are consistently rude with customers. This airport is always understaffed. It is as if they are scraping the bottom of the barrel in order to get people to work there and the worse the employees get, the worse the employees they attract. Employees driving those stupid carts practically run people down and they act like people are stupid for not hearing their dumb little cart bell in a crowded airport with people speaking over a loud speaker. Employees at the "special services" ticket counter are more interested in gossip and personal affairs than dealing with the customers who have had their flights cancelled. You go to the counter and get ignored until the clerk is "good and ready" to deal with you. And don't for a minute speak up and start asking a question before you're addressed or you can count on a solid, "I'll get to you in a second" every time along with futher lollygagging until they're good and ready to deal with you. And they don't even deal with the problem correctly. They'll put you on a flight and forget to put your luggage on the same flight. Or they'll say they put you on a flight, only to find out that they have it overbooked or something. At this airport, everybody from security to the parking attendants are rude - there's just no getting around it. This airport really needs to clean up it's act with respect to the people they hire and how they manage and train their employees. There is no excuse for rudeness like that.

Philadelphia Airport by Gareth Bronkhorst

8 August 2005

I have travelled through PHL about 4 times now, and to be honest, I have to admit that is a very nice airport. Unfortunately the Immigration, Customs and Security officials are the rudest human beings I have ever met in my entire life, but apart from that I really like airport. It has a very good range of shops and a good food hall.

Philadelphia Airport by Mike Rennie

5 July 2005

My first time ever in the US and first impressions left a very sour taste. First of all we were referred to as aliens and directed to the red section then we were confronted by this obnoxious clerk who obviously thought himself a superior being - looked down his nose at us like we were scum of the earth. I honestly felt I'd done something criminal at first - until I realised he was just an arrogant ******. I was still afraid to say anything uncomplementary to him as he seemed the sort of chap who would make life even harder for us "just because he could!" All in all a horrible experience and will try to avoid the airport in future.

Philadelphia Airport by Mark Foster

23 April 2005

As a regular user of PHL for long haul to LHR, I have to agree with some of the comments below. Check-in for BA at PHL is normally pretty good, but the "fun" begins at the first TSA checkpoint. Long lines are the norm here, but I actually enjoy the ability to walk from terminal to terminal (not possible at LHR). The shops in terminal A are poor, so walking to the other terminals once through security is worth the walk. Coming into PHL is a pretty poor hello to the USA. BA are pretty much the only international carrier on this particular arm of terminal A, and the homeland security officers are not always pleasant. They often look straight through you, and barely look you in the eye when asking the normal questions. Not a fantastic hello to Philadelphia. Then you'll have to wait an age for your package to arrive.

Philadelphia Airport by Julia Goricki

21 April 2005

My husband and I flew into Philadelphia Airport on April 6, 2005. Imagine my surprise to be greeted into the country with the rudest security employees I have ever encountered. I felt embarassed for our country to be welcoming visitors to the USA in such a rude manner. The employees were shouting at the guests to get in line, do not cross that line on the floor and on and on. Most of these employees english was so bad, even I could hardly understand them, english guests were saying "what did he/she say". Besides being rude the employees acted bored and had condescending looks on their faces if the guests did not jump to their demands. My husband came back to the country sick and was faced with not only rude employees but also a long walk to another terminal. We saw employees who should have been offering customers rides sitting on the carts in groups having loud conversations and ignoring the guests. We also saw ground personnel with pants hanging to the knees, knit caps pulled down sauntering around with no urgency of any kind to do a job. Once at the next terminal we had US Airways employees smacking loudly on gum, eating lunch in wheelchairs and having a great time amusing each other and barely being civil to the paying customers. I say shame on this country for not training the security personnel to be polite to new 'visitors, what a first impression to make on our country's guests.

Philadelphia Airport by Steve Kroll

6 April 2005

I won't fly into this airport for an international flight again. Although customs handling was actually quite good and we were in and out in less than 30 minutes, catching our connecting flight was a nightmare since we had to go from Terminal A to Terminal F. Each of the gates at terminal F has seating for no more than a dozen people, so most everyone is either forced to sit on the dirty floor or wrangle a table at the small cafeteria. One other comment is that this terminal has some of the rudest employees. They were constantly screaming at the arriving international passengers. I saw one large woman berate some poor foreigner for ten minutes because he didn't understand the confusing signs (written only in English of course). Welcome to America!

Philadelphia Airport by Eric Belkoff

15 February 2005

PHL is a great airport overall. Concourse/Terminal A-Easts Baggage Carousels were really quick and my baggage got there when we got there. It is kind of far to walk to baggage though. A-East has great security checkpoints and very fast ticket counters. The B/C Mall is great ! Avoid the Continental/America West Ticket Counters and Gates. The Departure/Arrivals screens for them are always very snowy, the ticket counters are slow and understaffed, and the gates are dimly lit, dirty, and understaffed.

Philadelphia Airport by Christopher Sawyer

8 January 2005

This airport is hit and miss. If you're booking in or out, you want to show up or leave this airport in the dead of night or very early in the morning to ensure a quick exit out of PHL. During any normal day, the airport is at maximum capacity by 7:30 in the morning. There are oh so frequent delays and not enough security screeners in Terminal A, so if you are on an international flight or using American you are doomed (why is American even in this terminal?). The recent fiasco with USAirways and the baggage handlers over the Christmas holidays illustrates the problems with the lack of manpower at the airport. And it's not just the baggage screeners, either. You'll find most of the ticket service desks undermanned, fewer porters than you would expect at a major airport, and not enough security screening. I have been in waiting lines so long at Terminal A that I literally started the line just a few feet away from the SEPTA train. I was lucky to have an electronic boarding pass then or I would have really had a bad day! If you live in Philadelphia, your best bet is to use Southwest/Continental/Delta or United to get quickly in and out of this airport for domestic flights. I still use American, but I leave PHL very early in the morning or dead of night and when possible, Never check any bags if you can avoid it!

Philadelphia Airport by Victor Carreno

23 November 2004

I don't know if the decision to force international passengers arriving at Philadelphia to go through security again to make connection flights is a conscious and deliberate decision or just poor planning. I arrived at PHL last night from Paris in hopes of making my connection to Virginia. With two other flights arriving at the same time from Madrid and Germany, there were about 900 passengers trying to go through security at the same time. What madness! To top this, I did not get a boarding pass for my connecting flight when I checked-in in Paris. So I could not go through security because naturally they were asking for boarding passes and identification. Had to exit the building through a service staircase, run to terminal B, get a boarding pass, run to terminal F, go through security and made the flight with 9 minutes to spare. Not a memorable experience.

Philadelphia Airport by Tamra Fine

4 October 2004

I will never again fly into Philadelphia airport from an international destination, with a connection to elsewhere in the US. The baggage took forever to come, and then there was the long queue to clear Customs with it, not enough Customs staff and no organization at all, just masses of people all pushing to get through. Then the long walk with all my bags to the Transfer point (WHY didn't they set this up just on the other side of Customs???), with two more bottlenecks along the way. Another huge queue at the point where the bags were rechecked (by rude men screaming at the exhausted and jet lagged passengers), and then the long walk to the connecting terminals, where yet another bottleneck awaited me, because I had to go through Security again! WHY would they design an arrivals & transfer center that required passengers who'd already been screened at their original point of departure to undergo this again? From the time I disembarked from my plane until I cleared Immigration, Customs, and Security and arrived at my connecting gate, it took nearly 90 minutes. 90 minutes of frustration following a long flight. Welcome to Philadelphia! My 3-hour connection turned out to be a good thing, after all.

Philadelphia Airport by Michael Hubbard

23 August 2004

I've flown out of PHL many times now and can honestly say it's not that bad of an airport. The new international gate (Terminal A East) is beautiful, however, shopping is not as plentiful as one would expect. Security has been tough but I have never encountered overly rude agents. A word of caution: The distance from Terminal A to Terminal F is long, so allow plenty of time between plane changes if you need to go that route. The shopping in Terminals B and C is good with a wide variety of items and there are plenty of places to eat anywhere.

Philadelphia Airport by Michael Hubbard

1 August 2004

This airport has the rudest airline staff, the least trained TSA staff and more than anything, the worst management. The airport is overbooked, overworked, and operates at something over maximum capacity every minute of every day. If something goes wrong, which inevitably will, this airport can't recover. Late flights, long waits for a gate incoming, impossible scheduling in any kind of inclement weather create logistical nightmares leaving travelers to enjoy the dingy hallways, dirty carpeting and rude staff who in fact are the Philadelphia International Airport. My advice, steer clear of this place unless you absolutely have no other choice. If you must connect through Philly, don't count on it working.

Philadelphia Airport by D Burke

18 June 2004

This is one of my favorite destinations. I only wish the Airport near me could be just as half as good as PHL. These people have always been helpful and just down right nice. I have had curbside handlers just come out to the car and check me in because it was cold out. I had arrived too early for my flight back home and the gate person got me on the earlier flight. That was DELTA. I even had a upgrade on the last flight out because there was room in first class. Again DELTA.

Philadelphia Airport by Robert Moran

18 May 2004

I live in the Philly area and use PHL often for both domestic and international flights. Overall, PHL is a very good airport. If you avoid the rush hours, it is easy to get in and out. Terminals B&C served by US Airways have very good shops and restaurants. Terminal D has recently been expanded, so is Terminal A (West) with a new international hall. Terminal A (East) is primarily served by American, British, Lufthansa, and is under-equipped as far as facilities are concerned. There is a direct rail service to center city Philadelphia. The baggage claim at Terminal A could benefit from some upgrading. However, overall, the airport is improving.

Philadelphia Airport by Steven Thorp

26 April 2004

PHL is a good airport. The baggage pickup is very fast and checkin is wonderful. There are many places to eat and shop, even if its a little out of your way. But then, parking is almost always crowded if not full. There is rail/bus service to in town Philly. It serves as the local airport for most of Southeast PA, most of all of DE, and some of NJ. So it serves to cater a lot of people.

Philadelphia Airport by Denise Cardarelli

4 April 2004

I am a frequent traveler in and out of PHL, and I've watched it change and improve over the years. The new terminal A West for US Airways Int'l departures is brilliant. It is still under a year old, and there are kinks still being worked out. I've encountered plenty of rude gate agents, however, this is the case in so many other US airports. Recently in Augusta, GA, I witnessed an extremely rude ticket agent rolling eyes and yelling at a passenger, and I thought I was suppose to be in the friendly south! It's really a matter of timing on issues such as these. Peak hours are good to avoid if possible in PHL: 0700-0930 and 1630-2000. FAA and NTSB control most of these scheduling decisions, so no use bi***ing to your airline. The baggage system has it's highs and lows - mostly due to the lack of TSA inspectors screening checked baggage. It's not uncommon to not get your bags that you checked in at the counter 2 hours early with no connection. Darn government intervention. Overall, I think we're going to see PHL flourish (I hope). Oh, and about the restaurants: gorgeous sit-down places in A-West, salads and pizza in A-East, at least 2-3 each in B and C (not to mention a convenient food court between the two), and another terrific sit-down at the D terminal check- point. Good idea if you are departing out of D and a guest wants to see you off - you can hang out together in the cafe without needing a boarding pass.

Philadelphia Airport by Peter Overbagh

15 February 2004

I flew DCA-DUB via PHL last summer and everything in Philadelphia was awful. The terminals are VERY crowded and the international terminal is so far away it's almost in Deleware. On the way to Dublin, the gate agent repeatedly announced boarding to London Gatwick for the Dublin flight, confusing everyone. The return trip was hellish. We landed in Philadelphia on time only to sit at the gate for 45 minutes due to customs not letting us off the plane. Keep in mind that we had ALREADY cleared US customs in Dublin. Once released from the plane, we were herded into the international baggage claim to pick up our bags and transfer them to our connecting flight. The personnel handling the transfer baggage were very rude and were throwing the bags onto a belt without a care. We then had to trek all the way to the other terminals for our connecting flight only to find that we had to go through security again. The TSA agents were the rudest and least helpful I have ever seen. They were yelling and screaming at people who for the most part had just gotten off of 7-10 hour flights. Past security, I sat down at a restaurant and even the staff there was rude. As my plane took off, I thought it was all over, until i reached Washington and went to pick up my luggage. The luggage handlers in Philadelphia failed to load ANY luggage on to the plane. This left an entire plane-load of passengers crammed into the lost-luggage office trying to make claims. The lost-luggage personnel told me that this same situation happens almost every day.

Philadelphia Airport by Alan Chick

4 December 2003

It must be my lucky year for clearing US immigration, no queues at all and was through in 2 minutes. The US Airways lounges are excellent. A word of warning - changing from an international Terminal A arrival to a domestic departure in Terminal F is a nightmare with huge amounts of walking and a coach service for part of the route. Allow at least 30 minutes. Shopping is good but the airport is sprawling. Avoid the security at Terminals B and C if possible.

Philadelphia Airport by Jan Ket

27 October 2003

With the recent opening of the new Terminal A-West in PHL (International Arrivals in May 2003 and International Departures in Sept. 2003) things have been improved considerably. No long lines at Immigration anymore nor at Customs. Signposting is not always logical and consistent. Baggage claim can be boring and requires some patience as the new conveying systems are sometimes prone for failures. For US standards the design of the new Int'l Bldg. extension is quite exceptional: in particular the Oval shaped Int'l Arrivals Hall. The next challenge is the run-way constraints as there is hardly any room left to expand or to reshuffle. As the overall quality of US airports remain to lag behind in comparison to principal Europe and Asian counterparts (none of the USA airports would ever surpass AMS, HKG, SIN) it is a modest step in the right direction. But the atmosphere and attitude of "red-tape" is still noticeable as the Airport is owned by the City of Philadelphia. Another draw-back at PHL is the US Airways hegemony: it is their main (Int'l) hub. But dealing with the "US-Airways" behemoth is a different story.

Philadelphia Airport by M Woods

8 October 2003

I have used Philly quite a few times and it seems the much needed refurbishment is working out well, however there is still a curious mix of the new and old. In terms of efficiency I would take it over JFK any day - shopping leaves a bit to be desired though the italian restaurant is good. I would add that they should re-jig the LCD displays in the arrivals hall - they whizz by at great speed - the effect of one is not so bad but the cumulative effects of 20 in a row give you motion sickness.

Philadelphia Airport by Joe Metheny

22 August 2003

I flew in on a flight from Holland in 2001 and 2002 and both experiences were terrible. In 2002 we got stuck in a customs line for 3 hours but without an problem with customs only to stand in a ticket line for another 4 hours. The whole area was corded off. You couldn't go to the restroom, you couldn't even get something to drink, and of course you couldn't catch your flight (I have some nice photos). So then they set us up with a hotel that their driver couldn't find. So we had to drive around Phili for another 3 hours. Then after a nice rest at the Hotel the next morning we thought we would arrive early for our flight but of course everyone else also needed to book in so not only was everyone else there from the night before but also the normal passengers for that day. My parents live 6 hours from Philadelphia so instead of putting up with the Philadelphia nightmare we begged and got a rental car to drive home. I refuse to fly into Philadelphia again. By the way Im Married and have a 2 year old son. So just imagine what we had to go through.

Philadelphia Airport by Karan Jain

6 August 2003

Though it is not terribly big by international standards, poor signage (especially to passenger pick-up) can sometimes lead to confusion. I can personally attest for Mr. Norman's comments on grumpy gate/check-in agents. And on numerous occasions I have seen confused passengers (myself included) being yelled at by police officers posted in passenger pick-up areas. The airport administration is trying to physically upgrade the airport, to make it appear more modern and friendly. But in my opinion, rude personnel and artificially high ticket prices are not the best way to win the hearts of travellers.

Philadelphia Airport by Norman Clark

28 July 2003

Convenient location to the city. When it operates there is an express train to Center City. It costs $5 and stops at each terminal. Recently, however, service has been shut down at night or on weekends for track maintenance elsewhere in the SEPTA system. You then have to find the bus. Interesting variety of shops at reasonable prices. Avoid the vendors' carts. Good alternative point of departure/arrival for flights to/from UK and Europe. Commuter terminal (F) is one of the nicest ones anywhere, but it's a hike from the rest of the airport. An on-site airport hotel that is clean, well-maintained, and reasonably priced (if you reserve in advance). PHL is a major hub for US Airways. Many of the bad experiences, such as horribly slow baggage delivery and long lines, are due to US Airways management problems. You can avoid most, if not all, of PHL's worst problems by avoiding US Airways. Parking is always a big problem. The garage is usually full by 7:00 a.m. Long-term airport parking is almost always available, but add at least 30 minutes to get there, find a space, wait for the bus, and get to your terminal. Privately owned off-site parking can be even more remote and is not significantly cheaper than parking at the airport garage. PHL appears to have been continuously under construction since 1975. (I am not making this up.) The current construction of the addition to Terminal A makes driving to/from the terminal a different experience every time you attempt it. The temporary routes are not well marked. Don't try to fake it by following everyone else. They are probably lost, too. US Airways dominates the PHL market which means that fares on U.S. Airways are often substantially higher than from Baltimore (BWI), which is about 2 hours south of PHL, and where U.S. Airways is in a much more competitive market. BWI ihas none of the negative factors associated with PHL. Even when factoring in the 2 hour drive, the overall time might be less if you use BWI. The fare savings can be substantially different, even on US Airways. PHL is controlled by New York ATC. It is not unusual to sit on the ground for an hour or more before take off. Do not attempt a close connection from a flight from Philadelphia. The terminal itself lacks a good restaurant - actually, any restaurant at all other than a scaled down TGI Fridays with a limited menu. Fast food and bars are the norm. Food and drink are overpriced and mediocre. If you are hungry and have time, walk over to the airport hotel (located in the parking garage complex)and eat there. Even though the service is usually slow, the food is more reasonably priced and the quality is much better. PHL is not a place for the early morning or late evening traveler. All those great shops open late and close early. Although they are a distinct minority, PHL has some of the rudest, most unhelpful gate agents, check-in clerks, skycaps, and police of any airport in the United States. One encounter with one of these customer service Neanderthals can ruin the whole experience. The decor (dirty concrete gray and muddy maroon) makes the narrow, crowded concourses seem even worse. Once away from the shopping areas, the airport has all the charm of a bus station.

Philadelphia Airport by Becky Warner

27 July 2003

PHL was nice. Although, I'd have liked a better variety of things in the gift shops. I was disappointed that there were no mail drop boxes to be found ANYWHERE. The way the rental car set-up is is different, but actually works for the location.

Philadelphia Airport by Ken Johnson

2 June 2003

Very convenient in terms of physical location. The inside looks more like a shopping mall and most goods aren't overpriced. Unfortunately, the police in the passenger pick-up and drop-off are extremely rude, as are security personnel within the airport. Also, there need to be more signs to direct passengers to pick-up locations (ones for Terminal E are non-existent). With the opening of the beautiful, new International Terminal, the airport has finally joined the big leagues. Its layout does a superb job combining functionality and aesthetics.


 

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