Philadelphia Airport

Arrived from UK at Terminal A and 20 minutes after disembarcation I was in the land of the free. Very modern terminal. Departed from same terminal. It is worth noting that if you are early for check in there are no facilities landside (apart from 2 toilets). However everything you need is available airside. I found the security to be less officious than other US airports I have used (JFK & BOS). Much improved from my last visit 6 years ago.

Recently flew US Airways PHL -SJU (San Juan PR) - PHL. Departure from PHL went smoothy except that it took longer than expected to go thru the TSA checkpoint. (We did make our flight.) However on return to PHL plane arrived at Terminal A but (as is procedure) bags are sent to Terminal B. Saw no signs indicating how to get from Terminal A to Terminal B. When we finally realized we were "lost" we asked the Info Desk. She told us we had to walk outside to get to Terminal B. Having come from PR we were in only shirtsleeves and it was 19 degrees out! She said it's about a 3 minute walk and she was right! If somebody knows that there is an "inside" connector hall between A and B please post on this PHL chain. (I tried to see if there was an A-B Term. connector hall on the US Air website but couldn't see one for sure.) The other problem we had and have had it almost every time we've flown into PHL is that they rarely put the correct flight numbers on the monitors over the baggage carousels. And there are 6 carousels in Terminal B. So you don't know which one of 6 carousels your bags might be on. (Or else they'll put the flight # and say "Carousel 2" but in fact the bags from that flight end up on Carousel 4." (Kind of an on-going April Fool's joke!) Fortunately our bags are fairly easy to spot. Choice of restaurants is good and food prices are not a rip-off. Prices were a good bit higher at SJU airport than at PHL. Except for the gripes above PHL is a fairly decent airport.

Live in South Jersey and fly out of and back to PHL almost weekly. While the airport seems to always be under construction and isnt always the easiest for those transferring from one plane to another (especially if you come in on an international flight Terminal A and have to get to a regional connection in F) it is very easy to get in and out fo if you know some tricks. Always park in C or D garage and dont even try any floor below 4. Then use the new TSA checkpoint. DOnt even think about going in the through the checkpoint in B or you will be in line for a while. Philly finally is letting Southwest Business Select in the first class line in that main new TSA checkpoint so if you have fly-by or first class there you go 10 people in line at the most. As for being a busy airport; I dont know where some of these other people fly to that call philly busy. Have you been to Atlanta or Minneapolis? Philly is probably ~40% on the crowded scale. I mean go to terminal E and look at how many NW and SW gates are empty most of the day. Its no Manchester NH but on the other hand its no where near as crowded as Atlanta. Now for what sucks with PHL - if there is a drop of rain dont even think about landing in PHL on time. Overall I think PHL isnt too bad an airport especially if you live in the area as if is located pretty central to everything and easily gotten to off 95. Aside from the sprawl from terminals A-F and how fragile it is to weather delays its an easy airport to go in and out of.

Arrived from Madrid. No flights in front of us so despite seeing only 4 people in front of me still took 20 minutes to get through customs. This was the only negative I can say. Airport has many choices to eat and shop while waiting. Walks can be long between gates so be careful.

Very poor airport. You can arrive 2 hours before your flight and still not make it to your plane. I think much of the problem is US Air which chronically understaffs its check-in areas. The TSA screening stations are also understaffed and move very slowly. At PHL flight information for airlines other than USAir are not posted on the information monitors! My recent flight using AA an example. Flight information is often not posted at the gate check in desks the gate information on the monitors is often incorrect or not updated. Not nearly enough seats for people to sit on while waiting for flights. Other problems with PHL - poor signage within the airport poor signage as to how to enter and exit the airport and get to the parking lots and generally disorganized drop-off and pickup areas. The food prices inside the airport are not too bad however.

A generally pretty airport but deceivingly big and at times incredibly overcrowded. Depending on the time of day you may need three hours (if you walk fast) to connect international to domestic and at least an hour and a half to connect domestic to international or domestic to domestic (walking times to international terminal A can easily be half an hour from terminal D again if you walk fast). Average taxi times hit 45 minutes to an hour at peak travel times (5 am - 8:30 am and 3:30 pm to 6 pm) so never expect your flight to be completely on time.

A breeze - the best gateway I've experienced into the US. Lots of immigration desks open and the officer processing my wife and myself even had a sense of humour! Security checks reasonably quick too. The airport is well laid out and decently signed - even though it's a long walk from Terminal B to Terminal A.

Our recent departure from Terminal D turned out to be relatively hassle-free. Thanks to TSA's new and improved checking lanes at Connector D-E the lines were much shorter than we had expected. And we found the staff on duty to be more courteous too. Our UA flight left very early in the morning -- perhaps things could get more difficult during the peak hours .

I must amend my January review - Philadelphia has gone back in time and the whole international to domestic transfer was every bit as awful as it used to be. Chaotic waiting lines rude TSA with lots of shouting - just a general mess.

PHL must have done some work because my experience were far from the nightmares I have heard. Coming in from PIT going to JAX the walk from C to A is a bit of a long one but got to our gate at C. Found out our flight was delayed but the gate agents were very helpful. Many food options.