Philadelphia Airport

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The ticketing and baggage claim areas were cramped and outdated and the baggage claim for my airline (Southwest) was in a different terminal than where my flight arrived.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.

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.

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.

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.

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.