Another Happy Phl Customer

[tadjr]

This was online from the Philadelphia newspaper today.... Does it surprise anyone in the least?

Hassles at the airport

Re: "Roadside idlers waiting for arrivals get warning," May 26:

When I fly into Philadelphia International Airport alone, my husband waits at a nearby parking lot until I call him on my cell phone to say that I have retrieved my baggage. We are not avoiding a mere $3-$5 parking fee. It usually requires a minimum of one hour, sometimes two hours! (Our experiences have included changes of announced baggage carousel and unannounced change of terminal for luggage retrieval.)

When my 83-year-old mother travels from Kentucky or when our daughter and infant granddaughter fly here, we park and wait, since they need assistance. The parking fee is always between $10 and $15.

Last month, when I traveled home from Orlando on Air Tran, my plane landed at 2:45 p.m. I retrieved my baggage, called my husband, and we were in Plymouth Meeting by 3:45 p.m.

I have sworn off US Airways and will travel on AirTran or Southwest whenever possible.

Sandra Schrader

 

[Trin03]

No surprise at all there TadJr. It's just pathetic, that's all!

 

[phllax]

It's getting better. My flight on Tuesday only took 15 minutes from the time I got downstairs, and my grandmother the week before had luggage waiting for her when she got downstairs, and they were at B5.

 

[USFlyer]

It's hit or miss. The luggage from a CLT-PHL flight last week took over 45 minutes to come out, and we got in after the last bank of flights for the day had arrived. No one was sure what we were waiting for.

 

[rvolkcpa]

We flew to PHL from TPA yesterday on flight 284. It took almost 45 miniutes for the baggage to arrive. The monitors indicated one carousel for luggage retrieval, but them they switched it to another. After I retrieved our bags, there was an annoucement that some of the flight 284 luggage was on an adjacent carousel.

The luggage situation wasn't as bad as the fact that an A319 was substituted for an A321 on the flight. Many families got separated onboard because of the switch. The flight was oversold and passengers going to Paris almost didn't get seats. The bumping offer was two R/T's plus dinner and hotel, because there were no available seats until this morning. If we didn't have to get home so our son could get to school this morning, the bump offer would have been a great deal.

 

[sentrido]

Seems appropriate to put this here:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1142694372647815/

The important part:
"Note: try not to get tricked into picking anyone up at Philadelphia International; they don’t have one of these lots, and a spokesman there encouraged drivers to just “spring for a spot â€￾ in their exorbitantly priced garage."

Nice!

 

[ringmaruf]

How are the garage prices US Airways' fault? Do AirTran and Southwest customers get discounts on parking?

 

[sentrido]

Wasnt blaming US, just thought it was funny.

 

[rvolkcpa]

We had one pleasant surprise about the PHL parking on our trip this weekend from PHL to TPA. When we got to the Economy parking lot, after a 3 hour trip from Northern NJ, we found that the lot was full and they were turning people away. There was an attendant outside who handed us an "exception" coupon, which enabled us to park at the onsite garage at the economy rate. This saved us more than $20 when we checked out last night.

If SW really ramps up service at PHL, I imagine many people will opt for the off airport lots in the Essington area. We might have tried one if we hadn't been given the exception coupon.

The setup of the airport is good from the standpoint that baggage claim is in the lower level of the parking garage.

We've been through the PHL airport a number of times on connections to/from ABE. I'd rather be able fly from ABE nonstop to either TPA or MCO. Even connections seem less stressful than using PHL or EWR. However, for this weekend's trip the $158 r/t fare per person was hard to pass up. I couldn't find fares from either ABE or EWR close to the PHL fares when I booked the trip.