US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - PHL - INT'L to DOMESTIC CONNEX QUESTION

Will be making an international to domestic connection at PHL later this month - How has customs been at PHL lately ? Do I need to re-clear security after customs ? Any tricks ? Is there a US premium lane ? Thanks - kazman

>How has customs been at PHL lately ?

It's not customs that will hold you up but immigration. Not too bad for U.S. citizens/passport holders. Maybe 20 minutes at most. Can be much longer for non-U.S. citizens.

>Do I need to re-clear security after customs?

Yes.

>Any tricks ?

If premium lane at C concourse is closed, try heading to the F gates and shuttling back.

>Is there a US premium lane ? Thanks -

Yes, at the C concourse entrance.

A premium lane is also available at the Concourse B checkpoint.

If I recall correctly, Philly customs dumps you at the security checkpoint for Concourse A. I don't believe there is a premium security lane there (though there might be b/c I recall American Airlines have a premium lane in Philly), so if the line is quite long go outside to the sidewalk and make the short trip to Concourse B, where you can find a premium lane.

The F gates is a really long hike from A or even B and C and the shuttle only runs airside. Thus, unless security at all three terminals looks to be over an hour (i.e., past domestic Baggage Claim, Airport Marriott, and toward the Parking Garage) you won't really benefit by going to F. It's a helluva hike! (unless, of course, your continuing flight is aboard US Airways Express)

You can also clear security at Terminal D and get access to all terminals except E.

about immigration... if you realize that you are going to disembark to a people mover and not a gate, wait for people to leave before you get off the plane. Ensuring a last spot on one of those things means you'll be one of the first people off! Then be like Forrest and run, run, run! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If you need to 'hike' from A all the down to F, you can get on the Economy Parking bus that hits each departure and arrival curb. Just ask the driver if he can let you tag along to F.

In March, at least, this was a disaster. I was connecting LGW-PHL-ATL, and immigration was backed up all the way down the long "tunnel." They were passing out bottles of water, it was so bad! When we finally were allowed to go up the escalator, we found an enormous snake line, which took forever. The immigration workers were acting like they'd never seen a US passport before, and the staff along the line were giving conflicting information to many people about which line to be in (especially for US/non-US couples travelling together). Once cleared, then had to go outside the sterile line and back through security. I had over two hours for my connection, and just barely made it because the PHL-ATL leg was late leaving. I was one of the first off the flight from LGW, and the absolute last one on my flight to ATL. Next time, I connect through Charlotte (?).

Never connected on a return through CLT (only leaving US). However PHL is awful most of the time - too many flights all arriving around the same time.

PIT has always been nice, but its not quite a fair comparison since the max number of simultaneous arrival in Int'l is 3 (LGW/CDG/FRA). Unfortunately if your destinations are anywhere else, this wont help you much!

After an ugly AMS-PHL return in the fall, I have begun booking European travel so that my returns always come through LGW or FRA so I can return directly home to PIT. (Avoiding CDG is just plain smart too)

Has the PHL chaos cleared up? I have 6 and 3 hour stop overs and was hoping to slip into town during one of them. Equally, is it (still?) possible to store a bag in a locker or something of the sort for a couple hours? I might only come with a carry on, but it risk being heavy.

As someone mentioned above - I also had good experience in November at PIT with immigration - super fast!

Just came through customs at PHL last week. It was AWEFUL! It wasn't customs. It wasn't immigration. It was US! Once we cleared, there was exactly ONE agent available to recheck luggage. Finally two more showed up, but we were near the back of the line and waited a good 15 minutes just to recheck our bags.

Then, the A line was misery. I highly recommend leaving going outside and coming in elsewhere, esp if you hold status. They allow only AA and BA status holders to bypass the line at gate A. (Correction -- ticket holders -- my AA Plat bag tag was a no go.) Another 15 minutes. Nothing like a 100 minute layover turning into 30 with cranky 2 and 4 year old kids running around, bumping into the other pax, well, you get the idea.

This is beginning to sound worrisome. I arrive at Terminal A from Europe and depart from Terminal B 6 hours later for Canada. I thought about dashing into town. But how soon do I have to get back to the airport to check in again and clear security and perhaps immigration? And how quickly can I reasonably hope to escape the airport in the first place? Aside from running, what can I do to better my chances of a quick break out for downtown?

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, we (AMS) were behind Rome (a FULL A330) and Immigration only took 10 minutes at most. Baggage Claim took almost 45 minutes because they told us the wrong carosel. Customs was literally just hand in your form and walk out.

I was coming in from Gatwick in early April and it was an abomination, about an hour to get through immigration (I am a US citizen). Bailed on the recheck after immigration and ran outside, down to our terminal and into the preferred check in. What a disaster that was.

"Bailed on the recheck after immigration and ran outside, down to our terminal and into the preferred check in."

For someone who has never connected through the US let alone Philly, could you clarify what exactly you did here? Perferred mileage status on US?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cure:
"Bailed on the recheck after immigration and ran outside, down to our terminal and into the preferred check in."

For someone who has never connected through the US let alone Philly, could you clarify what exactly you did here? Perferred mileage status on US? </font>

You can go outside terminal A towards the passenger pickup and literally run down the sidewalk to terminal B baggage claim. Go up the escalator to the walkway to ticketing... You then take another escalator down to ticketing and walk all the way across toward terminal C and there you will find preferred check-in, as well as regular check-in in the middle.

What, if any, criteria have to be met to have the right to use preferred check in?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cure:
What, if any, criteria have to be met to have the right to use preferred check in?</font>


1. You must be flying on a First Class or Envoy class Ticket or
2. You must be Chairmans/Gold or Silver Preferred with USAIR
3. You must have elite status with United

I've been through PHL immigration/customs 5 times since May, and though the line has been long a couple of times, I've not had a single experience like those being described here. The funniest thing to me is that the line for US Citizens is longer and slower than the line for Non-US Citizens. Makes for some interesting jokes about the US "welcoming" us home.

Some things you can do to shorten your stay in the line:

1. Use the bathroom on the plane before you land - if you stop in the "tunnel", you'll end up at the back of the line.

2. Try to get a seat as far forward as possible - in PHL, it matters, since your whole A330 is headed to the same immigration hall, especially if they're using those freaky buses on hydraulic jacks to offload ppl from the plane.

3. RELAX. I always assume at least 1 hour to clear customs and immigration no matter where I fly. I make my connections accordingly, and always assume that there will be a slow, long line at immigration. It saves a lot of aggravation, though it does lengthen the travel day.

Just some thoughts - I agree w/others who have said that your experience through PHL international arrivals is basically random, based upon the arrivals of other carriers/flights and the luck of the draw. Just part of the glamour of international travel, IMHO.

Best experience by far is arriving in FRA. Fast, clean, and efficient.

My Tuesday afternoon arrival at PHL from LGW last month allowed me to be the first pax through US immigrations again! With NO WAIT at all! The immigrations agent and I even had time to chat after business was completed.

The non-US line looked bad, though.

I avoid PHL like the plague. I have been through there three times in the last 2 years and twice have spent the night in a local hotel (paid by US). The last time, I did as mentioned above, walked outside, down to the next set of gates, and through the shorter, preferred security line. We made it by about 2 minutes.

It sounds like other have been lucky, but there always seem to be 3-4 planeloads dumping passengers at the same time.