US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Thoughts about PHL A-West...

Around Memorial Day weekend I got my first look at the inside of A-West in PHL. From the outside, the new terminal looks amazing. A solid wall made up of individual thick sections of glass...

Then I walked inside... :td:

For all the money they spent on this terminal...you'd think that it would look better by now! I didn't get to the Club... but there were corners that were totally unpainted. You'd think that these small problems would have been fixed before the opening.

The A-West security lines looked...daunting to say the least (Althought the line was non-existent at 7pm...). They must have 50 individual security cameras pointed at every square inch of the security area. I cleared at Terminal B - so I didn't get to experience it first-hand.

The walk from the A Terminal to the first gate in A-West is quite far. No moving walkways to be found. You have them between B & C... which is a short distance. Why not between A & A-West?

The gate areas were the great part. Plenty of room. I appreciate a nice gate area. Makes the whole boarding process less "stressful".

It seemed like the gates were mostly empty. Why not shift some more domestic travel to A-West when its not busy? It (when actually finished) will be an amazing terminal...why not use it?

I'd love to hear other opinions about A-West... I haven't heard too much about it recently.

Safe Travels,
Chris

There are moving walkways between A-West and just prior to the corridor that links to A-East. You must have missed them.

I've never had much trouble or long waits (nothing out of the ordinary for that matter) clearing security there, which I've done several times on flights to SJU and others.

And the terminal, while obviously not as busy as B-C, does see its share of domestic flights throughout the day to places like CLT, LGA, MCO and others. And of course, most Caribbean flights are dispatched from here as well.

And the terminal, while obviously not as busy as B-C, does see its share of domestic flights throughout the day to places like CLT, LGA, MCO and others. And of course, most Caribbean flights are dispatched from here as well.

Correct. I believe most of these domestic flights are positioned here due to the aircraft either arriving from an international/carib flight or the plane's next stop is an international/carib destination. My first venture into A-West was actually on a 319 that was coming from SYR that was going to the Caribbean the next morning so they pulled it into A-West.

Yes, the hike between A-West's start and the rest of the gates is largely spaced out but I must say the Club makes a great "resting place". ^

I enjoy flying into and from A-West. The setup is pretty decent, if you have the ability to get into the club I highly suggest it as its beautiful and has a great view from above, and the gates have plenty of room for people with a great glass motif to everything.

I like the new terminal. Beautiful from the outside.
Most of my flying is transatlantic, to Manchester.

The envoy lounge is really great.

I must be honest though, the gray tile used everywhere makes me feel like I am in a toilet.

The envoy lounge is really great.

I must be honest though, the gray tile used everywhere makes me feel like I am in a toilet.

Speaking of toilets, did Tattoo from Fantasy Island engineer the height of the urinals in the Envoy Lounge? :D

I like A West, but it's loooong. I seem to head out from A25, so it's quite a hike. The glass does look pretty, I agree. I'd like to see additional dining options there. My choices were McDonald's, wraps or a bar.

Correct. I believe most of these domestic flights are positioned here due to the aircraft either arriving from an international/carib flight or the plane's next stop is an international/carib destination.

I think they like to keep it busy as much as possible because, as an intl. terminal, the high volume comes in the afternoon/evening for the Euro flights, and the mornings for the Carrib flights (which will start to die down now that we're out of season). That leaves a big gap in time for the businesses in the concourse to twiddle their thumbs without more traffic.....

Arrived today (06/21/2004):

SAN - CLT 1035p - 605a US # 90 A320
CLT - PHL 700a - 840a US #898 757

(originally on 955p - 601a US # 80 A320 but didn't arrive until 950p on Sunday night!).

Gate 21 (flight later was heading to Cancun).

What a huge walk. Wasn't too happy about having to go ALL THE WAY TO B Concourse. I ended up calling reservations as I was walking (hit #1) and asked where the heck my luggage was going to be available for pickup.

Let's hope this is only a temporary problem. I'm going to write US a letter asking for an explanation.