Originally Posted by
rw_cessna_flyer
My parents are arriving PHL on BA (1st Class so should into passport hall fairly quickly). They have a separately booked flight on US out of the F terminal.
Question is - can they collect there luggage and re-check it at the A terminal check-in desk or do they need to haul it over to the F terminal?
They have 2.5 hours between flights - hopefully this will be enough time but I realize it is tight if BA is delayed. If it is delayed, would the 2-hour flat tire rule allow them to catch a flight the next morning (as the one they are booked on is last of the day)?
Thanks for any help
They will recheck the bags right after clearing customs in A terminal; it's seamless. The fact that it sounds like there is checked baggage is unfortunate, because it means you will no longer be first in line to re-clear security at the cramped, sometimes slow A terminal reentry point.
If they choose the easiest route, they will drop off the bags and go directly to the security line, which will deposit them into terminal A. There is a shuttle from A to F airside. If is possible to walk from A all the way to E airside, but not to F.
If the A line is beastly, I've sometimes contemplated l walking out and re-clearing security at one of the conventional A Terminal checkpoints or at one of the others. The other airside shuttle is from C to F, so the options would be to re-enter at C or hike all they way to F landside. As a former philly native, I'm sorry to say I forget if this landside hike can be done indoors. The A reclearance line would have to be extremely bad to make it worth it, but I've seen it extremely bad. With 2 hours to reclear, I think you'll be fine staying with the flow in A. My worst A reclearance time was about 1.5 hours, and I stayed because my layover was 4 hours and I was helping some Brits with tighter connections who surrounded me in the line.
Flat tire rule: good luck. Think of the money you saved splitting the ticket into two PNRs as a gamble. you'll usually win, if not.... well... beg from the surly philly US people. There is a minutesuites location in terminal A you could sleep overnight in if the local hotels are too much $$......