I have a love hate relationship with PHL. I love that it is a major hub for US Airways, but I hate that the terminals are somewhat in a bad shape, feels like going back to the 80’s. Transfer from Terminal F to Terminal A was painless, as there were shuttle buses to take you from one end to another. Knowing that the US Airways Club is nothing to write home about, and I’ve been to the one in Terminal F, I decided to try out the British Airways lounge in Terminal A. To be honest, I’ve never been to a BA lounge, maybe because I fly almost exclusively with Star Alliance (look at that brand loyalty). However, I was pleasantly surprised. The décor was nice and modern, with plenty of seating and a good selection of warm finger sandwiches, chips and a vast selection of drinks. There must have been a couple of different brands of beer, two types of red and white, and other non-alcoholic beverages.





The lounge servers were extremely friendly and helpful, the moment I found a seat they immediately rushed over and asked if I would like anything to drink. I politely declined the offer as I could serve myself just fine. My stay was not long, only about 20 minutes, but I was impressed, certainly one of the better lounges I have been to in the US. Even the bathrooms were much nicer, so go figure.




I decided to take a leisurely pace walking towards gate A18, where my flight US 710 would be departing for Zurich, by the time I got to the gate, it was right smack at the beginning of boarding time, 5:40 p.m., but I was shocked to realize that they had already called for general boarding, meaning I was one of the last bunch of people to get there. Really? Could this mean an empty flight? Turned out there were many connecting passengers that arrived a little later than I did, and by the time doors closed, the business class cabin was completely full and the economy cabin around 85% full.