goldengate

I'm in the Philadelphia (PHL) Galleries Lounge and an employee just told me that as of next week they will no longer offer first class passengers a separate dining experience. The will maintain the buffet but the seated dinner will be discontinued.

Very sad news as I just enjoyed dinner, and it makes a lot of sense for these shorter east coast flights.

TravellerFrequently

I have only used the GF once and as a GGL travelling in J on AA, I could not use the dining room, but it looked nice.

Carteeb

Probably anticipating the opening of the AA Flagship lounge soon just down the concourse. I just stopped into the Galleries first a couple of weeks ago: frankly I don't think I'll miss it

cjb666

A little off topic but we are apparently getting the late flight back in May. I over heard the dispatcher chatting with the flight crew last time I was on BA66.

jkw76

London Heathrow – Philadelphia eff 09APR18 Service increases from 7 to 10 weekly, restored frequency will be operated by 787-9
BA067 LHR1240 – 1525PHL 744 D
BA069 LHR1700 – 1955PHL 789 157

BA066 PHL1830 – 0635+1LHR 744 D
BA068 PHL2200 – 1015+1LHR 789 157
http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/...ervice-in-s18/


Together with the two AA flights, that’s x4 evening PHL departures (1h apart each). Plus the pending new Flagship lounge and a new Centurion lounge - I’m okay with the loss of First Dining.

cjb666

Great news that 68/69 are confirmed as back and as a 789 - bonus! Surprised they are keeping 744 going daily

dylanks

For what it's worth, the dining experience at the new Centurion lounge is very nice, I experienced it last night on their second day of operations. The lounge was quite crowded when I arrived at 17:30, but started to empty out by 18:00. I imagine Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Friday are going to be quite crowded.

The food is reviewed and covered on a number of other blogs so I won't repeat that detail here, but the menu comes from a well known local chef with a menu that reminds me somewhat of Ottolenghi (modern cuisine inspired by Mediterranean/Israeli recipes but leveraging more local ingredients as needed).

The lounge itself is directly above the BA lounges, and occupies roughly the same space as both BA lounges. The lift and stairs for the Centurion lounge are to the right of the entry for the BA lounge.

During peak hours I imagine the Centurion lounge is going to feel very crowded with every seat taken, though that should be relieved somewhat when the AA Flagship lounge opens. I spoke with a representative from amex who gave me some more information which supports my conjecture that it will be very crowded during peak hours. That said, it will be pretty ideal for the later BA and AA flights, as there are not that many late evening flights out of PHL in general. Also, the lounge does have a shower room unlike the BA lounges iirc.

The catering company is actually the same for both the BA and Centurion lounges, though the requirements for what is delivered in each lounge is very different.

While I spent a few hours in the lounge last night mostly to observe, I would probably dine there and then leave for the nearby AA lounge if it remains crowded as the AA lounges at PHL are so large that it's rare that they feel crowded. I looked briefly at the BA lounge around 17:30 and every seat looked occupied in there as well.

sts603

Very disappointed to see pre-flight dining removed from PHL. The entire First Dining table service concept is gone and the J Dining is now just some mini sandwiches, salads and a bit of mezze. Huge reduction in the value of BA (now non-) sleeper service from PHL. BA will be getting a nasty gram about this. When the AA flaghsip opens, it will make sense just to go there.

Genius1

Have the areas previously occupied by First Pre-Flight Dining and Club World Pre-Flight Supper been physically changed? If not, I wonder whether this is temporary.

TravellerFrequently

Not been to PHL for more than a year.

The snacks in the F Lounge were fine and the F dining looked ok.

Sounds like a disappointing change

sts603

the divider between F and J is gone but otherwise the same. I asked the staff and they said it changed a month ago and did not indicate it was temporary.

Strangely, it appears to still be restricted to F and J customers only which seems laughable given the offering (especially when BOS now has a solid spread that is open to the entire lounge).

dylanks

The change seems to have coincided with the opening upstairs of the Amex Centurion lounge. Both lounges are catered by the same company, so I wonder if Amex paid more to get extra kitchen capacity? Obviously this is pure speculation.

sts603

i highly doubt that the BA lounge is cooking and then sending food upstairs....

XUPhilly

I flew F recently and can confirm the same experience. The line is “based on customer feedback”. On offer for Club and First were a selection of about 5 hot sandwiches, some cold things, cheese, a soup, and a salad station. The claimed theme is “Healthy food”...

The staff were very quick to offer an iPad survey for me to fill out, which I did explaining how cheap the whole experience is- and how disappointing it is for a sub 6 hour flight. On board the crew wasn’t aware of the changes but they also said they would feed the comments back up- and they were great in rushing a main meal out in the first 30min of flight so I could sleep.

As a side note I was a bit susprised at the lack of options at A-West. Vino Voló is gone and the sit down place seems to have converted into more of a snack bar. So the only real option seems to be Chickie and Pete’s.

NoTiersForMe

Sorry, OT, but can anyone recommend the better AA lounge during a 4 hour layover in PHL next week. Sadly I will miss this most vaunted Flagship lounge and don't have access to the Centurion. Our own lounge guide here on FT would suggest much of a muchness between existing AA lounges?