Flying out of Phila?

[chelsea&austinsmom]

Has anyone flown out of Phila recently? We are dlying Us AIr. When should we arrive 2 hrs before flight? Should we lock are suit cases or not? Where do we park for long term parking? Is the parking marked well?

 

[jel0511]

I use Avistar at PHL, and it's very convient. You park in their lot, and then they shuttle you to the airport, dropping you off at curbside check-in. You then can check your bags and go to one of the self-checkin kiosks if you have an E-Ticket. I've been VERY lucky at PHL, and so far have never waited more than 5 minutes in the security line. I'm always on the first flight out for MCO, so the airport isn't that busy yet. We usualy give ourself 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours from the time we get to Avistar and have always had time to get a bite to eat. Avistar usually offers a coupon on their website for $49.95 for the week, which is cheaper than PHL's offsite parking. Their off-site parking is located in an AWFUL location, very hard to find, and the shuttle hardly runs!!! I either use Avistar or park in the garage. www.avistar.com

 

[shelly3girls]

I highly recommend USAir's web check-in. We have flown twice in the past couple of months. Both times flights were overbooked and people were bumped. They have also cut back on flights just recently so I would think that they will continue to have this problem. Once you check in over the web you have your boarding pass and are guaranteed a seat, nothing else to do other than curbside check your luggage and go to the gate. We have never had a long line for security, but the last time we arrived home on a Thurs. late afternoon the line was so long that they had signs posted at 20 minute intervals telling you how long the wait was. I guess it just depends on what time you are traveling.
We have never used Avistar, but we use Park and Go and have had great experiences with them. You can even have your car washed and serviced while you are away.

 

[ducklite]

We also use Avistar--I think it's the Essington Ave exit. (Sorry--it's one of those things, I can drive there, but can't give you directions)

PHL is still about teh worst airport in the USA as far as the length of time for screening, etc. They just don't ahve it together yet.

Make sure to give yourselves two hours. That's not two hours from your house, not two hours from the park and ride, but two hours from the time you walk through the doors at the airport. You could well need every minute of it.

If you have e-tickets, do a self check in using the kiosk, it's almost always a major time saver, or check in over the Internet before you leave home.

Anne

 

[puffkin]

Depending on your flight times, you may want to consider staying at a hotel near the airport. We fly early in the am, so this allows us to get a good nights sleep before we leave the next morning. We usually book the Holiday Inn (in Essington) through AAA for about $85. They will allow you to park your car there for up to two weeks. The parking lot is well lit and the hotel is decent. Also, their shuttle runs 24 hours. We have had good experiences there. If you are flying early, I would definitely recommend this route because it doesn't cost much more than long term parking and you get a full nights sleep!

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We usually leave home about 2 1/2 hours before our flight time. We park at Expresspark. It costs $5.95 a day. They are really nice. We used Avistar once and NEVER again! It's about a 20 minute drive from our house to the parking lot, and we're usually off to the airport within 5-10 minutes. This has always been enough time for our flights...we always have more than enough time to get something to eat. Have a great time! edited to add...we've never flown times where we were driving in rush hour traffic, though. Our next trip, we have a 7am flight! don't know what I was thinking when I booked that!

 

[chelsea&austinsmom]

Thanks everyone for all the info. I don't know what I was thinking when I book a 6:45 am flight with 2 kids to get ready in the morning, but we will have a full day to do what we want in Disney. My brother in law gone to pick us up fromt the airport so we decided to get Rapid roover to take us to the airport. I'm hoping it works out. Everyone that have used them never had a problem so knock on wood.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Originally posted by chelsea&austinsmom
I don't know what I was thinking when I book a 6:45 am flight with 2 kids to get ready in the morning

WHAT were YOU thinking???!!!! LOL

 

[pixiechick]

We have never used Avistar (although BIL and FIL use them and like them ), we use Sunpark, Essignton Exit, first parking garage to the right on Essington ave. (I think Avistar is second) We've done well with Sunpark, their shuttles are always quick, not sure how they rate price wise.

We've done the 1st USair flight with DS (between age 5-7) and it is really no worse the the later flights. Lay the clothes out, get yourself ready, load the car and then wake the kids up. If you leave by 4:15, you'll have lots of time to spare. our DS never naps on the plane, so we take it easy the first day. We love the early flight--rather get there sooner than later!!

 

[dansyr]

We flew US air out of Phila in March. I would suggest getting to the airport about 2 hrs ahead of time. We flew early ...around 7:00 am and really didn't need 2 hrs but I think if you were flying any later the aiport would be busier.
We stayed at the ramada near the airport...left our car there and shuttled to the airport. We plan on doing this again. It was so much easier not to have to worry if we would hit traffic or not.
Have a great trip.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Originally posted by Dopey Sharon
We used Avistar once and NEVER again!

Don't know what I was thinking...we didn't use Avistar, it was Sunpark on Essington Ave....NEVER again!

 

[redflannel10]

Try to find out what terminal you should be in before you go to the airport. Apparently, US Airways uses several terminals. We had never flown out of PHL before, so when we got to the airport, we followed the signs for US Airways, parked the car, grabbed our luggage and went into the terminal. When we looked at the screen to find our gate, we realized that we were in the wrong terminal. We had to walk quite a distance through our terminal and then through another one and then go down an escalator to get on a bus to get to the correct terminal. Luckily, we had arrived 2 hours before the flight so we did get to our gate in time.

 

[Gillian]

Don't lock your luggage. You can use cable ties to secure them.