Southwest @ PHL

[CMERCANTI]

First time flying Southwest on Monday. Are there skycaps outside the dropoff area to check your luggage in or do you have to take the luggage inside? Appreciate any help.

 

[zurgswife]

There are skycaps to leave luggage with outside. Depending on the departure time the skycap line is longer to get through then the inside line. I typically just drag my stuff inside and go through that line. Either way it is not difficult. Don't forget to get your boarding pass 24hrs prior and you'll be good to go.

 

[PIERCEDRN]

First time flying Southwest on Monday. Are there skycaps outside the dropoff area to check your luggage in or do you have to take the luggage inside? Appreciate any help.

Last trip on SW from PHL in OCT. there was NO line at all for the skycaps. We arrive at least 2.5 hours before a flight as the lines get crazy here thru security.
MCO to PHL was a really long wait both inside and outside, but the skycap totally hooked us up when our flight was delayed. They really do a great service which is well worth the tip IMHO. He had 3 people working to fix our flight plan and helped us get a last minute hotel.
BOB

 

[DonnaL]

Agree with Zurgswife on this. Totally depends on time of day whether the line is longer for skycaps or inside, so do check both. Also, keep in mind, while SW terminal is Terminal E and you do need to check bags at Terminal E some SW flights depart from Terminal D so make sure you know which you're departing from before you get in the security line.....cause you could wait a while in line and then be told you need to go Terminal D......I've seen it happen to many people in PHL.

 

[jel0511]

I believe they are charging per bag in PHL to use the skycaps. As for the terminal you're flying out of, it doesn't matter which security line you get into. Once you pass through security, you can get to any of the terminals from INSIDE security, so you don't have to pass through again. If when you check-in they state your flying out of a D gate, remember that SW check-in is in terminal E. I always find the wait at security at E to be relatively short and if I have to go over to D, just hang a right after going through security and walk over.

 

[PIERCEDRN]

I still think that southwest is not charging for curbside check-in, that was a fee imposed by AA and US airways. If someone used the service with Southwest recently I would be interested to know if this changed.
BOB

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We just flew SW in July out of PHL. There were no fees for using skycaps. We always do curbside check in and it's rarely a long line for us. I always double check which line is longer and usually inside is.

The skycaps will tell you terminal/gate# so we just follow the signs. Pretty easy.

Also just used Winner Valet parking for 1st time and loved it. We'll never go back to economy lot again.

 

[DonnaL]

We checked in curbside mid May at SW and there were no charges for skycap service.....this was after AA and USAirways had instituted their charges for the service at PHL. Also, as far as I'm aware once you go thru security at Terminal E there is no way to get back to Terminal D......the hallway leading to D is before security. On our trip in May I witnessed several people who had already waited for several minutes in line being told by TSA they needed to go over to the security line at D terminal since they couldn't get there from the gated side of E. I do agree, however, the line at E is usually much shorter than at D. I know they have been doing quite a bit of construction in that area .......from airside it did look like when construction is finished you will be able to access either terminal after going thru security, but, in May that was not the case and for several trips prior to May we needed to go thru security at D to gain access to gated areas of that terminal.

 

[PIERCEDRN]

thank you both for the great info! I was on the fence about winner and you just tipped me over the edge, too. Wow! I love this site!
BOB

 

[tjmw2727]

I believe they are charging per bag in PHL to use the skycaps. As for the terminal you're flying out of, it doesn't matter which security line you get into. Once you pass through security, you can get to any of the terminals from INSIDE security, so you don't have to pass through again. If when you check-in they state your flying out of a D gate, remember that SW check-in is in terminal E. I always find the wait at security at E to be relatively short and if I have to go over to D, just hang a right after going through security and walk over.

Between DH and I we fly SWA monthly from PHI and as of late July SWA skycaps were not charging for the service. ITA with pp's though about the lines - if they look short go for it! Often though the lines outside at PHI are longer than inside, esp SWA as they have lots of self serve Kiosks and it seems to go pretty quickly.

As for the terminal - it definatly matters (at least between D and E) where you clear security. There is continuing construction and you can't get from D to E without exiting the secure area. So the advice to be sure about your departure gate before getting in the security line was excellent advise.

TJ

 

[jel0511]

As for the terminal - it definatly matters (at least between D and E) where you clear security. There is continuing construction and you can't get from D to E without exiting the secure area. So the advice to be sure about your departure gate before getting in the security line was excellent advise.

TJ

That must be new, the last time we flew (March), I went all the way to terminal C after getting through security.

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

Also just used Winner Valet parking for 1st time and loved it. We'll never go back to economy lot again.

We used them for the first time last month. It's probably a toss up between Winner and Pacifico for future trips. Both services were equally good (we've used Pacifico in the past). It'll probably come down to who has the better rate. There's a Winner coupon floating around on the 'net. I think I found it when I googled "winner apirport parking".

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Between DH and I we fly SWA monthly from PHI and as of late July SWA skycaps were not charging for the service. ITA with pp's though about the lines - if they look short go for it! Often though the lines outside at PHI are longer than inside, esp SWA as they have lots of self serve Kiosks and it seems to go pretty quickly.

As for the terminal - it definatly matters (at least between D and E) where you clear security. There is continuing construction and you can't get from D to E without exiting the secure area. So the advice to be sure about your departure gate before getting in the security line was excellent advise.

TJ

I thought the kiosks were only if you have no bags to check.

 

[tjmw2727]

I thought the kiosks were only if you have no bags to check.

No you can use the SWA computer kiosks to check bags. You just put in your confirmation number and the kiosk will ask you what you want to do. Choose check bags and the number next to each passenger. They have a few agents taking the bags and tagging them, they check your id and weigh the bags. So its not totally self serve but its alot faster than the full serve counter because they have two or three kiosks for each agent.

With SWA there is no need to even use a kioks or full service counter if your not checking luggage as you will have printed out your boarding pass 24 hours prior to the flight.

TJ