wekewoody

HI,
Flying from SFO to VCE and returning FCO to SFO next year. US Air has a good schedule and decent prices. I have never flown through either PHL and CLT. Each flight has a two hour layover. It seems like that would be enough time in most airports (except LHR and CDG maybe). Do you have any experience with international travel though either airport on US Air?
Thank you.

Rastaguytoday

Without looking at the terminal maps... whick you can do, you will need some time to clear customs, regardless of the airport.

wekewoody

I know all the above Pastaguytoday. I have been known to do a little research on my own now and again.

Anyone with direct experience at these airports? Thanks.

Cowboy1968

I connected twice thru PHL from/to Europe this year, MUC-PHL-LAS, and later ATL-PHL-MUC. With 2 hrs and 1.5hrs to connect in PHL, respectively.
It was a breeze, with not much walking in between the international and US Airways' domestic terminal, which was the terminal next to intl. Don't know if US handles all flights from only that one domestic terminal, though.
Eventually, I spent most time hanging around the departure gates each time.

Cowboy1968

P.S. also connected once in CLT on my way to Europe with US Airways/Lufthansa. The walk from the arrival gate at the domestic terminal to the intl gates also was not worth mentioning. Very well signposted, no hectic crowds, just a 5 minute walk maybe.
I found CLT much more appealing and "nicer" than PHL, but that is probably of not much relevance.

wekewoody

Thanks Cowboy. That is really useful information!

Rastaguytoday

wekewoody - you haven't been a Fodorite for that long, and one never knows what you might know.

No mention about customs, so I thought I would.

sparkchaser

Two hours is plenty in CLT and I've done it many times. PHL will take longer to get through but two hours should still work BUT you'll be very stressed about making your connection. Plus PHL is kind of a dump so I would avoid it unless you you want to grab a philly cheese there but then again, you won't have time to.

Cowboy1968

You will find terminal maps of US Airways here:
http://www.usairways.com/en-US/trave...minalmaps.html

As I said, connecting at PHL from Intl to Domestic was quick and easy both ways as I arrived at Concourse A West and had only to walk to B (and vice versa).
Same in CLT: arrival at Concourse E, walk to D.

Immigration and Customs was ridiculously quick at PHL, so I would not consider that any "norm".
I waited only 5 minutes at non-citizen immigration, picked up my luggage already making the circles on the belt, walked thru Customs and re-checked a few feet after Customs. In 30+ times arriving in the US, this had been only the 2nd or 3rd time it went THAT quickly. I'd never assume that this was "usual" in PHL.

And if your domestic flights arrive or depart from other concourse not so conveniently neighboring the international gates, it may be a different story, too.
But when checking connections via PHL, there was none with more than 2 hours.
As airlines are probably not in the need to deal with 300 stranded pax per flight per day from overseas, I assume that these times reflect more what is the norm than my 30 minutes super-quick fly-thru or someone else's chaotic experiences.

wekewoody

I want to arrive in Venice in the morning to maximize my time there, so that limits my options to American, US Air, Air Canada and Delta. I'd prefer to fly Delta through Atlanta, but we'll see what happens with fares.

Thanks again cowboy and sparkchaser for the specific and helpful information.