Philly and USAir
 

has anyone here experienced any delayed luggage problems with USAir while leaving internationally from Philadelphia?
I'm using them this Friday to go to Madrid and the Phila.Inquirer has a big article on their luggage problems.-- I'm just looking for some piece of mind ,I guess.thanks

Hi Calvo,

I haven't had that problem, yet. However, I just spent the morning arranging new seat assignments after discovering that USAir had changed equipment and schedules for my Sept flight to Rome.

It's a good idea to check your flight weekly.

We usually connect through PHL from Pittsburgh when we travel to Europe. I haven't had any problem with our luggage out of Phl, but once on our way home, it did not make it to Pittsburgh.

ONe word of advice. If this is a connecting airport for you, try to take a flight to PHL that gives you plenty of time before the departing transatlantic flight.
We always schedule the flight from here on the flight before the last flight that will make our connection.
If PHL is your gateway city, I would suggest leaving for the airport in more than enough time. This may help.

Last June we flew from Baltimore to Frankfurt via Philly. We had a 30-minute thunderstorm delay in Baltimore, and barely made the plane in Philly. Our luggage made it to Bamberg 24 hours after we did.

What was really bizarre is the tale connected with the fact that Lufthansa handles (or was handling at that time) lost luggage for USAir in Germany.

A Lufthansa rep called us that night and said we wouldn't get it for another two days because the closest airport was Munich and it would take a while to get someone to drive it up.

I pointed out that Frankfurt wasn't any further than Munich from Bamberg, so why fly it down there?--and got a response that that's the way they do it. I then asked if they fly to Nuernberg--she said they do several times a day. I then pointed out that Nuernberg was less than an hour's drive from Bamberg--got an expression of surprise and disbelief (what could an American tourist possibly know?). The next afternoon our suitcases arrived, and they had been routed through Nuernberg.

How strange is that?

Hi Rufus,

Not at all strange.

I purchased an item from a place in Michigan. They send me a UPS tracking number so I could follow my order.

It went from Michigan to New Mexico before being sent to Atlanta and on to me.

I flew TransAtlantic on US Airways from Phila in May - luckily we didn't have the Conveyor belt problems that happened the third week of June. Security was very tight, though: they made me take off my shoes and belt and it took a while.

Be prepared for a 'hike' from the US Airways check-in to the departure gates. I got to the check-in line 2.5 hours early - I would recommend you do the same.

ira--I still think it strange that a tourist had to tell the Lufthansa rep the best way to route the luggage.

My daughter just returned yesterday on the USAir flight from Madrid thru Phil. to Kansas City. No problems with luggage on any of the flights. She was very pleased with the flight, esp the individual TV's in coach!

Ouch! I'm getting nervous now. I just made reservations to fly from Seattle to Frankfurt through Philadelphia and the only flight I could get leaves us only an hour and forty minutes to make the connection from the domestic terminal to the international terminal. I'll be towing a 4 year old but I'm guessing our luggage will be checked right through. Will this be enough time? Changing flights is not an option as we got an extremely cheap but restricted fare.

Also, does anybody know if we clear customs in Philly or Seattle on the way there from Frankfurt? Normally I'd post this on the Airlines forum but you guys all seem to have experience with this. Thanks a bunch!

I have connected through Philly twice on US Airways going to Madrid. Both times, my luggage was delayed by a day on the return to the US. The second time (last week) I missed my connecting flight (once again, on the return) due to delays in getting luggage off the plane. I got little to no help (and outright bad information) from US Airways staff, and will not connect through Philly on US Airways for future international flights, if at all possible. US Airways seems to sell tickets with woefully inadequate connection times for international flights, and the Philly airport is poorly designed, with bottlenecks and massive lines to simply get between terminals.

On the plus side, the outbound connections, while tight, were do-able, and my luggage made it to Madrid. Once you are on the secure side, getting between the terminals is faster, although about 50% of the moving walkways seem to be broken at any given time. Last trip, I had 1.25 hours, which, due to delays, turned into 45 minutes. It's a long haul to the new international gates, but I made it with plenty of time to spare. At the very least the in-flight entertainment system on the new Airbuses on this route are very nice. Good luck.

Hi Rufus,

>I still think it strange that a tourist had to tell the Lufthansa rep the best way to route the luggage.<

You brought a glimmer of light to their otherwise cold, dark and brutish lives.

ira--I guess you haven't been to Germany recently if you think the Germans live cold, dark, and brutish lives.

I have traveled to Europe from Philly approx 10 times + (Munich-London-Paris-Madrid) and never, ever have had a luggage problem. Knock on wood.