US Air - Philly to Paris
 

Having just read an article about the two worst airports and airlines, one being Philly and US Air (my combination), wondering if anyone has any experiences to share. I'm flying this Wednesday from Buffalo to Philly, 3 hr layover then off to CDG.

Thanks!

that should also read...worst airline for lost luggage...

Here in Pgh., USAirways was the only show in town for international travel when we had hub status, and now we have to connect in PHL, or somewhere else. It's no better/no worse than any other airline; they have good days and bad days. I've never had anything horrible happen, and the Airbus you take from PHL to CDG has individual entertainment screens on back of seat in front of you, so you have some options. Coach is crowded, but which airline isn't. I kind of just grit my teeth, and know it's going to be what it is. Paris awaits at the other end!

Pack your carry-on with essentials for two days and hope for the best. Have the address and phone number of your Paris destination in the ID tag for your checked bag.

Just because PHL is statistically worse than other airports, the advice is the same for all flights, domestic or international, whether changing planes or not.

Only two or three people on your flight will have luggage problems, and you are not likely to be one of them. I've made the PHL connection to Europe 5 or 6 times without a baggage problem.

I live in Pittsburgh too, and so US Airways is "my" airlines also. I haven't had any unusual luggage problems with them. The 3-hour layover should be fine also.

After reading some of the horror stories about missed international connections, my plan is to stay in the international gateway city (Philly, DC, etc.) the night before my flight.

I always leave myself LOTS of time between flights, so it makes for a very, very long day. I will never understand the short connection time given by the airlines. For example, United has you arriving at IAD at 5:11 and departing for Zurich at 6:02!

Why on earth would they give you less than 1 hour between your arrival time and departure flight? It's a mystery to me.

We have flown Philly to Paris with USAir several times. We arrived without our luggage only once. Packing extra clothing in carryon is something I recommend also.

My numerous experience with connecting flights through Philly

sorry, hit the wrong button-----

my experience with any connecting flights through Philly is that you are pretty much on your own. USAir personnel are not always around when your flight lands and you will be directed to one of the monitors rather than receiving personal service.

This is my rather jaundiced attitude after missing several flights. I try to connect through other airports if possible.

With three hours you should not have a problem. Have a great trip. Deborah

Sorry, have flown through PHL on USAirways to/from Paris and Gatwick and have never, ever had a luggage problem in either direction.

So, my experiences have all been positive...I assume you wanted to hear about those, too, didn't you?

My recollection is that the gates between our flight coming from SF and the flight going to Europe and vice versa required a very long walk and going through the security check again. It was a pain. On our way back, the US Air flight was late coming in from Europe and we were given no information whatsoever about connecting flights (we missed the original one) and luggage. Everything turned out OK at the end, but it lead to some very anxious moments.

I fly USAir all the time for business (domestic) and use them almost exclusively for international (miles). I have never had a problem with them personally. Most of our international travel takes us through PHL or CLT. While I prefer Charlotte, I don't normally cringe when I'm routed through PHL.

I was in Italy last month with some co-workers, 5 of us were on USAir through PHL and one was on Delta or Continental (can't remember which) through Cincinatti. The one person who had a problem with their luggage was the one NOT on USAir. Her bag arrived in Rome two days after she did!

One the way back though, one of my fellow USAir-ers bags didn't make it back to Tampa until the next flight, and that was going through PHL.

My personal experience has always been good on USAir, I'm sure you'll get plenty of negative, and hope this gives you some positive to think about as well.

Even from CLT we have to (oftentimes)connect in PHL for Int'l flights. That being said, I've never had problems w/Int'l flights coming or going from Philly (nor Customs for that matter). Domestics are another story. We try to avoid Philly & DC airports on Fridays whenever possible, as those flights are always delayed or late, regardless of weather, etc. We typically fly out Sunday evening instead & return Thursday to avoid some of the travel delays.

Thanks for all your replies, both positive and negative. I'm still toying with the idea of putting everything into carry on luggage, but is sounds like PHL is no worse/better than any other.

I just returned from Paris on Sunday on US Air. We were supposed to return on Friday flying from De Gaulle to philly. We were on the plane for four hours and told that the plane was broken. They tookus to a hotel and told us we were leaving at 10 on Saturday. to make a long story short they tried to fix the broken plan and were unable and finally had to fly in another plane. We arrived home on sunday evening. The airline kept us uninformed and the staff at the airport was rude. I hope that US air makes good on this.

I am convinced that US Air is the worse domestic airline nowadays. Although my family and I flew them domestically (SFO to Vegas) just last week we had the worse experience. I hate to think of flying them internationally. We had both our outbound and inbound flights cancelled. The excuses were that outbound was cancelled due to employee error when the baggage handler did something to cause a hole in the plane; the inbound flight cancelled citing 'mechanical problems'. This resulted in alot of inconvenience with hotel reservations and personal commitments for us and other passengers also. It's a drag to get rebooked after standing in a huge line, retrieve your luggage, and mass confusion as to being shuttled to a motel, then rechecking and going through the nice security checkpoint for a second time the following day.

Seeing the comments about US Air and broken planes makes me feel that their maintenance is not good at all. They are the most unreliable airline that we have flown. For sure we will not fly them again.