Return to Philadelphia Airport and the American Airlines Admirals Club (B/C)
Polishing Silver
Enough of Rocky and other things. It’s time to get back to the business of travel and enjoy my first encounter with the TSA on this trip. Oh, goody.
At least there’s a lounge at the end of this rainbow. As well as a delayed inbound service.
In this Tier Point-laden adventure
- All I ask is for one decent airfare. Just ONE. Anyone?
- Off to Birmingham Airport
- FR669 Birmingham to Dublin Airport with Ryanair
- Welcome to Dublin, Premier Inn – Dublin Airport
- Early Morning Dublin Airport and US Preclearance, 51st and Green Lounge
- AA723 Dublin to Philadelphia – Flagship Business Class
- A Rocky Interlude – Exploring Philadelphia
- Return to PHL and the Philadelphia American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA2663 Philadelphia to San Francisco – US Domestic First
- A new terminal and The Crowne Plaza, Burlingame
- The Intercontinental San Francisco (and trying the new BART trains)
- Asian Eats around San Francisco
- A challenge unto myself: Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
- Ferrying around the bay with Golden Gate Ferry
- Of Dragons and Lions – Celebrations in San Francisco Chinatown
- Back to SFO, American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA164 San Francisco to New York JFK – Transcontinental Business Class
- A snow-laden pit stop at JFK and the American Airlines/British Airways Greenwich Lounge
- AA104 New York JFK to London Heathrow – Flagship Business Class
- Transiting across Heathrow Terminals and the British Airways Galleries North
- BA836 London Heathrow to Dublin Airport – Club Europe
- A Two Hour Dublin Turnaround featuring the Dublin Airport Lounge
- BA4469 Dublin to London City Airport – Club Europe by BA CityFlyer
- To the trains… and on the cheap
- Points in the bag
Back to Philadelphia Airport, American Airlines Lounge
While the train may operate every 30 minutes or so to the airport, at least there is a stop per terminal at Philadelphia Airport, reducing the walking distance. That’s good to see.
Arriving back at the airport, I headed up from the platform level to head to security. I’ve found Security at Philadelphia airport to be… what’s the politest term? Variable.
At least it didn’t queue as far back here.
I lined up and followed the queues.
Thankfully, at the C Gates, the lines were moving fast. With my identity checked and confirmed, I was allowed to line up for a security machine. These are the traditional X-ray machines, as opposed to CT Machines. However, the teams were working fast, and I was done and dusted with the process in under 10 minutes.
I’ll take that as a win for a US Airport.
From here, I was on the hunt for the lounge – as I would need to catch up with a few people before I headed off, as well as a sit-down.
Leg work is important – but resting now and then is not a bad idea.
Eventually, I found my way to the American Airlines B/C lounge and headed up the escalators.
It was time to see what nibbles there were pre-flight. Although later, that would be more than a good thing.
American Airlines Admirals Club
B/C Lounge
I was welcomed to the Adrmials Club, with both my boarding pass and Oneworld Credentials checked for entry. The agent also checked my flight, as I noted it had been delayed. It seemed that the inbound flight had been swapped – so a flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia would be arriving at 19:45, with an anticipated boarding time of 20:00.
Optimistic, worth a giggle.
With that, I was informed that there was a guacamole station in the lounge and sent on my way.
Walking around the lounge – it’s how I remember this place. I’ve been stuck here before for hours on end in the past, and this place hasn’t changed much in the intervening time.
That’s good in a familiar term. However it was Friday, so the lounge was pretty busy when I arrived. Eventually, I found a window seat and settled in.
Sometimes, wires dangle( Taken when the lounge was much quieter.
The lounge is a typical Admirals Club lounge as opposed to the Flagship lounges that are dotted around the system – so this lounge has some food options (thankfully) including salads, a chicken dish and soup as hot menu items.
Although stuff moved fast in this place.
There was also a smashed guacamole station offering snacks for an hour while I was there. I’m not the biggest avocado fan in the world, so I passed on that wonder.
A lot of the drinks offered were on free-pour, however, if you wanted anything with a bit of alcohol, these were barkeeper-served. That’s fine, to be honest – given the number of people that go through this hub, free alcohol could well bump up the cost of a first or business-class ticket without trying.
As for the food options… they were… what the term I’m going to use… present. They were topped up a few times whilst I was there – a good thing too as they seemed to be decimated the moment a fresh plate of nubbles headed out.
Even the Brownies were in high demand.
Thankfully refilled.
Chicken and Broccoli
Cruets
Souper
This is where further reasonable quality dining options would come in. American offers these as a paid option – but honestly, I saw zero take-up of them whilst in the lounge. I guess the concept of people parting money for food is a foreign one.
Internet connectivity was passable – with it protected by a password. It was good enough for a WhatsApp video call or two (but yes, use earbuds like polite people do – don’t scream into your phone and have the speaker on so everyone can hear your conversation).
I settled in and relaxed a bit, charging devices and such as I knew I had a long flight ahead – and wasn’t exactly sure what I would be doing on this flight.
Given the time I had been awake, sleep was high on the agenda at that point – but having a charged phone along with a few other things is never a bad idea.
With boarding time nearing, I headed down from the lounge and slowly followed the signs for the C Gates. It’s been several years since I passed here, so I allowed for the time to navigate my way around.
And of course, I walked, rather than using the express walkways. I’ve got to pay more attention some days.
The C Pier is easy to find – and thankfully, everything is reasonably signed through the terminal – so there were minimal excuses to get lost.
Heading to the gate, C28 was packed out with both seated and standing passengers – it looked like it was a full flight heading out to the West Coast that evening.
The road to nowhere.
More choose your own adventure.
I took a seat, as this mele looked to be one to keep out of until boarding was ready to begin.
Eventually, the groups started being called forward. I was called forward to Group 2, where my boarding pass was zapped.
With that done, I was allowed down the jetway.
Let’s go to San Francisco.
Next
American Airlines 2663 Philadelipa to San Francisco.
Oh, Dearie. Me.
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