PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread II

[Broadcastthatboom]

Originally Posted by Justin7

I don't personally consider an hour on amtrak to EWR to be much of a punishment. It's just a question of how much it's going to save and that value proposition is going to be different for everyone.

Can we all just accept that people value their time differently and move on?

Agreed. My personal anecdote is traveling to Buffalo often. It's a 50 minute trip, flying out of EWR I've gotten tickets from United between $250-300, while flying out of PHL on American is sometime pushing $600. That's ridiculous and if I'm planning enough time ahead, I can get an hour Amtrak that goes right to the EWR station for like $30 which also includes the AirTrain ticket.

[Mr Saturn64]

Originally Posted by chimpskibot

PHL is extremely underserved for many high traffic routes. I’m actually flying out from EWR and my trip is leaving Philly from Rittenhouse. I love Philly, but PHL is not well served considering how many people are in the metro area and the range of locations they need to go to. Does PHL even have a direct flight to Asia?

Right now it's just Doha, but the Inquirer article says that multiple Asian carriers have expressed interest in serving PHL. My guess is that Turkish and Emirates are the main ones. I would love to see JAL here, but I don't know if that's a reasonable hope.

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

We also lost our only Africa route to Morocco too.

I'm fairly confident that will come back with an XLR. I can see American adding Philly-Casablanca to compete with United's new Newark-Marrakesh route.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Justin7

I don't personally consider an hour on amtrak to EWR to be much of a punishment. It's just a question of how much it's going to save and that value proposition is going to be different for everyone.

Can we all just accept that people value their time differently and move on?

Forreal. When I flew to Europe last, I did both trips out of JFK. Didn't even bother with PHL or even NWK; too expensive.

When I flew to Honolulu, I went from PHL to SFO because it was reasonably priced (actually cheaper than if I had gone to EWR).

[DeltaNerd]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

Right now it's just Doha, but the Inquirer article says that multiple Asian carriers have expressed interest in serving PHL. My guess is that Turkish and Emirates are the main ones. I would love to see JAL here, but I don't know if that's a reasonable hope.



I'm fairly confident that will come back with an XLR. I can see American adding Philly-Casablanca to compete with United's new Newark-Marrakesh route.

Hopefully with more cargo space, those carriers would have more incentive to serve PHL. Besides passengers, those airlines moves high-value cargo as well. We have plenty of international gates available.

Maybe one day I can see Casablanca after 2027.

[jaysb]

Originally Posted by DeltaNerd

Hopefully with more cargo space, those carriers would have more incentive to serve PHL. Besides passengers, those airlines moves high-value cargo as well. We have plenty of international gates available.

Maybe one day I can see Casablanca after 2027.

lol, don't waste your time in Casablanca. Even customs agent gave me a thumbs down he found out I only stayed in Casablanca. I should have known when the hotel we were staying was the #8 thing to do

That said it's a great jumping off point for recommended places like Fes and Marrakesh.

[Nova08]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Sorry to bring the airport convo back up - but just as a data point - a huge portion of my domestic travel is to LA. I use United at EWR simply b/c the product is far better than American at AA. United Premium Transcon routes w/ guaranteed wide bodies w/ lie flats, bedding, and elevated service (it’s akin to international business class). At EWR you get access to their brand new United Clubs - which are quite nice.

Compare this to the dogshit Oasis 321 cabins on AA, standard level service, no lounge access (to arguably the worst major domestic hub lounge in the country at B/C) - and comparable business class prices it’s a no-brainer for me to train up to EWR from Center City.

Trust me, I’m not alone - PHL -> LAX is a massive route for folks who work in entertainment, fintech, pharma, and aerospace and EWR offers a much more comfortable and premium experience.

I'm right there with you. I did the same about 10 years ago. Another huge factor for me was the frequency of service. Obviously NYC-LAX is exponentially bigger than PHL-LAX, but the 10-14 flts/day provided ample flexibility compared to the 4-6 (sometimes 7) flights from PHL. Although I miss the former EWR UA club space that is now the Polaris lounge.

[ScreamShatter]

https://www.indianeagle.com/traveldi...ghts-to-india/

Not many details about this. But still PHL to India.

[thoughtcriminal]

Originally Posted by DeltaNerd

Maybe one day I can see Casablanca after 2027.

You should definitely see Casablanca. It's a classic. Ingrid Bergmann, Humphrey Bogart... but you shouldn't wait until 2027.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Broadcastthatboom

Agreed. My personal anecdote is traveling to Buffalo often. It's a 50 minute trip, flying out of EWR I've gotten tickets from United between $250-300, while flying out of PHL on American is sometime pushing $600. That's ridiculous and if I'm planning enough time ahead, I can get an hour Amtrak that goes right to the EWR station for like $30 which also includes the AirTrain ticket.

Yep. Same to Rochester. It's Crazy.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

FWIW, American is running PHL-LAX on a 777 now. And I think they have a new lounge opening up later this eyar,

I actually just flew up front on it last week - but it's only one flight a day out of the 6 or 7 they are running and it's not consistent year round. Also the new Flagship Lounge in A will only be for International Business class AFAIK... and it still doesn't have an opening date. It'll definitely help raise PHLs profile with one world alliance international carriers who are rightly hesitant to start a route to an airport without a proper business class lounge for its members to use...

Once that opens, hopefully they can temporarily shut down B/C for a full renovation, but I don't even know if that's on the docket and if it is who would pay for it...

[jaysb]

Originally Posted by Londonee

I actually just flew up front on it last week - but it's only one flight a day out of the 6 or 7 they are running and it's not consistent year round. Also the new Flagship Lounge in A will only be for International Business class AFAIK... and it still doesn't have an opening date. It'll definitely help raise PHLs profile with one world alliance international carriers who are rightly hesitant to start a route to an airport without a proper business class lounge for its members to use...

Once that opens, hopefully they can temporarily shut down B/C for a full renovation, but I don't even know if that's on the docket and if it is who would pay for it...

The B/C Lounge could certainly use a refresh but it's far from the worst in the American Network. I imagine American foots the bill and they seem to be focused on the Flagship rollouts.
It's tiny but at least we have a Centurion lounge, not many airports do.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

https://www.indianeagle.com/traveldi...ghts-to-india/

Not many details about this. But still PHL to India.

PHL to India (most likely Mumbai or New Delhi) definitely makes sense as a route, but I don't see how that would work at the moment with Russian airspace closed to US-based carriers. I would love to see new direct flights to India, China, and Japan though!

[Mr Saturn64]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

https://www.indianeagle.com/traveldi...ghts-to-india/

Not many details about this. But still PHL to India.

So, this article isn't talking about non-stop flights like Philly-Delhi would be.
It says "The aim is to develop smooth routes for Indian travelers by using major hubs such as Doha, London, and Frankfurt." This is actually why I think Turkish and Emirates are very viable candidates to start flying out of PHL.

[jaysb]

Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan

PHL to India (most likely Mumbai or New Delhi) definitely makes sense as a route, but I don't see how that would work at the moment with Russian airspace closed to US-based carriers. I would love to see new direct flights to India, China, and Japan though!

United flies Newark to Delhi direct, I'm sure it could work. But I'd personally rather see Emirates or Turkish as they'd open up more destinations that I'd have interest in.

[ScreamShatter]

Originally Posted by jaysb

United flies Newark to Delhi direct, I'm sure it could work. But I'd personally rather see Emirates or Turkish as they'd open up more destinations that I'd have interest in.

Good point. I’d rather see Philly have connections in Dubai or Istanbul. Having those connection hubs available, would be major for Philly.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by ScreamShatter

Good point. I’d rather see Philly have connections in Dubai or Istanbul. Having those connection hubs available, would be major for Philly.

Same. Either one of those airlines would be a good replacement for Qatar Airways, which filled that exact need. Emirates would have an easier time taking up space in an existing OneWorld hub, but I’d personally love to see Turkish Airlines take root at PHL.

[PHLtoNYC]

Chase Bank taking over the entire former Wawa space at Broad & Walnut. Boring, but at least Chase will keep that corner neat and well lit.

Wawa's former flagship location in Center City to be replaced by big-name tenant
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Chase Bank taking over the entire former Wawa space at Broad & Walnut. Boring, but at least Chase will keep that corner neat and well lit.

Wawa's former flagship location in Center City to be replaced by big-name tenant
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

Didn't the Wawa in Fairmount also just turn into a Chase bank?

Who banks in person anymore? I need my shorties!

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Chase Bank taking over the entire former Wawa space at Broad & Walnut. Boring, but at least Chase will keep that corner neat and well lit.

Wawa's former flagship location in Center City to be replaced by big-name tenant
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

I'm so sick of the "it could be worse" mentality when it comes to this. A chase bank is the most sterile, boing and over-represented tenant we could have asked for in this spot. I'm with PDX. Who even goes into these banks anymore? And I say this as a customer. The "restaurant/bar closes on prominent corner, bank takes it's spot" dynamic in this town is killing me.

I get it that it could be a smoke shop or a dollar store. But this is just slightly better, imho.

[Redddog]

Ooooo.....I got a big one...

Heard from a little bird that THIS is in play....

https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phil...near-2nd-arch/

Lets see if that bird was drunk...