Philadelphia International Airport

We went to gate F 1 where the shuttle buses to the other terminals leave and met the girl from the jet bridge again. Soon the bus arrived and we were on the short bus ride to the international terminal A.
Since we both had Star Gold Status we asked the girl if would like to join us in the Envoy Lounge. She agreed and so we took the elevator up to the lounge. We were informed that announcements in the gate were made if boarding time had come. The lounge was empty and since my last visit some modifications were made. Alex discovered that the flight to Frankfurt was delayed.

The offerings of food, snacks had improved. There were several salads available (e.g. Pumpkin Ravioli, Mediterranean Salad, etc., a small selection of cheese and vegetable, bread and garlic bread (though not to compare with that of SQ). Available as well were different types of beverage like Coke, Sparkling Water, Pepsi, Beer and different types of wine (a Californian White Wine and a Mouton Cadet from France). Not drink chits necessary, we could serve ourselves. We grabbed some salad something to drink and chatted about travel, living in the US, Germany and many other things. Time really passed quickly and I think our guest enjoyed the time in the lounge.

The other great thing about this lounge is that one has nice views on the tarmac, esp. when all the big birds from Europe arrive and leave. While waiting in the lounge a BA 777 and an Air France Airbus arrived as well as a Lufthansa A 340 and of course the US Airways Airbus 330 bound for Frankfurt and a bit later for Munich.

As the boarding announcement for the Frankfurt flight was made, Alex and our guest leave the lounge and I grabbed another glass of wine and some vegetables and cheese and read a bit while waiting for the boarding time to come. It had begun to snow in the meantime.

As boarding time had come, I headed for the gate A 25 where the boarding process had already started.

18 January 2009
PHL – MUC
[Philadelphia – Munich]
US 706 (US Airways); Airbus A 330 (N278AY)
Gate A 25
18:35 – 08:45 [effective 18:25 – 09:31]
Economy Class
Seat 12 F

The plane was not full and many seats were empty as I boarded and in my impression from the number of passengers in the waiting area the most passengers must have boarded already. The seat beside me remained empty as the final announcement boarding completed was made. Blankets and pillows were already lying on the seats.
We pushed back ahead of schedule at 18:30 and the flight attendants made the safety demonstration. The captain informed us that due to the snow we had to be de-iced. There we longer lines and took nearly 75 minute before it was our turn and after the de-icing was done another 20 minutes before we were ready for take off. We were allowed to use our electronic devices and the music channels of the in-flight entertainment system were switched on.

The captain had announced the flight time with 06:55 minutes and thought he will bring us into MUC in time. Due to our delay of already two hours and a scheduled flight time of 08:10 I doubted this at this time. Anyway we were airborne at 20:30 and climbed in the evening sky above Philadelphia.

The plane was in much better condition than the US Airways flights I had on my last trip. Okay, there were some scratches, but the plane was not dirty.

During de-icing the cabin lights were dimmed and I dozed a bit during this time and during take off and the first minutes in flights, before the lights were switched on after 15 minutes in flights. Soon later, app. 30 minutes after take off, the meal service began with the question of pasta and chicken. I was not really hungry and took the pasta. They were not that good, but one could eat the pasta. The pasta came along a salad, a slice of a sweet cake and a roll. I opted for a diet coke and got the whole can. No question of ice or anything similar. If US Airways had decided not to distribute ice cubes anymore, this is a really enhancements as I hate it to have coke with my ice instead of the other way round. Trays were collected after 40 minutes followed by another beverage round.

There was no hot towel service done before the meal service started in Y

The AVOD system was started during meal service. I switched from my MP3 Player to the AVOD system after the trays were cleared.
The selection of music and films available is not that bad, however not to compare with SQ. The system worked much better and stable than the new system on Lufthansa Airbus fleet and is easier to use.

Lights were turned off after the offers for the Duty free shopping were collected and I put some work in this trip report and listened to music.

App. 90 minutes prior to landing the lights were turned on again and a few minutes later the breakfast service started. Well breakfast is a bit exaggerating; we were offered a Danish along with tea or coffee. The crew was friendly, one even smiled – imagine, this is US Airways. Anyway, the leftover from breakfast were collected 25 minutes after they were distributed.

The plane was in better shape than the Boeing 767 I have been flew back in 2006 on the route. Okay, some scratches and stains and scratches and some tray tables did not work properly. One still notices the cut back from previous years. But at least the AVOD system was running more stable than the one of LH.

The cabin crew began to prepare the cabin while I made a last quick visit to the lavatories. They were not really in a good conditions anymore with the waste more than full.

We touched down at 09:22 and taxied to our gate, where we arrived at 09:31, a bit behind scheduled arrival time of 08:45 according to the timetable.

Economy Passengers were not hold back and could enter into the Envoy clas cabin while the jetbridges were prepared.

I was among the first passengers from Ecoomy Class, who entered MUC. I discovered the new arrival procedure for the first time. You have to climb a stair or escalator to the level above H and walk towards the main checkpoint, where you have to go a level done and then enter after a security check into the non-Schengen gates or pass immigration and then down to G, where you have to pass once again security.

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