After my ground experience in Manila I was extremely excited to board my Philippine Airlines flight to Toronto. So, how is Philippine Airlines’ A350? Can they compete with other excellent airlines in the region, or do they still have a long way to go?
Continue reading: Review: Philippine Airlines A350 Business Class
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Did you get a refund for the $40 wifi pass, given that you were unable to use it?
Me: Google, add a new goal in life for me please: join the mile-high club on Philippine Airlines' the Love Bus.
Google: okay, should I update your tinder profile accordingly?
@lucky - great review!
2 questions....
1. How do you go about getting a refund for Wifi?
2. What do you do with all those amenity kits?
the estimates on that wifi card is criminally misleading, even with the disclaimer on the bottom. whoever wrote that must still be living in 2001, visiting geocities and catching up with friends on MSN Messenger. god forbid you're flying on a historically significant day or you couldn't even load Google without the Doodle snatching half your data limit. imagine your decides to send you a gif... that would rock my limit in one go.
Be happy that PAL no longer uses the slogan “the airline that takes you closer to heaven “!
Fortunately I don't have to work while flying but the few times I've purchased WiFi (on any airline) it rarely works properly and is a waste of money. I'm guessing the vast majority of people don't complain and get their money back.
For someone that flies so often, do you often get sick after eating that much airplane food? I can't imagine ordering any kind of seafood while flying. I was hoping you would have ordered the burger 🙂
I usually like your reviews, but the part about the internet not working really rubs me the wrong way. How do you not know they didn’t restart it or take it seriously? Did you follow them into the galley to see if they restarted it? And how are you positive that a restart would fix it? Are you a software engineer?
My first thought was getting a Wi-Fi refund too.
But that's certainly a lot nicer accommodations than a few years ago. Nice to see them upping their game.
Did anyone notice how tight the odd-numbered seats were? In particular, look at the exit way from the seat to the aisle? Looks dangerously confined.
While I could squeeze my way through, there’s no chance that the majority of US fliers from the Midwest would be able to get one leg through there.
Are there safety standards to prevent this?
Curious what type of laptop do you use? And what program do you use for your reviews?
Honestly, Philippine Airlines (PAL) still has a lot of catching up to do, though credit to them, they have taken major strides in recent years to improve. I firmly believe that their soft product is incredible and all that's left really is just to improve on the hard product. Hopefully they work on this soon. They have alot of potential.
MABUHAY from the Philippines
Thai dish on a Philippines flight was never going to end well. Rawsons Retreat Red is an economy wine - $8 a bottle in Aus.
What was the passenger mix made up of? Maybe you just weren't used to Filipino food.
After hearing about the treatment of the gays in Phillipines, I have marked visiting that country off of my list.
You summed up the PAL business class product very accurately. Yes, I would fly with PAL. But, no, I wouldn't go out of my way either. In other words, an acceptable middling airline.
Did you bother to credit the flights to ANA's programme? Btw the beaches in the Philippines are quite nice, and might be worth an actual visit!
@Bob, for Lucky to pay $40 for WiFi that is not working, I do not find it unreasonable for Lucky to ask. He also did not sound rude when he asked. It is perfectly okay to follow up on a problem given that it was over a four hour time span on a fourteen hour flight. I would also ask if I were in his shoes. Do not take his action out of context.
@gary hewton
Ditto on the Beringer chardonnay. Depending upon the label that's a $10 to $20 USD bottle and not my favorite.
Flight attendant named Fourth. I have little doubt his siblings are First, Second and Third. Love the names in the Phils.
@i miss my uncle Charles. ?? It’s one if the most gay friendly countries in the world and most people are very accepting.
Guy who gets all giddy flying a Hello Kitty Plane dissing the Love Bus? Hmmmm....
That is not a Philippine Airlines’ maintenance bay. It is Lufthansa Technik's Philippines facility. They handle a lot different airlines. They do a lot of thorough maintenance on A380s from British Airways and Qantas for example. And their main hanger is seriously huge!
@Terence you are correct the beaches are nice in the Philippines.
They also have a Aman hotel called Amanpulo which is located in Palawan. Would be perfect for a review since this resort is on a tiny island with it's own runway. They have their own plane that runs flights from the Manila airport. They even have a lounge at the Manila airport.
Come on Lucky you need to review this Aman resort.
The moving map was unavailable when I travelled from Toronto to Manila last November 16 , 2019.
Lucky, I really used to enjoy your reviews. Usually very positive.
Just curious, did you and Ford break up?
Your reviews have been very predictable, and negative.
I hope all is well at the “home front”.
After watching the safety video with the location names, I have such a long list of new places (to me) where I want to go on vacation!
Since I am Manila based, I fly PAL a lot especially on their long haul sectors to Canada and US. You're right they're hit or miss when it comes to food, though I have noticed that the safest bets on PAL's business class are the Western food options, the Asian options normally overpromise and under deliver.
For the midnight snack, PAL is known among Filipino's for their Arroz Caldo which I thought you would try. Never tried the other snack options but I guess like the Asian options they weren't the priority for their catering.
It truly looks like PAL is trying to make strides in regards to their soft & hard products.
I collect amenity Kits & this is one of the nicest ones they’ve had in recent memory. A Furla bag & Acca Kappa Products are pretty darn nice.
It looks like the catering & bedding need to be worked on.
I know many Filipinos who avoid PAL due to shoddy, inconsistent service in the past. Many natives like to fly EVA, JAL, ANA, Cathay. Perhaps with continuing improvements, the natives will try PAL again.
Lucky, I always appreciate your straight forward insight & sincerity you put into your reviews.
@David - Not sure about the negativity but agree on predictability.
"[This] was good."
"[That] was good."
Read a bit like a book report.
Also, the math was appreciated but was it necessary?
"13 hours to fly; I slept 6 hours. Therefore, 7 hours left."
I enjoyed the review, but I have to share something kind of funny. I'm still drinking my breakfast tea, and I saw the reviews at the top of the page. What I read in those two review headlines was, "Delta Airlines Zombie Class," and for about a minute my little foggy brain went with it. Until I looked at it again.
It's this social distancing; I'm going barmy!
• Introduction: Starluxing Through A Zombie Apocalypse
• Review: Delta Air Lines A320 First Class
That's strange. No San Miguel beer (or any other Philippine beer) offered on PAL?
Lucio Tan, the owner of PR, owns Asia Brewery, the rival brand of San Miguel. Hence, no San Miguel beer is offered on PR flights, unfortunately.
Lufthansa Technik Philippines is a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik AG and MacroAsia Corporation, which is controlled by the same owners of Philippine Airlines.
Thank you for your review, Ben.
I am sharing here my suboptimal experience with PAL business MEL-MNL-JFK return with technical stop in YVR on the way back last month (late June 2022):
Business class seats are broken, airline does not maintain or repair faulty seats.
We (2 passengers) had both a horrible experience with our seats deflating, so that we had a horizontal metal bar pushing hard against out mid thoracic spine on this 16 hour flight!
Exactly the same happened on the return leg on different business class seats.
Each time the crew was trying hard to improve the situation with blankets, but it was still a painful experience. Business class was full, so no option to move seats. However, even if there were free seats to move to, I overheard several other passengers experiencing exactly the same problem…
During the stopover in Vancouver a technical crew came on board, attended to my seat and showed me how to take the seat cover off and manually blow air into the seat (yes, with my mouth), which I had to do 3 times during the flight back from JFK after Vancouver.
The business class seat is actually a really good product (on A350-900, same like i.e. Qantas) with air cushioned seat that should be adjustable, but the airline simply doesn’t maintain or repair it. It is such a shame, but it reflects the overall chaotic and suboptimal operation of this airline.
On boarding the MEL-MNL (different business seats) leg I immediately noticed that my remote control was broken with exposed wires and it is only after I insisted that they put a sticker over the wires to conceal them (the plane was still on the ground in Melbourne).
Seat on the MEL-MNL-MEL ok, but tiny footwells (A330-300).
During each transit in Manila we had to wait for our suitcases to be found and open them for security inspection, almost missing our return flight back to Melbourne because they had difficulty finding our luggage. That is a normal procedure, when transiting in Manila.
I’m not going to even go into the catering, other than to say that “they are trying”.
IFE was mediocre.
I have not received an answer to my complaint, despite repeated emails.
To sum it up:
Horrible airline, zero customer service!
While the tickets seem cheaper compared to other airlines, they are in fact terrible value for money…
Thank you for your very informative review. I am flying PAL Business Class A350 JFK-MNL in a couple of months just to try it and reading the comments I now dread what could go wrong. I hope my fears will be unfounded. It’s a sad state to read about the longer situation and how PAL maintains their fleet.
I loved the service although the flight kit was missing. Very accommodating when I looked for the working table. The flight attendant assigned to me introduced herself and was friendly. The toilet was reasonably clean. I would prefer a hand sanitizer be available at my space. I asked for a pen and they immediately accommodated my simple request. My first flight was fairly good. I didn't feel the massage feature of the chair if it worked. Over-all it was a good experience. The flight attendants were composed and helpful. One lady had to stow her luggage at the storage bin above a chair. The attendant attempted to lift it by herself (quite heavy), good thing the lady passenger was sensitive enough to help her. She said the attendant couldn't do that by herself. I did hear and feel the steps of the attendants going back and forth 🙂 Our flight took longer than usual because of a situation at the tarmac. Food was good. I mistakenly finished my dessert after the appetizer (haha) so when my main course was served, I was already full! Anyway, I still have one flight back and will try to see more good aspects of flying business class with PAL 🙂 Our flight was full but still quite comfortable. Thank you, PAL.