Philippine Airlines' A330 business class seat somehow tops the worst flat bed products out there, with nowhere to place anything and an awkward top-and-bottom layout.
Watch out for critiquing PAL, otherwise the TD of PAL aka Darryl will come out and attack you.
Nothing some delicious lechon (oh, wait, Ben doesn't like pork), or... adobo can't smooth over.
I remember you flying these exact same seats on Royal Air Maroc years ago, but with TVs!
Fortunately they plan on refurbishing their A330s along with 77Ws.
Oof. So, you're saying... PAL is not your 'pal.'
Filipinos are the second shortest people on earth. Imagine you are male; 4’10”-5’3” tall and weigh 90-110lbs. Maybe tiny people think the seats are luxurious.
I know this is your job, but I'm not desperate enough to want to fly to anywhere else in Asia on PR.
PR often publishes very attractive business class fares from Asia to North America (like $1500-2000 one way), so these reviews are very much appreciated and useful for individuals to decide if the compromises are worth it for price — especially when they join OW next year (and presumably land on more people’s radar).
Just for context: this seats were installed in a different era of Philippine Airlines. The ownership at that time (which didn't last very long) tried to compete with LCCs by going very downmarket. This is how you end up with planes with no screens, business class seats like *that*, and A330s with 9-across seating.
That era of PAL is regarded as something of a failure and those planes are on the way out.
Look, I’m not going to pretend that particular A330 seat is the second coming of First Class, because clearly it has some issues. But calling PAL the worst airline over one dated A330 configuration is a bit dramatic, no?
The review is basically judging an entire airline by one seat on one flight, while even the author admits PAL has two A330 versions and that the other one is much better. He also admits the flight was under four hours and, perhaps most importantly, says the crew were absolutely lovely. Thats kinda important when you're reviewing an airline and not just a seat cushion.
And this is where I think the PAL bashing gets a little gregarious. PAL has been around for 85 years and continues to invest in the fleet, including the new A350-1000 and the wider fleet renewal program. You dont have to love every single seat to acknowledge that.
There’s also the small matter of PAL Awards, which in 2026 brought together and recognized its top-performing international and domestic travel partners. That doesnt magically make an awkward power socket disappear, obviously, but it does show an airline with a pretty substantial commercial network and ongoing relationships across the travel industry.
And lets be honest, awards and passenger experience arent the same thing. But PAL has repeatedly received industry recognition over the years, and the airline is clearly not some obscure carrier that nobody takes seriously. The 2026 World Airline Awards are a completely different measure from PAL's own partner awards, so I wouldnt mash them together, but the broader point remains: airline quality is a lot bigger than whether one blogger managed to knock his laptop charger over.
The seat can be criticised. Fair enough. The tray table sounds annoying, the lack of a seatback screen is a legitimate criticism, and the wear shown in the photos isnt exactly inspiring. But “this particular seat is badly designed” and “PAL is a terrible airline” are two very differnt arguments.
And frankly, if the crew were warm, the flight was comfortable enough for a sub-four-hour sector, PAL is introducing newer aircraft, and the airline is continuing to build out its network and partnerships, maybe the fair conclusion is simply: PAL needs to get the old A330 interiors sorted out. Thats a much more reasonable take than declaring the entire airline guilty because one seat has nowhere to put your tablet.
PAL isnt perfect. No airline is. But this review feels like it took a legitimate gripe with a specific hard product and turned the volume up to 11 becuase “these seats are awful” makes a better headline.
Read this entire article got to comments and nowhere did I see Ben say PAL was an awful airport. Even the title specifically calls out just this cabin. As you say he comments on upcoming A350 flight and positively for crew.
Julia and Guy - I won’t dignify the claim that this review was simply about "one seat" or that the rest was somehow respected. Your responses are completely poorly thought-out, ignoring how tris kind of a narrative actually shapes perception. You cant dial the drama up to 11 over a single >4 hr sector, hide behind a few minor concessions about crew or fleet plans, and then pretend the overall carrier wasn't unfairly dragged through the mud. Focusing on technicalities while ignoring the obvious anti PAL framing is missing the entire point.
I didn’t get the impression Lucky was attacking the airline as whole…just this particular type of seat.
Yikes Darryl the PAL shill. I've lived in the Philippines for the last 2 years, and I can say from firsthand experience PAL is such a crappy airline on so many levels. Their new A350 cabins look nice, they have perfectly friendly crews, but that's about all they have going for them. Maybe if they were a US carrier they'd be kind of mid in some respects (certainly more friendly service than the average flight on a US carrier). But in Asia, they are absolutely dwarfed by pretty much every other mainline carrier in the region.
Set that aside, nowhere does he indict PAL in the way that you claim. In fact, go read his "Review: Philippine Airlines A350 Business Class" review from 2020, and he was perfectly reasonable and positive toward PAL.
Nah, they definitely aren’t a “crappy airline”. They have good crews and good food. The onboard seats can be inconsistent, but the good ones are pretty decent.
Here comes all my fellow Pinoys who can’t take any criticism about anything related to the Philippines. Ben DID NOT imply PAL is the worst airline in the world. This is a judgment purely about the seats which looks awful.
“For example, I was trying to charge my laptop with a “brick” charger”
Unless you are on an old Windows laptop, i’m wondering why you are using a “brick” charger for your laptop and not a small 3rd party USB-C charger?
Because such chargers often lack the power necessary, particularly when drawing from an airplane source which tends to be underpowered
These days you can get a pretty solid 45W charger in a small footprint, and it should charge most laptops at a reasonable pace.
That isn’t really true at all nowadays. A decade ago when there were power limits on outlets, but a majority of them support 60W+ just fine.
A 16 inch Apple Silicon MBP can charge perfectly fine on a tiny Anker 60W plug and gain charge when using it, unless you are doing some super graphic intensive work which is straining the laptop.
That isn’t really true at all nowadays. A decade ago when there were power limits on outlets, but a majority of them support 60W+ just fine.
A 16 inch Apple Silicon MBP can charge perfectly fine on a tiny Anker 60W plug and gain charge when using it, unless you are doing some super graphic intensive work which is straining the laptop.
Ben, who manufactures this seat?
There goes my interest in their status match promo...
Lucky you need to stop using those stupid Apple brick chargers and just get a 65W GAN charger (such as Rolling Square). It will make life plugging things in on flights much more pleasant for you, I promise.
Regarding the seat, all fair points you make. But I have to say the footwell looks huge. So there is something to be said for that.
Ugh our family is flying this from Tokyo to Syd in January. I think right now it looks like the recliner version from Tokyo to Manilla. Then the angled seats from Mnl to Syd.
Lay it on Philippine Airlines Day or something? I do not Blame you. Tough choice between Economy Class of Qatar/Emirates or PA Business Class!
Yea I fly from Iloilo to DFW and it would be nice to book PAL but I can't. Instead Cebu Pacific to MNL then UA with a connection in SFO. Ill stick with Polaris until Pal upgrades.
Sassy Ben is sassy! Want to see more of this, please. Got a few good chuckles when I was reading this post aloud.
Can't wait for the A350 review!
flying business for a 4-hour flight is a total waste of money
you are simply too used to luxury
and PAL is not Emirates or Air France
First, Ben almost certainly bought this and the next flight as one ticket. If he wanted J on the long, second leg, he got J on this.
Second, that comment is pretty worthless without context. Is this J cabin worth one dollar more than coach, even if it's just a 4-hour flight? So, whether something is a waste of money can't be addressed without knowing the cost.
What's even worse is flying in premium economy on those old A330s.
You get a standard economy seat in a tight 3-3-3 layout, with a few inches of extra legroom.
Just like economy plus on other carriers, except they still charge you a premium economy fare.
And if you're unlucky like me, you'll book when it's showing a 2-3-2 layout for their actual premium economy product that newer A330s have, then they'll switch the aircraft a few days before the flight.
Tried complaining after the flight but their customer service insisted it wasn't a downgrade from what I had booked because they still call it "premium economy".