Philippine Airlines has just put its newest route to the United States on sale, and it’s one that we knew was coming…
Continue reading: Philippine Airlines Plans New Manila To Chicago Route As Of November 2026
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
As Chicago has one of the top-10 largest Filipino populations in the USA, Chicago makes sense as a nonstop destination for Philippine Airlines.
Hi, it's been a minute. I trust everyone is well and had a Happy Passover/Easter/Eid for those who celebrate.
Philippine Airlines has served Chicago briefly in the 80s, but with a stop in Vancouver like plenty of transpacific carriers back in the day with leased DC-10s, 742s. This is the first time it will be non-stop.
The A359 is the perfect aircraft to start until the market matures. Once they have enough A35Ks, then they can upgauge to meet demand when the market matures.
It also appears that it will have a significant ground time of 6 hours. And American has a new codeshare agreement with them, so the arrival time in Chicago helps with connections.
After Chicago, they're looking into Houston and possibly a return to Las Vegas.
I wonder if Delta was able to successfully cry their way to favorable MNL landing/takeoff times.
Ugh! The only thing worse than flying Philippine Airlines to the Philippines is flying Air India to India! ….. nah, never mind, this is worse.
Mel, the resident chode. They are actually quite good. You’ve clearly got a lot of experience travelling with them .. not.
This would become the one and only option to fly directly from ORD to MNL. It’ll be a very tempting alternative. So UA/EVA/ANA currently carry alot of CHI-MNL traffic, but all require 1-2 stopovers (UA in SFO; ANA in NRT/HND; EVA through Taiwan). Offering initial flights in November also positions PAL perfectly for the holiday season.
Interesting for sure but you left out the (most likely) practical aspect for your readers - How do we go about getting a couple of business class award saver seats? If there's none available then that makes this purely abstract to points-and-miles readers who want to be comfortable on a 17 hour flight.
Not all of us are familiar with the ethnic breakdowns of all the different major domestic cities. Props to you for knowing them, I sure didn't.
After Chicago, they're looking into Houston and possibly a return to Las Vegas.
That would have to be "or" not "and."
The current USA-Philippines bilateral only allows service to 9 US metros, and only 4 of them are optional (the other 5 must be LAX, SFO, HNL, GUM, SPN.)
So unless they work with the DOT to expand the bilateral or go open skies, then they'll have to pick one or the other.
Quite a few Filipinos in many of Chicago's Northern suburbs like Morton Grove, Skokie, Niles, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, etc. So definitely lots of VFR traffic between Chicago and Manilla.
How about do a piece on how using AS miles on PR has been 'coming soon' for 2 years now?
AA. SGU-PHX-ORD to be exact. Pointy end both flights. Tried the Lavazza aboard the plane (I have some Lavazza at home right now for comparison). Not exactly perfect but much better than Fresh Poo.
But Lucky mentions it in the article…
“In terms of the size of the Filipino population, Chicago ranks seventh(ish) among US cities, after Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, San Diego, and Las Vegas.”