I must say, up until this point in my journey, Philippine Airlines has been nothing but consistent (and consistency is a key factor in Skytrax ratings… watch out, Air Koryo, they’re coming for you!). After flying Philippine Airlines’ underwhelming A330 business class, I had an extended transit at Manila Airport (MNL).
My last transit in Manila was in early 2020, and it involved a terminal change, which ranks up there among the worst ground experiences in the world (and I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way!). This time around I was arriving in and departing from Terminal 1, so I figured this would be a much smoother experience, and I’d even get to use Philippine Airlines’ flagship lounge.
On the plus side, this time around I didn’t have to take what felt like a city bus ride. But that’s about the only good thing I can say.
Manila Airport’s transit experience is really bad
Philippine Airlines is growing at the moment, and that growth is heavily centered on international transit passengers. Typically when you’re transiting at the hub airport of an airline, international transit is relatively smooth and streamlined. After all, airlines want you to have a good experience, and easily make your connecting flight.
Well, as I got off my Philippine Airlines flight, I immediately saw a really long line. “Wow, immigration looks rough tonight,” I thought. As it turns out, that was actually the transit security checkpoint for international passengers.
There was a single metal detector and scanner at the transit security checkpoint. How on earth is that sufficient? It took roughly 40 minutes from the time I deplaned to being through transit security, which is a mighty long time. That just feels totally unnecessary.
Once through transit security, you have to drag your bags up a set of stairs, as there are no elevators there. That didn’t bother me personally, but how terrible to think that this is also how seniors are treated (those in wheelchairs get a separate area with an elevator, but that’s it).
Then I tried to find Philippine Airlines’ lounge. I followed a signage in the direction of airline lounges, which led me to the PAGSS Lounge. I couldn’t find the Philippine Airlines lounge, so I asked someone, and was pointed in the other direction.
It took me a good 10 minutes to find the lounge, as there’s barely any signage for it. The below two signs are easy to miss as you’re walking down the concourse, and if the word “LOUNGE” were written any smaller, it would be invisible. Why make the word “MABUHAY” so big, but not the key detail, which is that this is a lounge? Initially I thought that sign was also related to the Australia flights.
Then you take an elevator that feels like it’s about to fail an inspection, before finding yourself in the lounge.
Okay, I figured after all of that, I’d at least be in for a good experience! Well…
Philippine Airlines’ Manila lounge has some issues
Once in the lounge, my first order of business was finding an open seat, which was nearly as challenging as Global Airlines getting an air operator certificate. 😉 Frustrating as that is, it’s all too common at lounges nowadays during peak periods, so I’ll hardly ding the airline for that.
Eventually I lucked out, and plopped myself down next to someone watching stuff on his phone without headphones. I then tried to connect my laptop to the Wi-Fi. I found the Wi-Fi network and password, and I connected, though the internet just didn’t work. I’m not great with tech, but I’m also not a total moron, so I felt like something was off. So I went to the lounge’s front desk to ask if the Wi-Fi was down.
The answer? “Actually sir, we have a problem where laptops from other countries can’t connect to our Wi-Fi.” I know she’s just the messenger… but… like… does someone think that should be something that gets addressed… or…? Also, how is that even a thing?!?! At first I was skeptical of her explanation, but sure enough, my phone connected, but not my laptop. Ironically, the free Wi-Fi in the terminal (the signal of which doesn’t extend to the lounge) works just fine with laptops.
Next, this lounge has the ambiance of a live auction. Philippine Airlines, can you raise your fares by $10 and just have a “no announcement” policy in the lounge? My gosh, it was boarding announcement after boarding announcement.
We’re not just talking about an announcement here or there, but I’m pretty sure the lounge attendant was paid by the word. Boarding for the Melbourne flight was called on four separate occasions. And each of those occasions had a repeat, with “once again…”
If you’re going to make an announcement in the lounge every two minutes, could we maybe cut out the unnecessary language like “please prepare yourself and gather your belongings,” “bring your boarding pass and passport,” and “the heart of the Filipino?” I eventually just went to sit in the (crowded) gate area, and thought to myself “ahh, it’s so nice and quiet here.”
Anyway, I wish I had the confidence that Philippine Airlines has, having little QR codes all over the lounge, asking guests for feedback on the ambiance, seat availability, and Wi-Fi…
Bottom line
Unfortunately my Philippine Airlines experience has left a lot to be desired so far. My A330 flight was pretty rough, while the Manila ground experience just outright sucks. I understand a lot of stuff is controlled by the airport and not the airline, and airport infrastructure is complicated, so all of this is certainly not the carrier’s fault.
But the lounge sadly isn’t much better. Like, you have Wi-Fi that reportedly doesn’t work with foreign laptops (however on earth that works), and the lounge attendant informs a guest of that with a straight face, as if that’s normal?
Anyway, maybe things will get better onboard the A350-1000. Hopefully the Philippines doesn’t pull an Egypt on me here…
What do you make of this Manila Airport situation?
Love the people who are some of the nicest in Asia, but as you pointed out, the country barely functions. I pray the situation improves for the people there one day.
You should cover the other terrible MNL situation, where they forced CX to close their MNL lounge because of the airport operators. Completely downgraded the experience.
Look, I'm not going to pretend that transiting through Manila Terminal 1 is akin to spending an afternoon at Singapore Changi, because clearly it has its friction points. But calling the ground experience "laughably bad" over a single busy transit security queue and some loud boarding announcements is a bit dramatic, no?
The review is basically judging an entire flag carrier's hub operation by one transit during peak hour. It conveniently glosses over the fact...
Look, I'm not going to pretend that transiting through Manila Terminal 1 is akin to spending an afternoon at Singapore Changi, because clearly it has its friction points. But calling the ground experience "laughably bad" over a single busy transit security queue and some loud boarding announcements is a bit dramatic, no?
The review is basically judging an entire flag carrier's hub operation by one transit during peak hour. It conveniently glosses over the fact that airport infrastructure and security checkpoints are under the control of the Manila airport authority rather than the airline itself. Expecting a carrier to magically rebuild T1’s terminal layout or tear down staircase walls on the spot is completely unrealistic.
And this is where I think the PAL bashing gets a little gregarious. PAL has been operating out of a severely constrained hub for decades and still manages to connect millions of international passengers across a massive global network. You dont have to love every single boarding announcement to acknowledge that ground staff making sure passengers actually catch their flights to Melbourne isn't a crime.
There’s also the matter of the Mabuhay Lounge itself. Sure, the laptop Wi-Fi quirk is frustrating, but it's a dedicated space providing hot food, seating, and full departure coordination in a terminal that is notoriously capacity-constrained. At least the feedback o the gate area was positive?
PAL isnt perfect. No airline operating out of MNL is. But there is a massive difference between pointing out that Terminal 1 needs modernization and framing the carrier's whole ground product as a failure because an elevator felt old or a sign wasn't big enough. Maybe the fair conclusion is simply that Manila Airport needs infrastructure upgrades. Thats a much more reasonable take than blaming the airline for things well outside its control.
This is the second time you have used the word gregarious (which means talkative) incorrectly. Please discontinue use of the word until further notice
Jim, I meant to write egregious, not gregarious.... autocorrect got the better of me there. Now that aside, the core argument still stands, which is of course taking a single under four hohr sector or peak-hour ground transit and turning the drama up to 11 to slam an entire carrier's reputation remains unfair !
Have you tried being egregiously gregarious?
Have you tried being egregiously gregarious?
"basically judging an entire flag carrier's hub operation by one transit"
First impressions matter.
And Ben actually did it before, he even said it. So does many other passengers.HE
Welcome to the Philippines 😂
NAIA is horrible, but also customer service is virtually non-existent here.
Well no.... it's actually exactly the opposite of what you're saying... you can criticize the dated infrastructure, the long lines, or the tight layouts all day long - fine - but there’s a reason the global CX and BPO market relies on the Philippines for over 40% of the entire world's customer support, 1.9 million people and $40 billion in service exports. That doesn't happen in a country with "non-existent" service; it happens because Filipinos...
Well no.... it's actually exactly the opposite of what you're saying... you can criticize the dated infrastructure, the long lines, or the tight layouts all day long - fine - but there’s a reason the global CX and BPO market relies on the Philippines for over 40% of the entire world's customer support, 1.9 million people and $40 billion in service exports. That doesn't happen in a country with "non-existent" service; it happens because Filipinos consistently rank among the highest globally for customer satisfaction, empathy, and service delivery metrics. Try again.
Their service only works outside Philippines.
Wait, it actually doesn't work.
BPO works in thick accent English country because they are cheap don't have to understand anything. Just reading scripts that tells them 30 different versions of saying NO. Top that with a hard to understand grammar and accent, customers will eventually give up. That's why companies pay $40 bn.
I’m guessing since you didn’t mention the food and drinks, it’s nothing to write home about?
I'll beat Ben to this.
Those should come in as a separate review.
This is just a delayed quick summary trip updates.
Stay tuned.
"I wish I had the confidence that Philippine Airlines has, having little QR codes all over the lounge, asking guests for feedback"
@Ben
Another rookie mistake.
You assume someone is actually monitoring the feedbacks.
PAL… is not your pal.