The previous installment covered the disaster which is connecting from T2 to T1 in Manila, and suffice to say that it probably clouded my perception of everything at this airport.
In this installment I wanted to take a look at the PAGSS Lounge Terminal 1.
PAGSS Lounge Manila Terminal 1 Review
Even though Philippine Airlines operates some of their most premium flights out of Terminal 1 (including to New York and Toronto), they don’t operate their own lounge in the terminal. Rather the PAGSS Lounge is used for premium passengers on a variety of airlines departing the terminal.
Let’s take a look at the location, hours, entry requirements, and then the layout and dining in the lounge.
PAGSS Lounge Location
The PAGSS Lounge is located at NAIA Terminal 1. After clearing security and immigration I headed down the hall and then turned left towards the East Concourse, in the direction of airline lounges and gates 2-7.
Manila Airport Terminal 1
However, expect to be unnecessarily stopped by a security guard and asked why you want to go to this part of the terminal, for reasons I can’t quite figure out.
Manila Airport Terminal 1
Once you’re admitted to this part of the hall, you’ll see the entrance to the PAGSS Lounge on the right, near gate 2.
PAGSS Lounge Manila entrance
PAGSS Lounge Hours
The PAGSS Premium Lounge Terminal 1 is open daily from 6AM until 12AM, which covers just about all departures at the airport.
How To Access The PAGSS Lounge
The PAGSS Lounge is a contract lounge, so there are several ways to access it.
For one, this is the lounge used for premium passengers on a variety of airlines, including Air China, China Airlines, China Southern, China Eastern, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, Kuwait Airways, Philippine Airlines, and Xiamen Air.
On top of that, the lounge is also open to Priority Pass members.
I had an invitation from Philippine Airlines on account of my business class ticket, so that’s how I accessed the lounge.
PAGSS Lounge Layout & Seating
Let me apologize for the quality of the pictures in this review. The lounge was kind of crowded when I visited and I wanted to respect peoples’ privacy, so I wasn’t able to get pictures of everything.
The lounge has one main room along the windows, which has a bunch of seating that looks like, well, just about any somewhat outdated airline lounge.
PAGSS Lounge Manila seating
Near the entrance was a communal table right by a TV, where I ended up sitting.
PAGSS Lounge Manila seating
Behind that were some more chairs, as well as some high-top seating along the windows.
PAGSS Lounge Manila seating
That’s about all there is in terms of seating, though the other side of the lounge had some model airplane displays, which I liked. There were also magazines and newspapers in this area.
PAGSS Lounge Manila airplane models
PAGGS Lounge Food & Drinks
The lounge had a relatively large food and drink selection. In the smaller room of the lounge was a bar, where there was a server who could serve liquor and coffee (best I could tell the coffee options weren’t actually barista made, but he just sorta pushed the buttons for you).
PAGSS Lounge Manila bar
Then there was a self serve area with cans of soda, fruit, veggies, yogurt, and bread.
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
The main buffet was over near the main room, and had a fairly large selection of hot and cold options.
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Manila buffet
PAGSS Lounge Bathrooms
The lounge didn’t have any showers, best I could tell, but it did have reasonably well maintained bathrooms.
PAGSS Lounge Manila bathrooms
PAGSS Lounge Manila Bottom Line
The PAGSS Lounge is a perfectly fine contract lounge. It gets a bit crowded and it has a large food and drink selection, but that’s about it.
Perhaps what’s most disappointing is when you consider that this is the lounge that Philippine Airlines is using at their hub airport. When you’re boarding a carrier’s flagship aircraft on a long haul route at their hub, you would hope they’d be able to do a bit better than this.
But for a Priority Pass or contract lounge, this is perfectly okay, in my opinion.
If you’ve visited the PAGSS Lounge NAIA T1, what was your experience like?
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