Philippine Airlines has been making significant investments in their product the past few years, as they’re aiming to be more competitive with some of the other airlines in the region. The airline has recently taken delivery of six new A350-900s, which has been great news for their onboard product.
Well, the airline has now revealed their next destination with this plane, which is also only the second US airport that they’ll be flying the plane to.
In this post:
Philippine Airlines launching Manila to Seattle flights
Philippine Airlines will be launching 3x weekly nonstop flights between Manila and Seattle as of May 3, 2020. The route will operate with the following schedule on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays:
PR128 Manila to Seattle departing 10:45PM arriving 7:45PM
PR129 Seattle to Manila departing 11:05PM arriving 3:35AM (+2 days)
The ~6,660 mile flight is blocked at 12hr eastbound and 13hr30min westbound.
This will be Philippine Airlines’ fifth destination in the US, as they also fly to Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. They serve a total of seven destinations in North America, as they also fly to Toronto and Vancouver.
Philippine Airlines will use an Airbus A350 for the route, featuring a total of 295 seats, including 30 business class seats, 24 premium economy seats, and 241 economy seats. They have staggered seats in business class, which represents a huge improvement over their 777 product.
Philippine Airlines’ A350 business class
It’s amazing to see just how much Seattle has been booming with flights to Asia. It’s logical given its geography, plus the size of the city’s Asian population.
In addition to this new flight, Seattle already has flights to Asia on All Nippon Airways, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Emirates, EVA Air, Hainan, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, and Singapore Airlines.
Philippine Airlines resuming Los Angeles To Cebu flights
I’d argue this is less interesting, though it’s worth noting that Philippine Airlines is also resuming nonstop flights between Cebu and Los Angeles, which is a route they last served in May 2017.
The route will be operated 3x weekly as of May 2, 2020, with the following schedule:
PR152 Cebu to Los Angeles departing 9:00PM arriving 7:30PM
PR153 Los Angeles to Cebu departing 10:30PM arriving 5:00AM (+2 days)
The ~7,340 mile flight will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and is blocked at 13hr30min eastbound and 15hr30min westbound.
This will complement the up to 3x daily flights that the airline operates between Manila and Los Angeles, meaning that on some days the airline will have 4x daily flights to Los Angeles. Wow.
Bottom line
It’s cool to see Philippine Airlines add a second route to the US with their A350, which features a much improved product.
I’ll be flying the airline soon from Manila to Toronto on the A350, and am very much look forward to it.
Unfortunately Philippine Airlines doesn’t have many mileage partner. The only useful partner for redeeming miles on them is ANA Mileage Club.
I could see them partnership with Alaska Airlines, which would be awesome. Not only could it present a great opportunity to earn and redeem points, but it would also help them with connecting traffic.
What do you make of Philippine Airlines’ US expansion?
Slight correction on this article: Seattle will mark PAL's sixth U.S. destination; PAL has nonstop flights to Guam, a U.S. Territory therefore a U.S. destination, using their A320s. Side note, it's sad to see that their 777 seats aren't up to par with the A350s.
I agree with all the previous comments indicating PAL needs to join a major mileage plan. Seems that in order to stay competitive and continue to be a contender for...
Slight correction on this article: Seattle will mark PAL's sixth U.S. destination; PAL has nonstop flights to Guam, a U.S. Territory therefore a U.S. destination, using their A320s. Side note, it's sad to see that their 777 seats aren't up to par with the A350s.
I agree with all the previous comments indicating PAL needs to join a major mileage plan. Seems that in order to stay competitive and continue to be a contender for overall airline satisfaction by travelers, they need to pony up and partner up.
Partnering with Alaska makes perfect sense. I hope it comes by the time I fly from SEA-MNL in 2021!
Manila, Makati and the newest glitzy Fort Bonifacio Global City are major business districts. JP Morgan Chase just built their own building headquarters there. Fort Bonifacio looks surprisingly more modern than most US cities esp Seattle. All will be inter connected through the new major subway system (Japanese built) being built right now and will stop at Manila airport. There are a ton of Filipinos in Washington state and I have that always go to...
Manila, Makati and the newest glitzy Fort Bonifacio Global City are major business districts. JP Morgan Chase just built their own building headquarters there. Fort Bonifacio looks surprisingly more modern than most US cities esp Seattle. All will be inter connected through the new major subway system (Japanese built) being built right now and will stop at Manila airport. There are a ton of Filipinos in Washington state and I have that always go to Boracay or Palawan for vacation as it is always Travel and Leisure top 10 islands in the world rankings almost every year.
Any ideas when tickets will go on sale for the Seattle-Manila route?
I live in Alaska. This an opportunity for PAL and Alaska to partner. With growing filipino populations in Seattle and Alaska market.
hello Where can i look up ticket seattle to manila using philippines airline? i wanna know how much are ticket
Other than a bunch of whiners in this page. The prospect of Philippine Airlines flying in/out SEATAC Seattle is great news for Pinoys & Pinays in Alaska. Just reference. For all the haters. Manila airport is somewhat slutty. Just like I prefer my womans.
You can opt to connect via Cebu to LAX. Cebu has a new international terminal and far more great than Manila. If from BKK to LAX via CEB, arrival from BKK is early in the morning, you can have a sunny beach view at Shang Mactan for a day since the flight to LAX is at night.
Why doesn't PAL not prioritize Houston. It's a much bigger market than Seattle. A-350 has a range of 9700 NM well within MNL-IAH distance of 8500 NM.
i hope bangkok to los angelis via cebu will work well. i want new cebu airport its not so big and connection is so easy.
Part of the expansion is that PAL is positioning themselves as an "Asian Carrier" with Manila as a hub. I have recently used them to fly to SIN and MEL from usa and prices were very competitive.
I'm still waiting for the official announcement to come from PAL and the Port of Seattle. Currently, the flights are not bookable, but apparently are just loaded into the system.
Fingers crossed for another Alaska Partner and some decent introductory fares...including to connecting destinations. Manila is one city I never care to return to.
It doesn't excite me unless they put a direct flight for us here in San Diego - America's Finest City. It's not really finest unless we get more direct Asian flights from here. Hello PAL/Cebu Pacific - are you listening?
@Fed UP, I understand that the Philippines are a third world country. But, other third world countries at least have decent airports.
This is of very limited interest and only beneficial to the traffic between Seattle and the Philippines.
Manila is not a hub and is a disaster to connect at. On the state side, there were already a few cities on the west coast.
PAL is one of the worst airlines I have ever flown and is easily outdone by cebu pacific and air swift and others on the Philippines side of things.
I’m surprised that you featured PAL on your blog. It’s good to hear that they have the A350 in their fleet, and the seating configuration is 1-2-1. It’s been 2 years since I’ve flown with our flag carrier. Planning to fly with them on their MNL-JFK route this summer. Don’t forget to have their chicken arroz caldo when you fly with them. Best regards
As a UK ex-pat living in Manila for the last 5 years and flying in/out of MNL very regularly, may I emphasize the importance of only booking airlines that use Terminal 3, and knowing that if you want to eat, to do so before going through security. The best options (including the always excellent Mary Grace) are on the top floor of T3 landside. The options airside are mostly mediocre coffee shops, although the CX...
As a UK ex-pat living in Manila for the last 5 years and flying in/out of MNL very regularly, may I emphasize the importance of only booking airlines that use Terminal 3, and knowing that if you want to eat, to do so before going through security. The best options (including the always excellent Mary Grace) are on the top floor of T3 landside. The options airside are mostly mediocre coffee shops, although the CX and SQ lounges are ok. But all the other terminals are rather dire in comparoson !!! For those whose understandable prejudices are a little dated, things have improved a great deal in recent years.
@Stuart, I agree, MNL airport truly makes you feel like you are in a third world country, or worse.
You ARE in a third world county. Manila is a hell hole and the airport is absolute chaos. Have fun being stuck on Phillipines Airlines for over 12 hours, it would be absolute hell.
Delta missed an opportunity here to have a direct flight, instead going with the tag on from ICN.
@davistev -- That used to be true, but isn't anymore. Mabuhay Miles allows reward booking via phone and (they claim) online, although I've never had the booking page load for me, lol.
@John you know who's pathetic...it's you.
@davistev
You can now redeem flights online. You just have to log in to your account at www.mabuhaymiles.com (PR's frequent flyer program).
That is wonderful and nice to hear that PAL has Seattle flight this year or I would say by 5/3/2020. Hoping and moving forward seeing flight @ CHICAGO too. I believe that all Filipinos @ Chicago areas and neighboring state are also looking forward & excited to have flighht in the Windy City soon.
@Stuart, I agree, MNL airport truly makes you feel like you are in a third world country, or worse.
@Eskimo
Great insights. I had not considered...appreciate the wisdom.
The problem is the airport. It's truly horrid. It feels like it's half open to the outside with birds flying around and shitting on you. Truly a dismal airport in an otherwise fairly pleasant country.
@Leigh
This is SEA-MNL. I'm quite sure the yields would be different for the "call center" route.
Unlike their South Asian counterpart, they hardly work for IRS, Microsoft, Nigerian royal family trying to tell you about your unpaid tax, Windows virus (on my iPad, lol) and tales of a prince. Luckily, due to many laws, they haven't invaded the timeshare industry yet.
With all the outsourcing and tech jobs, I don't think it's hard to make money on this route.
Philippine airlines has the worst redemption rules to claim an award ticket. They actually require you to physically go to a PAL ticket office. A real pain if you do not have one near you.
I second them becoming an Alaska Airlines partner. The airline is fine, their Manila terminal is a dump but their is a large population of Filipinos in Alaska, Portland and Seattle.
I mean in all cases the YVR route is the premium route and the SEA tends to be the lower value route. It's why YVR always gets the route before SEA. A bit off topic, but I do find Philippine Airlines (only the a350) to be better than all other American carriers. Service is better, food is better, seats are a bit worse, but I'd rather have better food and service.
I fly to Cebu every year from the West Coast. Would love to see AK Air add them as a partner as I live in Anchorage and am married to a Filipina. Am planning on retiring there so I will continue to fly RT probably several times a year.
@Jim
Many airlines operate transpacific flights to both YVR and SEA. CX, BR, JL, NH, KE, and HU come to mind. They all seem to do decently well on both routes. The only airline in recent memory that operated to both cities and ended flights in one is Xiamen Airlines but there may be more that my memory fails to remember. Both have decently large Asian populations and both are relatively large metropolitan areas so...
@Jim
Many airlines operate transpacific flights to both YVR and SEA. CX, BR, JL, NH, KE, and HU come to mind. They all seem to do decently well on both routes. The only airline in recent memory that operated to both cities and ended flights in one is Xiamen Airlines but there may be more that my memory fails to remember. Both have decently large Asian populations and both are relatively large metropolitan areas so it makes sense to have that transpacific flights to both cities do work even though they are only a 3 hour car ride apart.
I find it odd. The Phillippine market is substantially/primarily low-yield Visiting Family & Relatives (VFR) segment. While Filipinos are the second largest Asian community in the US, after Chinese ex pats, it’s a low base of approx 137k in Seattle/Washington, which does not fill a scheduled service.
And by a random check of their website, they will need an interline partner for Seattle. AA is their LAX gateway partner, but nothing shows up for Seattle....
I find it odd. The Phillippine market is substantially/primarily low-yield Visiting Family & Relatives (VFR) segment. While Filipinos are the second largest Asian community in the US, after Chinese ex pats, it’s a low base of approx 137k in Seattle/Washington, which does not fill a scheduled service.
And by a random check of their website, they will need an interline partner for Seattle. AA is their LAX gateway partner, but nothing shows up for Seattle. I don’t think the market is sustainable for them.
Philippines seems to be on the lower end for business class fares so could be a good J-class option to connect on to other destinations in South-East Asia. But have they improved the transit experience in Manila?
A move (like Singapore) to keep Delta out of the market perhaps?
@Jim
They'll keep Vancouver just like CX has. It's a market on its own.
Moving on, it'll be interesting to see what US destinations they open next. Chicago and San Diego are possible. Maybe even a return to Las Vegas this time non-stop as they've served it before via Vancouver.
Cebu makes sense as a lot of the OFWs I know fly directly into Cebu - anything to avoid Manila airport. Obviously also a popular tourist destination. I would be interested to see what they are like when you fly them as I flew them regularly for a while albeit just to Singapore. BTW I gave away my points on I earned to a local - she used them for a holiday within the PH....
Cebu makes sense as a lot of the OFWs I know fly directly into Cebu - anything to avoid Manila airport. Obviously also a popular tourist destination. I would be interested to see what they are like when you fly them as I flew them regularly for a while albeit just to Singapore. BTW I gave away my points on I earned to a local - she used them for a holiday within the PH. Also keen to know if you can still buy an upgrade at the airport at what that costs as it used to be quite a good deal.
hopefully Alaska adds them as a partner (as they do whenever an airline starts flying to SEA) and it will make the prospect of flying them much more attractive. Also that many LAX flights would definitely need a connecting partner ;)
Which seat is that ???
I see AS and PR talking, if not drafting PR scripts for partnerships.
Do they have partner/codeshare connections into SEA or are they relying 100% on O/D traffic?
Think they will keep the Vancouver route? It's so close to Seattle.
Great to see them resuming the LAX-CEB route. Any idea on whether the A350 is flying this? Or the older 777?