To kick off the return portion of my first class quest to Japan, I flew Philippine Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 business class on the 3hr15min flight from Osaka Kansai (KIX) to Manila (MNL). This flight was a mixed bag.
On the plus side, the crew was friendly, and the food was quite good. However, this particular version of the Philippine Airlines A330 has what I’d consider to be the world’s worst fully flat business class. The seats are just so poorly designed, that I wished I just had the carrier’s standard regional business class, with non-flat beds.
Of course on a relatively short daytime flight this wasn’t a huge issue, but I still judge airline products competitively, and in that sense, this is a really underwhelming hard product.
How I booked my Philippine Airlines business class ticket
I booked my return itinerary from Osaka to Manila to San Francisco as one ticket, with the first flight on the Airbus A330, and the second flight on the Airbus A350. I booked the following ticket, which cost $1,746.63:
9/19 PR411 Osaka to Manila departing 3:15PM arriving 6:40PM
9/19 PR104 Manila to San Francisco departing 11:15PM arriving 9:10PM
However, I ended up offsetting the cost of this ticket with points, so I really booked it with 116,442 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, because I could redeem for 1.5 cents each toward the cost of the ticket. That’s a reasonable paid fare, and in this case, I preferred redeeming points rather than having to spend the cash out of pocket.
Philippine Airlines business class lounge & boarding
I arrived at Kansai Osaka International Airport Terminal 1 at around 1PM. I had to stop at the Philippine Airlines check-in counter, since online check-in wasn’t possible for my itinerary, for whatever reason. That was painless, except I was informed that my seat was inoperable, so I had to be moved to another seat.
Security and immigration were quick, and I headed to the KIX Lounge Kansai, which I had access to on account of my ticket. I won’t be reviewing the lounge as it was full, but it was decent enough for a contract lounge.
My flight was departing from gate 21, just a short walk from the lounge, with boarding scheduled for 2:30PM, 45 minutes before departure. There I saw the 12-year-old Airbus A330-300 with the registration code RP-C8766, which would be my ride to Manila.
Boarding started right on schedule, with business class passengers being invited to board first.
Philippine Airlines A330 business class cabin & seats
I boarded the Philippine Airlines A330 through the forward left door, where I was greeted by the friendly crew. I headed straight to seat 1C, which I had been assigned (well, reassigned), and that’s the aisle seat on the left side in the first row.
Let me mention that Philippine Airlines has two A330 configurations — the superior version has business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, and the inferior one (which I was on) has business class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. This configuration I was on is used primarily for routes within Asia, as well as for flights to Saudi Arabia.
The business class cabin had 18 seats, spread across three rows, in a 2-2-2 configuration. Look, I don’t want to be a drama queen (okay, too late!) — these seats aren’t the end of the world for a fairly short daytime flight. But still, who on earth designed these?! I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’d prefer a much less spacious recliner seat to this, because this seat’s design is so unusably stupid.
For what it’s worth, this is the same type of business class seats you’ll find on some of Royal Air Maroc’s Boeing 787s. The difference here is that the cabins are even more beat up, there’s no seat back entertainment, and the seats are even narrower (given the reduced width of the A330 cabin).
So where do we begin? First, in terms of padding, these seats are like sitting on an ironing board. These have to be among the thinnest and least padded business class seats out there. Also, as you can see below, there’s just nowhere to place things. There’s a tiny storage compartment behind the seat and to the side, but it’s almost unusably small.
Then the seat controls as well as the charging (AC and USB-A options) are on a panel between seats. There’s also a small cutout where you can place a drink.
In theory you can sort of place things on the back of the seat in front (it’s where the menus and slippers were stored during boarding), but you can’t use that space during takeoff and landing, and you also have to stand up to reach it.
In order to make the layout as tight as possible, these seats have what I like to call the top/bottom layout. The idea is that when seats recline, one seat raises, while the other lowers. The logic is so that one footwell can be on top of the other. It’s just absurdly stupid and unpleasant when one person reclines, and one doesn’t.
The tray table folds out from the side of the seat. As if the design isn’t poorly thought out enough already, the tray table also struggles to “latch on” to the opposite side, so it constantly just “bounces” down. It’s not often everyone has to take out their tray table to even have a pre-departure beverage, but that’s what happened here. And let’s not even talk about how many drink spills I saw on this flight.
With no seat back entertainment, can I also mention how plain low cost and unappealing the cabin looks?
That says nothing of the cabin maintenance issues.
I had initially assigned myself one of the center seats in the third row, and both of those center seats had headrests that said “do not occupy.” Does anyone know the story here? Did they both happen to be broken, are these just permanently blocked for crew rest (even if there’s not an augmented crew), or what?
Unfortunately I can’t even give the airline credit for having individual air nozzles on these A330s, as those weren’t present either.
I’m going to argue that this particular plane has the world’s worst flat bed business class product. At least Royal Air Maroc has seat back entertainment. Let me of course acknowledge that Philippine Airlines is currently trying to improve and become more premium, and this is an older generation aircraft for the airline. But still, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to judge the airline based on the product I actually experience.
Philippine Airlines A330 business class entertainment
Philippine Airlines A330s don’t have Wi-Fi, unfortunately. Furthermore, this version of the A330 didn’t have any seat back entertainment. The streaming entertainment included movies, TV shows, audio, games, and even a flight map. The selection wasn’t bad — for example, there were around 100 movies.
After takeoff, the crew came through business class with tablets that could be used to stream the entertainment. The catch is that there’s not actually anywhere to place these, other than your tray table (which is flimsy, and keeps falling). For that matter, there’s nowhere to put this while eating, since the meal tray takes up the whole table. I also wasn’t very impressed by the low quality earbuds offered with this.
Philippine Airlines business class amenities
When it comes to business class amenities, Philippine Airlines had a pretty nice pillow but a small and scratchy blanket.
Slippers were also placed at each seat during boarding. While they were flimsy, they ultimately served the purpose of putting on when going to the lavatory.
The menu card and drink list was also placed at the seat before boarding.
During boarding, the crew came around to offer pre-departure drinks, with the choice of a kiwi smoothie, orange juice, or the signature “Mabuhay Punch.” I opted for the kiwi smoothie, which was tasty (and quite sweet).
That was it in the way of amenities. As you’d expect, there were no amenity kits on a daytime flight this short.
Philippine Airlines A330 departure from Osaka Kansai
This Philippine Airlines flight was packed, with nearly all seats (including all business class seats — well, except the two blocked ones) occupied. Nonetheless boarding was efficient, and wrapped up by 3PM, 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure time. The door closed immediately, though we didn’t move for some time.
At 3:15PM the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, also informing us of a slight delay due to traffic, and he explained we should be pushing back in around five minutes.
We ended up pushing back at 3:25PM, at which point the crew performed the manual safety demonstration. We started our taxi at 3:30PM, and we then had a bit of a queue for takeoff. At 3:50PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 6L.
The views on departure were great, and I wish I had a window seat so that I could’ve taken pictures. We even had a nice view of Kansai Osaka Airport on departure, which is always fun, given that the airport is on its own island.
Our climb out was smooth, and the seatbelt sign was turned off five minutes after takeoff.
Philippine Airlines business class meal service
Lunch was served on this flight, and meal orders had been taken on the ground. You can find the business class menu and drink list below.
Guys, I know pork is a very commonly eaten dish in the Philippines, but is it really necessary to put pork in both of the western dining options? So you can either have pork or chicken with ham? Philippine Airlines is increasingly trying to pick up connecting traffic between other countries, so you’d think they could just put a morsel of thought into catering to diverse preferences and dietary restrictions.
That being said, it wasn’t a big deal for me, since I was going to have the Japanese meal anyway. Service began with a warm towel, served on a cute little little tray.
I then stupidly ordered the sparkling wine, which was Bottega Gold Prosecco — I don’t recommend it. That was served with some tasty seaweed and prawn crackers.
The flight attendant saw me taking pictures of things, so asked if I wanted a picture of the bottle. Sure… Ace of Spades it is not (despite the similar-looking bottle)!
The main course was served around an hour after takeoff. The Japanese dish had mackerel sushi, shrimp, a rolled omelet, a skewered chicken meatball, Japanese spinach salad, matcha soda with dried seaweed, pickled radish, miso soup, teriyaki beef rolls, and more.
This was a solid meal, which isn’t surprising, given that it was catered in Japan.
With the main course, I decided to switch from the sparkling wine to the white wine. This was a $10 California chardonnay, so while it wasn’t memorable, a couple of glasses helped with making the flight pass faster. 😉
After the mains were cleared, the crew came around with ice cream, and the choices were green tea, rum raisin, or vanilla.
At the conclusion of the meal I asked for a water, and that was served in a bottle. That’s probably smart, because actually keeping a glass of water anywhere without spilling it takes effort.
I sort of just raw-dogged the flight for an hour, and then a little before landing I ordered a coffee, which was served on a nice tray with some chocolates. I appreciate how they even have little milk pitchers.
Philippine Airlines A330 business class lavatory
Before landing I checked out the Philippine Airlines A330 business class lavatory, located at the very front of the cabin. This was a pretty typical A330 lavatory, and it did have a few Philippine Airlines branded products (hand wash, lotion, and “cologne”).
Philippine Airlines business class service
The highlight of this flight was definitely the crew — they were extremely friendly. The purser came around during boarding to personally greet each passenger, and the flight attendant working my aisle was kind as well. I was addressed by name the entire flight (“Mr. Benjamin”), as was virtually everyone in the cabin.
They also constantly checked on passengers. Admittedly the Philippines has a pretty hospitable culture, but this wasn’t just culture — this crew was much better than on my long haul flight, where it just felt like they were going through the motions with less genuine warmth.
Philippine Airlines A330 arrival in Manila
Before I knew it, we were already approaching Manila. At 5:35PM Manila time, the captain was on the PA to say that we’d be landing in around 40 minutes, and a moment later we started our descent. The seatbelt sign was turned on at 5:50PM.
We had a pretty smooth descent, though it was rainy in Manila. We touched down at 6:05PM on runway 24, and then arrived at our gate at 6:10PM, 30 minutes ahead of schedule. While taxiing to the gate, the carrier’s landing song blasted throughout the cabin, which is… an acquired taste. I thought I was in a church service, or something. Seriously, give it a listen. I respect the dedication, at least!
Another thing I found funny is that we deplaned through the second set of doors. There are actually four rows of economy behind business class and in front of the second set of doors. Somehow the crew ensured that business class passengers deplaned first. I appreciate the effort, though I feel like that was more trouble than it was worth, since it required quite some gymnastics.
Bottom line
My Philippine Airlines A330 business class flight was a mixed bag. On the plus side, the crew was friendly and my Japanese meal was decent. On the other hand, the seats are extremely uncompetitive, there’s no Wi-Fi, and there’s no seat back entertainment. It’s rare that you’re in a flat bed seat and wish you just had a less spacious, standard recliner seat, but this was one of those situations.
So while this ultimately did the trick for a relatively short daytime flight, that won’t stop me from giving the airline a somewhat harsh rating for having what I consider to be the world’s most poorly designed flat bed business class seat.
What’s your take on Philippine Airlines’ A330 business class?
The video and music is distinctly Pinoy. Although the seat looks horrible, the staff always came across as warm and welcoming.
I recentl flew on CX KUL-HKG-KUL on their A333's in J. The service was fantastic however the seats were nothing to write home about.
Fortunately Aria will be the standard going forward. Suites with doors on the 777s and A350s and Studio without the door on regional flights. I foresee an announcement next year on the A350 refurbs with the project to start shortly thereafter. However the recliners on the 773 and select A330s will remain until their retirement in a couple years time.
That will be interesting to have given KUL-HKG isn't too far of a flight. I also recently flew on MH's A333 from NRT in J and I found those to be much better than CXs J. The Aria standard will certainly be a much improvement!
Those A330s are getting long in the tooth. Though I was hoping CX would've gotten the B787-10 for its regional planes, the A339NEO will be an excellent plane for CX.
They plan to order another 50 aircraft and it'll be interesting to see what they order. They can certainly use more A350s and the 787-10 is still a possibility. While not as big as the 773, it's certainly bigger than the A330. One thing about CX you can appreciate is you can get a long-haul configured aircraft on such a short flight.
For sure! I still think there won't be any B787-10's in the order. IMO the A339NEO order took care of it. I expect to see a lot, if not most being A350's in the order.
They currently have 43 CEOs along with 30 orders and 30 options for the NEO. The first 30 will replace the first batch of CEOs that won't get Aria while the 30 options will eventually replace the rest of the CEOs, so 60 NEOs total (17 additional aircraft) which is modest.
They're in a pickle right now. The 773s don't have a direct 1:1 replacement. While reconfiguring the 77Ws for regional routes can be a...
They currently have 43 CEOs along with 30 orders and 30 options for the NEO. The first 30 will replace the first batch of CEOs that won't get Aria while the 30 options will eventually replace the rest of the CEOs, so 60 NEOs total (17 additional aircraft) which is modest.
They're in a pickle right now. The 773s don't have a direct 1:1 replacement. While reconfiguring the 77Ws for regional routes can be a short-term solution, it's overkill for regional routes as the aircraft and engines alone are heavier. Same with the A350s. And the A330s are too small. So this is where the 787-10 comes in.
I agree that the B77W is a bit of a large plane for "regional" routes but I'm not so sure about the A330's being too small. The A339NEO is a large plane. Also, carriers do use their A350's for short haul as well. Lets not forget that Cathay own a number of single isle planes.
Too many ways this can go. I would certainly love to see CX order some B787's though, that would be very cool.
We'll know soon enough.
Ben really got the 'top-bottom' 2-2-2 old J experience twice-in-a-row with PAL and RAM. Oof.
My family of five is flying nrt to manilla to Sydney in January. A321 recliner seat to Manila then “angled flat bed” 777 to Sydney. Actually quite looking forward to both flights. Recliner will be fine for five hours and the 777 looks old but has a giant footwell. Ultimately a better sleep then most biz class these days.
About $1000usd one way. Same price as direct on JAL but family voted for biz and and adventure.
It is incredibly cheap for Philippine Airlines not to serve champagne in business class.