During my first class quest to Japan, I had the chance to spend some time in the Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge Manila Airport (MNL). I had a roughly four hour layover, as I had arrived in Philippine Airlines’ A330 business class from Osaka (KIX), and was connecting to Philippine Airlines’ A350 business class to San Francisco (SFO).
On the plus side, I didn’t have to switch terminals this time around, because a terminal change in Manila makes for what’s possibly the world’s worst airport transit experience. However, that’s not to say that the layover was smooth — quite to the contrary, I found the entire ground experience to be pretty bad. Transit security was a mess, and the lounge was overcrowded, with some major shortcomings.
Some may think my review here is overly critical, but let me simply state that somehow the lounge Wi-Fi doesn’t work on “foreign” computers (based on my experience, and confirmed by an airline employee), and that’s just mind-boggling to me. So if you want to use Wi-Fi on your laptop, you actually have to leave the lounge and go into the terminal, and use the airport free Wi-Fi. That’s just beyond embarrassing. Anyway, enough of an intro, let me get into the review.
Manila Airport Terminal 1 transit security
Fortunately my Philippine Airlines flights were both arriving at and departing from Terminal 1 in Manila, so at least I didn’t have to switch terminals. All international connecting passengers have to clear transit security, and I found this to be a mess.
There was a long queue, and the entire space is set up with a single x-ray machine and metal detector. The line shown below also doesn’t account for the endless passengers in wheelchairs cutting the line (nothing against them, of course, but it all slows things down). There was also no sense of urgency among the screeners. It took roughly 40 minutes from the time I deplaned until I was through transit security.
I understand that airlines don’t have full control over airport facilities like this, but it’s really something that airport authorities need to work on. Philippine Airlines is growing, and in particular, is trying to increasingly compete with international connecting traffic. This is just such an avoidable pain point, especially when you consider the short connections the airline sells.
Philippine Airlines Lounge Manila location
Admittedly most hub airports get busy during peak hours, but Manila Airport Terminal 1 is a special kind of mess. The terminal is narrow, and I found the signage confusing. Typically if you’re at a carrier’s hub terminal, it’s not too hard to find lounges. So I followed the signage in the direction of “Airline Lounges,” only to end up on the wrong side of the terminal.
As it turns out, the other direction also has signage for “Airline Lounges,” so you’d think they could have signage indicating which lounges are in which direction.
The Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge is located near gate 15, though it’s honestly easy to miss.
There’s a sign for flights to Australia, and next to that is a sign where the biggest word is “Mabuhay,” and that’s the sign for the lounge. I walked past this area twice before I realized this is where the lounge was located. Again, for a hub lounge, you’d think they could do a bit better on signage.
The lounge is located on level four, which is one floor above the terminal. It can only be accessed via an elevator that’s in absolutely horrible condition (physically, and in terms of the feeling when riding it).
Once on level four, the entrance to the lounge was easy to spot. I have to say, my first impression was very positive, as the entrance is beautiful. For a moment I thought I’d actually have a nice lounge experience!
Philippine Airlines Lounge Manila hours
The Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge Manila is open 24/7, as I understand it. Some reports online suggest it closes for a couple of hours in the middle of the night on Wednesdays for “maintenance.” But big picture, you really don’t have to worry about the hours of this lounge — if you have a flight, it’ll be open!
Philippine Airlines Lounge Manila entry requirements
The Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge Manila has pretty straightforward access requirements. The lounge is open to Philippine Airlines business class passengers (no guests allowed) and Mabuhay Miles Premier Elite and Elite travelers (one guest allowed). On top of that, those without lounge access can purchase access at an additional cost, which varies based on the length of stay, and is subject to capacity limits.
Philippine Airlines Lounge Manila seating & layout
The Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge Manila opened in late 2023, and it’s approximately 1,200 square meters (13,000 square feet), with a capacity for just under 300 guests. As is the case with any lounge, your experience will vary based on when you visit, and I definitely visited during a peak crowding period. The lounge is set along one main corridor, with a few main rooms.
When you enter the lounge, the first main room just has traditional lounge seating intended for relaxing. This consists mostly of chairs in rows, along with some tables.
Then in the back of the lounge is an area with dining tables, and this is also where the buffet is located.
Along the side of the lounge is a small room that’s more intended for resting, as it has some chairs with ottomans.
This area also has a Million Miler Exclusive area, which is kind of laughable. It’s basically a small space behind a glass shield with some high-top seating, so it almost seems more like it should be the work area of the lounge, rather than something reserved for the carrier’s most loyal customers.
As you can tell, the lounge was really busy during my visit, and I initially could barely find an open seat (aside from asking to join someone at a dining table).
Philippine Airlines Lounge Manila Wi-Fi & announcements
Now let me share what I’d consider to be the two worst parts of the lounge — the Wi-Fi situation and the announcements. These two things are my biggest beef with this lounge, and they’re why I actually just ended up sitting in the terminal rather than the lounge.
The first issue involves Wi-Fi. Being able to connect to Wi-Fi is perhaps the single most basic amenity you’d expect in a lounge, but that’s too much to ask for here.
I tried to connect to the Wi-Fi on my laptop, but it simply didn’t work. I spent several minutes troubleshooting things, and then eventually I went to the lounge reception to ask if the Wi-Fi was down, or what was going on.
The answer? “Actually sir, we have a problem where laptops from other countries can’t connect to our Wi-Fi.” At first I figured that couldn’t be true, so I tried connecting on my phone. Sure enough that worked!
I know this lounge agent is just the messenger, but I find this to be completely absurd. First of all, it’s ridiculous that this is the case. Second of all, I just found the way it was communicated to be poor, and showed a lack of understanding. It wasn’t “I’m so sorry, we’re working on fixing this.” She explained it as if this is a normal thing.
The airport offers free Wi-Fi, but it doesn’t extend to the lounge. So I actually had to go into the terminal in order to be able to work on my laptop.
Now let’s move onto the second issue, which is that this lounge has the ambiance of a live auction. Not only is every flight departure announced in the lounge, but it’s announced multiple times, and each announcement has so much unnecessary language and repetition. During the busiest period, the lounge agent barely put down the microphone. Again, the terminal had a nicer ambiance, and that’s saying something!
Philippine Airlines Lounge Manila food & drinks
The Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge Manila has a self-serve buffet located in the back of the lounge. I visited late at night, so it was the dinner selection on offer. The buffet was so busy that it was hard to get good pictures, but options included finger sandwiches, bread, salad, dumplings, noodle soup, and a few other hot dishes.
There were also some sweets, including cookies, cakes, and fruit.
The selection wasn’t awful, but it was also below average for an Asian carrier’s hub lounge, as I see it. When it comes to drinks, there were some self-serve options, including coffee, juice, and soda.
The lounge also has a bar with cocktails, beer, wine, and barista coffee.
Y’all know how much I love good coffee, and while I was happy to see barista coffee, it wasn’t actually good. At least based on my preferred tastes, I found it to be really bitter — bonus points for the presentation, though.
Philippine Airlines Lounge Manila bathrooms & showers
The Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge Manila has bathrooms and shower suites. The bathrooms were okay — they were consistently crowded, but weren’t dirty. Meanwhile there was a wait for the showers, so I didn’t actually get a chance to visit them.
Bottom line
My transit experience at Manila Airport was really underwhelming. First there was the incredibly inefficient transit security, which admittedly isn’t directly the carrier’s fault. But the much bigger issue is the quality of Philippine Airlines’ flagship lounge.
The lounge design was okay, and the lounge was really crowded. I don’t fault the airline too much for that, since that’s the case at most hub lounges. Really what makes this lounge terrible for me is the lack of functioning Wi-Fi for foreign laptops, plus the constant announcements about flight departures.
I give this lounge a really low rating because I genuinely found it more pleasant to sit in the terminal than to sit in the lounge. When you have to leave a lounge to connect to Wi-Fi, something is very wrong. While I was looking forward to flying Philippine Airlines’ A350 business class, the experience up until this lounge was really underwhelming.
What do you make of Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay Lounge Manila?
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