PHILIPPINE AIRLINES   Customer Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  15 November 2009 : by K Page   (China)

Philippines Airlines Business Class - there is space, which you'd expect but the cabin was horrible and in my return Manila-Honolulu flight I changed seats 4 times to find a seat that worked correctly or a TV screen that would hold itself up. The plane was very old, and to be honest a bit scary. I hope they maintain the engines better than they do the cabin. I fly business class on flights over 7 hours and this was the worst experience I have ever had. This airline is brutal with excess luggage - even 1Kg is charged (on this sector) US$150 -this is what they tried to charge me for my surfboard coming back from Honolulu. The confusing part for me is they didn't charge me to go over with it so I was shocked when they tried to charge me at Honolulu. I talked my way out of it and I could see the person had heard it all before as she tired of saying the same thing.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  13 October 2009 : by A Jalandoni   (USA)

LAX-MNL/MNL-LAX. Philippine Airlines new Business Class product which I was quite pleased with. The cabin was clean, modern and fully staffed. They have the new angled lie flat seats which are quite nice. Entertainment system pretty good. The dinner service was excellent. The only glitch is the wine list - only two choices. The service in general was warm, friendly and sincere. The over all in flight product is good and a great value for your money. However, reservations and check in can be touched up a bit.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  18 September 2009 : by W Coulton   (Canada)

YVR-SIN-YVR in Business Class. Older A340's non stop Vancouver- Manila and new A320's on the Manila - Singapore. A340 is showing its age and business class seating is old style (their 747's have been refurbished to the new biz style, but not the A340), the service on board was attentive and professional. The food was very good and well presented. A few drink runs would have been appreciated without having to press the call button. Very good lounges (shared) were provided in both Vancouver and Singapore, while the Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge in Manila was available during the transit stop. The Manila lounge does let the product down, as it is nowhere as nice as the others. Service and food on the regional flight between Manila and Singapore was as good as long haul. Luggage both ways was handled in priority manner. Overall a very satisfactory product, especially for the price PAL charge for their business when compared to some alternatives.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  13 August 2009 : by A Torres   (Singapore)

SIN-MNL Mabuhay Class. Check in at Singapore airport was a breeze, airport lounge was shared with other airlines, but still pleasant. The plane was a new A320 with about 12 seats in Mabuhay class - only 4 of us in that section. FA courteous and helpful, calling us by name when serving. Seats comfortable, with individual touchscreen video screens, although entertainment selection was limited. Food and drinks service was good, and mid-flight snacks and drinks offered.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  31 July 2009 : by J Long   (USA)

My family's experience with PAL is pretty much typical with most of the others on this site. We flew LAX-MNL with a scheduled 45min layover in Hawaii. Our layover ended up being 3.5 days! They first sent us to two different musty smelling motels, which later changed because the passengers started becoming unruly (local police were even called in). PAL said that the plane had mechanical issues and sending in another plane was not an option @ the time. They later sent to a better hotel. Being in Hawaii would have been fine for most people, but we had a 3 and an 11 month old, all we had supplywise was what we had carryon. We were sent to a from the hotel and airport a total of three times, each one resulting in disapointment and outrage by the passengers, we were already on the local TV News. After 3.5 days they ended up sending another smaller plane. And when we arrived, all we recieved for our troubles was a voucher for free roundtrip domestic. FA's the worst, at one point during being stranded we were all waiting at the gate to board. The sign board said we would be leaving at 8pm. I noticed the crew get up and start walking away from the gate and overheard the lead FA ask one on the pilots if they wanted to go and eat their dinner at 7-45!

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  4 June 2009 : by G Chew  (UK)

Very easy online booking for a domestic flight from Manila to Laoag, and got a brilliant fare (400 pesos!). You need to have a printed version of your itinerary to enter the building, and I was rudely told to go to the booking office to get a print out. After going through a body scanner, I queued up for ten minutes, before I was served by an unsmiling man, who took five minutes to print my confirmation. Back in the terminal, you have to scan your luggage upon entering and have a body scan. Two queues merge into one, and trolleys aren't allowed though, so you have to shove all your bags onto one conveyor belt (including valuables), then join a line for the sex-determined body scan, then run back to find your bags, before dragging them over to be checked in. Very awkward. There was a special lane for my flight to check in, so I went though it, before being called back, and have someone look at my confirmation, then he went to check which flights were allowed to queue here. There was no one waiting for check in, so I was seem immediately. Offered an exit row window, which was nice. Shoes off at the next body scan (yes, there's was another), but not belts, nor laptops out. Officers very rude, and only speaking in Tagalog (no signs saying what you have to do). You also have to buy the departure tax here (200 pesos). Departure lounge has a range of very cheap eateries, serving a poor selection of unhealthy food. There were lots of birds (sparrows?) living in this area. I was one of the first onboard, and settled into my comfortable seat. Brand new plane. Boarding this nearly full A320 took a full half hour. The FA standing mid cabin stood half smiling as passengers tried to shove enormous suitcases into the overheads, and changed seats. She neither assisted them, nor asked them to hurry up. At one stage, the boarding passengers were waiting for 3 minutes while people moved stuff around, yet still no intervention from the crew. Slightly late departure. Tea, coffee or water served, along with some snacks. Landed bang on time. Most passengers seemed to have checked in at least five pieces of luggage each, as the arrivals hall was a zoo, with boxes piled everywhere. It took 45 minutes from landing to leave the airport. Ours was the only flight. In all, a stressful experience in the airports. The aircraft was nice, and onboard service fine. Crew too laid back. Very low fare, and better than taking the bus. Take an aspirin before you leave your hotel for the airport.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  4 June 2009 : by R Tantan  (Philippines)

MNL-YVR Economy Class in an old A340-300. Flight to YVR in bulkhead seat which was very spacious. FA was friendly, meals were quite good. They played the same movie for the first half of the trip. YVR-MNL didn't get the bulkhead this time. The seat was so close to me when reclining. The mainscreen was difficult to see. The tray table was impossible to stow when the seat in front was reclined. When putting the seat into upright position, I had to pull it manually. Meals were okay. FA's looked grumpy all the time and never smiled. Overall, this airline is okay. Claustrophobic people should get aisle seats though.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  1 May 2009 : by S Dee

MNL-HKG-MNL. Flight to Hong Kong was full on old 747. Check-in was a breeze. Terminal 2 was really boring. Nothing to do. The free Wi-fi that day wasn't working. Return flight was on an A330. Flight delayed over 2 hours. Overall, I think the service on PAL is just average. If they would only put a PTV in each seat, then maybe then can start competing with brands such as EK, CX and SQ.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  1 May 2009 : by Pedro Cadelina

TAG-MNL-SFO. TAG-MNL A320, plane was almost full, crew professional and courteous. A complimentary beverage and snack is served on this 1 hour hop. MNL-SFO on a 747-400. Plane recently had upgrade to interior. Meals were served and a good meal. Mid flight snack was the infamous cheese roll which I declined. Breakfast was ham and hash browns with slightly runny powdered eggs. The new interior with new panels, carpeting and seats. The seats are nice and leg room is improved and adjustable headrests. Each seat back has a 9" touch screen. Unfortunately, there was a problem and about 80% of the screens did not work. We had 1 working screen in our row. There are a number of movie selections as well as tv episodes, music, flight tracker and games. One note - some passengers had a tendency to pound the screen which disturbs the passenger in front. The passenger behind my wife tapped the screen hard as she played solitaire a good portion of the flight. Perhaps the attendants could bring this issue up. The seats seem narrower in the seat while the seat back is wider. You feel slightly closer to passengers next to you. The armrests do not flip up anymore. They go up about 60 degrees or so and stop. I always liked having the armrest up and this probably will discourage people from sleeping in empty rows if they had the chance.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  22 April 2009 : by Pedro Cadelina

MNL-SFO and visa versa. SFO bound flight was on A340 which was barely half full. Plane was clean and FAs were courteous. Dinner and drinks were served in a hurry. Meals were simple. Breakfast was the best meal. MNL return trip was on 747-400. Plane was about 2/3rds to 3/4ths full. Plane was dirty. Food residue still on seat back trays. Both of our trays were broken which required us to use knees to support. Seats are well worn and this plane needs overhaul badly on the interior. Meals very simple and once again what kind of chicken or pork? FAs were nice but in a hurry. Ours passed food trays over the heads of passengers infront of us rather than waiting for our aisle.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  19 April 2009 : by S Dee

Manila-Singapore-Manila Economy. Check-in in Manila easy. Lines at immigration was terrible since it was holy week. Departure on time, flight attendants friendly and respectful. Return flight was okay. Check-in counter opened late and there was already a long line of people waiting. Flight attendants were friendly. In-flight entertainment on both flights were terrible. I just hope PAL would install personal screens in every seat in their planes.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  14 April 2009 : by Paolo Lim

MNL-SIN-MNL Business Class. The outbound trip was an A330 instead of the usual A320. While the agent I talked to told me that I would get the 3rd row, the agent at check-in bumped me up to the first row. The lounge was pretty nice although I couldn't find a spot to plug my notebook in. Business Class was only 1/4 full. Inflight entertainment was pretty ok. The return trip wasn't as pleasant. Check-in at Changi didn't open until past 21.00. Despite the fact that I was the first passenger to check-in at Business Class and with the phone agent telling me I had to check with the airport if the front rows can still be given (since they said it is only given during check-in), I was told they were taken so I had to settle for the back rows. The lounge used by PAL passengers was a bit crowded there. This was a full flight on an A320. We left shortly after midnight. It was on the newer A320s where an AVOD system was in place and the tenderloin dinner was delicious. If you're short on cash but want to experience Business class, I would recommend PAL.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  12 February 2009 : by R Meily

LAX-MNL-LAX Economy class in mid January. Check in agent at LAX gave us a hard time with our carry on luggage, even though it was under weight. Going to LAX we flew on a very tired looking 747. The seat had a broken cabin attendant button, and made the flight attendant come to us every 10 mins. MNL-LAX we flew on PAL's newly remodeled 747 with PTV's and Video on Demand, with Recaro seats in Economy. The video selection was alright, but does not compare to its competitors. Cabin attendants for both flights good, but need to be more focused on their customers, and not their makeup.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  3 February 2009 : by Mark Hurter

HKG-MN return. Check-in at in-town desk easy in HKG. In MNL in terminal good as well. Crew members on both flight ranged from ok to very friendly and helpful. Service efficient. Food good. Terminal better than NAIA but not much to do. Luckily some WIFI station available.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  1 February 2009 : by Alan Robinson

BKK-MNL in C. Check in for this flight is ridiculous as I had to prove that I had an ongoing flight from MNL back to the US. I knew beforehand that this was to be the case and had all the relevant documents and it still took a half hour to complete. Having said that, being able to use the Thai Air lounge was fantastic. Flight was good, FA very attentive though I'm sure it helped that there was only 6 people in C, meal was good. Cebu Pacific might be cheaper than PAL on this route but their habit of canceling many of their international flights will keep me flying with PAL

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  6 January 2009 : by A Mendoza

Manila-Davao return Business Class. Mabuhay lounge in Manila crowded and food choices mediocre. Service on the flight was excellent on fully packed flight. FA's with a genuine attitude for service and courtesy. Food also enjoyable. On the return leg, the story was different. The food was inedible, and flight attendants were nowhere to be found for a cabin that only had 5 passengers. I pushed the call button 6 times in succession and literally had to yell into the galley to get their attention. I give them an 8 for the outbound flight, and a 3 for the return flight.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  6 January 2009 : by D Morgan

Manila-Cebu Return over New Year. Business Class. Near empty in business class and on time flights (1 hour each) meant for enjoyable experience with Philippine Air. Not sure the business class product would stand up to intercontinental long haul but more than adequate for internal domestic flights. Would recommend.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES customer review :  1 December 2008 : by L Harrison

LAX-MNL on B744 and return flight. We had no complaints with the service. Food was adequate but not impressive. Cabin crew was friendly and polite. We would book them again. The flight was full both ways. They pass out socks and toothbrushes too. The little things count.