Philippine Airlines

✅ Verified Review | I flew with Philippine Airlines from London to Manila, PR721 and PR720. The cabin crew were good at what they do. That's the only positive thing I can say. The interior of PALs A340-300 aircraft utilised in flights PR720 and PR721 is very outdated. The upholsteries are too old and we saw some torn bits on the back of the seat. There are no seat mounted screens which I do expect as standard for long haul flights these days. There are no charging ports (usb or mains). I will never fly again with PAL on their London Manila (vice versa) flight unless they refurbish the interiors or use new aircraft.

✅ Verified Review | What I like about this flight to Manila from Riyadh is that it is a direct flight and the timings are excellent. Leaving RUH at 1900, arriving MNL at 1000 which means it is easy to catch local connection especially some domestic airports in the Philippines don't have the capability for night flights. The flight was on time. However, since this is a high-density configuration seats are cramped and must be uncomfortable for taller people. Absence of AVOD is also a concern unless connected to MyPal player which is not advisable as it will drain your phone's battery. Return flight also the same. Other than these, I think I'll give PAL 8 points. I hope they'll soon launch their reconfigured A330 on this route.

✅ Verified Review | Manila to Macau returning from Hong Kong. My companion and I bought our economy class tickets at the last minute so we paid over USD 400 each. The A321 to Macau had a light load, which was in contrast to our high density A330 flight from Hong Kong, which was packed. Both flights had no IFE, which we were well aware of, but had hot meals, which are likely aimed at Filipinos who tend to expect generous servings of rice. The cabin crew were well groomed and gracious, which worked in a college-type of friendship way but not in a manner that will win them accolades. To be in PAL's A330, with its 3-3-3 economy class configuration feels like being in a crowded bus. There is no elbow room, shoulders and arms spill over to the aisles because the seats are for size 0 body types. The queue for immigration and the wait to get our bags were shambolic and frustrating, respectively. PAL is the sole airline tenant in MNL T2 so they should look after their passengers post-flight. The airline has declared that they are aiming to be 5 Star. I dare say, at the rate PAL is going, 5-Star airlines operating in Manila can rest easy, knowing PAL is everything a 5-Star airline is not.

✅ Verified Review | Manila to Cagayan de Oro. I booked Business Class and expected priority check-in, priority baggage, priority boarding, lounge access etc. However there was no priority check-in available, there was no lounge to access, no priority boarding, my bags received no priority when coming out at the other end. All I got was a meal and an upgraded seat. There was no PAL desk at the departure area to make any enquiries, I had to spend 30 minutes on the phone at the terminal to discover that PAL had no lounge, even though they told me in the booking confirmation email to "relax in their lounge". What a joke! I even had to stand up in a bus going out from the terminal to the plane parked up far away from the terminal. All the benefits promised to my by PAL did not exist, and they did not care at all. There was no in-flight entertainment either. If you book business class you expect better standards and higher priority however PAL obviously don't care about their business class customers at all. How can PAL sell me a business class ticket, take my money, promise me lounge access, and then not even have a lounge for me to access? After 30 minutes on the phone I was advised to "relax in a cafe" in the terminal.

✅ Verified Review | On the 17th December 2016 I was supposed to depart from Manila at 12.15pm, but it was cancelled at very short notice with an announcement just an hour and a half from the boarding time. Whilst the airline provided their statutory obligations by providing overnight accommodation etc, as you can imagine the problems this caused with serious trouble and inconvenience for me and my fellow passengers. The UK agents for PAL are AVIAREPS PLC. Despite writing to them and following up with 2 emails, neither company has had the courtesy to respond to my request for out of pocket compensation. Apart from this and the fact that this route only provides entertainment from small iPads, try balancing these whilst sitting in very cramped seating arrangements. There is also no way to recharge your laptop for this 14.5 hour flight so trying to use their alternative inflight WiFi entertainment this service is only available for the life of your laptop batteries. Do not expect to get the standard of service offered by the likes of Etihad and Emirates who I will be returning to forthwith for future flights. I used to fly between 12 to 16 sectors a year with PAL but not again Not a recommended airline if you like those little extras like good customer service, responses to complaints or even an occasional drink during the flight. My Australian colleagues tell me that routes to Australia are better, so why not the UK route?

✅ Verified Review | Bangkok to Manila. Flight was delayed threes times, first and second time half an hour and third time an hour. It was announced late, we had to go ask ourselves why we weren't boarding and how much longer it was going to be delayed. No accurate answers were given. The ticket was ridiculously expensive so I was expecting a nice airplane with nice spacious seats, got the total opposite. On the way back it was also delayed without notice and without apparent reason. Staff rude at times. Never flying with them again.

✅ Verified Review | London to Manila return. Booked with Philippine Airlines as they flew direct and I didn't want to waste time with a stop anywhere. I got an email the day I was due to fly saying my flight was cancelled, no next steps or anything. Tried to phone the UK contact centre that I booked my flight through (PAL direct not an agent, stupidly I thought that was safer), they aren't open weekends! This was a Saturday and I was due to leave for the airport in a matter of hours when I got the cancellation email (mere hours after the flight reminder email). I paid a fortune to sit on hold on the phone to their Manila office, only to be told it was cancelled repeatedly with no suggestions other than for me to go to the airport and see if there was a Philippine Airline customer service team there (they couldn't confirm whether there was or not) and see if there was anything they could do to get me on another flight. Given this didn't sound promising I phoned back to speak to someone else. Eventually managed to get to speak to someone else, and booked on the next flight which wasn't for over another 24 hours. At no point did anyone acknowledge the cost to me of this cancellation (I had hotels, transfers and tours booked to follow on from the flight) or the fact that I lost over 24 hours in the Philippines and didn't get to do the tours I'd booked at all in the end because of this cancelation. Communication was really poor the whole way through and when I asked any questions I just got 'it's cancelled ma'am' or 'hello?' as the answer, it was hard work arranging a new flight. The reason for cancellation was something about 'airport scheduling' which seems poor when it's cancelled on the day. The flight I then got over 24 hours later left London late and arrived in Manila late. My return flight also departed Manila late and arrived in London significantly late - people were complaining they had missed transfers when we landed. Just a hugely stressful, disappointing and frustrating experience. I'll take a longer journey with a stop next time just to use a more reliable airline. As long as I get there safely and preferably on time I don't really fuss over the in flight experience but for those that do, it's the most basic long flight I've ever been on. No back of seat screens (on a 16 hr flight) for in flight video, yes they do give out iPad minis with a few films on, but this happens quite some time after take off and the battery obviously doesn't last the flight! Bring your own and a good power pack. I'd avoid using this airline again and wish I hadn't at all. I actually missed the highlight of my holiday because of my airline choice unfortunately, it's not worth the risk if you have plans at your destination.

✅ Verified Review | Tried Philippine Airlines for the second time and was hoping that it would be much better, but it has just got worse! Flew from Manila to London and return. Very old and tired aircraft (A340), food was horrible, IFE very poor choices of movies and music (ipad). Most of the staff both on the ground and in the cabin did not have the attitude of great hospitality which Filipinos are supposed to be known for. I really hope that the management will consider changing their aircrafts to newer ones especially for long haul flights.

✅ Verified Review | Flew Philippine Airlines from Sydney to Tokyo via Manila. Very cheap airline, poor seat and uncomfortable. Be prepared for neck problems because they don't have a screen attached to the seat in front of you, you have to download an app on your smart phone to see movies and listen to music. There is no usb charging port so if you watch one movie your smart phone battery will die on you.

✅ Verified Review | I was booked on a Philippine Airlines flight from Kalibo to Manila but due to weather conditions it was cancelled. The flight was supposed to depart at 8:45pm and they waited until midnight to tell is it was cancelled. It took another hour or so to get back to the check in counter where I was told that the next flight would be from Caticlan (2 hour drive) at 7:45am. The airline said they would provide me with a hotel for the night and transportation to Caticlan in the morning. They also told me that they will take care of the airport fee (200 pesos that where paid at Kalibo) and that I wouldn't have to pay again. After 2 hours sleep I got into a minibus for a 2 hour drive to Caticlan. When I got there I was told that the 7:45am flight was delayed to 9:40am. I was not offered to move to a different carrier and I was also told that I had to pay again the airport fee because "the people at Kalibo airport say they gave me my money back". When I protested and said it wasn't true the check in person kept on saying that the Kalibo people say they gave my money back. So not only was I exhausted from all this mess, I had to pay an additional 200 pesos. Some service. Appalling.