Philippine Airlines

I have been flying MEL-MNL-MEL and SYD-MNL-SYD for the last 6 months. Initially PAL we're using 777 for both of these routes. Planes were brand new with lie flat beds in business. Since about September PAL have been using older 330/340 planes. Business seats are old and just a little better than economy. Business upgrades have been a waste of money on these. Service though has remained top class throughout the period.

Hong Kong to Manila PR 301 27 Jan 2014. A320 cabin was very confined and there was a long queue for toilets - was nowhere near as pleasant as previous flights taken in their A330. I will make a conscious effort to book PAL flights on their larger aircraft in future.

My husband and I traveled recently from LAX to Manila and back. We are vegans and had called Philippine Airlines twice to confirm our meal requests. On the trip from LAX to Manila we were served excellent vegan meals and the cabin staff were excellent. We had a problem on the return trip. We arrived to Manila airport 3 hours before our flight after traveling 2 hours from our resort. The business class lounge had no vegan or vegetarian food. We walked all the airport food concessions. Not one had any vegetarian food. Then we boarded our flight. The business class stewardess asked us for meal choices and when we said we had requested vegan meals she looked surprised. The Catering manager and his assistant came on board to speak to us to tell us to take the next day flight and the airline would have a meal for us. The only thing I can say is the business class stewardess was excellent. She did her best to find nuts fruits and remove meat and cheese from salads.

YYZ-MNL-BKK on Jan 10 2014. 777 plane fairly new and very clean. Stop in YVR for more passengers and crew change. Then 13.5 hours to Manila. I thought overall the food selection was very good. Nicely presented and well garnished. Seats were comfortable with almost full flat. Was able to sleep and I am a fairly large man. Although the on demand entertainment system worked well I found the selection a little small and the movies somewhat aged The 3.5 hour flight from MNL-BKK was on an A340 that was showing some age. After take off we found the entertainment system did not work. Seems it was ok in economy but Business was not. The FA returned shortly with a stack of I Pads and gave them out. They had music games and movies. Really nice touch. The lounges in both YYZ and MNL were nice with food and WIFI.

I booked 2 domestic return flights Manila-Caticlan/Boracay-Manila and Manila-Busuanga/Coron-Manila. The first one that was also their first flight to Caticlan in the early morning was incredibly delayed whereas their bigger competitor was continuing to announce boarding and boarding to Caticlan/Boracay and to various other domestic destinations. My second flight (from Caticlan to Manila on 2nd January 2014 morning) was also delayed but not too big a delay. My third flight from Manila to Busanga on 2nd January 2014 (afternoon) was cancelled. My fourth flight from Busuanga to Manila on 6th January 2014 (afternoon) was cancelled as the third one. Canceling the above mentioned flights meant one extra night in Manila and one extra night in Coron Town (both paid by Philippine Airlines including return transfers and very small meals both for Dinner and Breakfast). Based on what I experienced directly i.e. my same (afternoon) flight from MNL to Busuanga was canceled also on 1st January 2014 on 6th January both flights from Busuanga to Manila were canceled it seems that at least during the first week of 2014 the route Manila/Busuanga-Manila was operated by Philippine Airlines/PAL express on a Best Effort way so beware! Based on my personal experience if you plan to fly to Busuanga then Cebu Pacific looks like a much more reliable option.

Melbourne to Manila. Aircraft was an old A330 (scheduled to be an old A340 - normally a 777 though). Lounge in MEL is the Air NZ Koru Club lounge - one of the better lounges in Melbourne. Initially delayed for 2 hours due to late arrival of inbound a/c then further delayed by 1/2 hr due to technical problem. Bussed out to plane. Inflight seats are old. Do not recline much - no lie flat beds here. Luckily its a day flight. Service was quite good. Meal was average. Luggage arrived as expected. 4/10 overall.

Business Class from Manila to Tokyo and the only issue I had was their inflight meal portion size. There were two options of either Chicken or Fish I decided to have the fish and the portion size was ridiculous for a business class meal. I am no way a big eater but for a business class flight this should be looked at. The 2 pieces of fish were smaller than a matchbox with only 2 string beans and 2 roast potato balls. I have flown with Singapore Airlines and their business class meal portion size is worthwhile. The solution was - I had mentioned this to the inflight crew and they had offered me another meal which was nice of them to do so and they said they would report this to the catering department. Bottom Line: The overall service for PHP Airlines business class is good and staff are friendly. I enjoyed the experience and would fly with them again but I strongly suggest that the portion size for the business class meals are looked at and adjusted to a suitable size that's worth the fare paid. The overall experience was very good and the service was above average.

I have flown three times for LAX-MNL-CEB-MNL-LAX. Each time has been a good experience. Food was good attendants very friendly and service is excellent. Called by my name. Always use PR103 if you are leaving LAX the other one I think it's PR113 is an A340 without the lie-flats. The 747-400 has the lie-flats.

MEL-MNL. Check-in was fast as I skipped the main line. Very close to full flight. Departed about 25 minutes late and arrived 20 minutes late Catering in business class extensive and of good quality with the salads particularly enjoyable. It was also great to have cheese and biscuits as part of the offering. In flight entertainment is only available in business class and was only passable. Immigration quick; luggage took another 15 minutes to arrive.

I have been flying PAL for the last 26 years. Still the best local carrier there is and for the past year or so they certainly upped their game with new route and equipment used. I mostly fly with them domestically and never had a problem in check in so far no delays and meals satisfactory for short and mid haul flights probably better the most. T2 is fine. it is well priced and a value for money compared to other airlines especially on mid haul and long. Plus who can beat the baggage allowance. Hopefully they change their A340 and older A330 quickly or have them retrofitted with new products and a better hospitality training on some FA's on long haul especially the older one's or replaced them. Other than that will fly them again.