Philippine Airlines

MNL-BKK return Business class. Tickets were not that cheap compared to TG so I question the value of putting up with slow clumsy service old seats and bad food. MNL-BKK leg started well with pre take of drinks and hot towels. Food orders were taken and meals were served properly. Food quality was mediocre at best. BKK-MNL was disappointing. No pre take off drinks or towels. Food orders taken but service was slow while they appeared rushed. Lots of spilling and plates falling on the floor. Food was inedible. For a little more money TG would be a world of difference for the same route.

KLO-MNL return flight was my worst experience. Flight attendants not friendly at all not even smiling. Also they let the passengers put the baggage in the overhead compartments even when the aircraft is taxing to the runway they'll ask you to remove your seatbelt and stand-up to put that baggage. The announcements are simple and not detailed compared to the other local airlines. MNL-NRT by Philippine airlines and that was another a worst experience. My seat was broken and cannot be reclined.

MNL-ZAM return. Fairly new A320 well-maintained tight seat pitch but adequate. Flights on time with good information from flight deck. Cabin crew efficient: on domestic flights only tea/coffee and nibbles are offered. Generally a good in-flight experience. On the ground check-in staff are strict on weight - expect to pay if you have in excess of 15kg hold baggage for domestic flights. Also have local currency to pay the 200 peso departure tax at all airports. Overall the flight experience compared very favourably with domestic and regional flying in UK and Europe.

BCD-MNL-BCD. A320 Plane was not the reffited one - AirAsia (a budget airline) have more comfortable seats and leg room. Crew nice and chatty to some passengers but to the rest polite only. Majority of PAL crew need more training in following filipino hospitality. Some are robotic or rude some also back-stab the airline to passengers. The only difference with Economy Light is that you get assigned the most back seats and no peanuts and skyflakes.

TPE-LAX via MNL in business. All flights on time cabin clean food good and staff professional. Bathrooms kept clean. Only letdowns were the inflight entertainment system and the lounge in Manila (it looks more like a dormitory lounge than what should be the airline's flagship lounge). Very good value for money.

MNL-Kalibo-MNL and MNL-HKG. Domestic service usual PAL service. Noticed that some ground staff and cabin crew members tend to be friendlier to Caucasian travellers than Pinoy people. Check- in quick and baggage delivery on both legs alright. MNL-HKG: PAL has cut on the meal as no longer any bread on the tray. Service efficient in the PAL manner. One thing PAL has to address is their ground staff. They make you feel they do you a favour by checking you in. Although travelling on two tickets (party of 3 people) as I only needed a one way ticket we checked in together. She managed to sit us apart. We had to return to the check in counter to get seats assigned next to each other. All in all a 3 star airline that could be more if they would take more attention to details. An upgrade of NAIA2 facilities would do well as well i.e. domestic terminal flights are allocated to check in counters in a way no one understands and they are written down on a paper printout. Noticed that number of FAs onboard international flights is very high though one does not notice it service wise.

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.

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.

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.

KTM-BKK Flight in March 2009 as it was only half the price of Thai. Booking Check-in and Boarding went surprisingly without problem or delay. B757 is pretty old but clean inside. The staff provided a good service with a hot meal and passengers are provided with the Thai immigration papers. The inflight entertainment is outside the window as you see lots of the Himalayas for the first 40 mins after departure.