Philippine Airlines

YVR-MNL-YVR in economy class A340-300. Planes were old seat not comfortable and pitch must have been 30-31 inches. Older FA was rude but younger ones were polite. They seem to be in a rush serving dinne as soon as take off. An hour after dinner I needed water but no FA in sight - waited for 10 mins then pressed call button. FA didn't come until 15 mins later and was rude - seems like I bothered them. An hour later I walked down the aisle to the business class area and took a peak. There was no passenger in there all I saw was FAs sitting and some were sleeping. Now the lack of service started to make sense.

HKG-MNL-HKG 320/330 Check in at HKG and Manila went smoothly so was the boarding and Immigration. Onboard food was good and the service was better with the female crew then the male crew. All flights was on time and aircraft in good shape.

MNL-TPE-MNL in Economy class. Check-in at NAIA Terminal 2 a breeze. A320 new food was served immediately and good enough for a 2-hour flight while inflight entertainment was average. Flight attendants hospitable. On the return leg again check-in a breeze the plane this time is quite old Airbus A320. Inflight entertainment needs to be updated.

SFO-MNL. Business class was showing its age and lack comfort. Meals average with poor presentation. The crew were literally non existent and when present did not smile.

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.