Etihad Business Class from Manila to Europe

[IrishPete]

We all know that for unknown reasons, Business Class from Manila is a fraction of the price of J from Australia.

But has anyone actually done it? Is there a catch?

I'm currently looking at $2800 return from Manila to Dublin. It will cost another thousand for direct (economy class) flights from Sydney to Manila. And maybe some hotel cost if the connections don't work too well.

I'd be very interested in people's experiences of doing this, please.

 

[jase05]

We all know that for unknown reasons, Business Class from Manila is a fraction of the price of J from Australia.

But has anyone actually done it? Is there a catch?

I'm currently looking at $2800 return from Manila to Dublin. It will cost another thousand for direct (economy class) flights from Sydney to Manila. And maybe some hotel cost if the connections don't work too well.

I'd be very interested in people's experiences of doing this, please.

Have flown out of MNL many times. They have some great J fares pretty much all the time to Europe. MNL and CGK are our “go to” ports to pick up cheap flights. I do find CGK slightly better but we always leave at least a day stop over in both and both have plenty of decent priced quality hotels. Only trick personally is to avoid the 777 that EY use on that route as I think it’s a substandard garbage J product IMO. I haven’t seen their recent schedules but they had 2 daily’s from MNL and one was always a 777 and the other was the 787

 

[IrishPete]

Have flown out of MNL many times. They have some great J fares pretty much all the time to Europe. MNL and CGK are our “go to” ports to pick up cheap flights. I do find CGK slightly better but we always leave at least a day stop over in both and both have plenty of decent priced quality hotels. Only trick personally is to avoid the 777 that EY use on that route as I think it’s a substandard garbage J product IMO. I haven’t seen their recent schedules but they had 2 daily’s from MNL and one was always a 777 and the other was the 78

Have flown out of MNL many times. They have some great J fares pretty much all the time to Europe. MNL and CGK are our “go to” ports to pick up cheap flights. I do find CGK slightly better but we always leave at least a day stop over in both and both have plenty of decent priced quality hotels. Only trick personally is to avoid the 777 that EY use on that route as I think it’s a substandard garbage J product IMO. I haven’t seen their recent schedules but they had 2 daily’s from MNL and one was always a 777 and the othThanks, I wasn't aware of Jakarta as an option. I suspect it has more options for geting to it from Australia than Manila does.

Anyhow, around my dates Jakarta-Dublin is about three times the price from Manila, so I will keep investigating Manila.

There do seem to be two main fare points - starting from about US$950 each way and starting from about US$1800 each way. I assumed it was worse and better connections respectively, but I will now check if it's aircraft type.

[The Australian Frequent Flyer website behaves wierdly on my phone, hence the double quote that I can't remove - they really need someome to build them an app.]

 

[IrishPete]

Have flown out of MNL many times. They have some great J fares pretty much all the time to Europe. MNL and CGK are our “go to” ports to pick up cheap flights. I do find CGK slightly better but we always leave at least a day stop over in both and both have plenty of decent priced quality hotels. Only trick personally is to avoid the 777 that EY use on that route as I think it’s a substandard garbage J product IMO. I haven’t seen their recent schedules but they had 2 daily’s from MNL and one was always a 777 and the other was the 787

Yeah, still one 777 and one 787. But the price difference isn't related to the aircraft type

 

[jase05]

Yeah, still one 777 and one 787. But the price difference isn't related to the aircraft type

May just be something as simple as one flight having lighter loads for whatever reason.
I’m pretty sure Dublin is still only once daily and it’s in the early hours so one of the Manila flights gets in around midnight and you will have a few hours in transit whereas the other Manila flight gets in just before sunrise so you have 18-20hrs in Abu Dhabi at an awkward time.

 

[IrishPete]

May just be something as simple as one flight having lighter loads for whatever reason.
I’m pretty sure Dublin is still only once daily and it’s in the early hours so one of the Manila flights gets in around midnight and you will have a few hours in transit whereas the other Manila flight gets in just before sunrise so you have 18-20hrs in Abu Dhabi at an awkward time.

Skyscanner offers other routes with shorter stopovers. To Dublin via Heathrow on a 380. And back via Schipol (not on a 380). Cheaper too.

Connection in Heathrow is 2.5 hours and requires transit from T2 to T4. I haven't been through Heathrow in 20 years. But if we were to miss the connection, there are scores of flights to Dublin every day.

Schipol connection is 50 minutes!

 

[jase05]

Skyscanner offers other routes with shorter stopovers. To Dublin via Heathrow on a 380. And back via Schipol (not on a 380). Cheaper too.

Connection in Heathrow is 2.5 hours and requires transit from T2 to T4. I haven't been through Heathrow in 20 years. But if we were to miss the connection, there are scores of flights to Dublin every day.

Schipol connection is 50 minutes!

Yeah, each to their own but I only book through the airlines direct and refuse to go through any of those third party mobs that Skyscanner, Expedia etc use.

 

[IrishPete]

After a bit more digging, I am now considering other departure points and airlines. Kuala Lumpur has some good deals on various airlines wirh faster connections.

 

[Scarlett]

Decent priced J long haul from South East Asia has a couple of different threads on here: MNL is good, so is KUL right now. BKK seems to get excellent prices on and off. CGK is also another to monitor.

Saudia has the sharpest pricing for what I’ve been looking at but obviously won’t be for everyone. KLM has a good special at the moment and that EY fare from MNL is a solid enduring one. I almost jumped on their $2900 MNL- LIS return fare a couple of weeks ago, but the connection LIS-Africa I wanted wasn’t viable.

As I travel with golf clubs, I often try to create long enough transits to be able to get out for a game. ️ If my planned middle of the year trip to Africa comes off I may be transiting ADD with Ethiopian and will be trying to get in a round at Addis Ababa GC whilst there. Mind you I was sure Ethiopian used to cover the cost of the transit visa (or it was free) but can only see single entry tourist visas now for USD80.

Re the Saudi transit, I will do that in JED at some stage. Keen to have a look at Jeddah and plan to get up to check out King Abdullah Economic City an hour or do north. Just not in July-August timeframe!

I’ve traveled to South East Asia via different airlines at different times, some on paid tickets and some on points. Have used PR to MNL a couple of times and they are fine.

 

[Amanad78]

I flew Manila to Geneva last year on Etihad via Abu Dhabi, in J, paid fare. Then took a cheap BA return GVA to LHR.
To get to Manila I used Velocity Points on Singapore Airlines from BNE via Singapore in J. Had 3 hour transit in Singapore then a 6 hour wait in Manila. Then I stopped for 2 days in Abu Dhabi, with a free hotel and chauffeur transfers.
On the way back I had 3 nights in GVA then just transited in Abu Dhabi, then had a night and full day in Manila.
Flew direct back to BNE on J classic reward with QF.
Was a great, affordable trip.
Plus, managed to earn nearly enough SC, via Etihad, to get gold on Virgin

 

[SCM]

I did transit through CGK in the last few weeks and Etihad, and I have to say it's a great strategy, the product is amazing, 787 and a great experience, and even the Plaza lounge at CGK is nice and cool. The only problem is, the airport itself is not great (toilets are always closed for cleaning), very hot, so the self-transfer process is very quick but if you need to wait for check-in you're stuck in a crowded terminal with poor A/C and worse wifi.

I heard from friends from Philippines to avoid Manilla airport like the plague because it's super old and bad, so I'm guessing it's no better.

What I wonder is, is there an airport in Asia with airside self-transfer so you don't have to exit immigration and customs to re-check bags to the next airline, that would be ideal. If any of these airports had half a brain they would set this up because it would bring an insane amount of business.

 

[SYD]

What I wonder is, is there an airport in Asia with airside self-transfer so you don't have to exit immigration and customs to re-check bags to the next airline, that would be ideal. If any of these airports had half a brain they would set this up because it would bring an insane amount of business.

SIN comes close. There are reports that they can re-route checked bags onto anther booking but I've never tried it. However, "entering" Singapore is easy now and there's self-checkin at the Jewel.

Personally, I'd still be o/n on separate tickets. That's one advantage of CGK - hotels are cheap (although, currently still offset by the eVOA cost).

 

[SCM]

SIN comes close. There are reports that they can re-route checked bags onto anther booking but I've never tried it. However, "entering" Singapore is easy now and there's self-checkin at the Jewel.

Personally, I'd still be o/n on separate tickets. That's one advantage of CGK - hotels are cheap (although, currently still offset by the eVOA cost).

Doesn't Singapore have literally laws around not doing transfer unless it's some approved set of airline combinations?

To qualify as a Transit Passenger, traveller must:

• Have both flights booked in the same booking itinerary
• Have their check-in luggage tagged-through from the origin airport to their final destination

Transit Guide

Find out all you need to know about transiting in Changi, including flight transfer information, and the things you can see and do within the airport.

www.changiairport.com

So it seems like it's not allowed since these would be separate itineraries.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Doesn't Singapore have literally laws around not doing transfer unless it's some approved set of airline combinations?

Transit Guide

Find out all you need to know about transiting in Changi, including flight transfer information, and the things you can see and do within the airport.

www.changiairport.com

So it seems like it's not allowed since these would be separate itineraries.

I "transited" through Singapore and left the following day on separate itineraries last year. As a holder of both an Australian and EU passport I qualify to stay in Singapore for up to 90 days without requiring a visa. So I'm guessing that's the work around to the above...

 

[SYD]

I "transited" through Singapore and left the following day on separate itineraries last year. As a holder of both an Australian and EU passport I qualify to stay in Singapore for up to 90 days without requiring a visa. So I'm guessing that's the work around to the above...

Yes, that’s what I was getting at. Oz PP, easy to enter/ exit now on seperate tix.

Plus, if travelling HLO you’d just go to the transfer desk if you didn’t already have the onward BP.

 

[clifford]

Yes, that’s what I was getting at. Oz PP, easy to enter/ exit now on seperate tix.

Wasn't it always? Just a bit slower sometimes with manual processing.

In fact, the experience at BKK isn't much worse if you can access the fast track facility (J class or over 70, amongst other criteria).

 

[SYD]

Wasn't it always? Just a bit slower sometimes with manual processing.

In fact, the experience at BKK isn't much worse if you can access the fast track facility (J class or over 70, amongst other criteria).

SIN is eGates in/out now.

 

[Melburnian1]

Yes, flying via MNL is a great way to save money while experiencing the comfort of J.

I've done this using PR - a couple of overnights at a MNL hotel - then WY (Oman Air) to LHR, returning from one of five European ports to MNL, then overnight stay or longer, PR to MEL/SYD. PR and WY use T1 at Manila NAIA: EY uses T3. T1 is a great improvement on the atrocious T2 that PR international flights used until a few months ago. (PR domestic flights use T2 now).

J fares to UK/Europe consistently seem cheaper from MNL than from BKK, CGK or KUL. With WY, theY cabin is almost always full from/to MNL but in J, my experience on WY is there's been 10-14 pax in J, so not all seats taken. WY has excellent 'dine and demand'.

I always have the flights Oz-MNL-Oz and MNL-LHR-surface-Europe-MNL on separate PNRs. Apparently combining dramatically increases the return J fare.

The food presentation on EY in J doesn't look great, but I may (re)try EY from MNL if the price is right. I will take others' advice and try to avoid the flights with B777s.

MNL's typhoon season is c.June to December so if flying at these times, I endeavour to have two nights each way in MNL as a precaution. Airport hotels near T1 or T3 at NAIA such as Belmont, Holiday Inn Express (previously terrible Remington but apparently better now), Kingsford and Savoy can be as little as A$80 a night for a Queen room without breakfast. Okada Casino has excellent buffer dinners and lunches and is close to Kingsford Hotel. Mall of Asia is not far away: best to visit in the morning or early afternoon rather than early evening as latter has 'traffic' (congestion).

Provided you use a regular white 'street' taxi and not the white 'coupon taxis' or yellow 'airport taxis', MNL's taxis are super cheap. I usually tip the driver but most times it isn't expected. If a driver quotes an outrageous fare, walk away, or if in the taxi, say you want to alight. That will usually solve the discussion.

 

[Melburnian1]

I heard from friends from Philippines to avoid Manilla airport like the plague because it's super old and bad, so I'm guessing it's no better.

'Manila' has one 'l' not two.

T2 is atrocious but only has PR and IIRC some other domestic flights. Spartan steel seats: like your worst vision of a hospital emergency department.

T4 is like something out of the late 1960s (not that I'm old enough to know what that was like apart from watching films). No major airline uses it for international flights.

Almost all international airlines use MNL T1 or T3. T3 is the most modern (opened c.2007 IIRC) but T1 has been refurbished.

I have had a far better immigration experience at MNL T1 in the last couple of years than in chaotic MEL and SYD. Have not recently used MNL T3.

I have only once risked a same day international-to-international connection in MNL: it worked, but staying for a couple of nights each way is the recommended strategy. You will not find the three star hotels expensive. A number are under a decade old: Kingsford for instance is only four years old.