Philippine Airlines review. Business Class. SIN-MNL-MEL

[Austman]

I couldn’t find too many reviews about Philippine Airlines (PR), so here is mine.

There are some very good fares around for business class to/from Australia.

My itinerary, SIN-MNL-MEL, in business class, priced at about $A1,200 on some days:
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I paid more and took a stopover in Manila (MNL).

My aircraft are the B777 and A330.

I’m half way through the trip.

 

[Austman]

First up is SIN-MNL on a B777.

Here is the seat map:



It’s lie flat seating and I must say seat 1K was very comfortable for a less than 4 hours flight.

Check-in in SIN T1 was fine. The SATS Premier Lounge wasn’t too bad. And the flight was on time.

Before departure there were towels and non-alcoholic beverages offered. And a menu.

The wines looked dire!





But the food was good!

The duck:



The beef:



Business gets an inflight WiFi card that worked well:



Snacks:



Despite not being on the menu, gin and tonics were available which seemed a better option than the wines.

The seat screens were large and sharp.

All up, apart from the terrible wines, it was a pleasant flight.

The crew were particularly nice.

 

[Austman]

Arrival in MNL T1 was just awful.

A few large aircraft had just beat us, including the LAX flight below, and the lines for foreigners were LONG.



It took me just over an hour to clear passport control but it was quick after that. None of the online or inflight paperwork was asked for. But apparently you never know.

After the LONG passport control, I was soon in a Grab car and off to my hotel.

 

[Austman]

Next up will be MNL-MEL on an A330.

Overnight.

I’m not looking forward to the MNL T1 airport experience!

 

[1022]

The tasting notes of the Queen Adelaide Moscato are hilarious!! I hope MNL isn't too painful for your departure experience. At least flying J you won't have to contend with too much chaos at the checkin counters.

 

[bam71]

Looking forward to this - their fares do come in at good value..

 

[Austman]

And so to MNL-MEL.

Here is the seatmap:



The question for me is: When should I turn up at MNL T1?

The online suggestions range from 4 hours to 1 hour before departure.

I have my boarding pass. I’m HLO. I’m in business.

But Philippine Airlines still say I need to go to a counter??




I think I’ll go with 2.5 hours.

Wish me luck!!

Why issue a BP if it’s not really a BP?? Oh well:

 

[Austman]

Big problem #1.

It’s raining in Manila.

Like it has been for days.

But it’s not good if you need to get a Grab car:




Just a 5km ride.

But a 100km problem!

 

[SYD]

Big problem #1.

It’s raining in Manila.

Like it has been for days.

But it’s not good if you need to get a Grab car:

View attachment 337880


Just a 5km ride.

But a 100km problem!

Regular taxi?

 

[Austman]

Regular taxi?

It was.

I checked out in the Hilton executive lounge.

I used my last PHPs towards my bill and expected to get a Grab to the airport.

But I could not book a Grab! Even if the app suggested “no waiting”.

Enter the usefulness of a concierge! They tried Grab too with no success. But they could get a taxi.

Trouble is that taxis only take cash. So I took back PHP 500 from my cash co-payment and said to the taxi driver that’s what I will pay. It’s 200 to 350 in a Grab.

Still PHP 500 is just AUD 14.

It was accepted and everyone was reasonably happy!!

 

[Austman]

MNL T1 (NAIA T1) departure road was chaos! And it’s not under cover.

Did I mention the rain?

My taxi driver got as close as he could and then hopped out with an umbrella for me! Bless him!

Inside the terminal is quite nice but a bit of chaotic silliness about where and how to check in.



There’s odd separations of flights but I did find mine!

I was told to go here but no-one attended.

Eventually I went to the next counter where nothing needed to be done except to issue a paper boarding pass. I waited 15 mins just for that!

 

[Austman]

On to passport control and security.

They were actually pretty quick.





Then to the Marhaba Lounge which is small and cramped but had a reasonable selection of food and drinks.



I made it to airport entrance about 2 hours before departure and to the lounge about 40 minutes later.

 

[Austman]

And to the flight itself.

This was an A330 with 3 rows of business class in a 2-2-2 configuration. Flat bed seats. No TV
screens . All entertainment was via WiFi to your own device. There were no iPads.

The food menu:



The drinks list was almost identical to my earlier flight:



This time I hardly touched the food. I thought the Filet Mignon was quite OK but it was just the two items - a small filet mignon with a small serve of creamed spinach.

 

[Austman]

Big problem #2.

That ends my photos of this trip because soon after take off a minor disaster struck!

Along with just about everyone else, I was holding my iPhone during take-off. There wasn't really any seat pocket to put it in. I momentarily placed it on my lap just as the plane hit a few bumps. I heard my phone hit the carpeted floor. When the seat belt sign was extinguished 5 or 10 minutes later, I went to pick up my phone. But it was nowhere to be seen!

I informed the crew although I was pretty sure it had not gone into the seat mechanics. They took the seat apart anyway and used a torch but my phone was still nowhere to be seen. They said recovery would have to wait until we landed in Melbourne.

I found the seat, in bed mode, to be quite comfortable and slept for most of the flight.

Shortly before landing, the CSM told me that a mechanic/engineer would come on board to find my phone. So I stayed put while all the other pax left the plane. The mechanic did find my phone - it was on the floor under my seat but couldn't be reached. He said he'd have to make something that could fish it out. I was asked to wait in the terminal near the arrival door. About 20 minutes later I was delivered my phone!

Phew!

 

[Austman]

So that's my short review of Philippine Airlines business class.

It's not the most top notch business class but the seats were comfortable, the crew were very friendly and it's well priced.

Food was OK. Wine dreadful. There are other drinks I suppose.

MNL T1 is a bit chaotic but not that bad.

And both my flights arrived on time!

 

[jase05]

Pretty much my thoughts on PR from previous trips. Disappointing to see they have taken the newer aircraft off the route. The 1-2-1 seating is far superior to the 2-2-2

 

[Austman]

Disappointing to see they have taken the newer aircraft off the route. The 1-2-1 seating is far superior to the 2-2-2

It was available on some days. But not on the days I wanted to fly.

 

[jase05]

It was available on some days. But not on the days I wanted to fly.

I noticed a PR 777 at MEL a few weeks, are they also using them occasionally now too?

 

[exceladdict]

Thanks for the review. I believe PER is being served by a narrowbody but if the price is right it looks like a good option

 

[jase05]

Thanks for the review. I believe PER is being served by a narrowbody but if the price is right it looks like a good option

If PER gets the same birds that ply the BNE route that would be awesome.
Flatbeds and even though they are 2-2 in J they are still pretty comfortable for someone like me who isn’t tall