Philippines Airlines Intro fares BNE-MNL

[albatross710]

AFAIK.. the QF lounge at BNE INT.

Purchased a return J fare for just under AUD800 for travel in July. The stop over in DRW will be inconvenient on the return as it will interrupt any sleep.

The website says that there is an option to book now and pay within 24 hours. This options is only available in the Philippines (over 7,000 islands not all serviced by PAL though). Best thing for Aussie purchasers is to complete the booking process using a credit card online at the time of booking. I had some interaction with the PAL Australian staff and it was all good.

Pretty good marketing on the part of PAL though with the promotion J fares. Certainly generating plenty of interest if you have to go there anyway.

It will be interesting to see how much of this extra capacity (3 flights per week) gets utilised.

There are still the promotional J fares available online, but getting harder to 'pair' them for the promo fare both ways.

Happy travels

Alby

 

[casanovawa]

I am planning to fly down from KIX-PER in mid august and was probably going to do Jetstar KIX-TPE-SIN-PER for about $350 but have now seen these fares and thinking might try a J fare back to PER which could probably do for about A$460 or so...

I think the Jetstar flight KIX-MNL gets in at about 20.15 and then the PR flight leaves for PER at about 22.25... Do you think 2.10 minutes would be enough to transfer from one flight to the next (not sure if we are talking different terminals and how easy is it to transfer) or would it be better to try and get in the day before and overnight in MNL???

Not sure what there would be to see in MNL for a day, not that I am averse to quick stops to see places i might never go back to, but would anyone have any ideas about a safe, 1 day sight seeing itinerary in MNL or should i spend the extra time in Osaka and do the quick transfer???

 

[georgeflightdiscounts]

Do an overnight. I would never risk that that connection. Also you are hoping that Jetstar is on time.

 

[albatross710]

I am planning to fly down from KIX-PER in mid august and was probably going to do Jetstar KIX-TPE-SIN-PER for about $350 but have now seen these fares and thinking might try a J fare back to PER which could probably do for about A$460 or so...

I think the Jetstar flight KIX-MNL gets in at about 20.15 and then the PR flight leaves for PER at about 22.25... Do you think 2.10 minutes would be enough to transfer from one flight to the next (not sure if we are talking different terminals and how easy is it to transfer) or would it be better to try and get in the day before and overnight in MNL???

Not sure what there would be to see in MNL for a day, not that I am averse to quick stops to see places i might never go back to, but would anyone have any ideas about a safe, 1 day sight seeing itinerary in MNL or should i spend the extra time in Osaka and do the quick transfer???

From what I can see is Jetstar will arrive T1 and your PR flight will depart T2. Last week I had an inter-terminal departure and chose to go via Taxi. The taxi's exit the airport, hit the traffic and then re-enter at the next terminal. It was a mess getting from T1 to T3...can imagine it would be a little quicker. Put in some baggage collection and recheck and you are close to the limit. If you have no bags and can checkin online you have a better. chance. But two hours is just too quick.

There is plenty to do in Manila over a day, enjoy the hospitality, stay in a nice hotel for a reasonable price, eat some balut (maybe not).

Alby

 

[Inver]

There is plenty to do in Manila over a day, enjoy the hospitality, stay in a nice hotel for a reasonable price, eat some balut (maybe not).

Alby

Balut is one thing I don't think I will ever sample. We actually have a sari sari nearby where we live in Sydney which does have it available.

 

[albatross710]

received a call today to say that the BNE-MNL schedule has been retimed to about an hour ten minutes earlier. I notice that it is now reflected in current web searches also:


MNL-BNE Mo We Sa 20:55 - 08:10
BNE-MNL Tu Th Su 09:15 - 17:05


Also, the special J $800 return fare is still available but now well into the future. I just took up a return tix for Feb next year. Considering it has a $55 cancellation/change fee I feel comfortable if my plans change.

Alby

 

[docjames]

Wow, that's cheap.

Also, nothing like a schedule change so soon after announcing!

 

[jetlagger]

Wow, that's cheap.

Also, nothing like a schedule change so soon after announcing!

With my extensive experience with PAL, probably more schedule changes to come..
PAL does have a well reputed acronym..

 

[davistev]

With my extensive experience with PAL, probably more schedule changes to come..
PAL does have a well reputed acronym..

Be careful with PAL. In 2010, on a domestic leg of my MEL-MNL-CGY journey and I was denied check in for my domestic portion as I did not have the original credit card that was used on my booking. Even though the airline just flew me from Melbourne to Manila, the agent would not issue me with my domestic boarding pass in manila. My wife booked it with her card. I had to purchase a new ticket on the spot to get to my destination. The airline never did reimburse us for the unused ticket.

I have never flown the robbers since.

 

[albatross710]

Be careful with PAL. In 2010, on a domestic leg of my MEL-MNL-CGY journey and I was denied check in for my domestic portion as I did not have the original credit card that was used on my booking.

The asian airlines are ready hard on this. I've just booked a domestic PR flight for a staff member and need to give him a copy of my c'card and photo id. That sounds dodgy itself.

 

[markis10]

Be careful with PAL. In 2010, on a domestic leg of my MEL-MNL-CGY journey and I was denied check in for my domestic portion as I did not have the original credit card that was used on my booking. Even though the airline just flew me from Melbourne to Manila, the agent would not issue me with my domestic boarding pass in manila. My wife booked it with her card. I had to purchase a new ticket on the spot to get to my destination. The airline never did reimburse us for the unused ticket.

I have never flown the robbers since.

I am not sure I would call them robbers, just inconsistent policy application, and why not do a chargeback, otherwise you just robbed yourself!

 

[MelUser]

Isn't the way around this to book through a travel agent?

 

[markis10]

Isn't the way around this to book through a travel agent?

Not necessarily, a lot of agents use their own cards as payment, and this can fall over as a group of people discovered with SQ earlier this year.

 

[jayday13]

Just booked 2x J fares BNE-MNL for April next year. Good deal only $438 per person. Seems to be still quite a few seats available next year. Admittedly its J class on an A320 with a short stop in DRW but I think still good value. Yes, I have found that one should ALWAYS keep a copy of the CC used to buy the ticket on asian carriers. Almost got caught out once after losing my wallet in Cambodia and getting a replacement card only to front up at 3K desk in MNL with a card that didn't match in their system. Fortunately I had a photocopy of the original card!

 

[albatross710]

Good deal only $438 per person.

Now I'm jealous, some kind of weird good deal booking envy.

Speaking to a person well connected (supposedly) said that the MNL-BNE service is a trial with continuation being subject to demand benchmarks. Nothing new about that.

 

[zan5hin]

I am looking to book a flight BNE-MNL and PAL's web and customer service systems leave a lot to be desired.

Firstly, I can accept that I will get an A320 seat which is only 5 inches extra seat pitch and 3 inches wider than economy. Except you won't find this info on their website. Mabuhay class photos will show you the angled seats on their other metal. These seats are one inch more than Starclass so I don't even know how they can classify them as J seats, they are much closer to premium economy.

Secondly, I can also accept with MNL-BNE as a trial service, I won't actually get any lounge access in BNE or DRW although they have agreements with New Zealand in Melbourne, etc.

I think they should be able to get some sort of lounge agreement going, but there is no information, just blank spots on their list of lounges for BNE, DRW, PER on their website.

What I can't accept is that after spending heaps of time filling out my info, it won't accept my newly registered Mabuhay miles account number, and then my 28 Degrees Mastercard gets declined and it kicks me back to the start instead of asking for a different card. And I can't choose to pay in USD instead of AUD and accept their terrible conversion rate of 92 cents.

When Manila is the call centre capital in the US market for voice, why do I have to use Skype to actually talk to a real person in their Manila call centre? They can't even set up a local DID? And then of course they will only accept Philippines credit cards for voice bookings.

The CSR just had no idea what to do to help me about this issue, and this is after pressing two for Mabuhay class. You would think they might have a system in place for Mabuhay customers to get better CSRs, hahaha you have to be joking.

If my only other option under $500 OW wasn't so much more of a hassle I would look elsewhere. MEL-SYD on Jetstar, SYD-SIN on FlyScoot and SIN-MNL on Cebu Pacific or MEL-KUL on AirAsia (who's website is down) then on to Manila are my only other options.

 

[aikman]

If my only other option under $500 OW wasn't so much more of a hassle I would look elsewhere. MEL-SYD on Jetstar, SYD-SIN on FlyScoot and SIN-MNL on Cebu Pacific or MEL-KUL on AirAsia (who's website is down) then on to Manila are my only other options.

You can fly Jetstar MEL-DRW-MNL on Thursdays & Sundays. Next best thing to a direct flight and will cost less than $300 when on sale.

 

[Inver]

Zan5hin welcome to the ordeals of dealing with a company from a 3rd world country.

Last time I used PAL was in 2009, I tried many times to book a 1 way flight for my future wife, their website kept on timing out so I was forced to visit their office and of course they wouldn't honour the cheaper online fare.
I can tell you some frustrating stories of what I've experienced over there but saying that I do love the Philippines.

Did you contact 28 Degrees to make sure they weren't blocking the transaction from their end?

 

[zan5hin]

I have used the 28 degrees in 30+ countries and they never block nothing. It is much more likely to be the PAL system as the system is so buggy it would not even take my Mabuhay membership number.

Anyway, I just booked it, $438 in J OW. Really wish they would do a deal with Air NZ or another carrier for their lounge in BNE.

My first paid J flight! and second ever after South Korean upgraded me NRT-ICN when I flew out of Tokyo the day before the earthquake/tsunami.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Shelltom my wife is filipino so if you want any advice or suggestions let me know. It would be a pleasure to help you since I don't have much expertise with anything on AFF except this topic

Thank you.

Firstly I am coming from a viewpoint of knowing virtually nothing. I have seen some alluring pics of great pics etc, and so it is on my horizon, but I have never really investigated it as a destination. So YES I know there are some amazing beaches etc. But equally have heard tales of the separatist movement, terrorism, and kidnappings. (by the way that does not in itself phase me as for example I backpacked around the Middle east the xmas after 9/11 with my three daughters then aged 6-11)

You have mentioned some good places to go, but what are the places one should not go?

I understand that as you say there are 7000 islands, and so is a vast country in that way. So I would be interested in your insights of where not to go.