QF in Manila

[hutch]

This is correct. Takes ~15m-20m to get from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 via Terminal 4. It operates on the roads inside the airport until close to Terminal 1 where it uses public road.

Landed ~3:25pm, collected luggage, through immigration, go to free shuttle then check in and arrive in QF lounge ~4:55pm. Not bad and huge improvement on what's been reported in this thread. Looks to be quite well organised.

Qantas lounge looks ordinary. Tiny little room with ~50 seats.

What's the Qatar lounge like next door? Can we use that lounge instead?

According to the oneworld website, Qatar and QF use same lounge? Is that different on reality?

 

[anat0l]

Why are you so sure about that?

What do you propose would be factors outside of Qantas' control and/or influence from moving to T3? (Not enough bribes?)

Put another way, why can/could five airlines (or so) move to T3 but Qantas could not?

Not being overly critical - just playing devil's here...

 

[JohnK]

According to the oneworld website, Qatar and QF use same lounge? Is that different on reality?

Separate lounges next to each other. Contract lounges. Only asked Qantas staff but the lounge next door will only accept Qatar passengers.

 

[whughes3]

What do you propose would be factors outside of Qantas' control and/or influence from moving to T3? (Not enough bribes?)

Put another way, why can/could five airlines (or so) move to T3 but Qantas could not?

Not being overly critical - just playing devil's here...

The 5 airlines that have moved are those with the greatest flight frequencies (eg. CX with > 40/wk), presumably to get the maximum benefit with the minimum number of moves. There are still many airlines at T1 with substantially more flights than QF (who with only 5/wk are probably at the bottom of the priority list).

 

[jpk]

This is correct. Takes ~15m-20m to get from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 via Terminal 4. It operates on the roads inside the airport until close to Terminal 1 where it uses public road.

Landed ~3:25pm, collected luggage, through immigration, go to free shuttle then check in and arrive in QF lounge ~4:55pm. Not bad and huge improvement on what's been reported in this thread. Looks to be quite well organised.

Well done, glad it worked out well for you.

 

[hutch]

What do you propose would be factors outside of Qantas' control and/or influence from moving to T3? (Not enough bribes?)

Put another way, why can/could five airlines (or so) move to T3 but Qantas could not?

Not being overly critical - just playing devil's here...

QF could use a different contract lounge, but by the sounds of it they are all pretty average.

I don't know why QF has not moved terminals, it may very well be QF's fault and they just need more pressure to force the issue. But we don't know, so I thought its unfair to say its in their control.

 

[whughes3]

QF could use a different contract lounge, but by the sounds of it they are all pretty average.

I don't know why QF has not moved terminals, it may very well be QF's fault and they just need more pressure to force the issue. But we don't know, so I thought its unfair to say its in their control.

No great mystery: refer my post #64 above.

 

[anat0l]

QF could use a different contract lounge, but by the sounds of it they are all pretty average.

Believe me, they really are all average. At the very least, they all probably stock the same alcohol and the same airport-supplied food, right down to the trays of sandwiches.

In fact, sometimes I'm not too sure whether it's better to be in the lounge or out in the terminal proper. I guess the lounge for most part is quieter, as long as you can keep yourself busy and find a seat.

I don't know why QF has not moved terminals, it may very well be QF's fault and they just need more pressure to force the issue. But we don't know, so I thought its unfair to say its in their control.

So to answer tea&coffee... right, not enough bribes. Gotcha.

 

[hutch]

According to the oneworld website on MNL, Qatar, Malaysia Airlines, Dragonair and Qantas all use airport contracted lounges. They might be different lounges but otherwise they are not owned and/or operated by any of those or other airlines. (Malaysia Airlines appears to be using a lounge which is a different owner to the others aforementioned).

In fact, the oneworld website appears to (erroneously) report that Qatar, Dragonair and Qantas all use the same contracted lounge.

You could always try going to those other lounges, but don't be surprised if they send you back to the Qantas-assigned one.

There is apparently a Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge in MNL T1, viz. the oneworld website implies that they own and operate the lounge. This means you should be able to go in, however that will be subject to their being open (they are only open until the final departure of Japan Airlines flights). Photos of the Sakura Lounge indicate a similarly small space to all the other lounges.

Believe me, they really are all average. At the very least, they all probably stock the same alcohol and the same airport-supplied food, right down to the trays of sandwiches.

In fact, sometimes I'm not too sure whether it's better to be in the lounge or out in the terminal proper. I guess the lounge for most part is quieter, as long as you can keep yourself busy and find a seat.



So to answer tea&coffee... right, not enough bribes. Gotcha.

Hopefully not bribes... or there may be a AFP investigation into dodgy Roo's

 

[anat0l]

Hopefully not bribes... or there may be a AFP investigation into dodgy Roo's

There's numerous ways to bundle up bribes into "legitimate" payments, and the AFP has nearly none or no jurisdiction to investigate those.

Plus who would care - plenty of companies in capitalist first world nations with apparently high standards of transparency and socio-moral governance still engage in "facilitating payments" when operating in other jurisdictions. I worked briefly for a mining company who mentioned such kinds of payments in their moral and ethics guide (which was handed to us at induction).


Moral of the story: whether it's fees, bids or bribes, Qantas seemingly just isn't paying enough to Manila Airports to convince them to move.

On a more serious note, I do see merit in the point of view put forward by whughes3. I'm a bit confused by a couple of the movers using that same argument, viz. DL and KL, but I haven't checked their frequencies.

 

[whughes3]

On a more serious note, I do see merit in the point of view put forward by whughes3. I'm a bit confused by a couple of the movers using that same argument, viz. DL and KL, but I haven't checked their frequencies.

The plain fact is that most international airlines at MNL still use T1: that QF is one of them is indicative of nothing at all.