Kuala Lumpur to Australia Under $1,400 Return in Business Class

Matt Graham
Philippine Airlines Airbus A330
Philippine Airlines flies Airbus A330s from Sydney and Melbourne to Manila. Photo: Adobe Stock.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has some cracking one-way and round-trip Business Class fares available from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, to four Australian cities.

For under $1,400 return, you could fly from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Perth via Manila in Philippine Airlines Business Class. The airline provides lie-flat beds in Business Class on all flights between the Philippines and Australia.

There are also cheap one-way Business Class fares available from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with Philippine Airlines from between around $800-900.

Here’s one example of a round-trip Philippine Airlines Business Class fare that’s currently available from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne:

Example of a Philippine Airlines Business Class fare from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on Google Flights
Example of a Philippine Airlines Business Class fare from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on Google Flights.

The lowest price found by Google Flights of AUD1,309 is available when booking through an online travel agent. If you book directly on the Philippine Airlines website, the fare is charged in Malaysian ringgits (since the ticket originates in Malaysia) and prices at MYR4,189 (~AU$1,387 at the current exchange rate).

You can get similar Business Class airfares with Philippine Airlines from KL to Sydney…

Example of a Philippine Airlines Business Class fare from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney on Google Flights
Example of a Philippine Airlines fare from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney on Google Flights.

And to Brisbane…

Example of a Philippine Airlines Business Class fare from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane on Google Flights
Example of a Philippine Airlines fare from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane on Google Flights.

Later this month, Philippine Airlines will launch direct flights between Perth and Manila. You can also access similar Business Class pricing from Kuala Lumpur to Perth via Manila. But that isn’t quite as great of a deal because the connection times to/from Perth via Manila are quite long in some cases. Plus, you could fly non-stop from Kuala Lumpur to Perth in Batik Air Malaysia Business Class or AirAsia X Premium Flatbed for a similar price to what Philippine Airlines is charging.

Philippine Airlines uses Airbus A330s on flights from Manila to Sydney and Melbourne, and the Airbus A321neo to Brisbane and Perth. Both aircraft types feature lie-flat seating in Business Class.

Philippine Airlines A321neo business class
Philippine Airlines A321neo Business Class. Photo: Philippine Airlines.

Most of PAL’s flights between Manila and Kuala Lumpur are operated by Airbus A321ceo jets with reclining Business Class seats.

About this fare

These prices are available on many different dates, for travel in the next year. The airline could withdraw the fares at any time.

A stopover of up to 3 days in Manila, in one direction only, is permitted for an additional charge of around $70.

This Business Class fare books into “I” class. Unfortunately, as Philippine Airlines is not part of an alliance, the only options for earning miles on this ticket are by crediting to Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles or ANA Mileage Club. (Our pick would be ANA Mileage Club as you may be able to use those miles to book Virgin Australia flights from later this year.)

With this fare, if booking a return ticket, you can stay in Australia for a maximum of six months before returning to Malaysia. An open jaw at the destination is possible, meaning that you could (for example) fly into Sydney and out of Melbourne on one of these tickets.

In the opposite direction, Philippine Airlines Business Class fares from Australia to Kuala Lumpur start from around $2,600 return. So, the best deals are on tickets originating in Malaysia!

Departing from other Asian cities

While the prices from Kuala Lumpur are particularly low, you can also pick up some reasonably good round-trip Philippine Airlines Business Class fares from Singapore to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth. Return flights from Singapore to Perth via Manila start from around $1,822.

Direct flights from Manila to Australia are considerably more expensive than this.

What’s the catch?

Philippine Airlines is not as highly rated as the likes of Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific, and Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport is not a particularly great place to transit between flights.

An AFF member recently flew with Philippine Airlines, using this a version of this fare, and posted this feedback on our forum:

For a bit of feedback on PR: I completed my outbound trip KUL-MNL-SYD about a month ago.

Pro’s
Lie flat bed on leg to Sydney is good.
Onboard service is prompt and attentive.

Con’s
Having a 7 hour transit in MNL airport is a nightmare. You are stuck in a tiny part of the airport and cannot leave.
The PR lounge is really bad. Not overcrowded just dark, small, rubbish food, and generally lacking the amenities expected in a home city lounge.
The onboard food is pretty average but maybe that is just a reflection on Philipino food in general.

When i booked it initially it was for the flat bed and it came through in that regard.

At the end of the day, you’ll get a lie-flat bed on the flights between the Philippines and Australia. And at less than half the cost of a Business Class ticket on Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines or Qantas, it’s pretty hard to argue with the value!

If you just want a one-way Business Class ticket from Asia to Australia, Philippine Airlines is also worth considering for the low price.

Philippine Airlines also has good year-round deals on Business Class flights from Australia to North America. Flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Vancouver via Manila are regularly under $5,000 return in Business.

Philippine Airlines Boeing 777 lands at LAX
Philippine Airlines has some good deals to Los Angeles. Photo: Matt Graham.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum
Matt Graham
The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
Matt Graham
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OZDUCK Mar 04, 2023 #1

Thanks. Seems pretty goood value but a long transit from Perth may be a bit of downer.

Reply 1 Like

M Melburnian1 Mar 05, 2023 #2

If looking for PR fares ex Australia to be cheaper than currently, the airline typically has a sale to celebrate Philippine Independence Day that's on Monday 12 June 2023.

I subscribe to its emails but strangely don't always find sales come via email. One must to look up Facebook or the PR website.

A guess is that this sale may be publicised from mid May 2023, although the forthcoming commencement of low cost competitor 5J's flights to MEL may hasten.

A friend travelled MEL-MNL on Friday 3 March (PR210) and said the A333 was almost full, which surprised as it's not school holidays and still a few weeks before a peak travel period in Easter.

As it's a cheaper J class origin than SIN, BKK or KUL, MNL is an excellent starting location for an open jaw J return to London and back from Europe (avoiding horrendous UK air passenger duty and killing two birds with one stone). Airlines such as once good but now allegedly mediocre EY, excellent but not well known WY and overpromoted EK and QR fly from MNL to many UK/;European destinations. So does GF that by review is not as good as WY. If doing this, allow at least 36 hours in MNL each way so that if anything goes wrong ex Oz or ex Europe, you still have a buffer.

WY's Apex Suites layout on the B789s offering direct aisle access is way superior to EK/QR's dated B773s ex/to MNL-Middle East. PR's A333 J class is not shown in mattg's article above but it's a good, pretty standard, comfortable 1-2-1 layout, Thomson Aero IIRC. Every second window seat offers more privacy so look up SeatGuru.

I am hardly an expert but the catering on PR and WY in J seems to more than meet my expectations. In comparison some meals served on cost-cutting EY ex MNL or other origins look decidely average at best.

Be aware PR uses the clinical, unattractive T2 with a mediocre lounge for most international flights including to/from Australia but the ME airlines above use either T1 (WY and GF, also with substandard lounges) or T3 (EK and from memory QR, where the lounges should be better). But for me, onboard comfort is much more important.

There are banks offering quite reasonable FX rates at the various terminals, so obtain Philippine pesos there instead of at ripoff Australian rates.

Reply 3 Likes

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Ewok Mar 05, 2023 #3

I flew from BNE on their A321neo late last year (longest single isle flight in the world apparently). Actually the flight was surprisingly very good. No lounge available in BNE, and the lounge in MNL for a long-ish layover was ordinary at best.

Reply Like

d dajop Mar 06, 2023 #4

No no no. If anything only for the novelty factor.

I looked at similar fares from SIN some time ago but decided coupled with the transit time and the fact this is an overnight flight would dissuade me, and would rather a direct day flight in economy on SQ (or now also EK) or on TR in ScootPlus. It worked out leaving 3 hrs later on PR would mean getting in about 9 hrs later to MEL (6am instead of 9pm) and my rational is that whilst it a cheap lie flat seat and they are nice to sleep on in a plane, a real bed with a real mattress and nice bedding and no noise is much better.

Reply Like

r roby Mar 06, 2023 #5

Other than the cramped airport terminal and the small and dark lounge, they would make you go down to a transit baggage holding room to have all your checked in bags opened and checked. This is where your bags could easily go missing. Workers go through bags and put security stickers on them with no regard of ripped baggage tags or opened shrinkwrapped boxes. Outgoing and incoming bags all go through the same door and mixed together and your bags could be sitting in the corner or loaded onto a different aircraft. It's a nighmare.

Reply 1 Like

j jase05 Mar 06, 2023 #6

Other than the cramped airport terminal and the small and dark lounge, they would make you go down to a transit baggage holding room to have all your checked in bags opened and checked. This is where your bags could easily go missing. Workers go through bags and put security stickers on them with no regard of ripped baggage tags or opened shrinkwrapped boxes. Outgoing and incoming bags all go through the same door and mixed together and your bags could be sitting in the corner or loaded onto a different aircraft. It's a nighmare.

Yeah, it is a bit of a nightmare. Touch wood I e yet to have any real dramas and my preference is always to do a stop over in MNL rather than a transit. PR hard product though is quite good IMO and I’ve used them a few times as nesting flights as you are only paying about $400-500 in J to get back to Asia from Australia

Reply Like

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j jase05 Mar 06, 2023 #7

If looking for PR fares ex Australia to be cheaper than currently, the airline typically has a sale to celebrate Philippine Independence Day that's on Monday 12 June 2023.

I subscribe to its emails but strangely don't always find sales come via email. One must to look up Facebook or the PR website.

A guess is that this sale may be publicised from mid May 2023, although the forthcoming commencement of low cost competitor 5J's flights to MEL may hasten.

A friend travelled MEL-MNL on Friday 3 March (PR210) and said the A333 was almost full, which surprised as it's not school holidays and still a few weeks before a peak travel period in Easter.

As it's a cheaper J class origin than SIN, BKK or KUL, MNL is an excellent starting location for an open jaw J return to London and back from Europe (avoiding horrendous UK air passenger duty and killing two birds with one stone). Airlines such as once good but now allegedly mediocre EY, excellent but not well known WY and overpromoted EK and QR fly from MNL to many UK/;European destinations. So does GF that by review is not as good as WY. If doing this, allow at least 36 hours in MNL each way so that if anything goes wrong ex Oz or ex Europe, you still have a buffer.

WY's Apex Suites layout on the B789s offering direct aisle access is way superior to EK/QR's dated B773s ex/to MNL-Middle East. PR's A333 J class is not shown in mattg's article above but it's a good, pretty standard, comfortable 1-2-1 layout, Thomson Aero IIRC. Every second window seat offers more privacy so look up SeatGuru.

I am hardly an expert but the catering on PR and WY in J seems to more than meet my expectations. In comparison some meals served on cost-cutting EY ex MNL or other origins look decidely average at best.

Be aware PR uses the clinical, unattractive T2 with a mediocre lounge for most international flights including to/from Australia but the ME airlines above use either T1 (WY and GF, also with substandard lounges) or T3 (EK and from memory QR, where the lounges should be better). But for me, onboard comfort is much more important.

There are banks offering quite reasonable FX rates at the various terminals, so obtain Philippine pesos there instead of at ripoff Australian rates.

Not sure about EY being mediocre. Our last J flights with them were absolutely fantastic and no complaints at all really apart from a poor lounge in KUL. I still rate it WY flights as some of the best J flights we have been on though and I’d take them over most.

Reply Like

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Z Zanzara Mar 23, 2023 #8

It’s cheaper for a reason.

Having done that flight recently from SIN, I would concur that the good thing is the flat bed & fairly attentive service. Certainly better than a night flight in Y back to MEL on QF. I’m glad I tried PR out.

Unfortunately the Terminal PR use in MNL is pretty chaotic, the onboard meal (and lack of choice - ‘sorry that’s option is not available’) was nearly as grim as the awful long wait and slop offered in the PR MNL lounge.

Depending on my SQ points balance, as VN are in Scaryteam and often similarly priced, I would probably choose them or a day flight in Y over PR next time.

Reply Like

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s sydney slug Apr 28, 2023 #9

At the moment PAL are offering a range of Asian destinations in J cheaper than MNL all via MNL. Anyone have experience no-showing a 7:30am MNL to Asia flight having arrived at 17:00 the day before?

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3 33kft Apr 28, 2023 #10

At the moment PAL are offering a range of Asian destinations in J cheaper than MNL all via MNL. Anyone have experience no-showing a 7:30am MNL to Asia flight having arrived at 17:00 the day before?

If it's a return itinerary you'd lose the rest of the flights, and if you have luggage checked you'd need to have to short check it, which I suspect would tip them off that you were trying the hidden city trick. It's something you can probably pull off once if they do agree to short check luggage but don't expect them to be happy about it.

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