I booked a ticket in 'premium economy' in PAL on an A330 for a 4 hour long flight last month, which cost roughly double what they were charging for standard economy class, after reading positive reviews online about this product, which according to their own website includes amenities such as:
I'd selected my seat online in row 22 at the time of making a booking, which showed it as being in a 2-3-2 layout, and until the night before I was quite looking forward to this flight, when I checked on my booking and saw that it now showed my row as being in a 3-3-3 layout.
When I boarded the flight, I realised that there had been an aircraft change to an A330 in a hellship 363 seat configuration, which according to PAL's own seat map is referred to as 'bi-class' and doesn't even have premium economy, although on SeatGuru it claims that the first four rows behind the business cabin (21 - 24) are 'Premium Economy'.
These rows as it turned out have different colour seats and 34" of legroom, but are otherwise identical to the rest of the economy cabin - think like Economy X when flying on VA. 3-3-3 is also absolutely brutal on an A330, unlike you like feeling your seatmate's shoulders, and to say there was anything 'premium' about the product is laughable.
I didn't even get the 'Enhanced In-flight Dining' that I'd paid for, let alone the 38" of legroom, as all I got was a standard economy class meal, which was tasty enough:
After this experience I sent a complaint to PAL, who responded with a stock "thank you for your feedback" response. It would have been nice to have received the service that I paid for, or at least a refund for the fare differential after it was not provided.
I did also notice on FR24 that the aircraft I was on had operated the MNL-SYD route less than a week earlier, so it seems that flights to Australia also cop this configuration from time to time. It also has an undesirable 2-2-2 configuration in J.
I wouldn't recommend booking 'premium economy' on any of PAL's A330 flights unless you're happy to be basically downgraded with zero compensation. Or if you're a gambler perhaps.
I'd selected my seat online in row 22 at the time of making a booking, which showed it as being in a 2-3-2 layout, and until the night before I was quite looking forward to this flight, when I checked on my booking and saw that it now showed my row as being in a 3-3-3 layout.
When I boarded the flight, I realised that there had been an aircraft change to an A330 in a hellship 363 seat configuration, which according to PAL's own seat map is referred to as 'bi-class' and doesn't even have premium economy, although on SeatGuru it claims that the first four rows behind the business cabin (21 - 24) are 'Premium Economy'.
These rows as it turned out have different colour seats and 34" of legroom, but are otherwise identical to the rest of the economy cabin - think like Economy X when flying on VA. 3-3-3 is also absolutely brutal on an A330, unlike you like feeling your seatmate's shoulders, and to say there was anything 'premium' about the product is laughable.
I didn't even get the 'Enhanced In-flight Dining' that I'd paid for, let alone the 38" of legroom, as all I got was a standard economy class meal, which was tasty enough:
After this experience I sent a complaint to PAL, who responded with a stock "thank you for your feedback" response. It would have been nice to have received the service that I paid for, or at least a refund for the fare differential after it was not provided.
I did also notice on FR24 that the aircraft I was on had operated the MNL-SYD route less than a week earlier, so it seems that flights to Australia also cop this configuration from time to time. It also has an undesirable 2-2-2 configuration in J.
I wouldn't recommend booking 'premium economy' on any of PAL's A330 flights unless you're happy to be basically downgraded with zero compensation. Or if you're a gambler perhaps.
