Philippine Airlines Business Class

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Joined
Apr 5, 2015
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13
Looking at travelling to Bangkok next year and Phillipines Airlines have some good business class deals via Manila . Anyone have any recent experience with them travelling in J class . TIA Cheers David
 
I've done both biz-class products on the 320s.

Flatbeds are acceptable for an overnight flight, and you can sleep on them.
The non-reclining recliners are average and OK for an hour or two.

The real experience is MNL airport :p

PAL has a status match out right now: https://philippineairlines.statusmatch.com/

Just tried for the Status Match and it doesn't list Qantas as someone you already hold elite status with 🤔 couldn't proceed.
 
at $US349 for the Premier Elite is a bit steep, you'd want to be flying a fair bit with PAL.

Virgin status matches, but at ~$AU500 I'll pass for my pittance upcoming 2 flights.
 
Yes ok, but PAL not due to join OW till late 2027 from recent articles so $AU500 for ~6 months of OW.
Still not great value imo, maybe for others.
 
Recently did Sydney to Manila then to Vancouver in J with PAL. It was a reasonable in-flight experience overall and value for money.

SYD to MLN (PR212) was an A330, and was the more comfortable lie flat experience for me. My original booked flight was cancelled and I was moved to the following day.
MNL to YVR (PR116) was a B777-300ER showing cabin wear and tear but the seat was comfy. There just wasn't enough leg room to sleep well when flat.

Service on board was friendly and attentive as long as you weren't interrupting their routine at departure and meal times. The menu had sufficient choice, food presented well and tasted good. Champagne offered on departure and a prertty good range of drinks was available throughout the flights. Amenities kit was sufficient. IFE was a bit dated and not as sophisticated as I expected, but a good range of viewing and music. The touch screen was best not touched too much as it didn't always pick up the right touch point. Didn't try wifi. Departures were a bit delayed but both arrivals on time.

Manila is more chaotic than some airports but you can see some attempts to organise it in Terminal 1. Transfering to another terminal looks a bit wild but I didn't have to. The Mabuhay lounge in T1 is relatively new, spacious and well serviced but I don't have other recent business lounge experience to compare. Whichever lounge they used in Sydney was fine - reserved seating for PAL. They use Skyteam in YVR which is easily the worst lounge I've experienced but you won't have to deal with that one for your trip.
 
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Enjoy the trip- be good to hear what you experienced post the trip cheers David

Pre-trip update ✈️🍺

PR Check-in is self-service kiosks. Minimal fuss in the J section.
QF Lounge not available flying PR at this stage prior to full Oneworld Member. Was told, they normally use the Plaza Premium Lounge but is currently closed for renovations :rolleyes: Directed to go to the Windmill Bar & Bistro just through duty free between gates 80 & 81. I went to the Cafe which had no seating available but was directed across the way to a temporary lounge which, as expected was incredibly basic. No power points or toilets and only allowed one complimentary drink :confused: No champagne was on the enhanced menu, so I had to settle for a pint of dirty old Great Northern 🍺 Not exactly a Premium start to today's trip BNE-MNL-BKK ✈️

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One thing I noticed with the meals they were bringing out was the portion sizes were quite large, so, not being overly hungry and knowing I will be eating and drinking for the next 15 hours I just went with a couple of poached eggs to line the stomach for the inevitable assault that was coming its way along with his mate the liver 😜

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Being a thirsty type of chap, I went and purchased another pint. Great Northern Lager $20 o_O
 
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Thanks for the update Craven… looks like the lounge closed 6 days ago which is a bummer ..look forward to hearing how the flight goes cheers David
 

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