Our Philippine Airlines Experience ( review )

Me and my family have been travelling flying different airlines before but it's our first time to fly long haul using our very own flag carrier Philippine Airlines ( PAL for short ) and this is our experience :

We decided to visit the Philippines flying via Philippine Airlines and despite hearing horror stories of small planes with tiny seats, squeezed leg room and poor service, these didn’t stop us from using our National carrier for the reasoning that “Why expect same level of experience you get from first class airlines from a budget airline like Philippine Airlines ? ”.

We paid NZ$ 1600 per passenger from Auckland, New Zealand to Manila, Philippines which includes a flight to Singapore (not a stopover in Singapore but an extra flight from Manila to Singapore ) not on the same day of our arrival in Manila but another day of our choice. You cannot get this low fare from other airlines especially on December.

Our journey did not start well after learning that our flight PR 512 will be delayed from its original departure of 6:30 pm now to 7:00 pm. Not much of a delay but could be a start of our horror experience with PAL.

Despite of our worries and after all the pre-departure formalities, the plane has been finally given clearance to taxi to the runway and hurray, we took off. Flight 512 departed Auckland at 7:00 pm as advised which reduced our anxieties just a teeny weeny bit.

The take off was normal with the usual shakes and rattles as we reach the required altitude of 37000 feet. Moments later, we are flying smooth as silk and above the clouds.

Question is, what more awaits us on our first long flight with Philippine Airlines ?

Our flight should take us to Manila in approximately 10 hours with an hour stopover in Cairns Australia for refuelling, offloading of passengers and to pick up passengers for Manila.

The stopover is not that bad as Cairns Airport is a bit small and the process of getting off and thru to the local security clearance is a breeze. Not the same as when you are transiting in Sydney or Melbourne. Before you knew it, you are back on the plane again for your final destination Manila.

By the way, if you fancy getting a quick bite in Cairns airport, suggest you go for the bakeries as you don’t have option for a hot meal other than the instand noodles offered by one of the Coffee shops in the boarding lounge. Be quick ‘tho as you may not have enough time to finish your noodles.

Here’s my general observations regarding to this aircraft as well as the flight :

Seating

The plane is a Boeing 747 with seating configuration of 3 and 3 on each side. As we are a family of 4, our eldest son has to take a separate seat opposite to our row. This is not issue for us as my eldest son is already 18 and won’t mind getting separated from us. Saying this, it could be an issue to a family of 4 with smaller kids as you don’t want any member of your family separated from the group.

First Impression

First impression of the plane although small, it is clean, well maintained and sanitized. The leg room horror is accurate but not an issue for shorter passengers like us but an inconvenience for taller passengers with longer legs. It’s a short 4-hour flight to Cairns but despite of this, full meal has been served which was followed by hot drinks of your choice.

Entertainment and Duty Free  

Unless you bring your own laptop with lots and lots of movies, this flight doesn’t offer much in terms of entertainment as individual screens are not available. Not all hope is gone as this flight offers access to their Multi Media application “My PAL Player” via the plane’s wifi system. This application allows you to watch movies, TV shows as well as checking your flight’s status and of course listen to music.

The movies are not current but not old old and as the saying goes,  “It’s better than nothing”. You can either use your own gadgets or ask PAL crew to lend you a tablet free of charge.

Be sure you download the “My PAL Player” application to your gadgets before you board the plane.

Inflight Duty Free merchandise is also available which is worth checking but not buying as Duty Free items are cheaper at the actual airport.

PAL Crew

The crew always wear ar genuine smile on their faces 
( which compliments their blue and white uniform ) from boarding to disembarking, something that we Filipinos should be proud of. The service is great which they always offer with gentleness and care. I give you PAL Five star for service, cannot fault them.

The Food 

The food isn’t exceptional but not bad at all. It is decent and something with a Filipino Palette could enjoy even if you are the type of person that dislikes airplane food. As previously mentioned, hot drinks follows after every meal.

After almost 4 + 5 hours of flight and an hour stop over in Cairns we safely landed in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2. The landing is smooth as usual which is not surprising as most of PAL’s pilots are well trained and has more than enough flying hours on their belts.

Before we know it, we are disembarking from the plane and we are back in our native land, The Philippines.

Final verdict

The horror stories never happened ( at least not on this 
flight ). I can say that I truly enjoyed this experience despite of the aircraft lacking the comforts of bigger wider planes and first class airlines. Our Philippine Airlines experience is not a bad at all.

What I like about this flight is I never feel tired and bored as the flight time was split in half wherein you have time to properly stretch after 4 hours sitting. I recommend this flight to families in New Zealand with small kids as most kids cannot stand long flights.

If you ask me if I will fly Philippine Airlines again from Auckland to Manila my answer is 100% YES.

More reasons why fly Philippine Airlines ? Our flag carrier will start to fly non-stop from Auckland to Manila beginning 6 December 2017.

 Philippine Airlines is an extension of a true Filipino hospitality. Not only offers pure First Class service with a smile, but a service with a heart and from the heart.  

Philippine Airlines, Mabuhay po kayo.

Add The Philippines on your itinerary the next time you visit Asia, here are the reasons why :

Article : Philippines - New Zealand of Asia

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'til next time.

EQ