Your Favorite Airline - Manila to Los Angeles

[OnMyWay]

We are thinking about a trip to the states next May.  Could some of you share your favorite airlines and routes, Manila to Los Angeles?  I would also consider Clark to ???? and connect onto L.A.

As a big guy in economy, leg room is important to me on a long flight.  I'm not sure if the Philippine Air direct flight would be comfortable for me and I think they are the only direct flight, right?  I remember somebody saying they liked the ANA flights over NRT, but the hesitation I have there is the NRT-LAX might be on United?  Not to fond of the U.S. airlines.

I was surprised to see that Singapore Air no longer flies SIN-LAX.  We had a nice time on SQ going to Auckland last year and it would have been nice to go Clark-Singapore-Los Angeles on SQ, but no can do.

Thanks for any ideas!

[intrepid]

Don, I'm not much help going to LAX because I go the the East Coast.  That said, I will say my favorite airline has been Korean Air.  I'm portly, vertically challenged, too short for my weight,.  Now with that cleared up, the seats on the Korean Air were spaced on the 777 I was on.  My 6'1" body could be comfortable on that long IAD to Soul.  I think there was at least 8" if not 10" from my knees to the seat back in front of me.  Could easily extend my legs forward all the way without a problem.  The most leg room of any plane I have ever been on.  And I was not in an emergency row!

[robert k]

I would say to go the CP direct flight and book well in advance and pay more if necessary for the emergency door seat, There is also more room except when they are serving food and drink in the seat row behind the bulkhead. 13-14 hours back to the states is peachy with me, compared to 28 hours total it took me once with layovers. Direct flight there should be a better chance your luggage will arrive with you.

Last round trip I flew to LAX on delta which was ok, flew to Taipei on China Air which was nice but long, had the 4 hour layover before flying to Manila. Return on Korean Air layover at Inchon flight to LAX where I had to rush to catch my American Airlines flight, the plane was filthy and had a dent in the skin and the paint around the hatch was scrubbed away. I wanted to ask them if it flew? The flight crew was scowling, no wonder?

I don't know how I got a reasonable priced flight on China air that time but it hasn't happened again since.

[OnMyWay]

7 minutes ago, robert k said:

I would say to go the CP direct flight and book well in advance and pay more if necessary for the emergency door seat

CP?  Do you mean Philippine Air (PR) or Cathay Pacific (CX)?  The direct flight is attractive.

I might be able to work out the emergency exit row but it gets tricky with kids.  They don't allow them in the exit row.  There will be 5 of us; 2 adults, 12 yo, 3 yo and baby in lap.  We might get a bulkhead row with bassinet for the baby and usually the bulkhead rows have more leg room (on most airlines).

[robert k]

5 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

CP?  Do you mean Philippine Air (PR) or Cathay Pacific (CX)?  The direct flight is attractive.

I might be able to work out the emergency exit row but it gets tricky with kids.  They don't allow them in the exit row.  There will be 5 of us; 2 adults, 12 yo, 3 yo and baby in lap.  We might get a bulkhead row with bassinet for the baby and usually the bulkhead rows have more leg room (on most airlines).

Cebu Pacific. I may be wrong but I think they are allowed to fly to LAX now. But Philippine Air would do just as well?

13 hours verses any flight virtually as long with layovers that double the total time would be preferable, with or without children.

Possibly you could have the aisle seat by the emergency and wife and kids can be in center row? so you would be within arms reach?

Edited October 17, 2016 by robert k

[OnMyWay]

2 minutes ago, robert k said:

Cebu Pacific. I may be wrong but I think they are allowed to fly to LAX now. But Philippine Air would do just as well?

Oh!  They didn't even pop into my head.  I will check it out.

Philippine Air is flying 777s on the route.  Not sure CP is flying but probably an Air bus.

[OnMyWay]

Cebu Pacific only shows Guam in the U.S.  I remember they had a flight for a while but it must not have worked out.

Keep the ideas coming!  All are helpful!

[Caronsabuas]

Check out Japan Airlines. As far as I know they have the best seat pitch in economy.

[JJReyes]

5 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I was surprised to see that Singapore Air no longer flies SIN-LAX.  We had a nice time on SQ going to Auckland last year and it would have been nice to go Clark-Singapore-Los Angeles on SQ, but no can do.

Last year, my wife and I flew Singapore Airlines from Los Angeles to Narita, Japan. The aircraft continued onward to Singapore. The flight was overbooked so they were offering passengers $1,300 vouchers to reschedule for the next day.

[scott h]

We normally use Korean Air. Best service IMHO and Inchon is a great airport for the usual layover. Have used Eva Air and another Asian airline which I cant recall. The further forward in economy it seems the better leg room (6-1 also). I absolutely refuse to use an American flagged airline customer service just plain sucks compared with Asian flagged carriers.