Philippine Airlines MNL-LAX B-777

[OnMyWay]

I think I recall some people saying this was a fairly nice direct flight in economy.  Any experiences to share, either direction?  Is there a difference in seat / leg room in budget economy vs. regular economy?  I don't think budget is available anyway.

Why?  You may recall that I posted about buying tickets for my family on Asiana, from Clark, connecting in Seoul.  Given the North Korea situation, I am having serious second thoughts on flying my family to Korea at the beginning of May and again on return at the beginning of June.  Maybe that deserves another thread.

[JJReyes]

My wife and I took this flight during our most recent visit to the Philippines. Although our tickets were business class, I walked twice through the economy cabin for exercise. The aircraft is new and the economy seats look fairly comfortable. The LAX-MNL leg was long -- 15 to 16 hours non-stop because of headwinds. The return MNL-LAX was shorter at a little over 13 hours.

What we did was purchase economy class tickets at the normal discount price. Philippine Airlines then offered us the opportunity to bid for business class if available. I entered the lowest possible amount. 24 to 48 hours before flight, they inform you if your "bid" was accepted. The end price was about a 40% to 50% discount from the normal business class price. 

Friends from Manila informed us nearly everyone's bid is accepted because few fly business class at full price and the money is extra revenues for the airline. To Manila, there were only 10 passengers and I recall about 30 available seats. At least 3 were non-revenue. They were Airbus mechanics on their way to Cebu to repair a leased aircraft.

I would recommend this flight simply because non-stop is most direct and shortest. Others I look at such as Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, etc. were much longer because they have stopovers. 

 

Edited April 28, 2017 by JJReyes

[intrepid]

I've not yet flown PAL.  For what it's worth, our flight here last year was on EVA Air Boeing 777.  At 6'1" and `275lbs, I'm not fat.  Just too short for my weight.    Anyway, we flew economy and I'll have to say this ship had more leg and seat room than any other I have yet flown.  Before I thought Korean Air was the most space.

[Gary D]

7 hours ago, intrepid said:

I've not yet flown PAL.  For what it's worth, our flight here last year was on EVA Air Boeing 777.  At 6'1" and `275lbs, I'm not fat.  Just too short for my weight.    Anyway, we flew economy and I'll have to say this ship had more leg and seat room than any other I have yet flown.  Before I thought Korean Air was the most space.

We flew Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 last October and the 777 was sholder to sholder compared the the A380, I was looking forward to flying in a dreamliner and was very disappointed.

[Reboot]

On my last flight back to US, I flew PAL from Cebu to Tokyo. Very nice that. Then AA to Dallas. Nice also.

[robert k]

2 hours ago, Reboot said:

On my last flight back to US, I flew PAL from Cebu to Tokyo. Very nice that. Then AA to Dallas. Nice also.

Congratulations. The last American Airlines plane I was a passenger on I considered asking them if they were really going to fly it before it was repaired?

[Caronsabuas]

The seats and seat configuration on Japan Airlines is hard to beat, particularly for economy, but you would have a layover at HND/NRT or KIX. My wife and I use JAL as a default with ANA and Cathay as backups for flying ORD-MNL. Anyone else miss Northwest?

[Gratefuled]

I use PA to and from Manila to LA. 

I travel once a year round trip.

Never a problem.