Welcome to another trip report of Philippine Airlines Business Class! This is report no. 2 out of 4 so keep reading until the final comes with all Pros and Cons of PAL Business Class!
Previous report: Dubai - Manila
Lounge
It is a pity that Philippine Airlines has the older terminal that looks really dated. Also, the space of the lounge is limited, but they are trying to do their best and I think that when arriving today from Australia I saw a poster reminding that they are preparing to open a new lounge! That will be the next milestone for them to become 5 Star airline.
There is only one shower per lounge, you will have to come to reception and ask them for a key. The shower itself is the nice and clean place.
There are plenty of seatings including a TV room, dining area and others.
But the thing why we all go to a lounge is also what I find the worst. The selection of meals was mainly prepared for Asia travelers and a very limited offer was here for the others, Westerns. You could choose a few noodles and dumplings for breakfast but no sweet pastries, toasts, cheese or something like that. Fresh food selection is nice but that is not enough. Also, a bar service is…small and limited. A guy here is not able to prepare you coffee because he has no machine. Drinks also limited. This is not a 4 Star lounge, nor 5 Star! All in all, they need more space to provide a better service.
Seat
Newly installed seats are a big step for PAL. They decidet to go to Thompson Vantage XL, which you can find in different colour scheme on SAS, Qantas or eg. It was a great choice as far as they offer good personal space, storage and privacy. I also really like that time when all the lights are dimmed and only storage spaces lights to darkness. They tried to do it in colors we can find in their country, you can judge if they did it the right way.
Service onboard
The flight was again pretty comfortable. Upon boarding all the crew members came to introduce themselves, all of the even remembered my name! It was super touch! Amenity kits were distributed along with slippers (photo in the previous report), the welcome drink also arrived (no alcohol choice) and order for meals was taken.
The service started shortly after take off with canapes and aperitif. Canapes could be better, but nice try. The appetizer was a bit confusing with no idea in it. Just some food together, the chef was not thinking when making this appetizer. But the main course again was superb in taste and quantity. The thing I do not like is they give you a white sheet on your table and then place the tray on it. This is 8 hours flight, we have a lot of time, let's take it piece by piece as the eg. Ethiopian Airlines do. I do not like trays.
Dessert was too sweet for me but ice cream was fine. Came with tea.
The pre-arrival meal started with the selection of drinks, hot towel and consisted of fresh fruit and one of two choices. I had the cold one but you could also choose a warm one.
And we are approaching Sydney!
Conclusion
As written at the beginning you should wait for detailed Pros and Cons and the list of all the thing that airline should do to get better in the last report (MNL to DXB). But for this flight it was again a nice experience which I would like to have also the next time! The crew was awesome, food quality really good and seats nearly new.
At the end some photos taken when departing Manila and during the flight:
Nice report with great photos. PAL's new Vantage XL Business class seems quite nice and is a nice step up from the previous seats Thanks for sharing!