Review of Philippine Airlines flight Singapore Manila in Economy

Airline Philippine Airlines
Flight PR510
Class Economy
Seat 63A
Aircraft Airbus A321neo
Flight time 03:40
Take-off 14 Jul 19, 00:30
Arrival at 14 Jul 19, 04:10
PR   #67 out of 95 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 46 reviews
jaytot
By 3096
Published on 7th August 2019

Introduction


Hello everyone!

Its another great day to fly!  

During this period, usually i can time off and go on a holiday. Im still undecided whether ill go to India, Myanmar, Laos or go back to Philippines. So i chose the later, so i can also celebrate my Dad's Birthday. so i just bought my ticket only 3 weeks before the date of my flight, luckily i managed to score a cheap return flight which costs me S$280, the cheapest all-in (check-in bag, food & seat) fare that i found and just nice on my schedule. And after a week, Philippine airlines launched seat sale, and got a S$97 return flight from Clark to Siargao.

Im am not planning to make a report on this trip as it will be my usual PR flight until an email was sent 3 days before and informing me about my seat change, an equipment changed happens, from the usual A321 to the new A321neo and my inner AVgeek woke up. This change my mind and to documents this trip .


Routing

  • PR510 SIN - MNL You are here
  • PR2875 CRK - IAO Coming soon
  • PR2876 IAO - CRK Coming soon
  • PR507 MNL - SIN Coming soon

SIngapore CHangi


Recently i was transferred to Jewel fro my work, since my shift ends at 10pm and my flight was 1230am. so i decided to check-in early so that after my shift, i go straight inside the airport. Jewel is conveniently located just opposite Terminal 1, so it was a quick access for me. Inside Jewel there is a early check-in counter for select airlines, they can do it as early as 24 hours before your departure.

I found the check-in process a bit slow as it took me around 15 minutes for me to get my boarding pass being third in queue. This counter caters to 5 different airlines, there were some counter that are closed and some counter caters to other airlines. you can only checked-in only on your designated counter.


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After my shift, i immediately went to Terminal1 to clear for immigration and it was a breeze, then head immediately to a Pay Lounge.

A very busy Terminal 1, after check point duty-free and centrepiece transit area.



plaza premium lounge terminal 1


i want to freshen up after my shift. so i decided to go to a lounge to take shower and to have a bite as well. I'm torn between taking Ambassador's Lounge or Plaza Premium as i do have a coupon having a 60% off rate for a lounges access. I chose the Plaza Premium Lounge.



At the reception after i settled my payment, i asked him if i can schedule myself to use the shower room. He informed me that there were a long wait list to use the shower, he said that to me with a discouraging tone of voice. nonetheless, i wrote my name on the list and told me that he will give me a queue number/buzzer inside.

As i enter the lounge i was very impress with the ambiance of the place. Furniture is very classy and professional with a lot of empty seats and tables. very quite even there are people talking.

i found an empty table and chair on the dining area, put down my bag and head towards the buffet area. food selection is few to none. manage to get a fish, rice with bread and ham and juice as a drinks. it was just ok. there are also a noodle bar which you can order and a chose udon, which is very salty to my liking. salad bar that seems to be empty. staffs are cold looks tired.



After another 2 rounds of sanwhiches, the guy at the reception approached me and told me that there is available shower room however its "Dirty" or i can wait for another hour if i want it to be cleaned, i was thinking why its dirty and how dirty it is or what did he mean by dirty. i really want to take a shower so i asked him if i can see the toilet and see if it is reasonably clean for me and don't mind being not cleaned. so i went to toilet and see for myself the real situation of the shower room. for me it was clean and someone just finished taking a bath and the floor is wet, other than that its ok for me. i was really disappointed how the staff tries to discourage me on not to use the shower room and or telling me that you can take shower now or never. i was not pleased on his choice of words and tone of his voice. there is an uncle who managed the toilet, he tried to mopped the floor and handed me a fresh towel and some toiletries.


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so after my shower, i grabbed some drinks and sit for a while then head over to my boarding gate. it was long walk as it almost at the end of concourse C.

as i proceed the boarding gate i saw an almost empty gate and assume that most of the passengers are already boarded  and am I'm the one of the last passengers to board the aircraft.

the bird that flew us to Manila.




inflight


as we enter the plane you would notice the new Business Class lie flat bed seat. it has 12 seat of 2-2 configuration in 3 rows. it really look classy and nice, it comes with built in individual IFE. the only thing is that there is no direct aisle access.


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i thought that this flight will be half full as i don't see much passengers waiting at the boarding gate but it was a full flight. With this new A321neo, lavatory is located at the middle of economy class that dived the whole cabin which make me feel inside a wide body.

as i settle on my window seat, i found it was comfortable for me, small pillow and headphones are on each seats. readable in backseat of every seat and the one that stands out is the 10in myPAL eSuite, an individual IFE. as most of the older A321 planes don't have individual entertainment screen. it a nice details also is the wall linen patter.



as everyone settled, crew offers newspaper to passengers if they wished too. Blankets are available per request. 

cabin is dimmed and safety video plays while we taxi the runway. we are few minutes ahead of time of departure.



after an hour of flight meal service begins, they serve first the one with dietary restrictions followed by the rest of the passengers starting from the from of the cabin going back. there were no menus cabin crew just saying the 2 options, i chose chicken with potatoes and forgot the other one. meat is tender and flavourful, potatoes is still steaming hot. tray included bread roll with butter and vegetable salads, they are usual. i asked for ginger ale to accompany my meal. this is my flight hack, i always asked for ginger ale, as it was not as popular to other passengers, so they always give the whole can of ginger ale ;).  over all it was decent and filling meal, or maybe cause i already ate in lounge. after meal crew handover desserts, ice cream its usual SATS ice cream, nothing to rave about. Crew offers a second service for beverages, i ask for ale again. After meal, crew starts to collects the trays.

i wished that someday PR will provide a metal cutlery to their Y pax, and water as included on the tray, so passengers can choose from other beverages that they offer rather than asking for water.


after my meal a my first movie, i tried to explore the esuite has to offer. there are a lot of movies to choose from, international andFilipino movies, some music playlist, few episode of some series. magazines, PAL travel videos and moving Map. im bit disappointed on the moving map as you cant control it, it like a slide show of the map, flight information and 3D Map view of the aircraft. another odd thing that i notice is that, every time that there will be an announcement, the movie will stoped playing and you can hear the anouncment through aircraft's speaker, what i remembered last time is that you can also hear it from your headphone, so you will not remove it from you ear if you want to listen to them. Headphone is not the best but will do the job.



after 2 Filipino movies, airplane starts to descend and crew starts to prepare for departure. since its early in morning, there is no traffic and landed 10 minutes from scheduled. immigration is easy and luggage retrieval is fast. there are some constructions going on around the airport so some area a hoarded.


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Jewel


some of my photo from the famous Jewel water falls and topiaries.



hope you all enjoy reading my report, till next flight. comments and suggestions are welcome!

See more

Verdict

Philippine Airlines

8.5/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Meal/catering8.0

Plaza Premium Lounge - 4

6.2/10
Comfort8.0
Meal/catering5.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Services5.0

Singapore - SIN

10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Manila - MNL

7.1/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

It was nice flight and it makes a little bit special with the aircraft change to a newer plane. it was comfortable and good enough for regional flight. Main meal is juicy and delicious. Crew are proactive and always checks on passengers needs. early departure and arrival is a plus.

Plaza premium lounge is a bit disappointment, lack of food choices and staff attitude are below standards.

Information on the route Singapore (SIN) Manila (MNL)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 15 avis concernant 4 compagnies sur la ligne Singapore (SIN) → Manila (MNL).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Singapore Airlines avec 8.7/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 3 heures et 36 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 516014 by
    jish.b 283 Comments
    Thank you for sharing this report with us! I was expecting to see PR start flights on their NEOs to New Delhi, but that hasn't happened for whatever reason. Looks like a pretty decent product overall!

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