PR126 MNL-JFK

January 9, 2019

Check-in:

I arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport plenty early to check in for my Philippine Airlines flight to JFK. Manila’s airport is, umm, like Manila - chaotic and very crowded. But for the good news, there’s a Jollibee outside Philippine Airlines’ Terminal 2.

Ever since Trump’s in office, flights bound for the US from select airports (but like there’s a lot) are required to conduct interviews prior to check-in. Questions include but are not limited to: what are you doing in the origin country (are you trying to illegally emigrate)? What brings you to the US (why don’t you go back to where you come from)? Did you pack your own bag (why do you want to bomb us)? Have you ever left your bag unattended (is there anyone you know who wants to bomb us)? That’s obviously a joke, wink wink.

Philippine Airlines had dedicated VIP check-in counters for premium passengers, so I was escorted by the check-in agent to the interview desk first, finished my interview and was escorted again by the interview agent back to the check-in counter. Once there, check-in was easy, and I was on my way to security and immigration. My word of advice is that leave plenty of time, because the whole terminal was staffed with (maybe) three immigration officers.

Once airside, there’s maybe 6 boarding gates in the departure area, with little shops of food and souvenirs lined up against the other side of the terminal. Flights were constantly boarding, and MNL was clearly so environment-friendly that there were birds inside the terminal just chirping and minding their own business. Avoid arriving early or long layovers at Manila Airport AT ALL COST.

Lounge:

Fortunately I was granted business class lounge access on account of my ticket. Philippine Airlines operated its own Mabuhay Lounge at MNL. It wasn’t anywhere near luxurious, but was at least a Crowne Plaza by comparison to the terminal area. I was promptly admitted by the friendly receptionist.

The lounge itself wasn’t big, but was acceptable for an airline the scale of Philippine Airlines. There was a food station immediately past reception, with all the classic Filipino dishes like arroz caldo, chicken adobo and a couple more western choices. There was also a live cooking station where you could get some made-to-order noodles.

The rest of the lounge contained several seating areas that were essentially in one big room, one tended bar, restrooms and a single shower suite.

The lounge filled up as flights to North America were all leaving at around the same time. The airport as a whole lacked efficient air-conditioning, and the lounge wasn’t spared by the deficiency. The shower room didn’t have any ventilation so the steam built up inside quickly, rendering your effort to refresh yourself before flight futile. One of my biggest lounge pet peeves is hot shower suites, and this shower, along with those in Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge in Doha definitely make the blacklist. The shower did feature L’Occitane toiletries, though.

Boarding:

Trying to escape the heat, I lined up early at the boarding gate. There were signs indicating different boarding groups, but with the shortage of real estate here at MNL T2, everybody’s group 9.

Once onboard, Philippine Airlines is a whole other beast. I was welcomed by the male purser, then escorted to my seat by another female business class flight attendant. On most airlines, only first class passengers are escorted.

Before I dive deep into the review, for your situational awareness - Philippine Airlines has a very ambitious plan to become a premium airline and has been investing heavily in its products. The airline started taking deliveries of Airbus A350-900s with Thompson Vantage XL seats, which are the same seats you’ll find in SAS’s new business class. Previously, Philippine’s long-haul fleet consists of aging Airbus A340s and Boeing 777-300ERs with either angled or lie-flat seats in 2-2-2 configuration. So the A350s are a big upgrade since they offer direct aisle access. Another interesting fact - this flight between Manila and New York is currently the world’s 8th longest flight at 8,520 miles.

I personally LOVE the new cabin. The A350s are known for their wide fuselage and large windows. The absence of overhead bins in the middle opened up the cabin even more. The dark coral blue color scheme used by Philippine Airlines was understated and provided a sense of serenity. While not a fan of this increasingly popular shoulder harness, the seat itself was comfortable and came with massage functions. The high resolution IFE system was responsive and loaded with a decent selection of movies for this ultra long flight. Footwell was also spacious enough for me to toss and turn without bumping into the seat in front of me.

Once settled in, the friendly flight attendant came back to introduce herself and offered me a pre-departure drink. Her tray was full of different good-looking non-alcoholic concoctions, which I thought was way more fun than standard water and juices offered by other airlines. I opted for a raspberry mocktail and a glass of champagne. Philippine Airlines served Charle Heidsieck, which was respectable for business class. I was also offered a hot towel, properly served on a tray.

The menu and wine list read as follows:

The menu indicated Philippine Airlines provided what it seemed like a dine-on-demand concept. However, in reality both the crew and I were confused as to what it actually entailed. Apparently I was able to choose anything I wanted for the meal after take-off from the first page, then anything from the “hot snack mains and sides” section for in-flight nibbles, and lastly everything else were limited to pre-arrival meal. But that’s like, not really on demand at all?

With that being said, I was very impressed by the options offered. I appreciate airlines that take the opportunity to showcase local cuisines, which Philippine Airlines excelled at. Little did I know I’d be more blown away by the actually quality of its catering.

As we were getting ready for departure, the flight attendant handed out slippers and amenity kits. Both were standard, with amenity kits offered by L’Occitane.

Inflight:

Soon enough we were pushed back, with Philippine’s Boeing 777 getting ready for Los Angeles next to us. Our flight was full in business class, while economy was only about 1/3 full. Several business class passengers were friends or families of the crew, given the way they greeted each other.

Once cruising, I was offered two canapés. While not listed on the menu, one was a shrimp deviled egg, the other was a chorizo cracker thingy. Both were quite tasty.

Table was set for the main events. Each passenger received an individual bread basket, which is the standard practice nowadays with more premium airlines. I especially liked the way Philippine placed all bread related items on one little tray, which reminded me of Turkish Airlines. However, I was not offered a choice of sparkling water.

For my appetizer, I went with the laswa soup, which was a shrimp-flavored consommé with local veggies. The soup was okay. The wrapped vegetable was quite interesting.

For my main course, I obviously went with the Filipino option pork adobo sa pula, with cabbage kulawo, grilled eggplant in toasted coco cream, green mango salsa and steamed mountain rice. This dish was just amazing, period full stop. The pork was so tender that you could break off with your fork, matched perfectly with the purple rice. To wash it down, I had Rawson’s Retreat Shiraz, which was meh. I also want to point out that Philippine Airlines served Lipton tea, eww.

As you could tell from the picture, the portion of the main course was relatively small. In the spirit of overindulging, I asked for a second main course, another Filipino option as well. I mean, it was supposed to be dine-on-demand after all :)

I LOVE FILIPINO FOOD. The coco cream prawns in fresh turmeric sauce with sauteéd kailan and crab fat fried rice was delightful. None of the dishes were fine dining by any stretch, but when you were at 35,000ft above sea level with dulled taste buds, these flavorful, satisfying and authentic local food gave you the pleasure an overcooked tenderloin just could never.

Given the flight left at 9PM local time, I wasn’t exactly exhausted after meal service, so I decided to get a dessert while finishing my movie. During the meal service, the flight crew set the mood lighting onboard to this colorful popsicle.

With another 13+ hours to New York, I decided to get some shut-eye. Philippine Airlines didn’t offer turndown service, mattress pad or inflight pajamas. For an airline that operates so many long routes, a little added comfort goes a long way. The bedding consisted of a plush pillow and a cozy comforter, and I was able to snag an extra pillow.

Having napped 6 hours and with another 7 to go, I was honestly just bored. The flight attendant saw me wake up and came by to ask if I wanted any “snack”, which I gladly obliged, obvi.

Like everything from dinner service, Philippine Airlines didn’t drop the ball with their mid-flight snacks either. The pad thai with three generous prawn cakes came with more bread, Davao Tsokolate-eh pudding and fresh fruits. Instead of finishing off everything on the first plate, I skipped the dessert and bread and asked for another arroz caldo because why not. The quality of the food was, once again, phenomenal.

Half way into the flight I realized that the A350s are by far the most comfortable airplanes out there. Having been on about a dozen A350-operated long haul flights, the increased cabin humidity is noticeable as my lips tend to get chapped after a long flight. But after a flight on the A350s, my lips are still plump as ever :)

After a second nap the cabin lights were turned on for the pre-arrival meal. Our flight was scheduled to land in JFK at around midnight, so Philippine Airlines decided to offer a hybrid of breakfast and dinner, which made sense.

This time I chose a brioche bun and a croissant. I was then served a rather bland-looking fruit plate.

For the main course, the beef pares was the winner, which was described as slow-cooked beef in sweet, anise-flavored soy sauce, served with egg, pickled carrots, heart of palm and onion fried rice. I was also served the traditional Filipino dried fish tuyo. At this point you could probably guess that I loved this dish as well.

On Arrival:

First time on Philippine Airlines, color me impressed. Sure, the ground experience at Manila was extremely lacking, and there certainly were many aspects of its soft products that could be improved as well, such as better bedding, amenities or a clearer dining concept. But I got the vibe that every staff member with whom I interacted was aligned with the company’s goal to become premium, from ground agents to flight attendants. Not only because Filipinos are generally pretty friendly people, and premium class passengers in Asia are just treated as a bunch of queens, but they also wanted to make sure that I had a great experience. And that’s how you retain business. As Philippine Airlines continues to improve, I think it is a great potential to watch in Asia as Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific become increasingly uninspiring.