Philippine Airlines: Manila to Hong Kong A321 Flight Review (Economy Class)

Join HybridAce101 as he embarks on another adventure abroad with Philippine Airlines. On this trip, we take a ride on one of Philippine Airlines’ brand new Airbus A321 aircraft to Asia’s global city: Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is somewhere that we travel to almost every year during my parent’s wedding anniversary. As a matter of practice, our family of six usually travels in two groups. Half of us usually travel on one flight while the other half takes a different one. On this particular journey, I accompanied my mom and little sister aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR318.

AIRPORT FORMALITIES IN MANILA

We arrived at NAIA’s Terminal 2 about 70-75 minutes before the flight was to depart. The left side of the terminal was packed. Fortunately, PR318’s check-in desk was assigned to the right side which was less crowded. We entered the wrong queue at first since there were 3 passengers in front of us. We realized it when we saw a dedicated baggage drop desk for those who checked-in online. In spite of this, we were given a new boarding card anyway.

philippine airlines manila to hong kong flight review

TIP 1: Most carriers provide a dedicated check-in lane for those who checked-in online. This queue is usually shorter than the normal economy class desks. Philippine Airlines also provides this convenience: just go to the right side of terminal 2 after entry and it is just right after the Mabuhay (Business) Class check-in desks.

As usual we had to pay the terminal fee before entering passport control. The government should seriously consider collecting this fee when the airline ticket is purchased. No other country in the world that I know of does it this way and it adds further insult to injury for NAIA’s already poor reputation as one of the worst airports in the world.

Passport control used a single queue for most passengers. Most desks were manned. Finally, a courtesy lane that includes Business Class passengers was also introduced. We filled out the new departure card that no longer asks for a passenger’s date of birth, date of passport issue or expiry date, and then we were on our way.

TIP 2: The Philippine Bureau of Immigration recently changed their landing/departure card system. Non-resident aliens no longer need to fill out a departure card, whilst Filipinos no longer need to fill-out a landing card.

Security was relatively quick as there was no need for us to remove our electronic devices from our bags. We just waited at gate N1 for our flight. It was slightly confusing because the gate was also shared with PR507 bound for Singapore departing just a few minutes ahead. Our actual gate was N1A.

IN-FLIGHT

In no time, we were on-board. We utilized one of PAL’s newest aircrafts, the A321. The first three rows were for Mabuhay (Business) Class passengers, followed by an additional three rows for Premium Economy. I found it weird that no curtain separated business from premium economy class passengers. The curtain separating them from 'regular economy' was in place though. There was a USB port in Business Class for those who wished to charge their mobile devices. I wasn’t able to check if Premium Economy passengers enjoyed that same perk.

Regular Economy on the other hand was just plain bland. In spite of being newly delivered, the aircraft was not equipped with an in-flight entertainment system of any kind. We were seated in blue leather seats that you could almost mistake for belonging to PAL Express. Legroom was a bit cramped. Although the majority of economy seats aboard the Airbus A321 are in a 3-3 configuration, I discovered that the row behind us was 2-2 and had more legroom. I requested to be reseated there. Initially the flight attendant agreed but less than 2 minutes after I settled-in, they broke the news that I had to pay $30 (£17.50) extra for the privilege of sitting there. So I returned to my original seat. Another passenger decided to sit there a few minutes afterwards.

Because of the lack of an in-flight entertainment system, the safety demonstration was conducted live. Moreover, PAL explicitly said that mobile phones were allowed to be used throughout the flight (except to make phone calls).

TIP 3: The CAAP isn’t strict about sending SMS or surfing the internet using one’s data plan while airborne. However, they still warn you that roaming charges may apply.

We left the gate slightly ahead of schedule. However, we were forced to hold short of the runway for almost 10 minutes.

Twenty minutes after being airborne, we were served our hot meals. We were given the choice of pork fillet or chicken inasal. I chose the latter. The meal was pretty basic and straightforward. However, I think this is where PAL has an advantage against Cathay Pacific on Manila-Hong Kong flights. On board Cathay Pacific, you don’t get a choice of meals. In fact, you’re not even served a meal. It’s just a sandwich. But on Philippine Airlines, after our meal, we were even served chocolate ice cream from Magnolia although the crew had initially missed us during service.

philippine airlines hong kong flight review

During most of the flight, I played games on my iPad. Sometimes, my baby sister would join in as well to pass the time. I went to the lavatory at the rear of the aircraft and found the longest queue of my journey so far. This was on top of the fact that the aisles were already narrow and sometimes almost impassable for the crew.

After I left the lavatory, the aircraft began its descent. I watched a few minutes of video on my iPad during the descent and before I knew it, we had arrived on the ground.

AIRPORT ARRIVAL IN HONG KONG

I am normally used to PAL docking at gates closer to Hong Kong's passport control. However, this time we had to walk a much longer distance towards passport control. One thing that doesn’t ever seem to change from my previous experiences are the queues at passport control.

philippine airlines flight review hong kong

If there is one complaint I have about Hong Kong’s airport, it has so many passport control desks but only a few of them are ever manned. Fortunately, the queues moved quickly. We collected our checked luggage shortly after and were on our way to the arrivals hall where we waited for the other members of our family aboard Cathay Pacific flight 906 scheduled to arrive about an hour after us. It turned out that they arrived almost 30 minutes behind schedule and so we were not reunited for nearly two hours after we landed. Luckily for us, we sat at McDonald’s enjoying snacks from there.

MY ASSESSMENT

I rated the entire experience based on a number of aspects focusing on Economy Class and the areas that Philippine Airlines are responsible for both on the ground and in the air. These are scored along a scale of 1 to 10 with ten being the best score.

Check-In (9/10): It was quite quick and straightforward. But just like in my previous trip reports, I found it pointless that they ask us to print our boarding cards when they print new ones for us anyway. Like other carriers, they provided a separate queue for those who performed an online check-in.
Boarding Process (9/10): It was quick and straightforward.
Seat Comfort (6/10): It is a standard economy class seat.
Food (8/10): I found the chicken inasal quite delicious even if presentation was basic. However, I don’t think any other carrier, not even Cathay Pacific provides a full meal to passengers on a Manila-Hong Kong flight. On top of this, dessert was served. I don’t recall Cathay Pacific ever doing that for us.
Cabin Crew (9/10): The crew was quite polite and friendly. However, they did miss us for a few minutes while they served dessert.
In-Flight Entertainment (0/10): Simply put, PAL didn’t provide any In-Flight Entertainment for economy class. For the record there wasn't any IFE (i.e. Audio, video, WiFi, iPad) in other classes too. Other legacy carriers are already scrambling to install individual In-Flight Entertainment on their narrow-body aircraft whilst PAL decides to pull a Cebu Pacific. I can go on and on about arguing how much this lack of IFE reflects an identity crisis that PAL projects but I’ll save that for a different post.
Punctuality (10/10): We left the gate slightly early and arrived on schedule.

ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK

I think that both the PAL staff and boarding passes should offer better clarity next time as to which gate our flight departs from. N1 and N1A are two distinct gates in their own right. We were almost under the impression that the flight was to be delayed because N1 was actually being used by PR507 bound for Singapore. That was the gate the check-in staff had informed us was allocated for our flight, PR318 bound for Hong Kong instead of gate N1A.

One other thing that I wish PAL would consider is separating Business Class and Premium Economy passengers. However, I could understand not providing a separation between Premium Economy and Regular Economy. Given what I witnessed of the Premium Economy seats, I was unable to find much incentive to purchase a Premium Economy seat. It seems that restrictions, mileage accrual, and other features are quite similar to Regular Economy. I even think that Regular Economy exit seats sometimes offer more legroom than their Premium Economy counterparts. If you compare Philippine Airlines with the Premium Economy offered by Cathay Pacific, it is clear to see that not all Premium Economy cabins are made equal across airlines. One very distinct difference is the absence of any in-flight entertainment on Philippine Airlines, whereas Cathay Pacific offers an impressive 10.6" personal touch screen. In spite of PAL's A321 aircraft being new, clearly there is room for improvement.

6 comments:

AnonymousApril 8, 2014 at 9:49 PM
I flew in the forward cabin on one of PR's new A321s from MNL to NRT this past February (PR428 to be exact).

http://withinstrikingdistance.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/flight-report-mnl-nrt-on-pr-428/

I loved the new bird but like you, I noticed how PR seemed to be cutting corners here and there even as it was trying to upgrade its equipment. My business class seat had no built-in IFE (we were offered iPads instead, but where on earth were we supposed to mount them whilst eating?) and no legrests/footrests (a basic feature that some airlines even provide for their premium economy or economy seats). But overall, I enjoyed the flight: good food, great inflight service (better than CX, even), an amenity kit (not something I expected on a short regional flight!). But PR really need to pick up their game if they're aiming to compete with the likes of CX and SQ, and providing something as basic as IFE is one of the things they can't afford to fall behind the pack on.

I also thought it a bit strange that business and premium economy were grouped together behind the same curtain. I've seen pics of the new A321 shortly after delivery and I think there was an additional curtain between them (in addition to the one between premium economy and economy). I wonder what's behind the odd arrangement.

Cheerio.
AnonymousMay 8, 2014 at 8:37 AM
Chopseuy that's what you call it. PR has identity crisis. Too cheap to be a legacy airline leaning towards the low cost carrier mold.
John QAugust 30, 2016 at 6:08 PM
The exit row 2-2 seats are really cramped in width. Forward legroom is great though
David SMarch 9, 2017 at 2:15 PM
Apart from the meal, it looks a lot like Cebu Pacific.
callmebbNovember 25, 2023 at 12:46 AM
Flying must offer a perspective on the world that few other professions can provide. AV8 Prep learning how to fly

Philippine Airlines: Manila to Hong Kong A321 Flight Review (Economy Class)

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