Philippine Airlines (PAL) Reviews

★★☆☆☆
2.1 / 5
22.9% of users recommend this
  • Flight on time?

  • Customer service

  • Comfort on flight

  • Quality of Entertainment

  • Quality of food

  • Value For Money

Media Gallery for Philippine Airlines (PAL)

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Latest Reviews

★☆☆☆☆

“Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful!”

Written on: 22/05/2013 by Annnnnne (1 review written)

I have had a dreadful experience with Philippine airlines. When my partner was hospitalised with a life threatening condition, they charged more than 50% administrative fee to refund. The flights were for early March 2013 - I requested the refund on the 5 February 2013 and I still haven't received the refund (of far less than 50% of what I originally paid) by 22 May 2013. They don't respond to emails, have poor customer service and almost no compassion. Don't fly with them unless you... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“The most horrible experience”

Written on: 04/05/2013 by Eseno13

It started out with asking for baggage allowance, i called pal customer service and was forwarded 5x wasting precious money on useless long distance calls. Finally i got the right number but no one picks up. I webt through once but the agent put me on hold very very long that he had forgotten. I chose pal because it minimizes layover time but the last minute pal cancelled and so i have to endure a gruelling 12 hours layover at manila airport without aplogy or assistance whatsoever. And... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“Terrible experience”

Written on: 25/04/2013

Our experience with Philippine Airlines customer service was TERRIBLE! we chose Philippine Airline from LAX to MNL.. it's fine but when we came back they give us a hard time and our seats were given to another passenger and we were moved to the rear end from seat # 35 move to seat #86. In addition, our flight delayed for 6 hours from Iloilo to Manila and Manila Hong Kong. Plus the exaspererating luggage checks took my scotch tape from my carry on bag because it's illegal in the Philippine... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“PAL's Monopoly in the Philippines leads to bad...”

Written on: 16/03/2013 by lmacc2005 (1 review written)

I fly to the Philippines 4-5 times a year and I can tell you that PAL is a very poor airline and have the worst customer service. Flights are consistently delayed, checking-in and booking is such a hassle, flight attendants are rude, the food is horrendous, the seats are dirty and even if you fly with them often and accumulate miles in their premier program, it is incredibly difficult to use. You get no real benefit from their reward program. and lastly they are expensive compared to many... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“WASTE OF MONEY”

Written on: 19/02/2013

This airline is a waste of money, I would recommend Cebu Pacific and Airphil Express for domestic flight. Philippine Airline's crews are unfriendly! The seat is small and not comfortable. LCD panel are available but it was few, the volume "+" and "-" sign in my seat is not working. The seat belts are dirty, it is hard to reclined the chair, the plane is small and the crews makes you feel so uncomfortable. Newspaper are available but will be collected before arrival. Foods are given for free,... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“From Cagayan de oro to Cebu”

Written on: 16/02/2013 by eggnisyon

First my flight from Davao to Cagayan de oro.eas.moved from 5:55 in the afternoon to 9:30 in the evening. Now, Philippine Airlines is moving my 9:55 PM flight 2:30 the following day. This is really UNACCPETABLE!. i have booked a hotel and this means a night will go to waste. Also, I am left half the time to finish my task which is really impossible. I tried the so called "customer service" using my mobile and I was place on hold by agent named sheena castillo. She even hanged up on me! I... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“Inquiry about travelling with a bike case. ”

Written on: 06/01/2013 by RObserver (1 review written)

On January 5, 2012 at approximately 12:30pm at YVR. I'm trying to travel to the Philippines at the end of the month from Vancouver. I'm just really concerned about bringing a travel bike case, to figure out how much it will cost me. I went to the airport to inquire about luggage policies when flying with Philippine Airlines. There were two PAL representatives available, I spoke with one of the male clerk, I told him about my situation and showed him my bike case. Without measuring the case... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“Online Booking Not Easy”

Written on: 18/11/2012

11/18/12 Attempted to book three flights with the Philippine Airline (PAL)to fly between three island in January 2013. Problem #1. The instructions to fill in the credit card information is not clear in PAL website. Finally after filling it out about three times, posting the credit card number what was conventional in most of my past experiences, I called the PAL company. The person over the told me to try it again. I had to guess how to fill it, because she did not know why it was not... (read more)

Upset12Client's Comment

Written on: 27/12/2012

i am also having problems with the same thing. i purchased a ticket for 7 guests and then when its already my time to enter the cvc, it timed out. so i freaked out and called the customer service of my credit card company, asked them if it charged but it didn't. so, i just have to go to the agency or any near whatever store to pay for it. i don't want to purchase their online bookings again.

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★☆☆☆☆

“Worst airline...”

Written on: 14/11/2012

Hi, Flew PAL from HK on 10 November. First I was booked early morning flight and then booked on the 11.10... I had chosen PAL since it was the first flight of the day to Manila but they decided to cancel it. Crew on the flight were fake, unfriendly, food was terrible and we won't mention about the wine. I had booked a business class ticket . The Airbus 340 was from another prehistoric, not too sure about the safety of the plane. My recommendation, stay far away from Phillipines... (read more)

Raemon27's Comment

Written on: 19/02/2013

Yeah, truly..
This airline is terrible. The food is served but it is the cheap of the cheapest! Newspapers are given instead of magazine but it will be collected before arrival. Seats are not comfortable and the crews are unfriendly. The plane was old and the pilot did not meet the estimated time of arrival.
I will not recommend Philippine Airlines! This is a waste!

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★★★★★

“PAL'S LATEST FLIGHT SAFETY VIDEO IS FUN ”

Written on: 06/11/2012 by EXAN (4 reviews written)

The latest flight safety video of Philippine Airlines prior take-off is super informative and fun to watch ! Glues you to your screen ! Informs you as it entertains ! Congrats to the brains behind this innovation, truly another first... once again; PAL's dynamic innovations "SHINING THROUGH" ! (read more)

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★★★★★

“Great service”

Written on: 01/11/2012 by gkhyle

I have been on a flight to manila and unlike other local airlines there are snacks it has a biscuit and a bag of peanuts but it is still better than nothing .seats can recline ... of course it is more expensive than budget airlines but worth it for a domestic flight.I wish they will improve their snacks and drinks but it is ok (read more)

Ellaregalado's Response to gkhyle's Review

Written on: 16/05/2013

URGENT ALERT TO TRAVELLERS: Philippine Airlines is one of the last remaining airlines in the world to prohibit the transport of primates to laboratories. Please tell them that you won’t fly while animals die – sign the petition.

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★☆☆☆☆

“Thw worst customer service. Ever. And I fly a lot.”

Written on: 02/09/2012

I'm a filipino and I advise everybody to choose any other airline but PAL. They do not know the concept of customer service. I rebooked a flight a month ago, emailed them several weeks ago because until now they have not sent me my new itinerary through email. That bad. Nobody answers your email. I am overseas so it's very inconvenient to always call them which I may still end up doing because they just don't care about you as long as they have already sold to you. Online booking too is so... (read more)

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★★☆☆☆

“Poor Booking Facilities”

Written on: 10/01/2012

Supposed to be the Phils No 1 Carrier - so why don't you act like it? Tried to book a flight online mnay times, website problems, then would n't accept internetional mastercard or Visa card or local Debit Card? What a joke - Will only accept local Credit Card - pathetic ( how many sales do they lose because of this), so went to their offices in Makati, 3 hours of waiting over two day period to book a flight! Slow staff - hopeless service. Third rate service - Lucio Tan - sort out your... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“Opportunists”

Written on: 07/10/2011 by john_arbo (1 review written)

This airline company is an opportunist and has very poor customer service. I booked my flight from Manila to Bangkok which is the morning flight and confirmed before submitting that it is correct. What happen was I got a confirmation email and I was booked for the evening flight. WTF!!! I called Philippine Airlines on Manila to explain my situation so that I can change my flight as soon as I got the email. They told me that they're going to forward my case to their handler and will email... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“Flight out of Manila to Bangkok was 3 hours delay, on...”

Written on: 05/02/2011

Flight out of Manila to Bangkok was 3 hours delay, on our return flight BKK to MNL was again 3 hours delay. They fed us KFC @ Manila Airport and Burger King @ BKK. Insulting !!! Really, our precious time was spent at both airports where we could have stayed longer at Shangri la in Manila and the Peninsula in Bangkok. It is the worst airline I've ever taken, avoid it at all costs, I should have listened to friends and relatives when they've joked about P A L:
Plane Always Late !!! (read more)

Guest's Comment

Written on: 14/07/2011

stupid.. buy your own airline..

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Guest's Comment

Written on: 22/08/2011

you could have brought your own lechon on the plane, .

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★☆☆☆☆

“I started flying PAL regularly SFO to MNL in...”

Written on: 18/01/2011

I started flying PAL regularly SFO to MNL in september, and have had about 5 trips since then. I've done a lot of other flying with other airlines, and PAL is absolutely the worst I've ever flown.

They habitually depart 2-3 hours late, but even if they know they are late, you must show up 2 hours prior to the original flight time. If you dont, they willl not let you fly. This means getting to the airport 4-5 hours earlier than the flight.

If your passport is within 6 months of... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“No entertainment at all. ”

Written on: 05/08/2010

No entertainment at all.
The airconditioner was on so high that all the passengers were all sneezing, coughing, or sniffling their nose.
The food was absolutely revolting. I know what to expect from airplane food but just the look of it was disgusting. The flight attendants were very rude. there was one korean brother in the seat ahead of me and the flight attendant was asking in a very rude voice, "fish or beef?" obviously he did not understand and the tone of her voice was not helping... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“This was my first and definitely the last flight with...”

Written on: 25/07/2010

This was my first and definitely the last flight with PAL. I am a Filipino so decided to fly with PAL this time from Manila to Vancouver but the experience was the worst I ever had. I've been to most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA, most of Asia, UK and Russia flying on different airlines and PAL is the worst,the worst ever experience I ever had with flying! I thought I can recommend my own flag carrier but it's a shame. The stewardess apart from being old,they don't smile at... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“Flight is so so. I am vey unhappy about the refund on...”

Written on: 26/06/2010

Flight is so so. I am vey unhappy about the refund on one of my flights. The office is not responding to my email inquiry. (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“I was amazed at the lack of customer service and the...”

Written on: 15/06/2010 by charrison212 (1 review written)

I was amazed at the lack of customer service and the amount of rudeness of the staff and crew. It was extremely uncomfortable and when we stopped to refuel, we were made to sit in the hot airplane with no air for one hour and a half. This is the second time that we have went on Philippine Airlines and it will be the last one. Every trip both locally and internationally was a totally terrible experience. We will pay double with another airline to avoid this airline in the future. (read more)

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★★★★☆

“Philippine Airlines is normal. Not good service but it...”

Written on: 05/06/2010

Philippine Airlines is normal. Not good service but it is also not bad. The flight was a bit of okay. The seats are too small and the seat belts are too tight but the snacks are fine with biscuits, cookies, bread and juice and they have a smooth landing. It was very good but I suggest they should upgrade their seats, interior and cabin service. PAL is fine. (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“The worst in asia from the terminal to the aircraftthe...”

Written on: 31/03/2010

The worst in asia from the terminal to the aircraftthe food is terrible and the FA's have the attitude they are a Nanny bus.

PAL has just been banned from entering any EU country this is on top of the downgrade by the USA----they are not safe, why risk your life.

It is obvious non of the transportation works in the Philippines, look at the ferry industry and the mishaps. All airlines should be grounded pending outside audits. Don't let the mechanics who work on MNL taxi's touch the planes. (read more)

Guest's Comment

Written on: 30/04/2012

ya they are the worst airline in asia,there check in counters are slow,there cuctomer service is more or less nil,the flight attendents are hit and miss,most trips they are bad but then you get the youger group and its a great flight as they keep changing crews out,so just depending on what you crew you get,its like rouletter you may have good service one day and maybe not,there all about money as they try to sell out there exit row seats for 50 dollar extra,so if you have a capable person who can remove the door in case oif emergency and you have a paying person who cannot remove the door they rather seat the person who is not capable of removing the door for the extra 50 dollars profit,you may laugh reading that but its true as ive seen it.
the only thing it has going for it from my point of view is it has a direct flight from vancouver to manila and im sad to say that i usually take it 4-5 times per year as it saves time,but if i had time and i wanted to save some money as oother airlenes are cheaper i would definetly not fly PAL

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★☆☆☆☆

“I had the worst experience with this airline than any...”

Written on: 15/10/2009

I had the worst experience with this airline than any others. I bought a ticket online for non stop last july and it was over $800.00 US and when i got to the airport, they delayed us from 11 pm to 2am before canceling the flight. it took until 6am before i got to the hotel they put us in, and the meal vouchers they gave us for breakfast was 6.00 and the water was 5.00 at the hotel!!!
They rescheduled the flight 24 hours later with a stop in Guam. I told them i would be expecting a refund... (read more)

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☆☆☆☆☆

“i am pretty sure not to fly Philippine Airlines (PAL)...”

Written on: 11/05/2009 by monaliza (1 review written)

i am pretty sure not to fly Philippine Airlines (PAL) anymore... no consideration to the passenger..i want all my relatives to aware and choose another airlines who are very responsible and cared the passengers.. (read more)

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★★★★☆

“This airline is okay. The thing that bugs me the most...”

Written on: 18/02/2009

This airline is okay. The thing that bugs me the most about this airline is the interior. They need to upgrade it and make the seats more bigger and relaxing and the inside of the airplane more spacious. Plus they need to add more entertainment like TVs with games and stuff. Plus they need to add a first class instead of just business class. They should order more Boeing 747s too. But the food is delicious and service is good. (read more)

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★★★★☆

“International and domestic flights the last couple...”

Written on: 20/12/2008

International and domestic flights the last couple years are incomparable with the PAL of old. Am highly impressed with the quality of the service, cleanliness of aircraft, and on-time performance. I think they need to get a little more competitive with international airfares and market themselves better. Asia's best kept secret - the Philippines and their national carrier. (read more)

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★★★★☆

“Philippine Airlines has much potential to come back to...”

Written on: 26/10/2008 by 2450kalye (2 reviews written)

Philippine Airlines has much potential to come back to its glory days, as Asia's first airline she has been through a lot. I have had some great experiences flying with PAL, and then their have been some annoying flights, with delays and such (although if you go to the Philippines, you must get used to such delays, its a very chaotic country!). The service was above what I expected for the prices in comparison to other carriers. I have flown on routes to Australia and domestically in the... (read more)

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★☆☆☆☆

“How hard should it be to book tickets? And if one...”

Written on: 30/08/2008 by benjpedro (1 review written)

How hard should it be to book tickets? And if one wants to change their itinerary forget about it. Don't recommend their onlinline booking, they seem very disorganised with the Internet. (read more)

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★★★★☆

“The little movie screen in each Biz class seat was old...”

Written on: 27/07/2008 by mariaregina (3 reviews written)

The little movie screen in each Biz class seat was old and tired. On my return flight (MNL-SFO), the in flight magazine was missing because and I quote the FA, " It's the beginning of the month , so it hasn't been finished at the printing press yet" ( ?! ). I also missed the individual airflow seat ports, but I guess I just like very cool air on my face. (read more)

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★★★★★

“Elegant Service and Accommodation. It's always been a...”

Written on: 26/03/2008

Elegant Service and Accommodation. It's always been a real good experience to fly with Philippine Airlines. Excellent and Standard services were offered, and you would feel great and safe. (read more)

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★★★☆☆

“PAL has so much room for improvement. Looking at the...”

Written on: 04/12/2007 by Justin Pomme

PAL has so much room for improvement. Looking at the Flight Crew, it seems that most of them have been there since the airline started its operations! More sad even is the fact that considering how long they have been in service (assuming that PAL does not hire near-retirement attendants), the service, from the welcome address to the in-flight service to the goodbye spiel, leaves much to be desired. There may be unavoidable factors that lead to PAL's plane-always-late reputation but small... (read more)

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★★★☆☆

“I've used PAL on more than 3 round trips and what can...”

Written on: 25/11/2007 by jjkolian

I've used PAL on more than 3 round trips and what can I say, they are ALWAYS LATE!! hmmm, No, I stand corrected, they were on time once, but then I've had a bad incident that day which caused me to miss my flight--and that day, PAL was ON TIME. what a bummer!! (read more)

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★★★☆☆

“It was sad to note the aged and decrepit condition of...”

Written on: 01/08/2007 by mariaregina (3 reviews written)

It was sad to note the aged and decrepit condition of Asia's first airline. Price-wise, it was a wonderful bargain, if one would overlook the myriad of little inconveniences. PAL needs to upgrade it's services and boost their employees' morale if they want to be considered good. (read more)

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★★★★★

“For me, Singapore Airlines is a great airline! They...”

Written on: 22/05/2006 by tottie65 (1 review written)

For me, Singapore Airlines is a great airline! They have nice and clean cabins, good food, and spacious legroom, but the best thing about this airline is the cabin service. All flight attendants are very hospitable and friendly. They always see to it that you're in a good condition, and they always serve you with a smile. This airline is cheaper compared to other airlines, yet you'll experience great service.

I'll definitely fly with them again! (read more)

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★★★★★

“Philippine Airlines is sooooo nice! I was going to...”

Written on: 10/11/2002 by Migz.

Philippine Airlines is sooooo nice! I was going to Hong Kong riding this plane and it left at exactly the right time! We also landed exactly at the right time! The food was terrific! They had a lot of variety! The stewards and stewardeses were so friendly and cheerful! They had a smile on their face almost all the time. Last of all, the seats were very soft and comfortable... It can make you rest and sleep easily! (read more)

Aidan.'s Response to 49752_Migz.'s Review

Written on: 30/05/2003

I agree... i was on a mla-hk-mla trip back in '99 and i say, the services were fine. however, the crew wasnt that much warm towards the passengers during my return flight...dunno why. :)

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Peter Edelsten's Response to 49752_Migz.'s Review

Written on: 07/09/2003

OK but timeliness has deteriorated hugely - better on Cathay

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