FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - [PREM FARE GONE] Philippine Airlines, LHR-HKG, £500 J return

Nov 25, 2018 | 12:38 pm

#288

Ticket_Master

Join Date: Jul 2017

Posts: 16

Trip Report November 18

Hi, I flew a couple of weeks ago, and here is my trip report.
Quick Summary - Very good experience, though a little bit variable.

Checkin at LHR terminal 3, There is a seperate queue for business class, there was no waiting, the staff were helpful & fast track security at LHR T3 was quick.

The lounge was club aspire, a short walk from the main set of lounges at terminal 3. Even using a third party lounge Philipine airlines manages to stand out by serving a special Phillipine dish, arroz caldo, for passengers which is a really nice touch, It was described as "rice porridge with chicken" I found this very nice, and the service in the lounge was excellent.

Boarding was great, while you are predictably in for a long walk, I find this is just part of the experience at terminal 3. I got to the gate when most of business class had boarded, but there was a seperate queue for business unlike some airlines they hadn't clogged this up by calling out a general free for all. Theyuse 2 jetways for boarding with one reserved for business class so I was able to walk straight on, (its 2 simple things, but much better than being stuck in a long queue of passengers like you would on alot of airlines.

On-board, no overhead bins above the middle passengers makes the cabin feel very roomy, and though this means less lugggage space nobody seemed to have any trouble finding space for their luggage.

The seats are large and comfortable. Seat controls are fine, you have two sets, a main one above the table, and a reduced set of controls for easy use while sleeping which are on the edge of your table area (It's a bit too easy to accidently hit them in my opinion). Also you have usb port, regular plug, reading light, "mood light" (lighting in the shelf area). A hook for headphones, and a coat hook.
Theres a three point belt system, which was a new one to me for a plane. The armrest is adjustable to give you an extra inch of width in bed mode. There is also a small remote for the TV on a chord.

With the seat configuration you essentially have two options, sit next to the aisle or with your table between you and aisle.
I was 8k next to the aisle at the back of business, if you are on the aisle, your advantage is being able to store a small bag (or something else) between your table console and the seat in front.
The seat has a firmness control- this was a new one on me - bit weird but actually was nice to relax on something softer.
Your feet go into a cubby hole. below the table console of the person infront, while it didnt give alot of space to toss and turn it was more than adequate (front row seats seem to do better with footspace than others.

The seat moved forwards before reclining, slightly unexpected, and made the big tv seem very big and close at the point where you were forwards but not reclined yet.

At getting to the seat there was a blanket - one of the most comfortable I've had in the air, big enough to cover you completely, soft material one side and an even softer fleece lining on the other, a large pillow and over ear headphones. You can use the entertainment system from the moment you sit down until the moment you get up at the arrival gate.

Shortly after take off cabin crew came by with amenity kits, pretty standard, but nicely done and in a nice bag i can see myself using again.
Its by L'Occitane and includes body lotion, lip balm, eau de toilette, a hairbrush, full size toothbrush with toothpaste and eyemask and socks.

Entertainment system
The entertainment system was glitchy and required a few resets, but otherwise decent, a favourites system allows you to star movies to come back to later.
Movie collection was very reasonable with about 150 in total, including some very recent, some less so, and a handful of older movies like bond.
Tv shows had a decent selection, with some having 6 episodes of a series.
Small niggle, some of the films have subtitles one even when you select no subtitles - though you become accustomed to them pretty quickly.
Also one other note, while making announcements in flight & for the safety video they are not broadcast through the headsets, I actually quite liked this.

Food & drink
Drinks were good, champagne very pleasant and red wine went down easily. They advertise a selection of spirits and cocktails though i didn't indulge. I was right at the back and missed out on my first choice of starter, but the flight attendant promised me first choice for the later meal instead.
While they adveritise as dine on demand I had meal 1 straight away, and meal 2 a few hours from landing along with most other passengers, I did take advantage of their light snack menu between meals for another taste of arroz caldo.

International transfer in manilla
(Not signposted at all on leaving our jetway, I ended up in immigration hall before backtracking.
Once in the right place you need your boarding pass stamped at the Philippines airline desk and then it's security where they insist on shoes and belt off, but no need to take anything out of your handluggage.
The whole thing was very quick (sub 2 minutes once i was in the right hall)

The Philippine airlines mahubay lounge is located near gate 6.
It was a bit full to get pictures.
Food selection
More arroz caldo, dumplings, fish fillets and rice. Lots of desserts, including oreo cheesecake,
A bar serving spirits, wine and coffees and also small bottles of water on request. There are also various self service fridges about with soft drinks and beers
A counter where you can get some noodle dishes made up for you.
The lounge is split into 3 main areas
A large area focused on a tv.
Main food area with seating at tables, far area some tables, mostlu soft armchairs. The third section is really more like 2 sections some tables and soft chairs at one end and another tv at the far end.

Pr 312 MNL-HKG
There was a delay and the screens in the lounge were reading boarding delayed until almost departure time, the airport website still listed departure as on time, when the TV in the lounge updated to say boarding I left the lounge to be greeted at the gate,all of 25 metres away with with calls of final boarding, though this might have something to do with the fact there were in total about 30 people on the plane, but it did seem a little disorganised.
Their a321 business class is a step up from what we have been conditioned to accept for shorthaul business products in Europe.
Wider more comfortable seats arranged 2x2 and with decent recline functionality, they offer on demand video to your tablet, and for business class will lend you an ipad, which they collect before landing. They only provide terrible headphones which is a shame, but i just used my own. The flight attendants took our food and drink orders before takeoff, then served us about 30 minutes into the flight, tip for improvement, serve the drink and nuts first, while I'm sure it's not always possible, I think it would have been with only two business class passengers.
The food was good, though didnt hit the high standards of their long haul offering. The wine list is the same accross both LH ans SH.

The return flights

HKG - MNL
I checked in online then did bag drop at Airport express is central, smooth as always.
I was given a voucher for lounge access and told where it was.
Tip: Hong Kong have introduced smart exit gates for leaving, for travellers from some countries including UK its possible to use an E-Gate rather than queue up for a desk at emmigration, it doesnt require registration and saves some time.
I found the lounge easily, it was early morning and they didnt have all the food out yet, but I had some and it was nice. The lounge itself while not huge is well equipped, self service drinks, including spirits in optics on one of the walls. seating options are varied, couches, tables, single armchair type things, and even a dark area at the back with 4 beds.
It was a bus to the plane. Once on board very comfy and good service. A smoothie before take off and a full service breakfast.

Due to the change in service from 7 to 5 per week I had 24 hours in manilla.

Coming into the airport for the trip to london there are many layers of security checks.

1) Entering the airport
2) At entering the queue for checkin for certain flights (London Included)
3) Going airside
4) At the gate (don't buy yourself a drink/take one from the lounge)

The flight home I was in a true window seat, It was nice to be able to see more out of the window, but against that every time you get in and out with the bed down is a exercise in contortion.

For welcome drink, although champagne was available, the attendant serving me didnt mention it, she just told me what was left on her tray and left a long silence for me to choose one of what was left.
An attendant came by introduced herself and asked what meal I wanted, again they had already run out of something (but i got first choice for later meal).
The service on this flight was a bit erratic, this time after take off we were not served our drink until about an hour after take off. I ordered a gin & tonic and recieved a full glass of gin with a can of tonic on the side. I order a coke a few times, which they seem to ration more strictly than the gin! They were mostly serving coke in small glasses about 1/2 of it ice so it wasnt long before I had to order another drink, the second one I was served was diet / coke zero which I dont enjoy. I went to the galley and asked if they still had regular coke, after this the attendant brought me a new glass, but this time she brought me a can which she left with me - much better service in my opinion, if only they'd done that first time around.

The entertainment system again had a few niggling issues and was reset once, and cut out one other time.