When reading about what to expect when going to the Philippines, one could easily get the impression to be robbed, scammed, drugged, beaten up, and probably shot a few times within the first few minutes after arriving, except one would first spend a few hours, or maybe days waiting in one of the most horrible places one could imagine.
Some of that bad press which the Philippines seems to get has prevented me for a long time from visiting, but I finally decided to experience it myself
Reality was fortunately different. Very different.
That may not be exciting, so probably nobody wants to read.
But for those interested in visiting the Philippines, I'll post it anyway.
*** If a moderator prefers to move it to trip reports, please feel free to do so. I think that it's easier to find it here in the lightly used Asia forum ***
Arrival:
My flight with Philippine Airlines PR731 from Bangkok arrived a few minutes ahead of the 18:00 STA, and I was happy with the full hot meal in Business class, and the non-European, i.e. comfortable and wide seats on the A321.
A nice Massaman Curry on board Philippine Airlines. Choice of 3 hot meals & a very nice service
First looks of the Philippines: That could easily pass for a Hawaiian Island
The arrival process in Manila Terminal 2 was super smooth. Much, much better than I had imagined.
Preparation: The only requirement was to have pre-filled the e-travel form within 72h before departure, which was easy and straight forward, and generated a QR code, which was checked on arrival.
Immigration: I was one of the first in the otherwise empty immigration hall, and the officer was very friendly and efficient. Took about 1 minute to get thru.
Baggage delivery: That was equally speedy and much, much faster than what I ever experienced in my home airport in Switzerland. Less than 20 min after arrival at the gate I had my bags and was on my way out.
Customs: Also super efficient. Terminal 2 still requires paper forms to be completed on the plane, but that was an easy thing.
Currency exchange: I found a boot just outside the arrivals hall. The rate was - as expected - not great, about 10% worse than downtown, so just good enough to get a bit of cash for tips and such.
Transfer to Makati: I had asked the hotel to pick me up, which worked like a charm, with updates via whatsapp when I arrived. And once more - no, there was no traffic jam at all - just smooth sailing, and I was at my hotel in Makati in about 20 minutes.
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Departure from Terminal 2 on Philippine Airlines 736 at 14:40 - Again very smooth.
Transfer: Once again no traffic jam at all between Makati and Terminal 2. It just took about 20 min from hotel to the airport. - Yes, I know... it could happen, and the hotel informed me to add some extra buffer for it.
Checkin: I was almost the only passenger in the international part of Terminal 2 when I arrived around noon.
Passport control & security: No waiting time at all.
Lounge: Well.... the Mabuhay Lounge in T2 is not the newest, or greatest Lounge I've been to. The design of the lounge, and the whole T2 is outdated, but functional. The food selection was good and the Arroz Caldo was just what I needed.
Manila Terminal 2 - Nice and quiet
Google would say: Not too busy. - Yup.
Manila - Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge T2 (international) - No overcrowding.
Waiting Area Manila T2.
Philippine Airlines - This is the oldest of 3 configurations on the A321. Fine for the 3 hour flight to BKK and there was again a very good service with choice of 3 hot meals and all the trimmings.