jeffrocowboy

I think this improvement from 3 to 4 star is justified given my recent experiences. (Pity about the Terminal at Manila though).

I hope the airline continues to improve as MNL has become an important destination for me now - and having a direct service (without a stop) from AKL is great.

http://www.airlinequality.com/news/p...-star-airline/

bluegreentravel

Seems like granting the 'upgrade' is about one or two years premature.

To be fair, PR has improved slowly but steadily throughout the years... A few low points (sad A321 seats, terrible Manila airport, FF program) and still some rough edges - but the efforts to improve is slightly noticeable. Maybe a low-4, because it's still not at par with the other 4-star airlines like Emirates, Air NZ, Qantas...

hayzel7773

Skytrax has lost all respect after giving airlines like Lufthansa 5-stars for a Business Class that has not even come out yet.

jeffrocowboy

agree, there is a range in the "4 group" - maybe they need a 4 and 4.5 rating

mbamejia

Had differing experiences with PAL on one trip. MNL-HKG return in Y last December.

MNL-HKG in the retrofitted A330. Really nice seats, good legroom, decent and responsive IFE system and excellent catering. Return on the old A321 with no IFE, need to be in the foetal position because of extra cramped legroom, but still decent catering. In flight service quite good and warm.

I also had a couple of regional and domestic flights in J and it's really nothing to crow about. Definitely miles behind Air NZ and EK. Lounge service way below par.

I'd say if the PR fleet was like the outbound, then the 4* is well deserved, but as it is, I think it's as premature as LH getting 5* as well.

Fyd

PAL has made some big improvements: the new A330 offers a better hard product than even 5-star SQ, ANA or Cathay - they all still have recliners on some regional flights in business, the food & drink service has been improved (better quality than Cathay in Econ & Biz), service has always been very friendly; transfers at Manila airport for PAL flights is improved...
But I also see some credit for promised improvements - there are still a lot of terrible, old planes (A340!!) waiting to be replaced; the Mabuhay Lounge is due for renovation/expansion and the ground/call center service is terrible.
A lot of the management-imposed rules are customer un-friendly and decidedly not 4-star: On a recent trip, I had purchased a Premium Econ seat on a new A330. When they changed equipment, the POLICY was to downgrade me to Economy and I had to fight for proper re-accommodation... in many aspects, they are still running PAL like a shady budget operation...

TravelwhileyouEat

Premature awarding ... though nothing as premature as LH being a "5-star" airline with 2-2-2 long-haul business class and an imaginary new product at least 2 years away from entry into service (and that could very much change between now and then).

Skytrax should have waited to award the 4-star rating until next year when a lot of the new improvements are actually in place such as the updated lounge in Manila and the A350s are in service. I also agree that their loyalty program needs a major overhaul as it has not really changed significantly and the benefits are so "mehhhhhh...". A challenge that PAL has is that none of the airline alliances need them to be part of their system so the benefits other 4-star or even 3-star airlines can provide will never be available to PAL unless they are able to get into *A or OW (just not ST which is the worst out of the 3).

clubeurope

I think PAL is pretty good... but not quite 4-stars yet though....

On my first flight on PAL in 10 years this January, on MNL-TPE, we actually boarded the bus to the plane only to see an A321 with open engine cowlings. We waited for 25 minutes just to turn back...

My first technical delay in so long...

The crew though are really nice, and the food is quite good I'd say.

Interestingly, I've been able to select the extra-legroom economy section on the A321/A320 (the ex-Premium Economy) free of charge during OLCI, which may have made my perspective rather biased.

yerffej201

Is there any info online about the 77W retrofit? Can't find anything at all.

clubeurope

They took delivery of brand new 777s with the same 2-3-2 layout, albeit with a newer seat...

honestly, it's hard to imagine PR retrofitting planes with cabins considered so new...

Fyd

A refit is unlikely anytime soon. They bought the new B777 in the 2-3-2 layout specifically to make interoperability with the old B777 easier - instead of buying them with the same seats in 1-2-1 layout on their new A330...
But the new B777 seats are full flat instead of angled flat on the old B777, so it's a slight improvement...

cerberus435

Some new pics have emerged with the interiors of the new A350's and A321N's. It's about time that PAL has gone 1-2-1 with their long-haul mabuhay class.

extrablatt

Wuxia

This is just too premature. No way is PAL at par with Emirates, Korean Air, Japan Airlines, etc. The on-time performance is abysmal. MNL terminal 2 is pathetic. Maybe Skytrax is only basing this rating on new planes flown only on the handful of popular routes, because there are still many older A340, A330, A321, etc. that PAL continues to operate and flown in routes that are more than four hours without even any seatback TVs. Some don't even have them in Mabuhay class! How can that even be 4 stars?

I seriously hope Skytrax takes away their 4-star rating because they're harping that rating too much. I was in MNL airport last month with flight delayed as usual, having to transfer to another gate and go down two flights of stairs (without escalators) to be bused to the plane, and I have heard the 4-star rating at least 5 times, both from the plane and the terminal. It is very irritating. In contrast, I took EVA Air when they first got their 5-star rating, and they only announced that rating ONCE and I had absolutely no problems/complaints on that flight (on time, good food, courteous service, etc.).

clubeurope

Whilst I can sense improvement on PAL's part, I feel like they are going way to over the top on their PAL 4 Stars marketing. I take Skytrax ratings with a grain of salt, and I can't help but feel annoyed being continuously bombarded with this in all their marketing... They seem overly proud of the achievement, and kind of too proud for that matter.

"the first and only airline in the country to have a 4-Star Rating" should also say the only full service carrier in the country.

The more they advertise being a "prestigious, 4 star airline", the more people (irrationally) expect from the airline, giving false expectations.