Hi all, would be interested to hear reviews from anyone who has actually flown the new PR A350-1000 in new Y configuration?

PR is the first full-service airline to install razor-thin 10 abreast in an A350-1000, which is a shame because for the past few years, it seems that PR is correcting the mistake of the 2010s when the old management tried to compete with budget airlines. PR is starting to look like it can hold its own as a boutique airline - great service and food, hard product gradually being updated. The new A350-1000 J suites and PE also look spiffy, so punishing Y passengers is disappointing.

PR cited cost savings for the 3-4-3 configuration, but prices have not seem to go down (in fact they increased a bit), and is much expensive than better airlines with a stopover (of course direct flights are pricier, but not sure if a back-breaking seat for 17hrs is worth it over an additional 2-3hrs layover). Past PR interviews also recognized that US overseas Filipino market has comparatively more spending power, so I�m not buying the price-sensitive argument. Feels to me like a decision of disconnected executives who have never flown ultra long haul Y ever.

Some are dismissing this and saying that the B777 Y is also 3-4-3, without realizing that B777 has a narrower cabin than the A350.

Thoughts? Is the 3-4-3 going to become the norm for the A350?

Never ceases to amaze me how the people that run this airline have zero commercial sense and no idea what the customers want and will pay for. Welcome to the Failappines.

Are you suggesting that you know more about their customers than they do?

It's headed to Toronto YYZ starting May https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/260319-prns26yyz

I actively avoid 10 abreast B777s ...
and this sounds like another configuration that I need to add to my personal black list!

I hope you realize VIP wants cheap flights, but I don't think PR is lowering prices with 3-4-3 abreast.

Flew it to my surprise MNL - HKG last Sunday morning.

in Y it was as spacious as anything I have seen except some SQ flights.

I�m no PR fanboy but I thought it was very decent layout. No idea why they used it on a HKG rotation. Booked on Trip it was crazy cheap.

My only complaint would be that I bid upgrade to PE for US$80. Not accepted but 22 of 24 seats were unoccupied. Looks like a scam lottery.

Would this be PR318? If so, it would be the A350-900 with a 3-3-3 configuration�

Yes it was 318. Thought it was 3 4 3. I was in a C seat near the back.

I would go as far to say a dead treee knows more than this bunch of nepotistic cronies.

So, the dead tree has a good pulse on how much OFW's are willing to pay for air travel and their opinion on 3-3-3 v 3-4-3?

This 3-4-3 seating is an interesting strategy.

I think overall, PR wants to compete against both the LCCs (e.g., 5J), and many legacy carriers. Not that 5J has ULH flights to the USA. But I can see why they are 'cheapening' their economy offerings. It really widens the gap between Y and PEY.

It is really interesting how the 35Ks have a modern C and PEY, but with a super tight Y; while the 77Ws remain with an outdated C, no PEY, and a standard tight Y. I guess many Philippine passengers do not mind the inconsistency???

Considering that Filipino-American households have an average income of >USD100k (Pew Research/ US Census), I would not exactly consider them to be "budget" and "low income" travellers. The OFW profile in US/NY is different from those in other countries. Plus even assuming that the PR target market is highly price-sensitive, it is peculiar that PR offers zero cost savings and it remains to be much more expensive in Y than other options like OZ,BR, even CX (I don't think budget conscious traveller would mind the layover for the USD400-500 savings).

Would love to hear PR executives' detailed perspectives though for this hodge-podge of seat types: moving towards budget model in Y in 35K; but at the same time, moving away from budget model and refurbishing A321ceo and A330... The hardware inconsistency is insane. Too bad because I would be a loyal customer if not for this constant confusion.

TMK, they usually only extract price premiums for n/s service to/from the Philippines. If you plug in HKG or SIN as your destination, they are often the cheapest by a considerable margin.

My guess is that PR wanted the capacity on the A35K to match the 77W. Apart from being able to cater to the masses.

PR's own 77Ws seat 370, while the two Garuda planes seat 393. Their A35K config seats a comparable 382. If you count and remove all of the fourth seats in the middle columns, I think it should bring down the total seat count to only 354.

Their LCC-style A330s already seat 366.

I guess PR is trying to be a hybrid carrier of sorts.