Manila: worst TG lounge in the world??
Aug 14, 2018, 4:30 am
#64
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SE ASIA
Programs: SQ KF GO, OZ GO, QR PC PLAT, TG ROP SL, LCAH SL, IHG SPIRE, Marriott BONVOY GO, HILTON GO
Posts: 641
Officially not the worst TG lounge in the world anymore!
It's good to see THAI having their own lounge but it's still managed & operated by the same caterer (PAGSS) as the food items remain largely similar to the old lounge.
The lounge is now located on the other side of the dep. gates (8 or 10 if I remember correctly, the old lounge was next to Gate 2)
Must have missed the opening in Apr. by a couple of days as I was last in MNL on Apr 8.
Here are some pics from last week, the lounge does get crowded & I had to ask a passenger to move his bags from the seats by the window.
Mostly J class pax in the lounge as I saw the same faces on-board, so not an issue of *G pax crowding the lounge.
No wait / long line issues at airport check in, I got there 2 hours before dep. Counters will stay open until about 40-45 min. defore dep. with MNL traffic taken into consideration, that is a really good move!
The lounge is now located on the other side of the dep. gates (8 or 10 if I remember correctly, the old lounge was next to Gate 2)
Must have missed the opening in Apr. by a couple of days as I was last in MNL on Apr 8.
Here are some pics from last week, the lounge does get crowded & I had to ask a passenger to move his bags from the seats by the window.
Mostly J class pax in the lounge as I saw the same faces on-board, so not an issue of *G pax crowding the lounge.
No wait / long line issues at airport check in, I got there 2 hours before dep. Counters will stay open until about 40-45 min. defore dep. with MNL traffic taken into consideration, that is a really good move!
Aug 20, 2018, 9:48 pm
#65
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Singapore
Programs: TG Gold, MPC Silver, Bonvoy Ambassador
Posts: 563
Flew this route last month and it was extremely depressing on both legs.
On the outbound I took the early flight from BKK which landed behind a flight from Korea and one from the Middle East. I was first off the aircraft and as I arrived at immigration all counters were open and the queue was at least 30 deep for each one except for FDH. No priority immigration here unfortunately. I ended up skipping into the FDH queue as other passengers were starting to be diverted there. Even in this shorter queue, it was a 50 min wait to get through. I spotted other passengers from J with at least 10 people still in front of them as I finally made it through. As I looked further back, the queues had grown the entire approach corridor to immigration and would have been snaking back further into the arrival wings. Complete horror show that I'm guessing would have taken at least 2 hrs to get through.
The aircraft itself was configured with a very odd 2-2-2 format all at a slight angle which made the foot well on one side of the pod roomy while the other was really cramped. Whilst the aircraft and the seats were pretty new, this layout made the cabin feel really out dated and basically sub par. Fortunately this is the only time I've ever come across this format, I hope never again!
On the outbound immigration wasn't horrendous but organisation pretty poor. At one stage the officials at all of the available 'foreigner' counters were away from their booths speaking with their seniors for some sort of a problem or another which led to something of a delay, nothing like the inbound debacle though! The lounge is exactly like the photos above although I'm not sure they convey exactly how claustrophobic the room gets, it's basically like a dreary doctor's waiting room. I made sure to leave plenty of time to get to the airport and got super lucky with the traffic so I ended up spending much more time in there than I would have liked. Frankly I would have been more comfortable sitting in the back of the Toyota Frontera Grab car for another hour than in the TG lounge :/
So overall a really crappy experience that made me miss flying Cathay in and out of MNL !
On the outbound I took the early flight from BKK which landed behind a flight from Korea and one from the Middle East. I was first off the aircraft and as I arrived at immigration all counters were open and the queue was at least 30 deep for each one except for FDH. No priority immigration here unfortunately. I ended up skipping into the FDH queue as other passengers were starting to be diverted there. Even in this shorter queue, it was a 50 min wait to get through. I spotted other passengers from J with at least 10 people still in front of them as I finally made it through. As I looked further back, the queues had grown the entire approach corridor to immigration and would have been snaking back further into the arrival wings. Complete horror show that I'm guessing would have taken at least 2 hrs to get through.
The aircraft itself was configured with a very odd 2-2-2 format all at a slight angle which made the foot well on one side of the pod roomy while the other was really cramped. Whilst the aircraft and the seats were pretty new, this layout made the cabin feel really out dated and basically sub par. Fortunately this is the only time I've ever come across this format, I hope never again!
On the outbound immigration wasn't horrendous but organisation pretty poor. At one stage the officials at all of the available 'foreigner' counters were away from their booths speaking with their seniors for some sort of a problem or another which led to something of a delay, nothing like the inbound debacle though! The lounge is exactly like the photos above although I'm not sure they convey exactly how claustrophobic the room gets, it's basically like a dreary doctor's waiting room. I made sure to leave plenty of time to get to the airport and got super lucky with the traffic so I ended up spending much more time in there than I would have liked. Frankly I would have been more comfortable sitting in the back of the Toyota Frontera Grab car for another hour than in the TG lounge :/
So overall a really crappy experience that made me miss flying Cathay in and out of MNL !
Aug 20, 2018, 10:10 pm
#66
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: WLG/BKK
Programs: TG*G, NZ*GE, QF G, Accor Gold
Posts: 10,195
The slightly angled 2-2-2 J configuration only exists in THAI's 788. I think is probably OK for short-ish hops such as BKK-MNL. The aircraft is used BKK-PER, BKK-BNE
I flew in this B788 BKK-AKL earlier in the year (it was a substitute of this sector during the 789 engine 'troubles'), and only the centre (E/F) seats appealed to me - I was able to secure 14E. It was a 12 hour overnight flight - I would not have enjoyed being in a window seat with a stranger in the aisle ... and there were a few pax who had their seating assignments crewed up by the type change.
I flew in this B788 BKK-AKL earlier in the year (it was a substitute of this sector during the 789 engine 'troubles'), and only the centre (E/F) seats appealed to me - I was able to secure 14E. It was a 12 hour overnight flight - I would not have enjoyed being in a window seat with a stranger in the aisle ... and there were a few pax who had their seating assignments crewed up by the type change.
Aug 21, 2018, 2:54 am
#67
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BKK
Programs: TG ROP Platinum, M&M Senator, IHG Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 8,324
Aug 21, 2018, 2:55 am
#68
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BKK
Programs: TG ROP Platinum, M&M Senator, IHG Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 8,324
The slightly angled 2-2-2 J configuration only exists in THAI's 788. I think is probably OK for short-ish hops such as BKK-MNL. The aircraft is used BKK-PER, BKK-BNE
I flew in this B788 BKK-AKL earlier in the year (it was a substitute of this sector during the 789 engine 'troubles'), and only the centre (E/F) seats appealed to me - I was able to secure 14E. It was a 12 hour overnight flight - I would not have enjoyed being in a window seat with a stranger in the aisle ... and there were a few pax who had their seating assignments crewed up by the type change.
I flew in this B788 BKK-AKL earlier in the year (it was a substitute of this sector during the 789 engine 'troubles'), and only the centre (E/F) seats appealed to me - I was able to secure 14E. It was a 12 hour overnight flight - I would not have enjoyed being in a window seat with a stranger in the aisle ... and there were a few pax who had their seating assignments crewed up by the type change.
Aug 21, 2018, 7:06 am
#69
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: MPCGO
Posts: 123
It's good to see THAI having their own lounge but it's still managed & operated by the same caterer (PAGSS) as the food items remain largely similar to the old lounge.
The lounge is now located on the other side of the dep. gates (8 or 10 if I remember correctly, the old lounge was next to Gate 2)
Must have missed the opening in Apr. by a couple of days as I was last in MNL on Apr 8.
Here are some pics from last week, the lounge does get crowded & I had to ask a passenger to move his bags from the seats by the window.
Mostly J class pax in the lounge as I saw the same faces on-board, so not an issue of *G pax crowding the lounge.
No wait / long line issues at airport check in, I got there 2 hours before dep. Counters will stay open until about 40-45 min. defore dep. with MNL traffic taken into consideration, that is a really good move!
The lounge is now located on the other side of the dep. gates (8 or 10 if I remember correctly, the old lounge was next to Gate 2)
Must have missed the opening in Apr. by a couple of days as I was last in MNL on Apr 8.
Here are some pics from last week, the lounge does get crowded & I had to ask a passenger to move his bags from the seats by the window.
Mostly J class pax in the lounge as I saw the same faces on-board, so not an issue of *G pax crowding the lounge.
No wait / long line issues at airport check in, I got there 2 hours before dep. Counters will stay open until about 40-45 min. defore dep. with MNL traffic taken into consideration, that is a really good move!
Aug 24, 2018, 4:40 am
#70
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Singapore
Programs: TG Gold, MPC Silver, Bonvoy Ambassador
Posts: 563
It doesn't but that terminal seems to be much quieter and/or better organised, the most I've ever had to wait at immigration was around 5 mins in either direction.
Of course the MNL lounge that Cathay operate is also several orders of magnitude better than the TG lounge so even delays aren't too much of a hardship.
Of course the MNL lounge that Cathay operate is also several orders of magnitude better than the TG lounge so even delays aren't too much of a hardship.
Aug 30, 2018, 2:15 am
#71
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: MPCGO
Posts: 123
It doesn't but that terminal seems to be much quieter and/or better organised, the most I've ever had to wait at immigration was around 5 mins in either direction.
Of course the MNL lounge that Cathay operate is also several orders of magnitude better than the TG lounge so even delays aren't too much of a hardship.
Of course the MNL lounge that Cathay operate is also several orders of magnitude better than the TG lounge so even delays aren't too much of a hardship.
That being said, yes, CX and SQ operates the best lounges in MNL and they are both in T3, so OW and *A (QF, QR, TG, UA) that fly out of T1 cannot utilise these lounges as there is no interconnectivity between terminals.
Aug 30, 2018, 2:28 am
#72
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BKK
Programs: TG ROP Platinum, M&M Senator, IHG Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 8,324
I'm not sure if @BinSabai meant MNL, but there is no fast track in MNL (unlike BKK). MNL can get congested inbound and outbound regardless of terminal but T2 is the worst inbound experience for me. However, the most time I've spent from gate to baggage claim area has been about 30 minutes (TG J inbound T1). Baggage claim is a different story altogether, even with priority tagged bags.
That being said, yes, CX and SQ operates the best lounges in MNL and they are both in T3, so OW and *A (QF, QR, TG, UA) that fly out of T1 cannot utilise these lounges as there is no interconnectivity between terminals.
That being said, yes, CX and SQ operates the best lounges in MNL and they are both in T3, so OW and *A (QF, QR, TG, UA) that fly out of T1 cannot utilise these lounges as there is no interconnectivity between terminals.
Aug 30, 2018, 3:54 am
#73
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SE ASIA
Programs: SQ KF GO, OZ GO, QR PC PLAT, TG ROP SL, LCAH SL, IHG SPIRE, Marriott BONVOY GO, HILTON GO
Posts: 641
Flew this route last month and it was extremely depressing on both legs.
On the outbound I took the early flight from BKK which landed behind a flight from Korea and one from the Middle East. I was first off the aircraft and as I arrived at immigration all counters were open and the queue was at least 30 deep for each one except for FDH. No priority immigration here unfortunately. I ended up skipping into the FDH queue as other passengers were starting to be diverted there. Even in this shorter queue, it was a 50 min wait to get through. I spotted other passengers from J with at least 10 people still in front of them as I finally made it through. As I looked further back, the queues had grown the entire approach corridor to immigration and would have been snaking back further into the arrival wings. Complete horror show that I'm guessing would have taken at least 2 hrs to get through.
The aircraft itself was configured with a very odd 2-2-2 format all at a slight angle which made the foot well on one side of the pod roomy while the other was really cramped. Whilst the aircraft and the seats were pretty new, this layout made the cabin feel really out dated and basically sub par. Fortunately this is the only time I've ever come across this format, I hope never again!
On the inoutbound immigration wasn't horrendous but organisation pretty poor. At one stage the officials at all of the available 'foreigner' counters were away from their booths speaking with their seniors for some sort of a problem or another which led to something of a delay, nothing like the inbound debacle though! The lounge is exactly like the photos above although I'm not sure they convey exactly how claustrophobic the room gets, it's basically like a dreary doctor's waiting room. I made sure to leave plenty of time to get t
o the airport and got super lucky with the traffic so I ended up spending much more time in there than I would have liked. Frankly I would have been more comfortable sitting in the back of the Toyota Frontera Grab car for another hour than in the TG lounge :/
So overall a really crappy experience that made me miss flying Cathay in and out of MNL !
On the outbound I took the early flight from BKK which landed behind a flight from Korea and one from the Middle East. I was first off the aircraft and as I arrived at immigration all counters were open and the queue was at least 30 deep for each one except for FDH. No priority immigration here unfortunately. I ended up skipping into the FDH queue as other passengers were starting to be diverted there. Even in this shorter queue, it was a 50 min wait to get through. I spotted other passengers from J with at least 10 people still in front of them as I finally made it through. As I looked further back, the queues had grown the entire approach corridor to immigration and would have been snaking back further into the arrival wings. Complete horror show that I'm guessing would have taken at least 2 hrs to get through.
The aircraft itself was configured with a very odd 2-2-2 format all at a slight angle which made the foot well on one side of the pod roomy while the other was really cramped. Whilst the aircraft and the seats were pretty new, this layout made the cabin feel really out dated and basically sub par. Fortunately this is the only time I've ever come across this format, I hope never again!
On the in
o the airport and got super lucky with the traffic so I ended up spending much more time in there than I would have liked. Frankly I would have been more comfortable sitting in the back of the Toyota Frontera Grab car for another hour than in the TG lounge :/
So overall a really crappy experience that made me miss flying Cathay in and out of MNL !
I am glad that I have the APEC card, perhaps you should apply for it too. For SG applicants, the process is very easy, quick and painless.
The lounges in T1 where TG/QR/KE operates from are pretty much all like that. It might be terminal specific coz the lounges in T3 by CX and SQ are pretty awesome.
I think the new JAL lounge & another new lounge will be much better when it opens.
T1 isn't the worst of the 3 terminals, that honor belongs to T2 where the home based carrier PAL operates.
I was totally shocked at how long it took to clear exit passport control even with my APEC card (40-45 mins.) as we had to share 1 counter with 1 officer with the elderly passengers & families with kids + some special visa that allows mostly China tourists to use that lane) & how crowded the waiting area & departure gates were.
Lastly, also take into consideration the cost of a ticket in J on TG vs. CX/SQ then perhaps the difference is clear & the argument weak.
The slightly angled 2-2-2 J configuration only exists in THAI's 788. I think is probably OK for short-ish hops such as BKK-MNL.
The aircraft is used BKK-PER, BKK-BNE
I flew in this B788 BKK-AKL earlier in the year (it was a substitute of this sector during the 789 engine 'troubles'), and only the centre (E/F) seats appealed to me - I was able to secure 14E. It was a 12 hour overnight flight - I would not have enjoyed being in a window seat with a stranger in the aisle ... and there were a few pax who had their seating assignments crewed up by the type change.
The aircraft is used BKK-PER, BKK-BNE
I flew in this B788 BKK-AKL earlier in the year (it was a substitute of this sector during the 789 engine 'troubles'), and only the centre (E/F) seats appealed to me - I was able to secure 14E. It was a 12 hour overnight flight - I would not have enjoyed being in a window seat with a stranger in the aisle ... and there were a few pax who had their seating assignments crewed up by the type change.
Aug 30, 2018, 4:25 am
#74
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Tokyo
Programs: JAL Metal Card (OWE), SAS Eurobonus Gold (*G), Marriott Titanium (LTP), Tokyu Hotels Platinum
Posts: 21,160
I
The lounges in T1 where TG/QR/KE operates from are pretty much all like that. It might be terminal specific coz the lounges in T3 by CX and SQ are pretty awesome.
I think the new JAL lounge & another new lounge will be much better when it opens.
T1 isn't the worst of the 3 terminals, that honor belongs to T2 where the home based carrier PAL operates.
The lounges in T1 where TG/QR/KE operates from are pretty much all like that. It might be terminal specific coz the lounges in T3 by CX and SQ are pretty awesome.
I think the new JAL lounge & another new lounge will be much better when it opens.
T1 isn't the worst of the 3 terminals, that honor belongs to T2 where the home based carrier PAL operates.
Jan 27, 2019, 8:23 am
#75
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Zurich area
Posts: 302
"The terminal was originally designed by Aéroports de Paris to be a domestic terminal, but the design was later modified to accommodate international flights."