My gf is thinking of moving back to mindanao near buyuan from manila. So next time maybe I will fly to manila or Cebu to buyuan.
@Mattecube i normally take two tablets, I’d say after I’ve woken up after a long sleep then I’m feeling abit tired and drowsy but I’m still on plane but by time we have landed and got to hotel etc i can then sleep again. I normally take them after the first meal has been handed out , so maybe it’s couple hours after we have taken off
I find the jet lag for me is worse when I get back to the uk , I find by time I drive home from Heathrow it’s normally around midnight and I can sleep ok, I’d say for about a week after I’m Going to sleep early and waking up abit earlier
If you're headin' "down south" and want to avoid Manila, then an option might be Emirates out of London or Manchester to Cebu (via Dubai) I did the Cebu - Dubai - Gatwick section about a week ago .... worked out well .... and yes, the traffic in Cebu is as bad as ever.
Cebu has opened up a lot in the past couple of years, not just because of that Dubai flight, but also because China Eastern now flying from Cebu to Guangzhou and Shanghai has opened everything up that way too. Now it is easy to get to Cebu from the UK and not bother going to Manila first, when it wasn't before.
Based in Manchester and have used most of those reported on but not PAL so far. Always too expensive. Pal trying to become a 4/5 star airline so hopefully the product will get better. My take on what I have experienced and all but the Emirates flight were under £450 some as low as £380 return. Emirates - Via Dubai A380 All segments. What can you say. Good airline good times in Dubai plenty of connections. Not the cheapest anymore. Qatar - Via Doha B787 and B777. Was my favourite until they put the B787 dreamliner on the Manchester segment. For tall people it cripples you if not in the middle seat. Entertainment boxes under seats restrict legroom for tall people. Cathy - Via Hong Kong A350 Good airline new planes. Did not get second feed on last leg into Manchester as Flight attendants ran out of time. Was pretty shocked how bad that was as only about 4 rows were not fed. Ethiad - Via Abu Dhabi A330 B777 My particular favourite now. Its different then all the rest and just seem to be a better product. Cant quite put my finger on it as Emirates and Qatar both good also. China Southern - Via Ghangzhou. A321, B777, B737. Went cheap lol Paid for it Nasty trip on an ancient Air France B777. What they said about French being rude this week was pretty evident on that trip. Not the passengers the flight attendants. They were something else. Tend to get the best Bargains 11 months ahead, although 3 months ahead can also give good deals. The skyscanner tracking you is correct. Delete your cookies and the fare will change. But you have to keep deleting otherwise it does tracks you again. GF is using Oman air in 2 weeks time. Via the new terminal as mentioned. Good flight times and good connections in a small airport. However they do seem to be a tad tardy with delays. We will see what she thinks of it when she gets here. Another three options I have seen are KLM via Amsterdam and Ghangzhou, Singapore airlines via Singapore and Turkish airlines via Istanbul. Strong rumours that Lufthansa are going to fly Munich - Manila. Plenty of choices up north now. The OP asked about Cebu Pacific. Their A330's for long haul are configured with the highest density seating in the world in a one class layout. Not good for tall people.
I was surprised how crap Air France were, except that the video that detailed the emergency procedure at the start, was the wittiest I have ever seen. But after that it all went rapidly downhill. with China Southern I was less surprised at their crap-ness. I expected them to be crap, and they didn't let me down. Rubbish food and service, cabin staff with perpetually confused expressions, and sniffly obnoxious passengers. Guangzhou is a genuinely terrible airport too, where everybody wears red to the point where it hurts the eyes, although I am told it is nothing to do with communism. The contrast with Cathay Pacific could not be starker. getting a codeshare with Etihad and PAL was another excercise in contrasts. Etihad from Manchester to Abu was brilliant - a first-class airline. But PAL from Abu Dhabi to Manila was like driving a car with the handbrake on and a warm toffee apple for a gearstick. always avoid low-cost carriers like Cebu Pacific on long-haul flights, whatever you do. They are not cut out for it. I found that out taking Air Asia's short-lived 250 quid round-rip Kuala-Lumpur-Stansted. Never again.
what was wrong with PAL? everything. No in flight entertainment at all, on 8 hour flights, mediocre food, bad service, old plane with crap comforts and an awful Terminal 2 building to arrive at and leave from. They also changed the scheduele of the return flight to a different time and I had to face an 8 hour stopover in Abu Dhabi rather than a three hour one. The one good thing about it is that they did give me a full meal and not a snack voucher like some airlines try to fob off on you - although I had to ask for it, they didn't tell me in advance that I could get one - and which I exchanged for a large $20 meal. I had thought that because it was a codeshare with Etihad, and I was not flying all the way through with the same airline, that I might not be able to get the meal voucher. I have had better experiences using them domestically as PAL Express, but I'd much prefer it if the half-decent experiences had been on the 8 hour flights, and not the one hour ones.
@ Mattecube Yes China Southern was fine. It was the code share with Air France that wasnt, Manchester to Paris and Paris to Guangzou. @ Stellar Also Guangzou had the strangest passport control as transit passengers had to go through it but was manned by a total of two immigration officers. Nearly missed my connection both times. As I have never flown PAL long haul cannot comment about that. But on occasion used them within the Philippines I think they are are costlier version of Cebu Pacific. They dont seem to excel or make themselves different but charge a higher price. Flown PAL, Cebu Pacific, Air Asia and Air Swift domestically. Personal opinion is that Cebu Pacific is the basic air model of connecting the population within a multi island state. Prices are good service is variable and timings are ok in the mornings but tend to gradually get worse as the day goes on. This I suspect is the problem of manila being so congested the planes just get more and more delayed the more times they have to go to manila. Air Asia. Basic with timings that defy logic. They go when they want to go not when sheduled. Air Swift. Only from El Nido. Pricey high end feel. Was it worth it. Yes to avoid that 7 hour road journey from PP. Air Philippines trying to out compete Cebu Pacific not realising its got itself into neither a full shedule carrier or a Low Cost Carrier and therefore its product is confused. The present management at PAL are aware of this and thats why I alluded to the fact PAL's hard product is improving. The B777 London to Manila is only since Sept 2017. Before that it was A340 with only personal entertainment equipment. Long haul with nothing to do because the airline thinks we are all happy just to sit there shows a Low Cost Mindset. But that was the previous management. Also forgot to mention possible new routes from Manchester. Thai is said to be looking seriously at Manchester to Bangkok Again all the above is my personal experience. @ Steven. I dont think we are saying there is much wrong with it we are just saying that some of the Gulf airlines do a much better service. Its each to our own. I like to experiment. I was suprised with Cathy. Hopefully was just one flight. Air France here is an example for you. When the overhead bins are full passengers just half put away their cabin bags thinking the Flight Attendants will sort it which all other airlines in my experience do. On my Air France flight somebody didnt put his cabin bag away properly. FA comes along makes so much of scene gets the guy up to try and sort it and then was a whole huddle of FA's making the poor guy empty and fill the whole bin. Not one helped him. Eventually passengers were making spaces 6 or 7 bins away while the FA's looked on like teachers scolding naughty schoolchildren. Never seen anything like it and it must have taken about 20 mins to sort it all out. For one bag. If your number one requirement is one stop flight London to Manila then PAL has to be it because its the only one.
I’m surprised No in flight entertainment at all on that route , even on the other planes they used between Heathrow and Manila ( think they were a340) they used to hand out the iPads , now they using the 777 so it’s built in the seats. , I would agree the food is not to great.
@Ken100464 yeah for me the direct flight works, no stop overs to worry about, the price is not to bad If book abit in advance , think most I’ve paid is £580 and cheapest was £375, being short the legroom for me on the 777 is not bad I think it’s slightly more than the a340 they were using when I first started to fly with them. I find the staff really helpful and polite, for me I’d say the food is not to great, but then I put it down to me being a fussy eater , but I just make sure I eat well before getting on the plane.
