Philippine Air – JFK to BKK Economy Review

Who Says Flying Economy Has to Be Uncomfortable

Not Philippine Airlines. Okay, so I’ve flown economy twice this year with them. First was from Bangkok with a 16 hour layover in Manila Airport, then finally to New York City. Finally, I can make a review of Philippine Airlines.

But I wanted to wait for my return trip from New York City to Bangkok with a shorter transfer time in Manila before writing this post.

This way, I’ll have a little more experience with my Philippines Air A350 review from JFK to BKK flight.

$100USD Extra for Emergency Exit Row Seats

Anyone reading my blogs for awhile know that I always request a seat at the emergency exit row for long haul flights. That’s my usual routine as I enjoy the extra leg room.

While checking in at the Philippine Air counter at JFK, I did just that.

Then I learned that it will cost me $100USD extra for those seats. It’s the same policy as my flight from Manila to New York. So I wasn’t surprised. But it’s good to have confirmation that this is their usual policy.

Most airlines today charge extra for the privilege of sitting in the emergency aisle row.

But It’s Not All Bad News – I Still Had Plenty of Leg Room

Sure, I was bummed about that. But you know what? Philippine Airlines A350 economy seats have a decent amount of front leg room space. My knees barely reached the back of the seat in front of me. Even if that seat was fully reclined. On the Philippine Airlines A350 economy seat, there’s a 33 inch seat pitch.

Looks like I don’t have to ask for a seat at the emergency exit row, or what I like to call poor man’s first class seats, because that’s plenty of space for my 6 foot tall frame.

Philippine Airline’s A350 – 3x3x3 Seat Configuration

The Airbus A350 has a 3x3x3 seat arrangement, so the plane is smaller and seats 241 economy passengers comfortably. Maybe that’s why I felt that the plane was roomier.

There are just fewer people. Which I liked because I never had to worry about long waits at the bathroom.

Awesome In-Flight Entertainment System on the A350

I could easily pass the time with the Philippine Airlines collection of movies. Especially with the responsive touchscreen monitor. The screen is sharp and clear. The audio was really good with no static.

There were a lot of movies that I missed. So I was super happy to see the movie titles I wanted to watch. Like Creed 2, Glass, Alita: Battle Angel, and a bunch of movies I watched before but didn’t mind watching again.

Just like my last flight from Manila to New York, it made my 16 hour flight feel shorter.

The only thing that bugged me a little was the location of the USB and headphone jack. It’s right in the bottom middle of the screen. Which meant if you’re using the tray table to eat your meal, the cords are directly over your food.

But my USB cable and audio headphones provided by Philippine Airlines have long cables, so I did manage to move them aside.

This was my first of two gripes. But not really a big deal.

The Food

My flight from JFK was delayed for nearly two hours. There’s no way I’d pay for the overpriced food at JFK. So I roughed it out and waited for my first inflight meal. I’m glad I waited.

Passengers have two choices: Filipino/Asian or Western

I’ve never had Philippine food. On my last flight, I had some yummy pork with rice and a couple of other good meals.

On this leg of the trip, all of my meals tasted really good, too. Though I didn’t pick Filipino food this time because it was the same as my last trip, which I already tried. So I mostly picked Western choices.

For my main meal, I chose beef braised in red wine. I’m a sucker for beef. I enjoyed this meal so much that I mopped up the gravy sauce with my bread roll.

It came with a side of black bean quinoa salad, and that was so tasty, too. Wish the portions were larger, though, but that’s because I’m a pig.

It was a filling meal still, so I skipped the pudding.

Next was the snack meal served nearly halfway through the flight. I picked Penn Puttanesca and Meat Balls. Another tasty home run economy meal served up by Philippine Air.

The last meal service on this flight was breakfast, served just a few hours before landing at Manila. This time I picked a Filipino meal. The pork picadillo with scrambled eggs and garlic fried rice. This was a tasty meal as well. I especially liked the garlic fried rice.

Of all the times I’ve flown long haul flights, I’ve never found one on par with Korean Air for food quality. I really enjoyed all three meals. Well done, Philippine Air!

But…

There are no available in-flight snacks you can munch on in between meals. Normally, on other long haul flights on other airlines, there are small snacks you can grab at the galley and take back to your seat. Like nuts, pretzels, small sandwiches, or cookies.

This was my second and last gripe. Come on, Philippine Air, you could at least provide some cookies. Passengers need some good ol’ snacks to keep those hunger pangs at bay.

It was the same during my Manila to New York flight. So, if you know you’re going to get the munchies, you should pack some of your own snacks to fend off those hunger pangs in between in-flight meals.

Landing at Manila Airport – And Rushing to My Connecting Flight to Bangkok

My flight from JFK got delayed for 2 hours due to the weather. Which meant that I had to hurry and catch my connecting flight to Bangkok with 30 minutes to spare.

I made it in time because the Philippine Airlines’ ground crew was ready to assist all Bangkok-bound passengers with a quick shuttle bus ride to the connecting terminal.

After passing through security, I made it to my flight with 10 minutes to spare. It’s a three hour flight to Bangkok. It’ll be a quick one.

Philippines Airlines A333 – 3x3x3 Seat Configuration

For this leg of the trip to Bangkok, the plane was older. There was no in-flight entertainment. Not even overhead screens. This wasn’t a big deal to me because at that point, all I wanted to do was sleep.

And there was still plenty of leg space in front, not that it mattered much, as it was a short flight.

There’s only one meal, which is usual for a short flight. I picked a beef with pasta. It wasn’t as good as the beef with red wine sauce on my New York to Manila flight, but decent enough.

It was a pleasant flight with friendly service just like my previous flight.

Philippine Air Service

One thing that stands out is the service and professionalism I’ve experienced on my round trip flight on Philippine Airlines. The air crew is very nice and friendly. Even the ground crew deserves some nice words.

While boarding my delayed flight from New York, I could hear the ground crew apologizing for the delay. Even though it was due to the weather and was out of their control. It’s little things like that which add up a lot of points in favor of Philippine Air.

Philippine Airlines impressed so much that I signed up for their frequent flyer club membership, called Mubuhay Miles. And I’m looking forward to flying with them more.