Philippine Airlines

Philippine Airlines is the Philippines’ flag carrier and, at 85 years old, Asia’s oldest airline still flying under its original name. It has accepted an invitation to join the oneworld alliance, with integration expected in 2027, which will make it the alliance’s 16th member and only the second full member based in Southeast Asia after Malaysia Airlines. Until that integration lands, PAL still operates independently: no reciprocal elite recognition or mileage-earning with a global alliance yet, codeshares and Mabuhay Miles partnerships aside. This page covers what to know before booking: cabin classes, baggage, and where the route network actually reaches.

Who Should Fly Philippine Airlines

• Travelers flying nonstop from the US mainland. PAL is the only airline flying nonstop Manila–New York JFK, one of the longest scheduled routes in the world at around 16 hours, alongside nonstop Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and, from 9 November 2026, Chicago. Most competitors route through an Asian or Gulf hub instead.
• Anyone connecting onward within the Philippines. PAL Express, the regional arm, feeds more than 30 domestic destinations through hubs at Manila, Clark, Cebu, and Davao, so a single Mabuhay Miles booking can often cover the international leg and the inter-island hop together.
• Frequent flyers positioning ahead of the 2027 oneworld move. Miles and status earned on PAL now carry forward into the alliance once integration completes, worth factoring in if you’re already collecting oneworld miles elsewhere.
• Families and groups on Asia-Pacific routes. The weight-concept baggage system on most Asia-Pacific routes pools a single allowance per ticket rather than splitting it into fixed pieces, more forgiving than the strict per-piece rules budget carriers in the region use.

Routes and Hubs

Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is Philippine Airlines’ main hub: domestic PAL mainline and PAL Express flights use Terminal 2’s north wing, while PAL’s international flights currently operate out of Terminal 1. NAIA’s terminal assignments are being reshuffled through 2026, so confirm which one applies close to departure. PAL Express also runs secondary hubs at Clark, Cebu, and Davao, feeding the domestic network without funnelling every inter-island connection through Manila.

Internationally, PAL flies nonstop to North America (New York JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Vancouver, Toronto, and Chicago resuming 9 November 2026), the Middle East (Dubai, Doha, Riyadh), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth), and a broad Asia-Pacific network. There’s no PAL nonstop to Europe; see flights to the Philippines for how a one-stop routing from Europe actually plays out.

The Fleet

Aircraft type follows route length: widebodies on long-haul and trunk regional routes, narrowbody and turboprop aircraft on shorter regional and domestic legs. The newest widebodies are joining the fleet alongside the 777s already flying long-haul, not replacing them outright.

Cabin Classes

Philippine Airlines has no First class; Business is the top cabin. Premium Economy is standard on the A350s and fitted to some retrofitted 777-300ERs, but not every long-haul aircraft carries it, so check your specific flight before counting on the cabin being there.

Fares and Flexibility

Within each cabin, PAL sells fares at several flexibility levels, and what separates them isn’t the seat, it’s how freely you can change or refund the ticket. The cheapest promotional fares trade that flexibility for a lower price.

Baggage Allowance

Philippine Airlines runs two different checked-baggage systems depending on where you’re flying, not one. Most Asia-Pacific international routes use a weight concept: a single pooled weight per ticket. Flights to the US, Canada, and Guam use a piece concept instead: a fixed number of bags up to a set weight each. Domestic PAL Express routes run their own weight-concept scale, typically lower than international. Here’s the shape of it on the routes that matter most:

Need more than the free allowance? Prepaying online through myPAL Baggage Plus, at least four hours before departure, is consistently cheaper than paying at the airport: roughly USD 8–24 per kilogram on weight-concept routes, or in the USD 120–320+ range per piece on piece-concept routes, depending on the destination. Prepay through myPAL Baggage Plus for the exact rate on your route; the option only works if every segment of your booking is operated by PAL.

Sports and oversized items (surfboards, dive gear, golf clubs) are accepted but need to be declared with PAL in advance rather than sorted out at check-in; the fee varies by item and route, but the pre-booking requirement doesn’t.

Baggage figures verified September 2026

Check-in and at the Airport

Online check-in opens 24 hours before departure. At the airport, early check-in counters open as much as 6 hours ahead of international flights at NAIA Terminal 1 (5 hours at Terminal 2), and the online check-in bag-drop counter closes 45 minutes before departure. Here’s how the countdown runs:

In-Flight Experience

Widebody aircraft carry PAL’s in-flight entertainment system with seatback screens across every cabin and a meal service built around Filipino dishes (adobo, sinigang) alongside international options. The newest A350-1000s add larger seatback screens and more consistent wifi than the rest of the fleet, though coverage still isn’t guaranteed fleet-wide, so don’t count on it on an older 777 or A321 rotation.

Traveling with Children, Pets, and Special Needs

The policies that catch travelers out are the ones specific to who, or what, is flying with you. Here’s how PAL handles the common cases; arrange any of them when you book rather than at the airport.

• Infants (14 days–2 years). Travel on an adult’s lap or a booked seat; bassinets and baby meals are available on widebody long-haul flights but need to be requested well ahead.
• Children and unaccompanied minors. PAL runs a paid unaccompanied-minor service, with a children’s meal available on request.
• Special meals. Halal, vegetarian, dietary, medical, religious, and child meals can all be requested in advance at no extra cost.
• Pets. PAL’s FurPal program, launched for bookings from 1 December 2025, lets small dogs and cats under 10kg fly in the cabin with their owner on select domestic routes for a flat ₱2,500 each way. Outside that program, dogs and cats travel as checked baggage (pet plus carrier under 32kg total, charged as automatic excess baggage), or through PAL Cargo for anything heavier or on routes FurPal doesn’t cover.
• Reduced mobility. Wheelchair and special-assistance requests can be arranged in advance through PAL or your booking channel.

Loyalty Program

Mabuhay Miles is Philippine Airlines’ frequent flyer program, with four tiers: Classic, Elite, Premiere Elite, and Million Miler. Once PAL completes its oneworld integration in 2027, Mabuhay Miles will connect into the alliance’s combined mileage and elite-recognition network; until then, its benefits are PAL’s own.

Mabuhay Miles also has co-branded credit cards in the Philippines, including PNB-issued PAL Mabuhay Miles cards, which earn miles directly on everyday spending.