Best Airline for Flights to Manila

[helarno]

CX has great food but for Economy class you are only allow to select the seat 48hrs before departure. I hate the uncertainty especially on long haul.

Eh? I fly CX all the time and usually select seats long in advance. Just did that last month. Do you book directly through their website or reserve through a travel agent? I normally select the seats during the ticket purchase process itself. If I forget to do it then, I can usually select seats by going through their website and managing the bookings.

 

[DesertEagle]

Advance seat selection with Cathay depends on the booking class. I booked the cheapest fare code and had to wait until 48 hours before departure to select my seats. The inbound flight was in the A350 which I really enjoyed. Economy meals on flights to and from Manila were not much bigger than snacks, but the flights to and from Hong Kong are short.

 

[helarno]

Ah, got it. You guys are just way better at finding the great deals than I am. I almost never manage to find those cheap fares.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

We flew business class via Asiana from LAX with a stop in Seoul. The seats lay back into a bed with privacy walls between them. They serve you more food than any human could eat and they provide blankets, slippers and toothbrush/paste. They would be my first choice if I returned to Asia.

 

[Laurie S.]

That Asiana flight looks pretty good to me! Our friend who is going with my husband and me is from Korea. His family escaped across the DMZ when he was a child and he came to the US from South Korea in the 1970s. He goes back there at least once a year. Instead of spending extra days in Manila, we could do that in Seoul with our personal tour guide.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

If you fly business class you will love the Asiana Lounge at the airport in Seoul. They have the BEST showers!

 

[Laurie S.]

I'm going business class for sure, don't know about my husband and friend. Do you know If I fly business class, would they have access, too, if they don't?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

You have to give your boarding pass to the person at the desk in the lounge. Only those flying first or business may enter.

 

[Laurie S.]

Thanks, that's what I figured.

 

[Skuber Diver]

My 2 cents. I do this often and I always fly to Hong Kong, decompress for a night, and then press on. Once you are in Asia you can get a flight to MNL for under 300 bucks. Hotels can be expensive in HK but look at the Ibis Styles, or the Excelsior which has a fantastic location in Causeway Bay. Another good route into MNL is ANA thru Narita. Always try to get into Terminal 3 in Manila as getting out of T1 is a nightmare. I would also suggest you stay in Makati City in Manila as its the only safe region in the city. In Makati you can walk out on the street in relative safety and you can trust the tourist police, if you stay out near the airport in Pasay you can not trust the police. Again, do not trust the police anywhere outside of Makati.

I also suggest you look at adding on a few days in Puerto Galera (Sabang/Little Laguna) as you can get there from the Batangas Pier T3 and the diving is deeper and more diverse than in Anilao. If you are going to haul all the way over you should take advantage of being there.

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