Philippine Airlines
reviews and complaints

I am traveling to Philippines for a vacation and I am planning to take my dog. I processed his vaccination, microchip and got a health certificate from the ministry of agriculture. After I processed the papers I go to Philippine Airlines outlet and informed them that I am travelling with my dog. They checked the papers and sent an email to the airlines that a dog is travelling on Saturday so that they can open the ventilation in advance. I go to the airport but when I got there the put me on hold for almost 2 hours telling me that they will check with the airlines first. They kept on telling me to wait and after waiting for several hours they informed me that there is no ventilation and the dog cannot travel. I asked them if I can just check and my workmates will come to get the dog. They told me that I cannot check in that I have to wait for my colleague to get the dog. I already informed them that my colleagues os at work and will finished at 10pm and my flight is at 6:50pm. They should have informed me about the problem earlier since I arrived early at the airport. I could have travelled and bring my dog home and come back again. Worst aircraft ever!

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing a letter to complain about the missing items inside my bag. Upon arrival, I immediately opened my bag to unload my items. To my surprise, 4 pcs of my eco-bag and 1 Sulwhasoo cushion foundation went missing. I am really sure I put all of those in my bag. I even have my witness. We have been an avid supporter of PAL. As you can check, my parents Ruben and Henedina See and sister Helen Cagadoc are all Mabuhay Miles Elite holders.

We are busy people. We wont take time to complain if it really didn't happen. But really this is my first time to experience this. I hope you can do further investigation about this soon.

Please email any replies to [protected]@yahoo.com oe [protected] thanks.

Good day to the manager,

My wife on Sept 12 for 1120 am flight to Los Angeles (only a layover) but flight to Vancouver with an end destination to Edmonton was not allowed to board by the Philippines airline front desk reception and the supervisor yesterday. My wife is a permanent resident of Canada with a valid US visa in her old passport which was left at home(we have been going to the US a plenty of times) but since we went home to the Philippines for emergency reason my wife and I accidentally left the US visa in the older passport). The lady at the front desk called the immigration on a cellphone very quick and refused for us to talk to the officer ourselves as we asked her a few times, and just said "no she's not allowed to board" (I want this worker's name by the way because she shouldn't be at the front desk, very aggressive and ignorant). The supervisor came out and all he asked us to do is buy another ticket that won't pass the USA, with our baby with us it was a very tough situation. My baby had to go with my wife on a separate whole new flight, so we had to purchase a full ticket for both of them to fly back to Canada. This was very hard for my wife taking care of all the luggage with a baby with her in a short amount of time.
Luckily I had a chance and talked to immigration officer in Los Angeles when we got there and the immigration officer advised us that what happened there wasn't right. We should have been given the chance to talk to the immigration officers ourselves because my wife would have records on their computer and they would have been able to figure something out so I could have still went on the same flight. But how we were treated was not right and we have the right to take it to legal action.
Also, your men who are all chatting in tagalog (at least 6 of them) during this struggle were all laughing around and told us they had to open all our boxes while winking at each other before we even got our tickets for the flight. It seems like this was all fun for your employees. We don't tolerate these types of attitudes especially for someone like us who have been customers of PAL. We would like to speak to the manager or high ranking officer of PAL before we take this to a legal action. Your employees are a bunch of unprofessionals and shouldn't be tolerated. How come they are representing Philippines Airlines which is supposed to be the heart of the Filipinos right? We were treated today with no heart!

May 3, 2019, We had our flight to Clark from Puerto Princesa. This is our first time travelling with Philippine Airlines and we are expecting a hassle-free and convenient travel experience but unfortunately turns out the other way. Last Apr29, my flight from Clark to Puerto Princesa was all well. We appreciate very much that you comply on exact time of arrival and departure unlike other airlines in which we had an awful experience. Now, the problem is when I got to check in for my PPS-Clark flight, the ticketing officer said that my baggage of 15kl which I paid online was not processed/unpaid as per your system. I have no idea on why it was not paid as it comes with only one receipt (our flight and check-in baggage) and already been deducted from my account. I booked my ticket with check in baggage allowance directly thru your online booking website. What makes it more dissapointing is that I need to pay for that baggage which for me was already settled and it was not my fault in the first place. The ticketing officer keeps on explaining that its a system issue, she even accompanied me to your office there just to hear the same reason your other personnel stating. I don't really understand why should I be the one to shoulder that when it was a SYSTEM ISSUE of yours. Not only that, I was asked to pay Php2800 for my baggage which I paid online for only Php900. How was that?
I understand that mistakes happen, computer failures occur and things can't always run as smoothly as planned. However, I don't understand the lack of customer service we received. I really want to make my point on that moment but we only have few minutes left and they were already calling for boarding. So I have'nt got the chance and no choice but to pay for that. We actually arrive at the airport early and have ample time to check-in but due to long lines (which I think there's really a problem going on) we have checked in just on time.
We would like to be able to continue to fly with Philippine Airlines but things like this would make us hesitant.
I fully demand the Php2800 be refunded in my account. I can't complain this to my bank as this comes with one receipt only and as I stated earlier, the baggage fee I paid on your online website is only php900.
I hope you take these complaints into action and do necessary adjustment on my account.

6 PM of Sept. 9, 2019 tumawag ako sa hotline to request na baka pwedeng wala ng penalties yung rebooking na gagawin namin (N43LB3) since nagkaroon ng changes sa bookings. Ginawan nila ng report, pinapatawag kami after an hour. Tumawag ulit ako around 10PM, hindi raw na approve yung request namin. So wala na kaming magagawa kahit na ang mahal. Nag pa quote ako umabot ng 149k yung babayaran. Pero naputol yung linya, tumawag ulit ako naging 161k na. Nag hintay ako ng mahigit isang oras, pero may problema raw sa system. Tatawagan nalang daw ulit ako. Pero nag umaga nalang po. Tumawag ulit ako, naging 230k na. Kung na e process lang sana agad, naka mura sana kami. Kapag na delay or nag resched kayo, di naman kami nag papabayad ahh. Pero kapag may changes kami ang mahal masyado ng penalties ninyo. The passengers on this booking halos Elite member na, wala man lang maayos na service jan?

Flight from Bangkok to Manila to San Francisco on July 3, 2019 flight numbers 731 and 104. Booking ref. LQUQXL
I always am allowed to take my guitar on the plane with ALL other airlines. It's expensive and fragile. I was NOT allowed to take my guitar with me on Philippines Air, but online I read that I could. I was assured they would handle my guitar carefully.

When the plane landed in San Francisco I was coincidentally seated on the window looking at the baggage being unloaded. To my shock my guitar was allowed to run off the conveyor belt ONTO THE GROUND! Where it could be stepped on or run over!

My picture clearly shows my guitar on the ground, I also have video. I suggest you offer me a free business class flight from Bangkok to San Francisco next July to resolve this matter. Otherwise I will take it to social media. I am a songwriter and have studio experience. I may even write a song about it. Check out the YouTube hit "United Breaks Guitars". Bad PR for United. I could cause the same bad PR for Philippine Airlines. A free flight could be the least you guys could do and it would cost you next to nothing with always an empty seat on those long haul flights.
C D Bell

Booked a flight online, within 15 minutes of booking realized I had put in the wrong month. Attempted to call the Manila 24/7 line upwards of 10 times and my call got dropped everytime. Australian office is closed on weekends, and the Canadian office is unable to change bookings. Canadian office said someone from domestic office would CALL me withing 15-30 mins, and I recieved an EMAIL 60mins later. All they advised me was that the rebooking fee is per person, not per booking and the same price as cancelling. The change of date fees for a 6bperson booking is almost the same price as the actual booking. They also redirected me yet again to a number that I have informed them does not work. Customer service is terrible, not informative or helpful.

Good day Philippine Airline! Just want to follow-up my case 'PAL Travel Insurance PALPRAA 1235188C. According to the last e-mail sent to me dated 29th of July 2019 it was successfully cancel however upon checking my BDO savings account it was not refunded. Even it's just $36 it's a hard-earned money and I don't want to waste any single cent. Attached herewith are more details for our reference.

Hoping for your urgent response on this matter.

Sincerely yours.

Hannah Grace Sandoval

Good afternoon
I recently travelled with my son to Cebu from the UK on flight PR721, departing London on the 13th August.( Booking reference VWCVQH).
Prior to departure, I tried multiple times to upgrade our seats online, and was pitching my price level offer around £350, which the system was saying "fair"
However, the website kept crashing and I was unable to submit my offer to upgrade.
At the airport, I enquired about an upgrade from economy to Premium economy, and was told that I could upgrade, but at a cost of £514 each, and there were only a few seats remaining. I then agreed to pay for the upgrade at the airport, and started the process to pay by credit card.
We then were kept waiting for almost an hour due to "system issues" processing the upgraded ticket. This was very stressful as we planned to meet some friends in the airport who were on a Virgin Atlantic flight to Hong Kong, before they left.
The delay at the Philippine Air counter meant that we missed seeing our friends before departure. Waiting an hour for our tickets was wrong and very stressful.
On the flight, I established that there were 11 vacant seats in Premium Economy, so to be told at the counter that there were limited seats available, was not true, and moreover, I would probably have been successful in my online price offer at £350, had the website been functioning.

On our return trip on the 23rd August, on flight PR720, I paid for the premium seats in economy (31H/J). The screen on the bulkhead in front of our seats was malfunctioning, in that it kept "initialising" and resetting itself and during this process it kept flashing (like a camera flash). We asked the air crew multiple times to switch the screen off, as the flashing was preventing us from sleeping, but was also very uncomfortable when we were trying to watch tv in our seats. The air crew reset the screen many times, but it kept the bright flashing continuously for the entire flight. I asked if we could move to the skate seats in premium economy, as there were quite a few, but this request was rejected, and we were advised that there was nothing the crew could do to stop the flashing. This resulted in my son and I being awake for the entire flight and also getting headaches from the "strobe lighting" affect of the screen flashing.(please see videos attached).
I would therefore like compensation taking into account what we endured with the ticket processing problem outbound, and then the screen problem on our return.
Thank you
Jonathan Lendon

I flew to Manila on the 6th of August to complete in the Mr World 2019 competition.
Flying to Manila we had organised with the Duty manager in Melbourne to for my excess baggage to be paid for my departure and return. As we were unable to book the third bag through flight centre or over the phone/online - after learning that the $430 aud we were advised per bag would not apply because we were booking at at the check in counter (total fraud) we had to pay the horrible price of nearly 1000 per bag each way,
On the return from Manila was when it really got bad.
I came to check in and was refused my check in as the system didn't reflect the baggage. Originally thinking that it was a mistake I advised them to check again or call Melbourne to get confirmation, the staff refused and said if I don't have the baggage receipt then I'd need to pay I advised multiple times that I didn't keep the baggage receipt as I didn't think I'd need it.
They removed me from the line as I was crying by this point.
They put me with a man in another room who was rolling his eyes at me and told me I am not telling the truth and was just trying to get a free bag
I asked and begged for them to contact Melbourne and he said he couldn't as it would take to long. Then I was told that If I didn't pay now that I'd miss my flight and that's not their problem.
I tried to record this conversation and was advised that I would be removed by security. I continually asked the man to look at the electronic receipt that they would have from my departure from Melbourne and was advised that they can't do that and I don't have the physical receipt.
He then got very angry to the point he was spitting in my face when telling me that there was nothing they could do.
I had to use my rent money to get home as I was bullied by your staff to pay for baggage already paid for. Then to find that the amount they told me of $430USD for the 20kg bag. More fraud and this time pure lying about the amount that would be charged!
Then after doing all of that they said they will load my bags now so I had to go back to the loading area where a man was at full force throwing my brand new suit cases into the loading belt.
I tried to tell him to stop and that I wanted to make a complaint about that and he laughed and walked off. The woman behind the desk then said Its not her problem. All of this you will have on camera.
Other passengers were coming up to me after the whole experience saying how horrific I was treated and how sorry they are for me.
I am an Aboriginal man and a protected minority and the treatment that I received form the staff was one of the worst experiences of my life.
If this is not rectified ASAP I will be taking this further and using my Mr world platform to share my experience.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I would like to file a complaint in behalf of my sister Judy L. Franco who has taken Qatar Airways flight no. Qr 932 from Doha to Manila on August 9 2019. She called me just now devastated and heartbroken to learn that her valuables were taken from the luggage which was suppose to be hand carried. She was already boarding the plane when a female crew asked her to take her bag and put as check in baggage instead. She has informed that there were valuables inside but still they insisted to have it checked in. Upon arrival at manila airport, she immediately took the bag as she has an onward flight to iloilo and in that flight she already hand carried the bag. When she arrived at Iloilo and in our home she found out that the valuables are gone such as oppo mobile phone, several watches and gold jewelries. She is 100 percent sure that her bag was opened. May we call your attention please to make the necessary action regarding this matter.
Thank you and we hope to hear your action on this.

Dear sir / madam

We landed in Melbourne Australia following a flight from London via Manila on August 11th flight no PR 209.

Our luggage was checked all the way to Melbourne so we were completely surprised to find on landing in Manila, being directed through a completely chaotic and overloaded single transit security line into a tiny room to identify our luggage. Here it was inspected and then we assumed connected with our next flight even though there was less than 30 minutes connection time after this security debacle.

We rushed to our connecting flight to Melbourne not at all confident our luggage would follow. On arrival at Melbourne our worst fears were realised with my wife's suitcase as later informed, still in Manila.

I cannot begin to tell you what an incredible disappointment this was . We had a connecting flight to North Queensland to have our first holiday in 10 years without any clothing for my wife. What infuriates me that the luggage situation was completely avoidable by you fulfilling your promis that our luggage was checked all the way to Melbourne. We don't have a lot of money but had to purchase over £150 worth of clothing to ensure my wife had something to wear. Additionally my wife had to consult a doctor to ask for replacement prescription medication replacing those in her lost luggage. Cost for this was £74.
We return to the UK on August 24th via Manila. Are we to be subject to the same appalling treatment experienced on the trip home? Are we to fear our luggage will be lost again?

It must be said your flight crew and aircraft were excellent but our treatment and that if other passengers on the connecting Melbourne flight was truly appalling.

For your records our flight details are as follows:

Passengers : Lynton Perry and Sarah Perry

London to Manila flt pr 721 Aug 9th
Manila to Melbourne pr 209 Aug 10th

Melbourne to Manila flt pr 208 Aug 34th
Manila to London flt pr 720

Airline ref no. NT87 SM

I believe we have a claim for lost funds used to replace essential items and medication. We were not extravagant and only purchased absolutely essential items .

Can we also be reassured the chaos, poor communication and offloading of luggage will not occur on our trip home to the UK?

I look forward to your response

Your sincerely

Lynton Perry
Sarah Perry

[protected]@hotmail.co.uk

Good morning,
My name os Hugo Rey Ferrando, and I'm addressing to you in order to open a complaint, that in addition, at this moment has not been resolved. In friday (09.08.2019), I flu with British Airlines from Madrid to London, and after that I flu with philipines Airlines from London to Manila, however my buggage was lost in London and I have not received yet at the time if this report (12.08.2019). After several calls and emails sent by me to the company, I have been informed today that tomorrow I Will receive the buggage. For this reason I am reaching out this complaint because after lossing buggage for 3 days I have to receive a compensation

My mom flight delayed at Toronto to Manila and she have connecting flight from Manila to Cotabato she missed the flight because of the delayed in Toronto to Manila last August 5 11:30 pm flight .they give her another flight from Manila to Davao instead but the check in counter don't honor the 2 deferent reference number of her luggage that's says 40klg.my mom
Is old and tired for the long travel then they ash her to go back in Fort to the office they said she only have 20klg but I just call the Airline last week that she have 40klg and I can't purchace anymore because that's the maximum klg that you can buy if you exist you have to pay at the airport then now they told my mom she has only 20klg? Come on you guys need more training making my mom walk back in Fort to the office in the airport she got so tired .my mom has hearth problem thanks God nothing happen to her at the airport if anything happen to her I will saw you guys.so please train properly your check in counter worker I don't think they know what there doing .

My family of 9 were scheduled to fly out of Clark to Coron on 7/21/19. I made the reservation for 8 of my family through a 3rd party, Expedia while my husband booked directly with PAL. Due to bad weather flight was cancelled and we were all given options for full refund or rebook, I chose refund since we were returning to the US. My husband was able to process his refund directly at the PAL office inside Clark Airport but I was told to process the other refunds through Expedia by providing all the information as well as the letter provided by PAL. I contacted Expedia right away but was told that per PAL, the flight was NEVER cancelled therefore, they could not process my refund for the 8 tickets ($1644.02). This is utterly ridiculous and fraudulent on the part of PAL when it is still showing in their system that the flight still went through despite the unsafe condition. This means they put all their passengers at risk for their benefits.
I contacted PAL as soon as I returned to the US and they are also telling me that the flight was NEVER cancelled! How is that possible when they themselves wrote a letter stating "CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER CONDITION". Someone is lying here or is this the intent of PAL? Now I know why people DO NOT recommend flying PAL.
If i don't receive a respond to this complaint then it is true what they say about PAL.
---Patria E.
[protected]

From saudi to manila our flight was delayed for almost 2 hours.
And We did not reach the check in time in our flight to manila to gensan
The ticket was shouldered by our company and we need to rebook our flight that cost 5000 pesos. I hope can resolve it..I am a OFW when your flight is delayed we wait for you without complain I hope you can help by refunding or help us to book next ticket

The email below was sent to PAL on the 14th July 2019 and explains the original issue in full.
This was the first of numerous emails to both PAL and Trip.com. Unfortunately both parties tried to brush this off with PAL insisting that any complaint/request had to come through the ticket provider (Trip.com) and Trip.com insisting that the issue needed to be raised directly with PAL. Eventually I was given a different contact address within PAL and they acknowledged receipt of the request and had created the following reference PAL-79168-S2V8V0 has been created. CRM:000140799 on 16 July 2019 and assured that they would respond quickly. On the 26 July I requested a status update as I had heard nothing. PAL responded with an acknowledgement and a new reference number PAL-80524-D8J8K2 has been created. CRM:000143383. Obviously they are not reading these emails, just sending out reference numbers with a promise of quick follow up.
My preferred resolution would be a refund of the Aus $132.00 I had to pay for a single nights accommodation at a motel close to the airport due to late notification of changed flight details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Original email)

Hello,

I purchased a ticket through Trip.com and was booked for flight on Monday 15th July departing Sydney Australia at 10.30am.

When I attempted to check in online I was unable to do so and received a message advising that no flight was available and that I was booked for departure on Tuesday 16th July departing Sydney at 6.00am.

I was unable to contact Philippine Airlines as all offices are closed on Sundays.

I therefore contacted Trip.com who confirmed the details of my original booking and said they would contact Philippine Airlines. They responded late on Sunday afternoon to advise that my flight had indeed been changed to the Tuesday morning at 6.00am.

This has caused me some distress as I am unable to remain an extra day at the address I was staying, so I have had to book a hotel near the airport.

This booking is with Quality Hotel CKS Sydney Airport and cost Aus$132.00.

As I was not notified at least 24hrs in advance of these changes I believe that under Clause IV Right to Compensation, 11.1 b) I am entitled to a refund of the booking fee for the hotel.

Please advise ASAP what is required to have this amount refunded.

Kind Regards
Malin Mala

Flight Date: 05/16/2019
Flight Itinerary: MNL-LAS May 16, 2019 Flt PR102 Dep time 9:05PM

Description of Problem/Inquiry/Comment:
Lost Luggage claim - Denied by Philippine Airlines

Traveling back from manila to las vegas via los angeles on may 16, 2019. I was carrying at the ticket counter one hand carry backpack, one blue samsonite hard case suitcase and one black samsonite softside suitcase. I handed my us passport and two (2) pieces of luggage to the lady ticket agent at the pal counter to be checked in. I was instructed to put my suitcase to the weighing scale one at a time. I remember putting the black suitcase first and then the blue suitcase was a few pounds over weight but she didn't say anything about the extra pounds and I remember seeing her tagged the two pieces and placed them on the conveyor belt. She gave me back my passport and boarding pass, without explaining and showing my baggage tags, which gate to go and etc. I went on to my gate without checking my baggage tags at the back of my boarding pass. And to be honest I never remember checking or I dont really bother checking those baggage tags. What I constantly check is flight time, where my boarding gate is and the boarding time. The lady failed to show the tags and I would have corrected her right away that I gave her 2 suitcases and not one. When we arrived in los angeles only one suitcase showed up. The blue hard case went missing.. Pal personnel at the airport told me that I only checked in one piece and not two. As there is only one baggage tag attached at the back of my boarding pass.. They did not believe when I tried to explain about what happened when I checked in manila with the ticket agent that issued me my boarding pass. I requested for them to check their cctv in manila and they will clearly see the whole thing that I gave them my two suitcase and expect to have them back. I started traveling international in 1982 and never had a problem whatsoever with any airline. I filed my claim and I have been exchanging emails and phone calls with philippine airlines or pal.. And I have constantly mentioning for them to check their cctv. One of the lady supervisor I spoke with told me there are certain rules or reason on when they can ask to check cctvs. I told them that this could be a crime because somebody stole my suitcase. And that they are responsible for that. My 2 suitcase disappeared in their possession. On july 2, 2019, they said they will look into the cctv, wow finally! They requested to send them my pictures, color of my shirt at the airport and flight details and the number of the ticket counter I checked in (which I can not remember) they said that "security department holds cctv in terminal 2" I complied right away and email them back with the requirements. On july 13, 2019, pal denied my claim because cctv can not be retrieved anymore. This is where they based their decision to deny my claim. I am hoping for a fair investigation. You can call me anytime to answer any question. Thank you very much. Respectfully yours, ricardo l zervoulakos cp # [protected]

I flew from Hong Kong to Sydney with a transfer in Manila. This was my second and last time to use the airline.

The first time I used the airline, I thought it was OK, but I remember thinking that the service on Cebu Pacific (budget airline) was better. I had requested a vegetarian meal, but as it was a short flight, I didn't mind that it was forgotten - [censored] happens.

They forgot again on this trip and from HK to SYD with a transfer in Manila, this flight stretched out to ten hours. The crew were unapologetic, didn't offer me a bread roll, fruit or anything. When I informed them that PAL forgot last time, they just laughed. A stark contrast to the friendly and welcoming nature of Filipinos elsewhere.

It's 2019, it's time to update your food and beverage offerings. Also, the crew on your planes aren't a fraction as friendly as the vast majority of Filipinos you'd meet on a daily basis. Why is that?

I rebooked my 10 yr old son from july 11 to july 16 because that is the only schedule available his auntie will be on to accompany him. $925.23 old fare already cancelled that rebooked and paid $520 for the new ticket. Okay flight confirmed a day before his flight pal emailed that his flight be moved to july 17 for some reason they cannot give. I called the custmer hotline asking them why thay just said operations maintenance i questioned why his auntie was not rescheduled. They cant give me an answer instead just rebook his flight on a preferred date. We explained that we cant give them a date but asked them to give us full refund since its their fault my son cant go home and be accompanied by his auntie. They will not allow full refund since my son has a philippine passoort he needs to have a returning ticket and date should be within 30 days. I said we cannot guarantee it because no one will accompany him and explained that he has 6 months to stay here on a tourist visa. Agent on the phone insist she cant do anything and cannot even guarantee a full refund after we provide a returning ticket. I for one did not make or rebook my ticket worth $1171.13 so i just cancelled it cause i cant refund anything. What im saying i want a full refund for my 10 year old son who pal rescheduled a flight that he might not also be able to go sonce he doesnt have any adult ro accompany him. I want full refund also to my ticket or partial refund atleast since circumstances arises since i am taking care of 2 young children here my 5 and 2 year old children plis a 10 year ild son.