We were initially supposed to fly from Manila to Incheon on a smaller aircraft, but we were pleasantly surprised with a last minute aircraft upgrade to the Philippine Airlines Business Class Airbus A 330 tri-class. This aircraft offered modern, lie-flat seats, and individual pods for business class travelers. Even though our flight was only four hours from Manila to Seoul, it was a true pleasure flying business class with Philippine Airlines.

The Airbus A330-300 tri-class has a business class, premium economy class, and economy class. It has a twin aisle configuration and the business class is very spacious. Sky-trax recently certified Philippine Air as a 4-star airline and personally, we think this has to be in large part to the upgraded A330 aircraft.

The seat configuration of the Philippine Air (@flypal) is a 1-2-1 configuration. While the window seats offer a beautiful and private cubby, this 1-2-1 configuration can be difficult for couples traveling together. Of course, if couples want to sit close to one another, they have the option of sitting in the middle section of business class, however, they will not have a good view. We chose a window and aisle seat next to each other so at least one of us had a window seat.

The seats are 78-inches long and fully lie-flat. Our only issue with the seats were that they seemed to push you down towards the foot area so that it was difficult to watch television while reclining.

Please check SeatGuru prior to booking your seat as some window seats are close to the aisle and others are closer to the window, which can cause a disturbance by being too close to the aisle.

From the moment we boarded our flight to Incheon, the flight attendants on Philippine Air made us feel extremely welcomed. They greeted us by name and offered us cocktails within seconds of boarding (always a win in our book!). The flight attendants were extremely attentive, friendly, and accommodating. It was a true pleasure to fly with the Philippine Air crew.

The Mabuhay Lounge at Manila Airport in terminal two is subpar in contrast to the onboard experience. The lounge struggled to be air-conditioned, it was very crowded, and the food was a struggle to get down. However, in comparison with the general airport experience at Manila Airport, the Mabuhay lounge was definitely a step-up.