If you’re looking for Philippine Airlines’ app on the App Store, you may be confused to find it’s called My PAL Player. Nope, it’s not a video game. That’s the name of Philippine Airline’s app and it only works if you are actually on one of their airplanes. Instead, you’ll have to use your phone’s web browser to look up anything related to your flight. Using an iPhone 6 Safari browser, this is what you’ll uncover…
The key things you are looking for are right there on the home screen: booking a flight, booking a package, in to managing an existing booking, checking into a flight or checking on a flight’s status. When you’re looking to book a flight, not only does the system enable you to look up different flight classes, it even encourages you to while the screen is loading. It offers you a tip to check fare classes to find cheaper airfare. All information is clearly laid out step by step and it would be fairly easy to book a new reservation straight from your mobile device.
If you’d rather, you can book a flight and hotel together, or just a hotel on their “Book a Package” section. The experience is optimized for mobile.
In the top left corner of the home screen is a drop down menu that features additional web pages: PAL Experience, Promos, Mabuhay Miles, About Us, PAL Boutique and the ability to search by country.
The PAL Experience tab has all relevant information about the airline from timetables to other airline partners and information about the in-flight experience as well as good things to know before you fly. The Promos tab is worth a browse if you haven’t yet booked your flight, as it showcases a few current deals, although it’s not very robust. Mabuhay Miles will redirect you to another website, where you can choose to become a member to accrue points. The About Us section includes a 24/7 live chat feature, a unique offering that many other airlines don’t seem to offer. Alternatively, they offer two phone numbers and their mailing address, should you have any feedback or concerns regarding your existing travel plans and reservations.
A few drawbacks to the app are that there isn’t a clear label that brings you back to the homepage (you click on their logo that is always at the top of your screen). A few pages have lag time, not drastically slow, but not an instantaneous load either. Additionally, if you are checking in to a flight, they recommend printing out your boarding pass. It is unclear if your mobile boarding pass will still work, but it’s not recommended, which makes life more difficult when booking. There doesn’t appear to be a weather integration; you will have to look elsewhere to find out the weather at your destination.
A plus to the app, besides the unique 24/7 chat feature, are local advisories and travel alerts that are helpful and relevant to people who are currently traveling or have an upcoming trip. These alerts scroll on the home screen letting people know about expected delays and new requirements for certain destinations.
Leave a Reply