At the start of the pandemic, American Airlines filed for codeshares with Philippine Airlines amidst fairly outlandish rumors they’d fly to Manila.
That codeshare is now a reality, and American AAdvantage members can earn miles when flying on an American Airlines marketed Philippine Airlines flight.
- American Airlines is putting its code on flights from Manila to Guam, Tokyo Haneda and Narita, and Honolulu as well as between Cebu and Tokyo Narita. These codeshares are now on sale for traveling beginning Thursday.
- Philippine Airlines is putting its code on American Airlines flights from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami and Washnigton National airport.
Credit: Philippine Airlines
The codeshare benefits onward connections from Philippine’s Los Angeles service. There is no assistance for San Francisco or New York JFK – Manila.
Meanwhile, American is selling connections beyond its Tokyo and Honolulu flights. Notably, American is not codesharing on U.S. to Philippines other than Guam where it does not fly. (Is there significant U.S. government-funded travel between Manila and Guam where the Fly America Act would give American a leg up with this codeshare?)
With the dismantling of Los Angeles as American’s transpacific gateway, once-rumored Manila service on their own aircraft seems even less likely now. And even their plans to launch transpacific service from Seattle have not materialized.
One complication with the codeshare has been that United Airlines was locked in a pitched regulatory battle with Philippine Airlines – United wanted better landing slots at Manila to offer viable service, and had been frustrated.
They were pushing back against Philippine’s expansion into the U.S. United sought to have the U.S. government punish consumers and competitors because it was unable to get what it wanted from the Philippine government. United Airlines has launched its own-metal non-stop to Manila.
A Philippine Airlines partnership could be huge for American Airlines customers, but so far there’s only the option of earning when booking an American Airlines codeshare for travel on Philippine Airlines flights. There’s no ability to earn miles without the American code attached, and no ability to redeem for travel on Philippine Airlines.
Business class, credit: Philippine Airlines
That’s too bad because in my experience Philippine Airlines nearly always has business class award space available on their U.S. to Manila flights, and because the only viable options for redeeming this in recent times has been ANA Mileage Club (an American Express transfer partner) but ANA has suspended these redemptions.
Where’s Delta in all of this?
I get stuck flying PAL somewhat regularly because of a client, and I sure wish this was a meaningful partnership where I could broadly earn AA miles (and loyalty points) for flying them.
No Chicago codeshare? Then PAL is a hard pass. So is UA. Sticking to EVA for now.
Please American do a non-stop from DFW to MNL. That would be awesome.
Isn’t PAL a low quality airline and Manila a dump of an airport?
Manila airport is very difficult to navigate ,if you fly in on an international flight and you want to continue on via a domestic flight they are in different terminals with no way to access the other terminal without leaving the airport via outside transportation,as far as all these code shares Delta started offering flights in there itinerary for Phillipines airlines in April,which I have taken several times,but you receive zero miles,I end up in Cebu,so I try now to avoid Manila completely
PAL’s not a low-quality airline, but is in fact, a 4-star airline, though with a modest flight network. I agree the current Manila airport is a dump, but 2 new very large and modern airports may be operational by 2027. By then, they will likely be invited to join the One World alliance.
“Interesting dynamics in codeshare strategies! While Philippine’s Los Angeles service sees benefits for onward connections, it’s notable that American isn’t codesharing on its U.S. to Philippines routes, except for Guam. Wonder if Fly America Act plays a role in this decision.
@Gary @GaryLeff Do you have a source for ANA stopping manila-us redeptions? All ANA’S website says is “Effective November 6, 2023, Philippine Airlines(PR) has suspended sales on certain segments.” No mention of which ones. I can’t find any info online, can you link it if you have it? I flew PAL jfk-mnl-ceb RT in May for 95k ANA miles and 500usd. Great redemption, Great seat, great crew, and great food. Only bad part was transitting manila sucks.
@Scott – my failed attempts at booking, being told this by agents, consistent with what was posted online
Interesting – TWA had a code-share or partnership with Philippine Air.
PAL has a monopoly on non-stop flights from the USA to/from Manila.
This is reflected in their higher than average ticket prices.
Unfortunately, PAL is failing to do maintenance in their cabins and this harms the comfort of passengers The last couple times I’ve flown PAL, I’ve seen excessive broken items like seat adjustments, broken food trays, and non-working entertainment systems. Worst of all is the seat cushioning not being replaced. Flights between the Los Angeles and Manila are typically 13 -14 hours. Unless you bring your own cushion, your butt will feel like you spent those long hours sitting on a park bench!
Good news! PAL and AA both stand to gain here. Love going to Phils! I’m from Florida so more points earning/using options to get there the better. MCO to LAX sounding like best option. I did that flight last year, in economy on both airlines. It was a good time. Not having to pickup your checked bags at LAX is a huge convenience when transferring from AA to PAL, and vice versa.
Wow, Philippine Airlines no longer allows redemptions using ANA miles? This is terrible! I’ve flown on them quite a few times, 95k roundtrip business class between US and Asia has been a steal, their A350 1-2-1 configuration from the East Coast is fantastic, and award flights are plentiful for almost any date I want to travel for. Any idea if this is just a technical issue that will be fixed soon, or permanent?
Just called ANA after an 1-1/2 hour long wait. The Japan agent said that PAL suspended bookings at the moment.
Will PAL add my mileage travel to my AA mileage if I was booked initially to PAL travel fro HI to Mnl?