Reply to Query PAL Version

Thank you for the email we received apprising of your reported experience with us. At the outset, please accept our regrets for the disappointment you may have felt as a result.

A request for feedback from various offices had been initiated to provide us with the full circumstances of the reported incident. The handling Customer Management Officer will further communicate with you for the resolution of your concerns. Meanwhile, you are assured of our most preferential attention.

This is the reply I got for a complaint I filed (via CARE) against the Philippine Airlines (PAL) LAX Ground Crew. Que ba! This is so insulting!

This is what happened:

On my return flight to Manila (from Los Angeles) via PR103 last 13 May 2010, I was at LAX by 2:00PM. So when the check-in counters opened at 5:30 , I was the first to check-in for the Mabuhay Class queue. I asked for a seat in the forward section of the cabin instead of the upper deck since my carry-on luggage was a roller-type bag which weighed exactly 7 kilos.

The check-in counter representative, Melissa, informed me that since the business class seats on the forward section of the cabin were given according to booking class ("J" and "C" automatically get these seats. "D" and "I" booking classes are accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis and is subject to availability), she is very sorry that my request cannot be granted inasmuch as I had a "D" class booking and that all seats in my requested section are taken because it is released on a first-come, first-served basis nga. Wow! I looked around and although the line at the economy class counters extended up to outside the terminal, I was the only one checking-in for Mabuhay Class. I voiced this out to her but the antipatika maintained her stoic expression.

At the boarding gates, the ground personnel were paging for passengers, asking them to proceed to the boarding gate "for an important message". Now for those who do not know in reality, the passengers receiving "an important message" actually receive a new boarding pass ... they get upgraded hence they are assigned seats in Mabuhay Class hence the issuance of a new boarding pass. Good for them!

Seated across me were a couple who happened to be very, very nice! We were talking when they heard their names paged. They went to the boarding gate and after about 5 minutes, they gleefully returned to their seats and they were happy because they got upgraded. They noticed my blue boarding pass and remarked "sana magkatabi tayo!". I replied and said I hope so too, so that we can continue chatting. The lady then said "saan ka ba naka-upo?" and when i told them I was seated on 14C, she said "ay malayo pala tayo kasi kami 2A at 2C eh". I told her that not only are we far from each other but more so, we are seated in different sections of the aircraft. And then it hit me! Que leche!

WHAT? I thought those seats were taken?

As this is too much for me to take, I approached the ground crew at the boarding gate and told a man by the name of Nestor what happened. The puñetero animal personnel, without even looking at me, told me:

1) "Nag seat request po ba kayo nung binili nyo yung ticket? Kasi po, pay mayroong nag-request tapos kayo hindi, hndi talaga namin mabibigay yung upuan maski na po gusto namin sana."

I told him that I tried to request for a seat but then I was told that the seat I am requesting for is on a first-come, first served basis. I also pointed out to him yet again, that I was the first to check-in for that flight. He then asked to see my ticket and after reading it, the moron had this to say:

2) "Ay kasi po eh maski Mabuhay Class yung ticket ninyo, "D" lang ang booking class eh. Eh first-come, first served ho ang release namin ng upuan so next time ho, agahan nyo na lang".

Yet again I told him I was there even before the check-in counters opened and siempre he had another excuse:

2) "Ang priority din po kasi pag ganyan, yung mga frequent flyer ng PAL, gaya ng Million Miler, Premier Elite o kaya ho ay Elite na members. Ganun po talaga kasi ang policy na parang loyalty program din ng PAL".

I took out my Mabuhay Miles Premier Elite card and showed it to the moron.

Then, and only then, did the chonggo straighten up, looked at me, smiled and then told me: "We are very sorry. I will check kung ano po ang nangyari. In the meantime, to address your concern, paki-hingi na lang po ng CARE Form sa inyong Flight Purser, fill it out and you will receive a Notice of Action from PAL. Sorry po talaga."

Of course he is "sorry"; he ran out of excuses already!