Philippine Airlines: The Complete Guide to Mabuhay Miles Frequent Flyer Program

Philippine Airlines is the flag carrier of the Philippinshes. The Manila-based airline serves domestic destinations and overseas destinations across Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, Europe and North America, including a few non-stop flights to the United States.

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Mabuhay Miles is the Philippine Airlines frequent flyer program. Members from the United States can rack up on miles by flying with Philippine and any of its airline partners. Miles can be redeemed for award flights. For all the best ways to earn and burn Mabuhay Miles, keep reading.

Airline Alliance	None
Hubs	Manila, Cebu, Clark, Davao
U.S. Destinations	Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco
U.S. Credit Cards	None
Transfer Partners	None
Redemption Options	Flights

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Mabuhay Miles Elite Status

When you join Mabuhay Miles, you automatically become a Classic member. Above that are three status tiers: Elite, Premier Elite and Million Miler. To move up a tier, you need to fly a certain amount of Tier/Flight Miles or fly a certain number of one-way Qualifying Flights, in one calendar year.

	TIER/FLIGHT MILES	QUALIFYING FLIGHTS
Classic	0	0
Elite	25,000	30 (in any class of service) or 15 (in Business Class)
Premier Elite	45,000	50 (in any class of service) or 25 (in Business Class)
Million Miler	1,000,000	–

Once you unlock a tier, you have that status until the end of the following calendar year, and you’ll enjoy the following benefits:

	ELITE	PREMIER ELITE	MILLION MILER
Miles bonus	25%	75%	25% – 75%
Priority standby	Yes	Yes	Yes
Priority check-in	Yes	Yes	Yes + 1
Extra baggage allowance	10kg*	30kg	40kg
Extra carry-on allowance	–	+ 1	+ 2
Extra sports equipment allowance	–	–	+ 20kg
Lounge access	Yes	Yes	Yes + 2
Priority boarding	Yes	Yes	Yes + 1
Priority baggage handling	Yes	Yes	Yes + 1
Upgrade Travel Certificates (UTCs)	–	Yes	Yes
Waiver on all Mabuhay Miles processing fees	–	–	Yes

*Except to/from USA, Canada, Middle East, Japan and Guam

Go to the Mabuhay Miles member benefits page for more details.

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Earning Mabuhay Miles

Compared to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Delta SkyMiles and other frequent flyer programs based in the United States, earning Mabuhay Miles is not an easy feat for Americans. That said, it’s not an impossible task. Here are all the ways you can rack up on Mabuhay Miles:

Flights

Without any loyalty program transfer partners or co-branded credit cards in the United States, the easiest way for U.S. residents to earn Mabuhay Miles is by flying with Philippine Airlines and the following airline partners:

Accrual rate depends on flight distance and class of service.

Other Ways

Mabuhay members can also earn miles by:

• Booking accommodations via Agoada PointsMAX, Booking.com, Kaligo, or RocketMiles.
• Booking accommodations directly with Hilton Hotels, Radisson Hotel Group, or Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts.
• Renting a car with Advantage Rent-A-Car, Avis, Hertz, Rentalcars.com, or Sixt.

There are even more ways to stock up on Mabuhay Miles, but they’re not easily accessible to Americans.

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Redeeming Mabuhay Miles

Most Mabuhay members use their miles for award flights with Philippine Airlines and partner carriers. The program utilizes a zone-based award chart. Have a look at Mabuhay domestic and international award charts here.

There are only a couple other ways to redeem Mabuhay Miles, but they’re not very relevant to U.S. residents.

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Mabuhay Miles Expiration

Mabuhay Miles will never expire, as long as you’re an active member. To stay active, you need to earn or burn miles (including transferring miles and reinstating expired miles) every two years or so.

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Mabuhay Miles Tips & Tricks

Promotions. To get the most bang for your miles, check the Mabuhay Miles promotions page.

Sweet spots. You’ll get great value when you book business class on long-haul routes, for example to the United States or Australia from the Philippines. Same goes for Premium Economy awards. We also recommend ANA awards for routes from their hubs, such as ANA first class from Tokyo to San Francisco for just 65,000 miles.

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Bottom Line

Mabuhay Miles is not the most valuable frequent flyer program based in Asia. Philippine Airlines is not part of an alliance. It has no loyalty program transfer partners, no U.S.-based, co-branded credit cards, and redemptions are extremely limited for Americans. The only reasons why you might consider signing up, is if you’re based in Manila and you frequently fly with Philippines Airlines.

If you often travel to or from Asia, you might want to consider the frequent flyer programs from ANA, Asiana and Singapore Airlines as well.

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