Flights from Manila to Los Angeles — Schedule, Carriers, Best Time

Manila (MNL) to Los Angeles (LAX) is the Philippines’ biggest balikbayan corridor, flown nonstop by Philippine Airlines with around 14 weekly departures and a 13-hour block. Off-peak roundtrip economy fares sit between PHP 55,000-85,000, surging past PHP 130,000 during Pasko balikbayan season. SoCal hosts the largest Filipino-American diaspora, kaya laging busy ang route.

Route at a glance

14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on MNL–LAX, flown by Philippine Airlines, with a scheduled block of 13.0 hours. The cheapest one-way in our cache is ₱27,033. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 1 carrier on file.

This corridor carries a demand score of 9/10 in our route file and is flagged as a leisure, VFR and business corridor. Largest balikbayan corridor. Read that number for what it is: an editorial 1-10 ranking of estimated Filipino-language search interest, built for prioritising which pages we research first. It is not a passenger count, not a load factor, and not a quality signal about the airlines involved. High-scoring corridors are the ones where seats on the cheapest fare classes disappear first and where the gap between an early booking and a two-week-out booking is widest; low-scoring corridors tend to hold their price longer but give you fewer departures to choose from if a plan slips.

• Distance & duration: ~13 hours nonstop, MNL to LAX.
• Carriers nonstop: Philippine Airlines (PR) only. United and Delta connect via Tokyo or Seoul.
• Frequency: ~14 weekly departures (twice-daily PAL).
• Travel profile: Balikbayan-dominant, family visits + Christmas reunion runs.

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Best time to book

₱27,033 is the cheapest MNL–LAX one-way in this site’s fare cache, on Asiana Airlines. It is a cache floor for one date and fare class, not a held quote. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 1 carrier on file.

We take one reading a week and keep it. Over 7 of them the low was ₱27,033 in 2026-W31 and the high ₱54,727 — a 2.0× swing on an unchanged route, which is the single most useful thing this series says. Week to week the last move was down ₱3,202 (11%) from 2026-W29 to 2026-W31. Method, so you can discount it properly: each point is the cheapest one-way the feed could see in that ISO week, not a booked price and not an average of the market, and a week where the poll caught a promotional seat reads lower than the week either side of it. Use the range, not one week’s reading. A fare inside the lower third of that band is a good one on this pair; a fare above the top of it is worth re-checking a week later before you commit.

Cheapest pockets are mid-January through March at September through early November, when fares dip to PHP 52,000-68,000 roundtrip. Avoid the Dec 1-Jan 8 Pasko balikbayan rush, kasi the entire SoCal Fil-Am community books home flights — fares can hit PHP 150,000+. June graduations at Holy Week (April) are also expensive. For tipid pricing, book 4-6 months ahead po. Tuesday and Wednesday departures shave PHP 4,000-7,000 versus weekend banks. Connecting via NRT or ICN with United/Korean Air is sometimes 15-20% cheaper than the PAL nonstop, kapag flexible ka sa schedule.

Carriers compared

1 carrier — Philippine Airlines — is catalogued nonstop on MNL–LAX, filing about 14 one-way departures a week. All carry 23 kg economy checked baggage. ₱27,033 is the lowest one-way the fare feed returned for this route on 2026-08-02. 7 weekly fare snapshots are held for this pair, the most recent from 2026-W31.

A single nonstop operator changes the arithmetic in two directions. On price, there is no competitive floor on the nonstop: the cheapest seats open and close on Philippine Airlines’ own inventory cycle, so the usual advice to wait for a fare war does not apply — connecting itineraries on other carriers are the only real competition, and they cost you hours. On disruption, a cancellation has nowhere obvious to go. With one operator there is no same-day sister flight unless the frequency itself is high, and rebooking onto a competitor requires an interline or alliance link. If your dates are fixed — a reporting date, a contract start, a family event — the risk-managed choice on this pair is an earlier departure with a day of slack behind it, not the cheapest one closest to the deadline.

Fare bracket (peso-first)

₱27,033 is the cheapest MNL–LAX one-way in this site’s fare cache, on Asiana Airlines. It is a cache floor for one date and fare class, not a held quote. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 1 carrier on file.

That ₱27,033 is a cache reading, not a quote, and the difference is worth stating plainly. It is the lowest one-way price the fare feed returned for MNL–LAX at the moment it was polled, for one specific departure date, in one specific fare class. It is a single one-way observation rather than an average, and it is not held: the inventory behind it is thin and often gone within the day. Three things it also excludes: checked baggage where the carrier sells a bags-free base fare, seat selection, and any change or refund flexibility. Treat it as the floor of the range you should expect to see, then compare the all-in total once the bag you actually need is added back.

• Low (Feb-Mar, Sep-early Nov): PHP 52,000-68,000 (USD 930-1,215).
• Mid (May-Jul, late Oct): PHP 70,000-95,000 (USD 1,250-1,700).
• Peak (Dec 1-Jan 8 Pasko, June reunions): PHP 110,000-150,000 (USD 1,965-2,680).

Balikbayan-specific notes

1 of the 1 carrier on MNL–LAX publish an OFW baggage uplift; the largest is 10 kg with Philippine Airlines, on top of a 23 kg economy base. It is granted at check-in against documents, not by fare class.

Los Angeles as an arrival point

4 facts identify the arrival airport on this pair: LAX is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX/KLAX); the local currency is USD; region North America; OFW relevance rated low.

On arrival you are landing at Los Angeles International Airport, ICAO KLAX, serving Los Angeles, United States. Largest balikbayan corridor; Filipino-American population concentrated SoCal. Across the whole Philippine market, Philippine Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are the carriers our destination file records as serving Los Angeles from home — a wider set than the ones flying this particular pair, which is why a Manila routing sometimes opens options Manila does not have. One habit worth forming on any arrival: read the airport, not the city name. Where a city has more than one airport, the low fare is often into the outlying field, and the road time and taxi fare can wipe out the difference. Check which airport your fare actually lands at before you compare two prices, and if you are connecting onward from a different airport in the same city, treat that as a separate journey with its own buffer — no airline protects a connection that involves a taxi.

Kabayan, the December rush is no joke — book by August para tipid. PAL’s two-bag US allowance (32 kg each on Premium Economy, 23 kg on Economy) is hard to beat for balikbayan-box runs. Bring a printed copy of your I-94 record at green card / visa, kasi US CBP pre-clearance starts at NAIA Terminal 1. Pasalubong tip: Philippine snacks, dried mangoes, at chocolate are usually fine through US customs, pero meat products at fresh fruit are confiscated. Bayanihan Care reps at NAIA help OFs with first-time US travel paperwork.

Entry rules for a Philippine passport in United States

1 rule governs entry here for a Philippine passport: B1/B2 visitor visa required, at $185 USD non-refundable, for a maximum stay of decided at port of entry, typically 6 months. Verified 2026-05-18. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 1 carrier on file.

• United States — B1/B2 visitor visa required; fee $185 USD non-refundable; max stay Decided at port of entry, typically 6 months. In-person interview required at US Embassy Manila. Appointment wait times currently 60–180 days. ESTA does NOT apply to Philippine passports. Official source

Two things this table does not cover, and they are the ones that strand people. A visa grants permission to apply for entry — the officer at the border still decides, and a return or onward ticket plus proof of funds is what that decision usually turns on. And a visa for your destination says nothing about the countries you transit: several major hubs require their own transit visa or a same-terminal, same-ticket connection to be exempt, and the exemption is lost the moment you have to collect a bag and check in again. Visa rules change frequently. Use this as a starting reference only; verify with the destination’s embassy or official immigration portal before booking. For OFW employment visas, follow the DMW deployment process — that is separate from tourist/visit visas.

Checked baggage and the OFW uplift on MNL–LAX

10 kg is the largest OFW uplift on this route, carried by Philippine Airlines on top of a 23 kg economy base — 33 kg in total for a qualifying passenger. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 1 carrier on file.

Checked allowance on this pair, from our carrier file:

• Philippine Airlines — 23 kg economy base, +10 kg under Overseas Filipino Bayani Program (extra baggage 10kg + handling) = 33 kg for a qualifying worker.

The uplift is the part people get wrong, so here is where it does not reach. It belongs to the passenger through a programme rather than to the ticket, and it is released at the counter against documents — an OEC or OFW Pass and, usually, the employment contract. Book a bags-free base fare on a low-cost carrier and there is no base allowance for the uplift to sit on top of. Book the domestic feeder as a separate ticket and the uplift does not follow the bag onto it. Fly a segment operated by a partner airline under a codeshare and the operating carrier’s own rules apply, not the one whose code is on your ticket. And the allowance is per passenger, not per booking — you cannot pool it across a family unless the airline’s own pooling rule says so. Verify the number at booking; excess bought at the airport is priced per kilo and is the most expensive kilo you will ever buy.

Delays and cancellations: what actually applies on MNL–LAX

1 federal rulebook reaches MNL–LAX: the US Department of Transportation’s consumer rules. They mandate a prompt refund for a cancelled or significantly changed flight you decline, and payment for involuntary denied boarding — but no cash compensation for a delay. Philippine departures are separately covered by the Air Passenger Bill of Rights.

United States rules are the ones most often misread, so state the shape plainly: the US Department of Transportation regulates refunds, not delay compensation. A cancelled or significantly changed flight you decline entitles you to a prompt refund of the unused portion, and being bumped from an oversold flight against your will carries a set denied-boarding payment. There is no US equivalent of a fixed cash payment for a late arrival — an EU261-style amount does not exist on a US corridor in either direction, whichever airline you fly. Reference: US DOT — Aviation Consumer Protection.

On the Manila end, a flight departing a Philippine airport is covered by the Air Passenger Bill of Rights administered by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which obliges the carrier to offer rebooking or a refund and to provide amenities as a delay lengthens. Its shape matters: refunds and service obligations, not a tariff of cash compensation — do not plan a claim around a fixed sum.

FAQ

8 questions below draw only on the route, carrier and fare data this project keeps for MNL–LAX. Cache readings are labelled as cache readings, and any rule with exceptions is answered with the exceptions attached. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 1 carrier on file.

Carriers catalogued nonstop on MNL–LAX

1 carrier — Philippine Airlines — are catalogued nonstop on MNL–LAX, filing about 14 one-way departures a week between them.

What each operator brings to this pair, from our carrier file:

• Philippine Airlines (PR) — alliance none (ex-oneworld observer); hubs MNL/CEB; 23 kg economy checked; +10 kg OFW uplift; PH brand strength 10/10.

What is the cheapest Manila to Los Angeles fare on record here? ₱27,033 one-way — the lowest price the fare feed returned for MNL–LAX when this route was last polled on 2026-08-02, on Asiana Airlines. That is the minimum of one record for one route, not of the whole cache: a floor for a single date and fare class, not a held quote, and it excludes checked baggage where the carrier sells it separately.

How much do MNL–LAX fares move week to week? Across 7 weekly snapshots from 2026-W19 to 2026-W31 the cheapest one-way ranged ₱27,033 to ₱54,727. Each point is the lowest fare visible that week, not an average of the market.

Does the OFW baggage uplift apply to every fare on MNL–LAX? No. The largest uplift on this route is 10 kg with Philippine Airlines, granted at check-in against an OEC or OFW Pass. It does not apply to a bags-free base fare, to a separately ticketed domestic feeder, or to a codeshare segment operated by a partner under its own rules, and it is per passenger rather than per booking.

Can I claim delay compensation on MNL–LAX? Not for a delay. US DOT rules give you a prompt refund when a flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline the alternative, plus a set payment for involuntary denied boarding, but the United States has no fixed cash scale for a late arrival. Philippine departures are separately covered by the Civil Aeronautics Board’s Air Passenger Bill of Rights.

Magkano ang ticket Manila to LA? Roughly PHP 55,000-85,000 (USD 980-1,520) roundtrip economy off-peak; Pasko peak hits PHP 110,000-150,000.

Anong airline ang nag-fly nonstop sa LAX? PAL lang ang nonstop, twice-daily. UA at DL connect via Tokyo or Seoul — minsan mas mura pero may layover.

Pwede ba magdala ng balikbayan box sa flight? Yes — PAL allows 2x32 kg on US routes (Premium Economy) at 2x23 kg Economy. Door-to-door cargo is mas mura pero 6-8 weeks tagal.

Kailan pinaka-mura ang flight? February-March at September-October. Avoid Nov-Jan Pasko at June graduation season.

Related guides on this site

• Balikbayan flights from the Philippines →
• Flights to United States →
• Philippine Airlines carrier guide →
• Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) →

Updated 9 May 2026. FlyPilipinas is a 14-person Filipino editorial team; content is researched and edited by Filipino travel and OFW specialists. About the author →.