Manila to POM – Bathrooms & Boarding Passes
We traveled LA to Honolulu to Manila to Port Moresby to Goroka. We planned our route through Manila because it was the fastest and cheapest option to get to PNG. It was great because we didn’t have to overnight anywhere and our longest flight was “only” ten hours. I wish I had known before we left that even though we booked our ticket straight through, we still had to pick up our bags and go through customs in Manila. Tip: Go to the bathroom as soon as you get off the plane because once you get through customs they are few and far in between. Also, there are no American queues; everyone just crowds around and cutting in front of people is apparently acceptable. At the information desk people were very helpful and spoke wonderful English. We had no trouble making our way to International Departures. The bathrooms in this area were far away and in a sketchy area.
People start lining up early for the Air Niugini desk. We waited in line for two hours before the desk even opened and there were at least fifty people in front of us. We had to have proof that we had just gotten off of a flight from America in order to be allowed our two suitcases at 70lbs each. We also had to show our boarding pass from our flight from the states in order to not have to pay the Manila departure tax.
Once we went through security we were happy to find better bathrooms and that the airport accepts American money. Plus, while we were there, they had free internet kiosks.
traveling to png 