Manila (MNL) to Shanghai Pudong (PVG) is China’s main eastern corridor for Pinoy travelers, flown nonstop by China Eastern, Air China, and Philippine Airlines with around 14 weekly departures and a 3.8-hour block. Fares are lowest off-peak, climbing during Chinese New Year. Demand is tourism + business — the Bund, Disneyland Shanghai, at trade-fair travel.
Route at a glance
14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on MNL–PVG, flown by China Eastern, Air China and Philippine Airlines, with a scheduled block of 3.8 hours. The cheapest one-way in our cache on 2026-08-02 was ₱6,070. ₱6,070 is the lowest one-way the fare feed returned for this route on 2026-08-02.
- Distance & duration: ~3.8 hours nonstop, MNL to PVG.
- Carriers nonstop: China Eastern (MU), Air China (CA), Philippine Airlines (PR).
- Frequency: ~14 weekly departures combined.
- Travel profile: Tourism-dominant + business travel — Disneyland Shanghai, Yu Garden, the Bund, plus trade fairs.
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Best time to book
₱6,070 was the cheapest MNL–PVG one-way in this site’s fare cache on 2026-08-02. 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 3 carriers on file.
We take one reading a week and keep it. Over 7 of them the low was ₱5,297 in 2026-W29 and the high ₱8,236 — a 1.6× swing on an unchanged route, which is the single most useful thing this series says. Week to week the last move was up ₱773 (15%) 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 late March through May at September through early November. Avoid Chinese New Year window (mid-Jan to mid-Feb), kasi peak ang traffic; Shanghai’s Disneyland Christmas + October Pinoy school break also push fares. China’s Golden Week (Oct 1-7) is double whammy with PH October half-term — fares can hit PHP 50,000. China Eastern’s Tuesday-Wednesday departures are usually pinaka-mura. Book 5-8 weeks ahead po. Spring (Apr-May) is pleasant weather + best fares combined.
Carriers compared
3 carriers — China Eastern, Air China and Philippine Airlines — are catalogued nonstop on MNL–PVG, filing about 14 one-way departures a week. All carry 23 kg economy checked baggage. ₱6,070 is the lowest one-way the fare feed returned for this route on 2026-08-02.
What each operator brings to this pair:
- China Eastern (MU) — alliance SkyTeam; hubs PVG/SHA; 23 kg economy checked.
- Air China (CA) — alliance Star Alliance; hubs PEK; 23 kg economy checked.
- Philippine Airlines (PR) — alliance none (ex-oneworld observer); hubs MNL/CEB; 23 kg economy checked; +10 kg OFW uplift.
| Feature | China Eastern (MU) | Air China (CA) | Philippine Airlines (PR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base baggage economy | 30 kg | 30 kg | 23 kg |
| Total travel time | 3.8h direct | 3.8h direct | 3.8h direct |
| Frequency ex-MNL | Daily | Daily | ~5 weekly |
| First-time-friendly | Mid — Mandarin/English crew | Mid — Mandarin/English crew | High — Tagalog crew, familiar service |
Fare bracket (peso-first)
₱6,070 was the cheapest MNL–PVG one-way in this site’s fare cache on 2026-08-02. 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 3 carriers on file.
That ₱6,070 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–PVG 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 (Mar-May, Sep-early Nov).
- Mid (Jun-Aug, late Nov).
- Peak (Chinese New Year, Oct Golden Week, Dec).
Tourism + visa tips
14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 3 carriers on file. ₱6,070 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.
Whether China needs a visa from a Philippine passport holder matters more than it looks. Where a visa is required, the lead time on the application — not the fare — is what fixes your booking window, and buying a non-refundable ticket before the visa is issued is the most common expensive mistake on corridors like this one. Where entry is visa-free or visa-on-arrival, the permission is still conditional: officers routinely ask for an onward ticket, an address, and evidence you can fund the stay, and a visa-free stamp can be refused. Transit adds another layer again — the rule that matters in a connecting airport belongs to the transit country, not to your destination. 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.
Shanghai is China’s New York — modern, neon-lit, sulit para sa first-timer in mainland China. Pinoy must-dos: the Bund (sunset photos), Yu Garden, Nanjing Road shopping, French Concession cafes, at Disneyland Shanghai (1-2 day trip, similar lineup sa HK Disneyland pero mas malaki). From PVG, Maglev train sa Longyang Road in 8 minutes (~PHP 375 / CNY 50) — world’s fastest commercial train at 431 km/h. Then Metro Line 2 sa downtown. Philippine passports are not on the list for 240-hour visa-free transit in China, so plan on a tourist visa even for a short Shanghai stopover. Pasalubong tip: silk scarves, tea, mooncakes, at xiaolongbao freezer packs are PH-customs-friendly. Bring Alipay or WeChat Pay since cashless ang Shanghai.
Shanghai as an arrival point
4 facts identify the arrival airport on this pair: PVG is Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG/ZSPD); the local currency is CNY; region East Asia; OFW relevance rated low. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 3 carriers on file.
On arrival you are landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, ICAO ZSPD, serving Shanghai, China. Tourism + business. Across the whole Philippine market, China Eastern, Air China and Philippine Airlines are the carriers on record as serving Shanghai 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. Worth checking before you compare two prices: the code is an airport, not a city. 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.
Checked baggage and the OFW uplift on MNL–PVG
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 3 carriers on file.
Checked allowance on this pair (confirm with the airline before booking):
- China Eastern — 23 kg economy base, no OFW uplift on record.
- Air China — 23 kg economy base, no OFW uplift on record.
- 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.
FAQ
8 questions below are answered from the route, carrier and fare records this site holds for MNL–PVG. Anything that is a cached floor rather than a bookable price says so, and rules that fail in specific situations are answered with those situations named.
Delays and cancellations: what actually applies on MNL–PVG
2 rulebooks cover MNL–PVG from the Philippine side: the Civil Aeronautics Board’s Air Passenger Bill of Rights, which governs the departure from a Philippine airport, and the Montreal Convention 1999, which caps liability for delay and baggage. China may operate its own scheme for departures from its airports; this page does not track it.
None of the statutory compensation schemes this site sources — EU261, UK261, the Saudi GACA regulation, Canada’s APPR and the US DOT consumer rules — reaches MNL–PVG. Read that as a statement about our source list, not as a finding that China has no rules of its own: states routinely regulate departures from their own airports, and the civil aviation authority of China is the body to check before you conclude that nothing applies. What definitely does apply in both directions is the Montreal Convention 1999, which caps a carrier’s liability for delay and for baggage that is damaged, delayed or lost. Montreal reimburses proven loss up to a cap; it pays no fixed sum for the inconvenience itself, so keep receipts rather than counting hours.
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. It is a service and refund standard rather than a compensation tariff, so the outcome is rebooking, a refund and amenities rather than a set payment.
What is the cheapest Manila to Shanghai fare on record here? ₱6,070 one-way — the lowest price the fare feed returned for MNL–PVG when this route was last polled on 2026-08-02. 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–PVG fares move week to week? Across 7 weekly snapshots from 2026-W19 to 2026-W31 the cheapest one-way ranged ₱5,297 to ₱8,236. 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–PVG? 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–PVG? Not under any scheme this site sources. The fallback is the carrier’s conditions of carriage plus Montreal Convention 1999 liability limits, and China’s own civil aviation authority is worth checking for departures from its airports. Separately, a departure from a Philippine airport is covered by the Civil Aeronautics Board’s Air Passenger Bill of Rights, which mandates rebooking, refunds and amenities but sets no fixed cash scale.
Magkano ang ticket Manila to Shanghai? Fares move every week. The fare observation on this page shows the cheapest cached fare and the date it was found — use it as a reference, then check current fares before booking.
Kailangan ba ng China visa? Yes — tourist L visa, processing 5-7 days. Philippine passports are not on the list for 240-hour visa-free transit in China.
Anong airline ang sulit? China Eastern (30kg, mura), Air China (30kg), PAL (Tagalog crew). MU usually pinaka-mura.
Saan magkita ang Bund at airport? Maglev + Metro Line 2 sa Bund — 45 min total, ~PHP 450 / CNY 60.
Related guides on this site
- Flights to China →
- Cheap flights from Manila →
- Philippine Airlines carrier guide →
- Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) →
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