Manila (MNL) to Beijing (PEK) is China’s main northern corridor for Pinoy tourists, flown nonstop by Air China and Philippine Airlines with around 14 weekly departures and a 4.5-hour block. Fares are lowest off-peak, climbing during Chinese New Year (Jan-Feb) at Pinoy October holidays. Demand is mostly tourism — Great Wall bucket-list, Forbidden City — plus business travel.
Route at a glance
14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on MNL–PEK, flown by Air China and Philippine Airlines, with a scheduled block of 4.5 hours. The cheapest one-way in our cache on 2026-08-02 was ₱8,217. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 2 carriers on file.
- Distance & duration: ~4.5 hours nonstop, MNL to PEK.
- Carriers nonstop: Air China (CA), Philippine Airlines (PR).
- Frequency: ~14 weekly departures (CA + PR daily each).
- Travel profile: Tourism-dominant, business travel, Great Wall + Forbidden City sightseeing.
Check current fares on Aviasales →
Best time to book
₱8,217 was the cheapest MNL–PEK 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 2 carriers on file.
This is the trap the word direct sets. A nonstop MNL–PEK is catalogued at 4.5 hours of block time, but the lowest fare in our cache carries an elapsed time of 12.0 hours — the difference is a connection, and on a gap that size, quite possibly an overnight one. In airline language direct only promises that the flight number does not change; it can still touch down somewhere, and a through fare built on two flight numbers is not direct at all. Before you take the cheaper number, price the layover: a night you have to sleep somewhere, a transit visa you may need for the intermediate country, a second security screening, and the risk that a delay on leg one turns leg two into a rebooking. Sometimes the saving is still worth it. Decide that on purpose, not by sorting on price alone.
Cheapest pockets are late March through May at September through early November. Avoid Chinese New Year window (mid-Jan to mid-Feb), kasi diaspora-Chinese-Pinoy demand peaks; Beijing winter (Dec-Feb) is also expensive at uncomfortable (-5°C average). October’s Filipino school break + China’s Golden Week (Oct 1-7) is double-whammy peak — fares can hit PHP 50,000+. Air China’s Tuesday-Wednesday departures are pinaka-mura. Book 6-10 weeks ahead po. Spring (Apr-May) at autumn (Sep-Oct) are pleasant weather + best fares combined.
Carriers compared
2 carriers — Air China and Philippine Airlines — are catalogued nonstop on MNL–PEK, filing about 14 one-way departures a week. All carry 23 kg economy checked baggage. ₱8,217 is the lowest one-way the fare feed returned for this route on 2026-08-02.
What each operator brings to this pair:
- 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.
Beijing as an arrival point
4 facts identify the arrival airport on this pair: PEK is Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK/ZBAA); the local currency is CNY; region East Asia; OFW relevance rated low.
On arrival you are landing at Beijing Capital International Airport, ICAO ZBAA, serving Beijing, China. Air China + PR; visa required. Across the whole Philippine market, Air China and Philippine Airlines are the carriers on record as serving Beijing 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. Multi-airport cities are common, the discount is usually attached to the inconvenient field, and the ground leg quietly reclaims both the money and the hour. 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.
| Feature | Air China (CA) | Philippine Airlines (PR) |
|---|---|---|
| Base baggage economy | 30 kg | 23 kg |
| Total travel time | 4.5h direct | 4.5h direct |
| Frequency ex-MNL | Daily | Daily |
| First-time-friendly | Mid — Mandarin/English crew | High — Tagalog crew, familiar service |
Fare bracket (peso-first)
₱8,217 was the cheapest MNL–PEK 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 2 carriers on file.
We take one reading a week and keep it. Over 7 of them the low was ₱8,129 in 2026-W29 and the high ₱9,740 — a 1.2× swing on an unchanged route, which is the single most useful thing this series says. Week to week the last move was up ₱88 (1%) 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.
- 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 2 carriers on file. ₱8,217 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.
Beijing is the Pinoy bucket-list China destination — sulit ang 5-7 day itinerary covering Great Wall (Mutianyu section is least crowded), Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen, at Hutong neighborhoods. From PEK Daxing or Capital Airport, Airport Express Subway sa downtown in 25-40 minutes (~PHP 165 / CNY 22). 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 Beijing stopover. Tourist L-visa processing is 5-7 working days at the Chinese Embassy in Manila (~PHP 5,200). Pasalubong tip: Beijing duck (vacuum-packed), tea, at moon cakes are PH-customs-friendly. Bring AliPay or WeChat Pay app since cashless ang Beijing — get a tourist Travel Card option through your hotel.
Checked baggage and the OFW uplift on MNL–PEK
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 2 carriers on file.
Checked allowance on this pair (confirm with the airline before booking):
- 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.
Delays and cancellations: what actually applies on MNL–PEK
2 rulebooks cover MNL–PEK 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–PEK. 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. Its shape matters: refunds and service obligations, not a tariff of cash compensation — do not plan a claim around a fixed sum.
The cheapest MNL–PEK fare we have on file
₱8,217 is the lowest one-way the Travelpayouts feed returned for MNL–PEK when this route was last polled on 2026-08-02, with 1 stop, for a September 2026 departure. The cached itinerary runs 12.0 hours end to end. 14 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 2 carriers on file.
That ₱8,217 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–PEK at the moment it was polled, for one specific departure date, in one specific fare class. It averages nothing, covers one direction only, and is not reserved — that price normally sits on a small block of seats that can disappear mid-search. 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.
FAQ
8 questions below are answered from the route, carrier and fare records this site holds for MNL–PEK. Where a number is a cache floor it is described as one, and where a rule does not hold universally the gaps are spelled out.
Entry rules for a Philippine passport in China
Entry rules for China depend on your passport and purpose of travel, and we have not re-checked them recently. Confirm them with the official immigration source of China before booking.
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.
What is the cheapest Manila to Beijing fare on record here? ₱8,217 one-way — the lowest price the fare feed returned for MNL–PEK 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–PEK fares move week to week? Across 7 weekly snapshots from 2026-W19 to 2026-W31 the cheapest one-way ranged ₱8,129 to ₱9,740. 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–PEK? 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–PEK? 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 Beijing? 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 visa para sa China? 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? Air China (30kg baggage, Mandarin/English) at PAL (Tagalog crew). Both daily nonstop.
Worth ba mag-Beijing tour para sa Pinoy? Sulit kapag bucket-list — Great Wall, Forbidden City, 5-7 day stay.
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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