Flights from Manila to San Francisco — Schedule, Carriers, Best Time

Manila (MNL) to San Francisco (SFO) is one of the top three balikbayan corridors, flown nonstop by Philippine Airlines and United with around 12 weekly departures and a 12.5-hour block. Off-peak roundtrip economy fares sit between PHP 58,000-88,000, surging during Pasko reunion season. The Bay Area’s Fil-Am community — Daly City, San Bruno, Vallejo — keeps demand laging busy.

Route at a glance

12 one-way departures a week are catalogued on MNL–SFO, flown by Philippine Airlines and United Airlines, with a scheduled block of 12.5 hours. The cheapest one-way in our cache is ₱46,663. 12 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 2 carriers on file.

This corridor carries a demand score of 8/10 in our route file and is flagged as a leisure, VFR and business 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: ~12.5 hours nonstop, MNL to SFO.
• Carriers nonstop: Philippine Airlines (PR), United (UA).
• Frequency: ~12 weekly departures (PAL ~5x, UA daily).
• Travel profile: Balikbayan-dominant, Bay Area family visits.

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Best time to book

₱46,663 is the cheapest MNL–SFO one-way in this site’s fare cache, on JX. It is a cache floor for one date and fare class, not a held quote. 12 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 ₱26,615 in 2026-W27 and the high ₱59,009 — a 2.2× swing on an unchanged route, which is the single most useful thing this series says. Week to week the last move was up ₱9,725 (26%) 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 55,000-72,000 roundtrip. Avoid the Dec 1-Jan 8 Pasko balikbayan rush at the June-August summer family-visit window, kasi the entire Bay Area Fil-Am community books home flights then. Chinese New Year (late Jan/early Feb) is also tight on connecting tags via TPE or HKG. For tipid pricing, book 4-6 months ahead po. Tuesday and Wednesday departures shave PHP 3,500-6,500 off Saturday banks. UA’s NRT-tag option opens up cheaper inventory mid-week.

Carriers compared

2 carriers — Philippine Airlines and United Airlines — are catalogued nonstop on MNL–SFO, filing about 12 one-way departures a week. All carry 23 kg economy checked baggage. ₱46,663 is the lowest one-way the fare feed returned for this route on 2026-08-02.

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.
• United Airlines (UA) — alliance Star Alliance; hubs SFO/GUM; 23 kg economy checked; PH brand strength 5/10.

Delays and cancellations: what actually applies on MNL–SFO

1 federal rulebook reaches MNL–SFO: 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. Be clear on its limits: it sets service standards and refund duties, not a fixed cash scale, so a EU261-style flat payment is not what you are claiming.

Fare bracket (peso-first)

₱46,663 is the cheapest MNL–SFO one-way in this site’s fare cache, on JX. It is a cache floor for one date and fare class, not a held quote. 12 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 2 carriers on file.

That ₱46,663 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–SFO 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.

• Low (Feb-Mar, Sep-early Nov): PHP 55,000-72,000 (USD 980-1,285).
• Mid (May, late Nov): PHP 75,000-100,000 (USD 1,340-1,785).
• Peak (Dec 1-Jan 8, Jun-Aug summer): PHP 115,000-155,000 (USD 2,055-2,770).

Balikbayan-specific notes

1 of the 2 carriers on MNL–SFO 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.

Checked baggage and the OFW uplift on MNL–SFO

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.

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.
• United Airlines — 23 kg economy base, no OFW uplift recorded in our carrier file.

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.

Kabayan, Bay Area family reunions cluster around Pasko at June graduations — pre-book by August or April. PAL’s 2x23 kg economy allowance fits one balikbayan box plus a maleta; Premium Economy bumps to 2x32 kg, perfect kapag may bagong appliance from Tatay. SFO has BART direct sa downtown (~PHP 525 / USD 9.40, 30 min) — mas tipid kaysa Uber, especially during weekday traffic. Pasalubong tip: dried mangoes, polvoron, at chocolate are usually fine through US customs; iwasan ang fresh fruit, ube halaya, at meat. Many Fil-Am families also use Daly City’s Filipino markets for sentimentals — no need to overload your luggage.

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. 12 one-way departures a week are catalogued on the pair across 2 carriers 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.

FAQ

8 questions below draw only on the route, carrier and fare data this project keeps for MNL–SFO. 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.

San Francisco as an arrival point

4 facts identify the arrival airport on this pair: SFO is San Francisco International Airport (SFO/KSFO); the local currency is USD; region North America; OFW relevance rated low.

On arrival you are landing at San Francisco International Airport, ICAO KSFO, serving San Francisco, United States. Bay Area Filipino diaspora; PR daily, increasing in 2025-26. Across the whole Philippine market, Philippine Airlines and United Airlines are the carriers our destination file records as serving San Francisco 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. 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.

What is the cheapest Manila to San Francisco fare on record here? ₱46,663 one-way — the lowest price the fare feed returned for MNL–SFO when this route was last polled on 2026-08-02, on JX. 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–SFO fares move week to week? Across 7 weekly snapshots from 2026-W19 to 2026-W31 the cheapest one-way ranged ₱26,615 to ₱59,009. 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–SFO? 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–SFO? 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 SFO? Roughly PHP 58,000-88,000 (USD 1,035-1,570) roundtrip economy off-peak; Pasko peak hits PHP 115,000-155,000.

Sino ang fly nonstop sa SFO? PAL (5x weekly) at United (daily). PAL is the Fil-Am workhorse para sa Bay Area.

Bay Area ba may direct ride sa airport? Yes — BART trains connect SFO sa downtown SF in 30 minutes (~PHP 525 / USD 9.40).

Kailan pinaka-mura? February-March at September-October. Iwasan ang Pasko (Dec-Jan) at summer (Jun-Aug).

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 →.