We want to fly Sydney, Australia, to Vancouver, Canada, in early December. Philippine airlines has a special fare that looked good. Any experiences with this airline that would help us decide?

My filipino friends like to say that PAL stands for 'Plane Always Late'. Seriously though, you should do a search on flyertalk.com. It sounds like they have improved in recent times.

I have only flown PAL for domestic flights in the Philippines and have never had any problems. Nice staff and good snacks, and on time (I too have heard the Plane Always Late--they are getting better). The only reason we have NOT used them for international flights (US-Philippines) is the cost.

Do check the details of the route, as far as I know PR don't fly into Vancouver, so you may find yourself chaging to another carrier.
Personally I would check with Catahay pacific or Singapore Airlines before committing to the PR flight. I have flown them a few times and they are 'OK' but for a long flight such as this I really would check what you can get on Singapore Airlines or Cathay pacific first.

Yes PR flies from Manila to Vancouver 3X a week. Their fare will be cheaper but you are taking a longer way of getting to Vancouver. Air New Zealand flies Auckland to LA then you can connect from LA to Vancouver which is a much shorter distance. I think NZ will have cheaper tkt than Qantas. I am not a fan of PR though cuz being an Oriental they discriminate against us once a "white" person is onboard.