Philippines: Air Travel 101

Security Retrieved Item (SRI)

2012-02-17T14:28:00.003+08:00

This topic comes to fore from the seemingly “hot” umbrella topic. My goodness I did not expect the umbrella thing could flood my emails hehe. But happy to receive them anyway even if I am lately burning many sleepless nights just trying to read all of these emails. What am I becoming now, a complaint desk? Hahaha its looking like so, but I am not complaining (yet). Promise! I mean honest! Keep

What’s wrong with my umbrella?

2012-01-06T19:40:00.000+08:00

Another reader sent me email just recently asking why her umbrella was ‘confiscated’ at the airport. I received similar messages in the past and we better get this out to everyone for clarity. While you may think those concerns are petty (yes, they usually are since some umbrellas can be bought at just 11 pesos), some of the concerns are not really about umbrellas but the integrity (if any) of

Are you pregnant?

2012-01-05T20:06:00.000+08:00

Here’s another one from another friend… “Excuse me ma’am, are you pregnant?” That made our friend’s eyes grow wide that she didn’t immediately know what to say. She was torn between answering the question matter of factly or if she would take that as an insult and reprimand the check-in agent. She is definitely single. And, that question just highlighted that the she is on the plus side. Yeah

A Very Long Line Entering MCIA? Ows?!

2012-01-03T23:12:00.000+08:00

A very long queue to enter the Mactan Cebu International Airport? Does that happen? Well, yes, sometimes?! Which side? Usually the domestic departures. But for a line to that departure area to be extending all the way outside the building at about noon must be unthinkably ridiculous! It happened? Somehow, according to another dear friend who called to inform me so. Here’s her story… She arrived

Why weigh the passenger?

2012-01-03T10:33:00.003+08:00

“Of course I felt bad. I felt embarrassed that the madlang public had to see my weight…. I hate them… Anyway, I still feel I am sexy!” Those are excerpts of an email I received from a dear “sexy” friend. She was lamenting, well uh, complaining why the airline had to weigh her, yes her very “sexy” body, aside from her luggage. I already answered her email. But, this same story she repeated when

Where is the best and safest seat?

2011-07-16T10:02:00.004+08:00

Another “duh” question! But there are merits to that so I can say that this question is not dumbest. Its just… dumb hehe! I have touched about this topic over at this article when someone asked about front and back seats. But let us continue on “best” and “safest” seats! The “Best” That of course is relative. Best seat in relation to what? Views? Then of course those would be the window seats.

A Stinking Cebu Pacific Procedure?!

2011-07-15T13:24:00.001+08:00

Travel Notes: Philippines: A Stinking Cebu Pacific Procedure?!

The Airport, The Airline and Others

2010-08-06T20:31:00.004+08:00

The Airport is not the Airline and the Airline is not the Airport – even if there’s only one airline flying to/from that airport. That’s how it is here and virtually everywhere else in the world. Except probably the likes of North Korea hehe. Why am I talking about these? Well, that is for many passengers I have encountered that most often bark at the wrong tree!The airport is not like your

Transacting with Airlines and Travel Agencies

2010-07-14T18:11:00.000+08:00

Ehem… for those of you my readers who can’t or won’t be able to understand anything below, its okay, don’t read. That means’s this is not for you… and there’s nothing to miss. Promise! Maiba naman… pipilitin kong isulat ito sa ating sariling wika sa dalawang kadahilanan – 1) para maintindihan ng marami dyan sa tabi-tabi, at 2) para di maintindihan ng mga banyaga dahil maraming mga nakakahiya

The Ticket and the Boarding Pass

2010-06-21T16:18:00.004+08:00

Others reading this might raise their eyebrows to the high clouds. But believe me, many a Filipino airline passenger confuse the names of these two things. Most of the time these are interchanged. Not that it causes anything untoward, but sometimes it does become a source of misunderstandings.And this is not between the rich and the poor, nor this is between the educated and the not so educated.

Take-off and Landing Direction

2010-05-15T07:01:00.004+08:00

I received this email: "Dear PT, Please tell me, how do I get to know which way the airplane will pass during take off in Manila? You see, I do not fly as much as you do, but when I do, I'd like to maximize the views especially when my children are travelling with me. For example, when we take off at NAIA, sometimes the plane goes from South Super Highway towards Manila Bay, sometimes its the

PAL's Bulkhead Seats, A New Class Of Service

2010-05-08T11:17:00.072+08:00

Really?! Really! Few days ago, I flew PAL from Cebu to Manila on their 747 aircraft. Only them has that - other airliners in this country don't have 747s! AND, that flight booked via the web was cheaper than anything I could get from Cebu Pacific! But that was the best of it! During boarding, when I saw that 42DEFG were unoccupied, I sat at 42G and no one reprimanded me. Snoozed the flight off

PAL's Econolight Fare: A Rejoinder

2010-02-18T16:39:00.006+08:00

Remember what I said in a previous post about this fare?Well, now it's happening! They've started to tweak it to suit competition. Though not as straightforward as Cebu Pacific's, its good enough for us the travelers!See all about it here!So what gives? Well, for starters, I tried looking for a flight MNL-CEB one-way on 23APR10. What did I get? On PAL's Econolight, I could get it at PHP1,150

Yellow Taxi / Yellow Cab in Cebu

2009-09-04T23:50:00.003+08:00

This connects to our air travels...I saw them two weeks ago, I saw one this afternoon! Yes friends, they’re already on! Are you happy? Well, am I happy? Truth is, I don’t give a hoot hehe!What are they really? If you have not been a frequent user of the three Air Terminals in Metro Manila, then you are probably not very much aware on what those are. To summarize, those yellow cabs are just the

Fly Cebu to Clark: A Great “Manila By Night” View

2009-01-28T07:28:00.000+08:00

This is a short one and just a teaser really for those of you who like looking at city lights from a flying witch’s perspective!Okay, the Cebu Pacific flight from Cebu City is at about 5:50PM so you expect to arrive at 7:40PM over at Clark. Dark enough when passing by the Metropolis, right? The return flight is even mighty better, leaving Clark at 8PM and arriving at Cebu by 9:50PM – you get to

PAL’s EconoLight Fares: How much is your dignity?

2009-01-20T20:00:00.009+08:00

“EconoLight” fares as we all know is Philippine Airlines' attempt to compete head-on with the Zero or Low or whatever fares that Cebu Pacific has pioneered via internet bookings. Sadly, “EconoLight” does not only fail but even puts its reputation in a bad light.“EconoLight” looks like a product of old (no, make that aged) and backward thinking folks who probably have not heard about market

e-Ticket Life!

2009-01-14T22:50:00.008+08:00

So we thought this “revolution” would have been a great convenience for travelers? Indeed it is! But there are some quirks we the traveling public must note and get used to.First up, it is not totally electronic as you might have thought – even if you booked yourself via the internet. Why? Well, in the past you used to bring your ticket purchased from the airline or travel agent. Those tickets

Dumaguete Trip: Cebu Pacific, the new PAL?

2008-11-22T22:44:00.002+08:00

Boarding was called; passengers were bussed to the aircraft docked at Gate 115. I opted to board last to avoid the scrimmage. Why passengers (usually Filipinos) run for it, I still don’t understand! We all have our seats numbers anyway, so why run to be first at the aircraft? Duh!While purposely waiting for “me, myself and I” to be the last passenger, I observed that each gate has a pair of

Dumaguete Trip: Roaming NAIA Terminal 3

2008-11-22T22:42:00.001+08:00

After the breezy check-in, I saw on my phone that it was just 5:03AM and I thought “here I go again… a long and useless wait” which I was later to know was even more hehe.So I killed time walking around the big expanse of the check-in area, looking at the various fixtures and everything else that caught my attention. There was the time I tried sitting on those many lounge seats niftily scattered

Dumaguete Trip: NAIA 3 Check-in

2008-11-22T22:40:00.001+08:00

My Cebu Pacific flight was scheduled at 7:10AM so I had to be at NAIA 3 just around 5AM. Good that my brods were going to the Tagaytay-Batangas areas a very early dawn departure so I hitched along and had a breezing ride over C5 to terminal 3. Left the house at 4:28AM and was at the airport at 4:52AM!Seeing that there was no big crowd (I was too early, I thought) I stayed at the curbside and

Which is the safer airline to take?

2008-08-17T16:41:00.002+08:00

Amongst so many, this one is the dumbest of questions an airline passenger can ask. Debatable? Well, let’s just go on and talk about this in more detail. And hey Jose, this is also my final take on your question!Needless to say, you can’t find a definitive answer in this article – for indeed you should not find a direct definitive answer anywhere else! If ever you do, whoever is telling you that,

Where to sit: Front or Back?

2008-08-17T13:57:00.002+08:00

After you have chosen to target a window or an aisle seat, where would that be? At the front or at the back? Where would you like to be? Which front by the way, the front of the aircraft or the front of your class? What?Well, “front” or “back” can sometimes be confusing. For many airlines, the front of the plane is business class and the aft is economy class. So if you were on business class and

Where to sit: Window or Aisle?

2008-08-17T13:51:00.002+08:00

So where would you sit in an airplane? Do you prefer the window side or the aisle side? Do you want to stay in front or at the back? Do you hate smokers? Do you hate the toilet smell even if it smells clean? What is your “intelligent choice? Let’s help you out!Window vs. AisleMany passengers prefer window seats – and this has been proven by a lot of airline surveys formal or otherwise! Do you?

Why straighten seat-backs and stow tables?

2008-08-10T19:07:00.001+08:00

A common joke is: “because you are asked to straighten up your airline seat (not reclined) and told to stow away close and lock tray tables so that the cabin attendants can see everyone in equal or uniform positions because they want orderly beauty in front of them”. While there might be some truth to this, of course it is essentially just a joke!So why nga?! Well, that is again for safety,

NAIA 3 Opens!

2008-07-22T22:23:00.008+08:00

Okay folks, its all over the various news media, and the behemoth of an issue is finally operational, at least partially. We can say that it was a real GO! And for us passengers, let's wait a bit more till we see if this will ever in fact prosper into something good for all of us.Am not that obsessed about airport news (yet) and so I did not bother going there early this morning to have a go-see