Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs - Cebu Pacific - the reality!

During the last 3 months I have flown Cebu Pacific 20 times and I am very happy with this airline. Here is why:

Of the 21 flights - only 3 were rescheduled and in all 3 cases, I was notified by email. Only on one case did the change cause me to cancel the flight.

Of the 1 flight that I requested a refund to my credit card, it was processed within 14 days.

Of the 20 flights I did take, only 1 departed late and that was because of a mechanical. An alternative aircraft was procurred and we were on our way within 2 hours (not bad for an equipment change).

19/20 flights arrived on time or early.

20/20 flights had my seat as requested.

20/20 flights had nice flight attendants

2/20 flights I won a prize - hehehhhe!

8/20 flights I witnessed the flight attendant sing karaoke to the passengers (cute too!)

20/20 flights were booked using my Mastercard online without problems.

Average price for a flight including taxes was around $23.00



What can I say, I have seen negative comments regarding Cebu Pacific on Flyertalk and I was hesitant to use this airline due to those comments. I now say - try this airline. The aircraft are new, clean A320 /319 airbuses, the flight attendants are fresh and vibrant and you get a chance to win a prize and maybe even listen to a beautiful young lady sing to you over the PA system. The flights are on time and this is truely amazing for the Philippines. Any reschedules are communicated via email if you book online. The refund process works prett fast and they have great sales as well.

I will continue to stay with Cebu Pacifc. If there are any suggestions from me to improve they would be as follows:



In Flight Service:

- Offer drinks as you go down an aisle - not up the Aisle. Sometimes an issue.
- Keep the inflight magazine stocked
- Sometimes the uniforms look a bit shabby

- Hire some flight attendants that reflect the communities you fly into. For Example, hire some Mindanao ladies that reflect the population there. Granted, their skin is not fair (clear) complexion and maybe they do not stand 5ft 3" with straight teeth (I got this from their web site for recruiting). But Filipinos need to see their own kind in these positions of status. The Mindanao ladies can be shorter and have dark to really dark complexion. I do not see how the colour of their skin affects their ability to do their duties. Likewise, many speak Visayan and English and not fluent Tagalog.

•Qualifications:
◦Female
◦18-25 years old
◦Height : At least 5’3”
◦With clear complexion, good eyesight and good set of teeth
◦With weight proportional to height
◦At least 2nd year college level or graduate of four year course or associate degree
◦Proficient in Filipino and English

from: http://www.cebupacificair.com/aboutus/careers.html


As For Check In:
Allow a 1 kg grace for check in luggage as it is not always possible to weigh while travelling. I have seen people take out clothes to get to the 15kg limit only to carry it on board. Defeats the purpose of controlling fuel costs as it still goes on board.

Smile: I dont know why, but they do not smile very much at check in. If you hate your job - leave.

Wear your Uniform with pride. I have seen staff wear jeans and their top. It is as if their uniform trousers were not dry in the morning and they put on a pair of jeans instead. It does not look very professional.

Hire more mature people. Not evry one in the Philppines is under 25. The elderly have a lot to offer as well. Diversify your workforce to reflect all age groups. There is no reason to deny employment based on age.



WEB SITE:
Allow users to create a profile so that frequent fliers like myself do not have to continually re-enter all my info for every booking.

I would also love to see a simple FF program. Like - fly 10 get 1 free. Do not base it on mileage, or pesos paid, or class of ticket. Just keep it simple. Fly 10 - get 1 free flight system wide.


Thats it really.

dave\

I have a 5J trip report here on FT. Though they're tolerable enough for domestic flights (and I'm flying them to Iloilo on October 20), I'd almost always prefer to fly PAL internationally. They will surely receive a lot of competition though from Zest, especially when they begin ramping up Cebu operations on the 16th.

I should likewise advise you though that your praise of 5J will not bide well with passengers who were screwed over by Cebu Pacific, and whose scathing criticism of the airline can be found all over the Internet.

I should likewise advise you though that your praise of 5J will not bide well with passengers who were screwed over by Cebu Pacific, and whose scathing criticism of the airline can be found all over the Internet.

Yeah I know - that's why I thought it was important to share my very recent experiences with Cebu Pacific. Maybe they have learned from their mistakes because I was never screwed by their credit card dept, never had a bad booking, never was stranded, never had any problem paying for the ticket - in fact, I think Cebu Pacific has a great system for paying for tickets if you do not have a credit card. Just choose one of the major banks, print of your booking number and pay in cash at the local bank branch. Very convenient.

Can you imagine booking a United Airlines flight online and then walk into any Bank of America branch and pay for your ticket? (not possible, but it is with Cebu Pacific).

Maybe I have been lucky - but c'mon - 20 flights in 3 months. They seem pretty efficient to me and deliver exactly what I expect from a LCC. And of course, the Billion dollar terminal they operate out of in Manila is a great hub.

20/20 flights had my seat as requested.

I will continue to stay with Cebu Pacifc. If there are any suggestions from me to improve they would be as follows:

WEB SITE:
Allow users to create a profile so that frequent fliers like myself do not have to continually re-enter all my info for every booking.

I would also love to see a simple FF program. Like - fly 10 get 1 free. Do not base it on mileage, or pesos paid, or class of ticket. Just keep it simple. Fly 10 - get 1 free flight system wide.


The seats request actually works perfectly since you have to pay extra.;)
They were actually a past partner of WorldPerks (now SkyMiles). But that has changed because of the FAA downgrading of the Philippines and the merger with Delta.

totally agree with the points raised. Actually, I have a few to add:
- Improve Customer Centre (a main issue everywhere, even at the Hong Kong office where nobody answers). <= I actually have an internal address that I found on the net, so I get a fairly quick response.
- Improve seating quality. I took a red-eye HKG-DVO (not operating now :()and it was terrible (arr. DVO @ 3:15AM). Poor headrest and had to open tray to sleep.:eek: Legroom was ok.
- OLCI (a tactic to move paper/printing costs to the customer), less time spent at the airport

I look forward in taking them to Boracay in the future, provided that flights are in the day.

Yeah I know - that's why I thought it was important to share my very recent experiences with Cebu Pacific.

The average Filipino doesn't flock to FT as a source of information with regards to airlines' performance. They tend to either go to newspapers (a Sun.Star Cebu columnist once gave a very long criticism of Cebu Pacific over three columns), blogs or forums with fairly significant Filipino communities (or are Filipino-run). The only forums I can think of which the average Filipino will flock to are PEx and SSC.

Maybe they have learned from their mistakes because I was never screwed by their credit card dept, never had a bad booking, never was stranded, never had any problem paying for the ticket - in fact, I think Cebu Pacific has a great system for paying for tickets if you do not have a credit card. Just choose one of the major banks, print of your booking number and pay in cash at the local bank branch. Very convenient.


I'm inclined to agree, but I'm not too sure. I'm lucky enough to be treated well by Cebu Pacific, especially now that word's going around (on PEx) that Cebu Pacific is reverting to cabin service standards not seen since they were still in their full-service carrier days. Then again, there are still people who have gotten screwed over.

The last statement I don't agree with: I don't want to pay P50 just so I have the privilege to book online and pay at a BDO, given that BDO bills payment is free. Plus, I have to wait a full day just to get my ticket. ;)

And of course, the Billion dollar terminal they operate out of in Manila is a great hub.

NAIA-3 is not supposed to be an LCC hub forever, you know. Who knows: when international carriers begin moving there from NAIA-1, Cebu Pacific may push through with its plans to turn NAIA-1 into its own hub.

Can you imagine booking a United Airlines flight online and then walk into any Bank of America branch and pay for your ticket? (not possible, but it is with Cebu Pacific).

Of course you could buy the United ticket on-line with a credit card which is something that is theoretically possible with Cebu Pacific but in reality is not possible most of the time due to Cebu Pacific's years old inability to provide a functioning on-line credit card payment system. I literally know dozens of people over the last couple of YEARS who have actually given up on being able to purchase Cebu Pacific tickets on-line with their credit cards and instead paid in many cases twice the fare to fly on competitors simply because the on-line credit card billing only occasionally functions.

Also 3 flights rescheduled out of 20 is a 15% rescheduling rate. I'd say that is a dismal statistic. Otherwise I generally like Cebu Pacific.

Of course you could buy the United ticket on-line with a credit card which is something that is theoretically possible with Cebu Pacific but in reality is not possible most of the time due to Cebu Pacific's years old inability to provide a functioning on-line credit card payment system. I literally know dozens of people over the last couple of YEARS who have actually given up on being able to purchase Cebu Pacific tickets on-line with their credit cards and instead paid in many cases twice the fare to fly on competitors simply because the on-line credit card billing only occasionally functions.

Also 3 flights rescheduled out of 20 is a 15% rescheduling rate. I'd say that is a dismal statistic. Otherwise I generally like Cebu Pacific.

I heard about all the CC problems. My MasterCard has securecode feature. I think that makes a big difference. I too once had problems last year but none since.

The last statement I don't agree with: I don't want to pay P50 just so I have the privilege to book online and pay at a BDO, given that BDO bills payment is free. Plus, I have to wait a full day just to get my ticket. ;)

.

Maybe you are using a different feature than the tickets I just booked for my friend the other day.

I just booked the flight online. Indicated it will be paid at BDO. The Itinerary is made available right away. He went down and paid cash. I think there was a P50 fee or something for Bill Pay Sevice. He did not have to wait a day for the ticket. It was the same itinerary we printed off. This is what he showed to get past airport security and he just showed his ID at the counter. (this is in little CDO airport so maybe Manila is a different story).

But P50 Bill Pay fee is acceptable to most customers as the merchant must get some profit out of handling the transaction. It is similiar to paying your Electricity / telephone / gas bill in America at a merchant - expect to pay a buck or two fee but it is worthwhile due to the convenience of it all.

Or are you saying that Cebu Pacific charges the P50 fee extra and that money does not go to BDO, rather it goes in their coffers as an extra fee? If this is the case - then heck yeah - thats a rip!

I heard about all the CC problems. My MasterCard has securecode feature. I think that makes a big difference. I too once had problems last year but none since.

The problem definitely still exists as recently as a couple of weeks ago. MasterCard Secure Code is one of the many random things you can try to coax and cajole it into working, that might or might not make it work depending on it's mood at the time. I have always been able to eventually make it work but not without trying numerous credit cards, debit cards, SecureCode, Verified by Visa, virtual account numbers and other silly combinations at random, over several days of attempts for each and every ticket purchase, until eventually it mysteriously issues me a ticket. It has been that way for at least a couple of years. It's pathetic and ridiculous to run an international airline that sloppily. I am quite serious that I personally know many many people who have wanted to purchase tickets and were turned away by the non functioning credit card billing system. I am quite sure they loose many thousands of ticket sales that way.

I am quite serious that I personally know many many people who have wanted to purchase tickets and were turned away by the non functioning credit card billing system. I am quite sure they loose many thousands of ticket sales that way.

I think that maybe they have a much stricter criteria for CC approval than is usually the case for an airline. That said -I have never been asked to show my Credit Card at check in by 5J. The only time I had problems was with a US Visa CC with a US Address. Granted this should not be a problem and they do need to relax a bit. The card I use now has a Filipino Billing Address and I have had no problems at all.

Maybe I am a just lucky.

I think that maybe they have a much stricter criteria for CC approval than is usually the case for an airline. That said -I have never been asked to show my Credit Card at check in by 5J. The only time I had problems was with a US Visa CC with a US Address. Granted this should not be a problem and they do need to relax a bit. The card I use now has a Filipino Billing Address and I have had no problems at all.

Maybe I am a just lucky.

I think it is entirely likely the problem is probably specific to non-Philipines based card holders, But if you consider that it is probably likely the the majority of Filipino customers pay using one of the cash options available locally yet they are the ones who don't have the credit card billing problem..... and probably almost all the international customers do pay by credit card and can't readily avail themselves of the cash options those who are local have but they are the one who are shut out by the credit card billing problem. Cebu pacific is and international airline yet many international customers have no convenient means to purchase tickets. I just found out about yet another person I know who failed in his attempts to purchase a ticket just last Monday HKG-MNL despite multiple attempts with multiple credit cards on-line and after two, half hour long international phone calls to the phone center. They told him his cards did not go through. He called his banks and they all said they never saw any attempted charges either accepted or declined come through to the bank's system. Now he is looking at the new Zest Air flights. This was all just last Monday in addition to another case i know of just a couple of weeks ago and my own many experiences.

They have never checked my credit card at check-in either but they have a standing written policy that states they can, and I would welcome being able to present my passport and credit card at check-in as an anti fraud measure if it would get them to fix the credit card billing system.

Or are you saying that Cebu Pacific charges the P50 fee extra and that money does not go to BDO, rather it goes in their coffers as an extra fee? If this is the case - then heck yeah - thats a rip!

If the fee went to Banco de Oro, then it wouldn't be included in the cost of the ticket. The P50 fee is added on to your fare if you are paying for your ticket through any means other than a credit card.

I think it is entirely likely the problem is probably specific to non-Philipines based card holders, But if you consider that it is probably likely the the majority of Filipino customers pay using one of the cash options available locally yet they are the ones who don't have the credit card billing problem..... and probably almost all the international customers do pay by credit card and can't readily avail themselves of the cash options those who are local have but they are the one who are shut out by the credit card billing problem. Cebu pacific is and international airline yet many international customers have no convenient means to purchase tickets. I.

Yes - I see the irony that you are pointing out. I am relatively shielded from this nonsense.

If the fee went to Banco de Oro, then it wouldn't be included in the cost of the ticket. The P50 fee is added on to your fare if you are paying for your ticket through any means other than a credit card.

Yes - your right. I guess there is a reason why they are so profitable.