Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs - Buying Domestic Philippines Tickets Online

From my research, it seems that airlines based in the Philippines don't allow non-Philippine credit cards on their websites. The ticket I will be needing is MNL-PPS (Puerto Princessa)-MNL next year. I can only find 2 airlines with that route, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific.

How do foreign tourists buy tickets? I don't know how full these flights are so I don't want to risk leaving it until we get there.

From my research, it seems that airlines based in the Philippines don't allow non-Philippine credit cards on their websites. The ticket I will be needing is MNL-PPS (Puerto Princessa)-MNL next year. I can only find 2 airlines with that route, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific.

How do foreign tourists buy tickets? I don't know how full these flights are so I don't want to risk leaving it until we get there.

There are actually three airlines currently flying that route: Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Zest Air. Southeast Asian Air claims to fly it, but has diverted all aircraft for flights into Caticlan as they're the only airline still able to fly into Caticlan. All four airlines do let you use foreign credit cards on their website, though I've had some problems with my Citibank card. My Bank of America Visa debit card has worked, however. You need to be enrolled in the verified by Visa program, but you should be prompted to enroll the first time you have a transaction online that asks for it. If you have problems, call the airlines directly and they can process the payment over the phone (just watch out for Cebu Pacific's long hold times).

I've flown all four of the airlines and found them to be quite decent. Do be aware of the different terminals at Manila airport and the need to take sometimes long taxi rides between them. All foreign airlines operate out of Terminal 1. Philippines Airlines operates out of Terminal 2. Cebu Pacific and PAL Express operate out of Terminal 3. Zest and SEAir operate out of the old domestic terminal.

-m

I had no problems buying domestic tickets online with either Cebu or PAL Express last year.

But with Cebu, I had to use a Visa, it wouldnt take my MC

OK, I was worried because on Trip Advisor, there are a lot of complaints about not being able to use foriegn credit cards. We are flying into MNL the night before on CX and arriving around midnight so will probably just stay at the airport and get the first flight to PPS the next morning.

I don't think MNL has a true airport hotel, do they? All hotels are around 10 miles away? It's not really a biggie, we have plenty of time to rest up in Palawan.

OK, I was worried because on Trip Advisor, there are a lot of complaints about not being able to use foriegn credit cards. We are flying into MNL the night before on CX and arriving around midnight so will probably just stay at the airport and get the first flight to PPS the next morning.

I don't think MNL has a true airport hotel, do they? All hotels are around 10 miles away? It's not really a biggie, we have plenty of time to rest up in Palawan.

Your best bet is to just try booking tickets online. If you run into problems, try a different card. If that fails, just call the airline, give them the PNR, and have them apply payment.

There's a new Marriott just across the street from Terminal 3. (The Marriott website says it's opening in November, but it is open now.) If you stay there, you might want consider flying Cebu Pacific to PP, all else being equal, as Cebu flies out of Terminal 3. Terminal 3 is also the newest and nicest of the airport terminals (rather counterintuitively given it's home to the country's main LCC).

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mnlap-manila-marriott-hotel/

I don't think MNL has a true airport hotel, do they? All hotels are around 10 miles away? It's not really a biggie, we have plenty of time to rest up in Palawan.

I was in MNL a couple of months ago. A Marriott was being built (exterior looked complete) right across the street from Terminal 3. It might be open by the time to travel. There are also several nice hotels along Roxas Blvd, which is only a few miles away.

Also, I have used my Visa on the Cebu Pacific website for domestic travel on several occasions (if you do the "Verify by Visa" thing) without any problems.

It's not really a biggie, we have plenty of time to rest up in Palawan.

While I'm thinking of it, any reason you're headed to PPS? I admittedly haven't been there, and the underground river is supposed to be pretty cool, but you may want to consider just flying to El Nido if you're after some nice beaches and R&R. Coron, in northern Palawan, also has some nice hotels on different surrounding islands.

Island Transvoyager (ITI) flies to El Nido a couple of times a day, albeit at a semi-pricey 6,750 PhP each way. South East Asian Airlines is resuming service from Manila to El Nido on November 18th. If you're planning on traveling around Palawan, you might want to consider flying into PPS and out of El Nido (or vice-versa); the road between the two will take a good eight hours and is supposed to be quite unpleasant.

El Nido Resorts (operates the top hotels in El Nido): http://www.elnidoresorts.com/
South East Asian Airlines: http://www.flyseair.com/
ITI info: http://www.elnidopalawan.com/go.html#iti

Thanks, I found it. Looks like they won't have a shuttle though. https://www.marriott.com/hotels/maps/travel/mnlap-manila-marriott-hotel/

Cebu is a bit cheaper than PR. We are going in Sept 2010 so the cheap deals won't be loaded yet.

They don't take Amex?

While I'm thinking of it, any reason you're headed to PPS? I admittedly haven't been there, and the underground river is supposed to be pretty cool, but you may want to consider just flying to El Nido if you're after some nice beaches and R&R. Coron, in northern Palawan, also has some nice hotels on different surrounding islands.

Island Transvoyager (ITI) flies to El Nido a couple of times a day, albeit at a semi-pricey 6,750 PhP each way. South East Asian Airlines is resuming service from Manila to El Nido on November 18th. If you're planning on traveling around Palawan, you might want to consider flying into PPS and out of El Nido (or vice-versa); the road between the two will take a good eight hours and is supposed to be quite unpleasant.

El Nido Resorts (operates the top hotels in El Nido): http://www.elnidoresorts.com/
South East Asian Airlines: http://www.flyseair.com/
ITI info: http://www.elnidopalawan.com/go.html#iti
Actually we are going there for birdwatching. There is a colony of rare cockatoos on Rasa Island near Narra and there are other species around the Sabang area. So we aren't going to El Nido at all.

Thanks, I found it. Looks like they won't have a shuttle though. https://www.marriott.com/hotels/maps/travel/mnlap-manila-marriott-hotel/

Cebu is a bit cheaper than PR. We are going in Sept 2010 so the cheap deals won't be loaded yet.

They don't take Amex?

Merrickdb is right on the money with his advice on terminals and credit card usage on the websites. Couldn't have said it better myself actually!

Cebu Pacific now has a P1 fare promo running till Monday. You cant get any cheaper than that and it is valid for your time period (June 15th to Sept 30th)

I don't think MNL has a true airport hotel, do they? All hotels are around 10 miles away? It's not really a biggie, we have plenty of time to rest up in Palawan.

I was in MNL a couple of months ago. A Marriott was being built (exterior looked complete) right across the street from Terminal 3. It might be open by the time to travel. There are also several nice hotels along Roxas Blvd, which is only a few miles away.

The Marriott at Newport City, located in front of Terminal 3, just opened last month. There's also the Manila Airport Hotel in front of Terminal 1. Another hotel, Maxim's Hotel and Casino, will open also at Newport City (the exterior's complete).

There are actually three airlines currently flying that route: Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Zest Air. Southeast Asian Air claims to fly it, but has diverted all aircraft for flights into Caticlan as they're the only airline still able to fly into Caticlan.


The route being discussed is PPS, not KLO (Kalibo), where all airlines save for SEAIR have been forced to after two unfortunate incidents involving Zest MA-60s in MPH (Caticlan). SEAIR is the only airline to fly to MPH, whereas Zest, PAL and Cebu Pacific fly to KLO. SEAIR however does fly MNL-MPH-PPS, with MPH-PPS only being operated on certain days of the week.

If you're willing to pay a premium for food, legroom and in-flight entertainment (newspapers and video without headphones), choose PAL (they use widebodies for MNL-PPS in the morning).

If you want to fly from the best terminal MNL can offer, fly Cebu Pacific.

If you want to fly a very promising upstart with service that apparently tops Cebu Pacific in certain areas, fly Zest Airways.


They don't take Amex?

The only airline that currently accepts American Express for online bookings is Zest (they also accept JCB cards).

I would be wary of booking with 5J (Cebu Pacific).

I booked and then cancelled 3 tickets for travel in April 2008. I received one of the refunds June 2009 and the other two last week. Several phone calls were to no avail - they had record of the refund request but kept telling me that my wait time was quite normal for them.

I will never do business with 5J again unless I am 100% certain of my travel plans and have no other choice.

Merrickdb is right on the money with his advice on terminals and credit card usage on the websites. Couldn't have said it better myself actually!

Cebu Pacific now has a P1 fare promo running till Monday. You cant get any cheaper than that and it is valid for your time period (June 15th to Sept 30th)
THANK YOU!! OMG, I think I just got the 2 seats to PPS for less than $5 AUD! Is this right? It seems too good to be true, like they will void or cancel it. They took my NAB Visa, I have a confirmation number, both of us are on the PNR, dates are right, Aussie address is on the PNR. I can't believe I just got 2 seats MNL-PPS for less than a chai latte at Starbucks!



PRICE DETAILS
Fare price
PHP
360.72
Fare Fees and Taxes
PHP
233.68
Special Services/Other Fees
PHP
(400.00)
Total price
PHP
194.40
PAYMENT DETAILS
Credit card
(confirmed)
VI
AUD
4.74
Original Pricing Currency
PHP 194.40
Exchange Rate
PHP 1 = AUD 0.0243827
The cardholder was offered a choice of payment in the original pricing currency or the payment card currency, and chose to pay in the card currency. The cardholder's choice of currency is final.

I hope this isn't a complication, they subtracted 400 PHP because I chose No checked bags. We will have carry-on backpacks. I just hope their auiditors don't toss the booking out? The price I paid is less than the taxes and fees, I should have at least paid 234 PHP. They are technically losing money on my booking.

Base Fare
360.72 PHP
……
Taxes & Fees
:VAT
63.68 PHP
:WAF
140.00 PHP
:ASF
30.00 PHP
:NBAG
(400.00) PHP
……
Total
194.40 PHP

Nope. Cebu Pacific deducts P100 for every leg that you don't bring bags. It's another way of reducing their fares. Their model apparently is to cram lots of people on their planes so they can make money by flying many passengers even when making only a small profit per passenger.

I think there was a technical glitch because the P1 fare was meant to be the no bags fare with the taxes added on. Their IT people didn't disable the box where you click to indicate you won't have bags. I don't mind paying the extra few dollars (400 PHP) if this is the case, I just don't want them to void the ticket. The airline is paying from their pocket for my taxes which is my worry if they notice that. It was their fault they didn't program their software correctly though.

I hope they don't have a bad typhoon season next Sept like they had this year.

Looks like the promo is over according to Twitter. It sold out in 12 hours! The promo fares are gone from the fare quotes now so lucky I was awake and not at work while they were open!

http://twitter.com/cebupacific5j/

# Allotted 100,000 seats for CEB's P1 seat sale now all sold out!Thank you everyone for your support. Stay tuned for more seat sales from CEB!
about 12 hours ago from web

TIKI - 5J is not that organised. If you have your confirmation number and it is listed on the 5J site. You are good to go.

I booked 5 RT from CGY-MNL $7 each rt ticket
RT to Hong Kong (party of 3) $20 each rt ticket
RT to Bangkok $22 each RT ticket.


Great deals on Cebu Pacific.

I think there was a technical glitch because the P1 fare was meant to be the no bags fare with the taxes added on. Their IT people didn't disable the box where you click to indicate you won't have bags. I don't mind paying the extra few dollars (400 PHP) if this is the case, I just don't want them to void the ticket. The airline is paying from their pocket for my taxes which is my worry if they notice that. It was their fault they didn't program their software correctly though.

If that's the case, it's likely that the promo you booked with does not give a baggage allowance.