Qatar Airways Privilege Club - How is Philippine Travel Tax handled for flight ex MNL?

Hi all!

I'm new to this part of the forum, as I have been flying mostly with KLM up until now. Now, however, it looks like I will finally try Qatar Airways flying out of Manila.

I have a question regarding the handling of the Philippine Travel Tax which is levied on Filipinos and Expats staying more than a year in Philippines. As I don't belong to any of those categories, I'm exempt from paying the tax. With KLM the system is bit odd: first you need to book paying the fare including the Travel Tax and then they will reimburse the tax after filing a request with proof of status.

I have tried to figure out how the Qatar Airways system works in this regard, but to no avail. I can't find anything on their website and the e-mail support seems to have given up on me (it seems they can read and write English but not really understand the question). I have to say that the support center not being able to answer a relatively simple question was a little bit of a disappointment, being my first contact with the airline.

I hope that the FT:s are more knowledgeable! Thank you in advance :)

Hi all!

I'm new to this part of the forum, as I have been flying mostly with KLM up until now. Now, however, it looks like I will finally try Qatar Airways flying out of Manila.

I have a question regarding the handling of the Philippine Travel Tax which is levied on Filipinos and Expats staying more than a year in Philippines. As I don't belong to any of those categories, I'm exempt from paying the tax. With KLM the system is bit odd: first you need to book paying the fare including the Travel Tax and then they will reimburse the tax after filing a request with proof of status.

I have tried to figure out how the Qatar Airways system works in this regard, but to no avail. I can't find anything on their website and the e-mail support seems to have given up on me (it seems they can read and write English but not really understand the question). I have to say that the support center not being able to answer a relatively simple question was a little bit of a disappointment, being my first contact with the airline.

I hope that the FT:s are more knowledgeable! Thank you in advance :)

I did not know you could claim back the 750php tax?? When I am flying with QR / PAL or Cebu Pacific i have just paid it. I am only a tourist for <21 days... is this the cat as yourself as i would like to know as i am flying back in Sept (with Qatar to HKG once i book the flight this week).

I did not know you could claim back the 750php tax?? When I am flying with QR / PAL or Cebu Pacific i have just paid it. I am only a tourist for <21 days... is this the cat as yourself as i would like to know as i am flying back in Sept (with Qatar to HKG once i book the flight this week).

Cundall, I think what you are referring to is the terminal fee (or whatever it's called) that has to be paid on exit, just before immigration. In my experience the terminal fee varies a little bit from airport to airport with MNL being the most expensive at PHP 750. To the best of my knowledge you cannot avoid paying this fee as a regular traveller, Expat or not.

The tax I was referring to in my initial post is not this fee of 750 pesos but the Philippine Travel Tax of PHP 1620 that is levied on Filipinos and Expats staying more than a year in the Philippines.

Thanks for clearing that up.

You're very welcome, Cundall, and thanks for contributing in the thread.

Update: After two days of complete silence Qatar Airways e-mail support finally got back to me, basically saying that they will get back to me :D

So looks like there's still hope!

Seems like they're reading FT !!! :D

Cundall, I think what you are referring to is the terminal fee (or whatever it's called) that has to be paid on exit, just before immigration. In my experience the terminal fee varies a little bit from airport to airport with MNL being the most expensive at PHP 750. To the best of my knowledge you cannot avoid paying this fee as a regular traveller, Expat or not.

The tax I was referring to in my initial post is not this fee of 750 pesos but the Philippine Travel Tax of PHP 1620 that is levied on Filipinos and Expats staying more than a year in the Philippines.

ITs only 36$! Whats the big deal!

ITs only 36$! Whats the big deal!

Sir,

With KLM this filing takes me 5 minutes max and works like a charm. That's an hourly compensation of USD 432 for performing a simple task. Works for me. If you find your free time more valuable than that, I respect that, of course. And thanks for taking your time to contribute (free of charge) in my thread!

Getting back on topic, I have now recieved a tentative answer from them, so it looks like this will be sorted. QR's CS seems to "kind of" work, especially after my posting here on FT, as member MH017 correctly noted ;)

I'm looking forward to my first QR trip. It will be very interesting to compare with my (previous) regular carrier KL. If QR is only half-decent I will switch most of my business to them.

Bring - You should have a good time on Qatar, to be honest i use KLM as its cheap but i always try and fly on Qatar. A bonus for me is that 2 long hall flights gives me Silver FF status which is a nice perk.

BTW I normally fly MAN > DOH > HKG and then i get a LCC to MNL as its cheaper generally than doing DOH > MNL plus you get more qpoints to fly to HKG than MNL.

Bring - You should have a good time on Qatar, to be honest i use KLM as its cheap but i always try and fly on Qatar. A bonus for me is that 2 long hall flights gives me Silver FF status which is a nice perk.

BTW I normally fly MAN > DOH > HKG and then i get a LCC to MNL as its cheaper generally than doing DOH > MNL plus you get more qpoints to fly to HKG than MNL.

I actually do the same thing! I fly to HKG then will continue to MNL w/5J! I actually took QR to HKG last year also eager to try their product, and all i can say that i was generally satisfied, IFE good great selection of international movies from all over the world, service also good. Although i didn't like too much the food cause maybe im not used to ME cuisine, but luckily the flight in and out of HKG has chinese food!:rolleyes:
The negative aspect is Doha, there's nothing really much to do, and sometimes waiting for your next flight is tiresome.

Anyway back to topic, i know that you can get the travel tax refund at some agencies(im not sure about the name) maybe DFA? MY travel agent processed my tax refund, and it's relatively easy.