Fims

Well, I actually demand that there would be certain minimum quality standards to be met. And as what I see - when airline comes up with their own rules, which are not in line with legal frameworks and tries also directly steal from a passenger, I really do not see why it should have operating licence. It's like restaurants that offer poisoned food to clients are closed by Health Inspection.

Well, this is no justification. I have also seen decent customer service in PH. For example IC in MNL has great staff. Last time when flying to MNL with TG I had no issues either.

Well, don't worry. One day they might also "surprise" you somehow. It is like playing roulette.

Reality_Czech

I understand you had a poor experience. Believe me, I am not trying to defend CEB whatsoever.

As a neutral looking in from the outside, it does simply look like a case of very poor customer service. As I said, I understand fully that you were very inconvenienced by this, but it should not be blown out of all proportion. If I were in your shoes, maybe I would have the same reaction as yourself. However, I am not in your shoes - I am just an impartial observer. Cock ups like this which are exacerbated by a staff member who cannot back down happen at airlines all over the world - especially those that fly to Russia and/or China. CEB does not have the monopoly on this.

Comparing CEB and its $50 flights to the IC and its outrageously overpriced rooms is a bit of a stretch. That said, if you ask the average employee at IC Manila to think outside the box, you will still get infuriating responses at times. When this happens to me (and it does all too often), I just have to remember where I am.

Indeed. With any Filipino institution, whether it be ComClark, SM Department Store or Cebu Pacific, I am on my guard much more than usual. It sometimes feels like the land commonsense forgot.

AA_EXP09

At HKG this is the same thing, though I have been escorted at my request down the jet bridge and down again, leading into immigration/connections.
(and subsequently passed through immigration.)

Lantaig

I highly recommend not to fly with Cebu Pecific Airlines. It is totally unreliable, i had massive delay without any information whatsoever. The management was hiding, the ground crew gave no information on the nature and the time of the delay. I recommend to use other local carrier such as the Philippine Airlines for domestic as well as international flight.

Mlee888

5J is a budget carrier, comparing this to PR is a bit unfair really as PR is a FSC.

I've used Cebu Pacific quite a number of times and I have had my fair share of problems, but the prices I've paid for my flights have been ridiculously cheap at times. It's also not just the fares that were cheap, it was also the baggage and seat selection too. That being said the flights were only low because I booked 6 months in advance. When I. booked a last minute price once, this was more expensive but still cheaper than FSC and other budget airlines.

Problems I've encountered -

1: I once flew to PH and took a domestic transfer from MNL to CEB. This flight was delayed by 4 hours and the scheduled flights to CEB after our one were all leaving on time. Was sad to see this happening and no one was able to give us any updates even though we were flying from their main hub.

2: On a SIN-MNL flight, I once prebooked front row 1 window seat for my wife and I. This cost extra of course and unfortunately, there had been a change in aircraft to a larger one. Our seat numbers remained the same but we ended up being the middle row. We did not find this out until boarding.

The problem didn't end here, what was worse was that people were using the small space between our seat and where the bassinets would be to cut across to the other side to use the toilet and at one stage were queuing up where our legs would normally be. I had to lift my legs up to allow them to queue and the staff onboard allowed this!

Needless to say I complained about the non-communication and how I didn't pay extra to have someone stand in what I would call my seating space.

Calls to their office was difficult at times as more often than none I would get disconnected during discussing my issue. I ended up posting on FB and complaining there. I did eventually get my refund for these seat selections.

I've had 2 problems out of about 20 flights in total, so I think I've done alright overall. The service isn't the greatest, but overall it's gotten me to my destination at the end of the day. I once paid S$220 for a return flight from Sin-Mnl which included seats and baggage. SQ another time has cost S$700+.

For prices you pay have to expect issues time to time.

To answer OP question is Cebu Pacific safe? They are as safe as any other budget carrier airline. They may not be able to fly to EU at present, but they have new aircraft in use for routes to DXB and SYD.

I happily use them for vacation trips if the prices are worthwhile. If the FSC offers similar prices I would use them, to avoid the problems rather than safety issues.

R2

Cebu Pacific is no longer on the EU blacklist, they were removed sometime ago.

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/...n/index_en.htm

I have flown with them some dozen times or so, never had a particularly bad experience and in fact they have been mostly very good. Considering the price I paid they have been the best value air tickets I bought. If you're able to book a few months in advance you can get OW tickets from HKG-MNL for approx USD 50 and domestic flights within Philippines for as low as USD10 one way, excluding baggage.

Mlee888

Ahh I didn't know that.

I too like you find them very good overall, other than the two bad experiences I've had, they have been decent overall.

timothy_tw

Their service is so bad, I can't even comprehend it with modern English.

As for safety concern wise, I've logged 42 flights with them so far, still survived to talk to you.

benberg2013

Is it OK to book a Cebu Pacific flight arriving into MNL at 18:55 and then catch the CX leaving at 21:20pm, or is it too risky , because delays are frequent?

Mabuk dan gila

No way would I do that. MNL itself is having frequent lengthy air traffic delays these days. Depending where you are coming from, MNL bound domestic flights are often held on the ground at the departure airports by MNL air traffic control. Check the recent on-time record of whatever flight you are considering. It's a real mess.

benberg2013

Coming from PPS. Departing 17:30 arriving at 1855. If this is to be avoided because of Cebu, what about a Philipine airlines flight leaving at 18:20 (operated by PAL express) arriving at 19:40? Then connecting onto 21:20 CX? They all (Cebu, PR and CX) arrive and depart from Terminal 3.

Or could I book these 2 tickets and if one is delayed take the other?

chris19992

I would be safe and take the 5J arriving at 14:10 or the PR arriving at 16:30, it's nothing to do with 5J why MNL is a mess, MNL is a mess because it's poorly run and extremely overcapacity.
Maybe for future travel, keep in mind that 5J fly direct from PPS to CEB and CX fly HKG direct to CEB as well, much better than going to MNL.

Laowai

I second to the above comment.

Mabuk dan gila

So looking at 5J342 over the last 6 days, it landed ~40 minutes late 3 days, 2 hours and 15 minutes late once and 11-23 minutes late the other two days. I'd count those results as kind of typical, actually not that bad for late day MNL domestic arrivals. Figure those times represents how late the flights landed, there are also often delays at MNL waiting for taxiway clearance, open gates or parking spots so 40 minutes late could easily pick up another 30 minutes by the time you get out of the plane. International airlines at MNL typically close check-in 45 minutes before departure so you have that deadline to deal with as well. I'd agree with the others and give yourself substantial time for that.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/5j342

benberg2013

Many Thanks for this Mabuk dan gila. I will have to re-plan.