tirsdag den 7. september 2010

Manila airport....

5 hours in Manila airport. One cannot say that Manila airport is anything close to other international capital airports. It more of all looks like something from the old Soviet Union.
But they do have free internet if you buy a cup of tea or similar.
What a trip so far. I have learned that Cebu Pacific is probably one of the worst low cost airlines in the world. The standard luggage is 15 kg, and they ask a fortune for every kilogram on top. I knew this, so I cleaned up (again) and reduced my luggage to 15 kg - plus my 15 kg dive equipment which luckily goes under a different and more reasonable pricing scheme. They even have destinations where the maximum luggage weight is 10 kg! Adding to this that they charge almost 10 euro (60 dkk) per kilogram overweight, you may very easily end up paying more for your overweight up to the normal 20 kg than you pay for the fare.
Secondly Cebu pacific does not warn you as a foreigner when booking a one-way ticket into Philippines. This is clever, since there were 10-15 foreigners (including me) who had booked a one-way ticket only, and then they could offer selling overprice return tickets (since you are not allowed to travel into Philippines without return ticket). So now I have a ticket out of Philippines also, even though I did not plan yet when to leave again. And maybe I will not use this ticket. Not good for tourism in Philippines either since it leaves out people who like it and want to stay longer. Weird rule.
Anyway, after 3 hours at check-in in Bangkok, I managed to get my stuff and myself on-board the flight.
A third stupid thing about Cebu pacific is the total lack of service. You can e.g. not get your luggage sent through even though you continue travel with them. Yes, it is a low cost airline, but I have seen lower prices and better service with other cheap airlines.
So, now you are warned; fly only Cebu if you REALLY have to. And expect that the price you end up paying is 3-4 times higher than you expect since you need to pay excessively for overweight, return tickets you may never use etc. I will instead suggest AirAsia as a good alternative low-cost airline. At least they are honest about their charges on their web page; you know what you get and you can choose different luggage weight options while booking and for a reasonable additional price. Fireflyz is also a good airline even though I used them only twice (4 flights though).
But now it is morning in Manila and even though I had only 1 hour sleep in the lousy seats at Cebu, I look forward to arriving at Kalibo airport later today, and not least arriving at my hotel(bed) at Boracay even later again :-)

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