Ten things to do while waiting at the Cebu Pacific ticketing office

  1. Take note of the current number they’re serving and your own number. Hopefully, there would be about 80 people ahead of you so you’d have time to shop.
  2. Go to the mall information kiosk and ask if there’s a travel agency in the building. Locate the agency and ask if they book flights with Cebu Pacific. If they answer negatively, ask if they accept bookings for Philippine Airlines or Air Philippines. If they do, request for a quotation. Brace yourself for the fare they will quote you. Thank the man for accommodating your request and resignedly walk back to the Cebu Pacific ticketing office, hoping that the queue has progressed significantly, but has not gone past your number yet.
  3. Head back to the ticketing office laden with bags full of snacks and have an impromptu picnic.
  4. Read the tattered remnants of Summit Publication magazines lying around. Indulge yourself with the luxury of having the time (and sufficient amount of boredom) and pore over past issues of Good Housekeeping, Smart Parenting, Preview and Smile. If you’re lucky, you just might chance upon a Cosmopolitan or two.
  5. Have a chat with the person you dragged along with you to this ordeal about life, love and outhouses. Once you run out of things to talk about, rehash old stories and jokes you still laugh about. This helps you cling to the remaining threads of your sanity.
  6. Once the conversation runs out, bring out the MP3 players. Lose yourself as you listen to Cher, Madonna and Kylie. Dancing optional.
  7. Pull out one earphone or both, as you eavesdrop on an irate customer complaining to the manager/supervisor about the slow service. Take a good look at the service counters as he points out that while there are 11 counters, only 2 are manned.
  8. Make a solemn vow to yourself to ease up on the credit card usage. If your cards aren’t maxed out all the time, you wouldn’t have to go through this experience ever again. Unless there are changes in your schedule and you’d have to have your flight re-booked. In that case, good luck and have fun going through this thing all over again.
  9. Rejoice as the digital display turns to 131. Take the strip of paper marked with 134 out of your organizer and clutch it tightly in your hands. This is your cue to start praying that the people holding on to 131, 132 and 133 won’t take long or have already left.
  10. Mentally kick yourself for neglecting to bring your camera so you can take snapshots of this unforgettable experience where you waited for four long hours, only to be served for less than 10 minutes. Thanks to this oversight, your only marker for the amount of time you spent in the ticketing office is your mobile phone’s call register and your ticket’s time stamp.

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The last time I went to the Cebu Pacific ticketing office to buy tickets, it was a Sunday. It was also the weekend before the payday, so there were hardly anybody around.

It was different last Friday. It was the day after payday and there were people waiting outside the office. We took a number at 4:05 pm, and it was almost 9 pm when our number was called.

I was as pissed and disappointed as the other people who waited for hours. Although unlike them, I just chose to pass the time reading, listening to music and laughing at absurd what-if situations. I know I can complain and raise my voice, but nothing would ever come out of it. Besides, I already have too many wrinkles.


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20 responses to “Ten things to do while waiting at the Cebu Pacific ticketing office”

  1. dyanie Avatar

    OMG! ganun katagal? grabe naman yun! kala ko sa phone lang sila matagal, pati pla sa office nila! Tsk! is it in rob galle? and why you went nga pla to cebu pac? rebooking?

  2. nina Avatar

    I went to book a flight for me and a friend. I would have used my credit card, but I’m putting off using it. There was a second line for people who’s already booked through phone, but I couldn’t get through to them that day. Inis talaga.

  3. Jeff Avatar

    I used to have a book of things to do whilst waiting in very long queues but I lost it at an airport in New Delhi. I was in a queue at the time. Enjoyed the post too – thanks.

  4. eric Avatar

    naku.. u know what i do to avoid the long queue at 5J? go to the 5J ticket office in domestic airport between 10PM-3AM. youll get your ticket in less than an hour.

    theyre open 24 hours.

  5. estan Avatar

    i don’t know with the problem in the Palanca, Makati City ticket outlet. when one gets to book the ticket, the cashier takes a long long long time to call your name. sometimes, as much as more than 30 minutes! maybe there’s something wrong with their system?

  6. nina Avatar

    Jeff: Thanks! Losing that book while in a queue is quite ironic lol.

    Eric: Thanks for the tip! It’s not really a practical option for me, since I live in Northern Quezon City.

    Estan: The common error I hear from them is that their system is down; be it at the airport or in the ticketing office. They really should invest on a more stable system, specially since they probably serve thousands of customers daily

  7. jigz Avatar

    Please check my blog, re: Cebu Pacific Horrors. Feel free to leave your comments.
    This is just a recent experience with Cebu Pacific, with blow-by-blow details from Ticketing last January
    up to actual departure yesterday, Feb.18.

    http://www.jiggybabymiggz.blogspot.com

  8. nina Avatar

    That’s a terrible experience, Jigz. I can understand where you’re coming from. Cebu Pacific has been very aggressive about their marketing campaign, but I don’t really see their effort in improving their service. PAL just don’t advertise it much, but if you check their fares online, you can sometimes get the same, if not cheaper fares than Cebu Pacific for domestic flights.

  9. gunnar Avatar
    gunnar

    Cebu Pacific has changed their system. which was the reason why their services are so slow. Computers ang mabagal. I also experience the same ordeal. Went there on a saturday to book my flight to CDO. I arrived at galleria around 9 AM. To my surprise, there were around 50 persons ahead of me (first person in the line told me that he was there at 630 AM). You may wonder why there were 11 counters and yet 2 persons are manning the stations. 2 persons will arrive at 10AM, 3 at 12, 4 on 2 PM. The reasons was, those crew are so tired the previous day. They usually end up at around 2 in the morning. I have studied and timed each transactions. Before, 10 to 15 minutes per passenger. Now, 30 to 60 minutes per passenger. Had they did not upgraded their system, hell it could have been better. Was still wondering why they did such? You want to earn extra cash. Get a queing ticket and sell it to the other passengers in line hehehehe

  10. Rai Avatar

    I went through the same ordeal. It was so crazy and it was lucky for you that you had time to wait. We, on the other hand, had to buy another ticket so that my boyfriend’s father could take the next available flight. The first one was still to be refunded since I can’t contact their customer service number and the refund office number is always busy.

    You can read my story here

  11. procrastinator Avatar
    procrastinator

    My experience was worse. I took a number at 10:30am and got served 5:30pm. It was crazy. My parents asked me to book at the main office coz they don’t trust their website using my card. I already went to a bank for deposit, took lunch, went shopping, met a friend, transferred to 2 different coffee shops with that friend, while visiting their office in between. They stopped giving out numbers around 3pm. And I wandered, if someday I put up a cebu pacific ticketing office just beside it, will it tick? For some reason, travel agencies in our area no longer offer CP tickets anymore…

  12. procrastinator Avatar
    procrastinator

    And by the way, I just got a “Print Screen” complete with the Start Button and the Clock at the bottom. I also asked for an official receipt but they just said that the printout was enough. Does that mean that they’re not paying taxes as well? Just wondering…

  13. nina Avatar

    Procrastinator: Eew, that’s a very LONG time to wait. That’s reason enough to use their online booking facility. Interesting point about the official receipt thing. Hmmmmmmmmm…..

  14. jeffrey Avatar
    jeffrey

    kakainis. i work in a travel agency and we sell 5j tickets..as in sell in a sense that we really issue ticket thru online booking. i can have the ticket printed in less than 5 minutes kaso few people come inside the agency. cguro dahil bago pa lang and di pa masyadong recognize. everytime i passes by 5j offices in the mall and ang daming tao waiting for their turns, makes me sometimes think of bringing my laptop and portable printer and place a small table outside their office. hehe.

  15. fe saldino Avatar
    fe saldino

    hello po ako po si fe saldino nais po magkaroon ng copy or kahit send nalng po sa email add ko kasi nawal ko po yung original na binigay nyo po nung nirefund ko nung jluy 12 2008 ang pashero po ay sina mitzi mae baltazar at alexander baltazar manila to thailand ang thailand to n\maila dated july 7-10,2008 thanks po

  16. fe saldino Avatar
    fe saldino

    im sorry sa date po di ko sure kung 12 or 11 ng july ko nirefund naway maisend nyo po agad kasi kailangan ko po naway matugunan nyo po ang mensahe ko po ito po bale yung email add ko nicolesaldino@yahoo.com manila to bank\gkok thailand and bangkok thailand to manila bale po yung pabalok po yung nirefund ko po thanks ulit god bless

  17. lucilla Avatar

    Good day,

    I have the reservation in going to Hongkong and I was told that my sister in going to pay for my fare. It so happen that my sister is nor here in the philippines. She’s in Vietnam. I just want to know, how can my sister pay for my fare. Is there any requirement for her to fill up. She is going to pay thru credit card.
    I am hoping for the response.

  18. JAy Lopez Avatar
    JAy Lopez

    dapat sa hotline ng cebu pacific magsara nalang walang ka kwenta kwenta sayang ang long distance calls ko wala naman nasagot mga walang kwenta leche.wag na kayo jan bibili ng ticket.

  19. Rio Avatar
    Rio

    Need help.. cno may numb er ng cebu pacific robinsons manila branch?

  20. boki Avatar

    haiz sinabi nyo pa. ganun talaga dyan. kasi nag lalandiaan pa ang mga tao dyan bago mag trabaho. kita mo pati manager nila dyan sobrang landi. di mag trabaho ng maayos na lang. inuuna muna ang kalandiaan bago mag sipag trabaho. kaiis sila kaya ang mag antay ng mahabang oras. kasi inuuna nila ang boyfriends nila bago trabaho. kaya maraming nag hihiwalay na mag asawa dyan sa office nial eh. papano ang lalandi ng mga tao dyan.

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