Philippine Airlines has introduced its new e-ticketing facility for booking domestic flights.
Effective 10 August 2007, we are using 2 systems simultaneously. The New! Low Fare Calendar Search which is available for domestic itineraries only and the current Low Fare Search by Schedule for International itineraries or combination of International/Domestic Itineraries.
Low Fare Calendar Search
This applies to Domestic Itineraries only. You may now check the low fare across a seven day period or the low fare for your exact travel date.Low Fare Search By Schedule
For International itineraries or combination of International and Domestic itineraries. You will be shown the best internet fare applicable to your preferred travel date.Source: Philippine Airlines website
I tried booking for a return ticket to Puerto Princessa using both systems. Surprisingly, there was a difference in the ticket prices. With the old system, the fare quoted was Php 6,873.00, inclusive of taxes. Using the new domestic booking system, the same itinerary only costs Php 5,210. Moving the departure date from a Saturday to a Sunday, I was even able to get a RT ticket for only Php 3,082. That’s a great price, isn’t it?
The thing I like best about their new system is that it shows you the available fares for each day within the week, which makes it easier to look for fares that would suit your budget.
Of course, if you’re getting fares this cheap, there’s a drawback: can’t earn miles. Mileage accrual or not, Php 3,082 for a return ticket to Puerto Princessa is a pretty good deal.
I tried the same two booking dates with Cebu Pacific. For the first one (Saturday – Tuesday), the fare I got was Php 6,453.44! It costs almost as much through PAL’s old booking system. For the next itinerary (Sunday to Tuesday), the tickets cost Php 3,506.72, still higher than that of PAL’s. Comparing their taxes, it looks like Cebu Pacific is charging higher taxes than PAL. Where as PAL is charging Php 2,106 for the 2nd itinerary, Cebu Pacific is charging Php 2,230.72. Okay, so there’s minimal difference. But still, interesting.
Thanks to reader “cargo” for telling me about PAL’s new system ๐
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