Flying with Cebu Pacific

With all the promos Cebu Pacific had last 2006, it’s pretty hard to avoid not booking through them at least once. Their acquisition of brand new Airbus A319’s, enabled them to offer flights to more regional destinations, which in turn gave more Filipinos options for cheap travel both domestically and overseas.

I flew with them twice last year: to Cebu and to Bacolod, both originating in Manila. Back then Cebu Pacific was still giving out free bottles of C2 Iced tea. I hear that they’ve stopped giving them out this year (to the dismay of Pinoy travelers who are used to freebies). I wonder if they still have their fun games.

Buying the tickets
I was able to buy our roundtrip Cebu tickets through their online booking facility, during their Piso promo (which came after their 10-peso promo). On the promo fare, I was able to buy 2 roundtrip tickets for only Php3,100+ (approximately US$60). Nice, no? I was actually aiming to get Manila-Tagbilaran-Manila tickets as we’re bound for Bohol, but back then, they only have 1 flight to Tagbilaran so I keep on getting the non-promo fare prices.

For the Bacolod flight, my sister and I bought our tickets direct from the Cebu Pacific Ticketing office in Robinson’s Galleria. It was an emergency trip, and since we will be travelling with a minor who’s only getting a one-way ticket, we had to buy it from them directly as their website cannot allow bookings for minors travelling alone. Since it was a Sunday, the ticketing office wasn’t as crowded as it gets during their crazy seat sales. Waiting time was only about 10 minutes, and the people behind the counter were friendly and courteous. For 2 roundtrip tickets and 1 one-way ticket, our total was about Php7,500+ (approximately US$150).

On the air
The two flights I had with Cebu Pacific was certainly different from the flights I’ve taken with other low cost carriers. For one thing, as mentioned, they gave out bottled iced teas (now discontinued). Another is that they have these fun games. Basically, it’s like a “bring me” game: the flight attendant would call out an item, and the first one to bring out said item gets a prize. Prizes are Cebu Pacific products like cellphone holder, water bottle holder. Basically merchandise they sell onboard.

If you’re taking a Cebu Pacific flight anytime soon and want to win in their games (if they’re still having it), here’s a tip for you: Take note to remember the bring me items on the flight out. One of those items are bound to come up again in the next round 😉

The million dollar question: Are they always on time?
On the four flight segments I flew with Cebu Pacific, they were nearly on time. I’ve been lucky so far and haven’t experienced more than 30 minute delays.

If you ask other travelers though, they would say nearly all the flights they had with Cebu Pacific were delayed, specially the international flights. I guess it would depend on how lucky you are that day. ^_^

Will I book with Cebu Pacific again?
Definitely! I’m a sucker for discounts and bargains, so even if I won’t be earning miles with Cebu Pacific, I would still book with them. Now, if they would only schedule these promos when I actually have money…