I returned from a month in the philippines on 4/7 and could not wait to go back. I called my travel agent and wanted to book about 2 weeks or so in May-June time frame. He called me back and said 5/24-6/20 were the only dates he could confirm. It was more time than I needed to spend away, but my little head was thinking and I agreed. As he advised me the last time I booked with him there would be a $50.00 change penalty (including cancellations). As I savored the thought of returning to AC, I happened to look on the AC2 Board, and someone had posted a message about a visa. I did not realize that I needed a visa for stays over 21 days, and my travel agent did not make any mention about it, so I called him and he said just go to the immigration office in Manila, pay $40.00 and no problem. I was satisfied. I got back on the AC2 board and someone posted a message that said don't even try to get on a flight to the Philippines if you have more than a three week stay ticket and no visa. I called PAL and they said I technically needed a visa, but I really needed to call Delta, since they were they origination of my international flight, I called Delta and explained my position, and the said they would not let me board with a 4 week ticket and no visa. Back to the travel agent, and after 2 days of sweating, he managed to get my boarding authorized. Part II. I knew I really didn't need to stay in AC for 4 weeks, since I have obligations at home, so someone (NOT MY CRACKERJACK TRAVEL AGENT) suggested I get waitlisted. I was unfamiliar with this procedure, so I called my travel agent. He said just tell PAL when I got to Manila to Waitlist me. Okay no problem. Then I thought if my travel agent waitlisted me, I would be 8 days ahead of everybody else. I told him to waitlist me from my sheduled return on 6/20 all the way back to 6/9. He e mailed me to say he waitlisted me for 6/9 and 6/10. Apparently, he could not understand that I wanted to be waitlisted from 6/20 back to 6/9, so he only waitlisted me for 6/9-6/10. As I called PAL daily to check my waitlist, they confirmed a flight on 6/9. When I told my ravel agent, he informed me that the only connecting Delta flight would be 12 hours later. I checked expedia and travelocity and there were all kind of flights traveling to the east coast that night, but the travel agent said none of them would qualify. The bottom line was that after a week of total aggravation I decided to cancel the flight. When I informed the agent about this, he said it would cost me $175.00. I asked about the $50.00 cancellation fee he told me about and he said that PAL had raised the fee to $100.00 and he was charging $75.00 for his trouble. I called PAL and was able to find out that their cancellation fee was still $50.00. This travel agent is Ron Perry of Farm Tours, and I recommend staying away from him at all costs. He is a liar and a cheat and puts on a smiley face until he has your money. I hope my experience saves other hombres headaches.

Please tell me you got laid once or twice amidst all the travel hassles?

I'd would have gottten laid alot more than that had I ever made it to AC!I cancelled and am going to reschedule with a reputable travel agent.

You can apply for an extentsion of the free 21 day tourist visa once you are in the Philippines. I have heard this service is avaiable in Angeles City somewhere, maybe through Swagman Hotel.

In Cebu City, you go to an office on the fourth floor of what appears to be mostly an abandoned building and get it. It's very close to the bay. Look in your travel guide book for information on where to go. Taxi drivers don't seem to know this place, BTW. I can also tell you the office had changed buildings between the first and second trip to Cebu.

Now, they have this kind of trick they play on you though. They ask you, do you want express service, which means you'll get your extension approved in like 40 minutes or not for an additional 1000P. Btw, this is over and above the 500P I think the regular service which is offered. The problem is if you elect the regular service it will be 12 days or so before you get your passport and extension back, meaning you'd pretty much be basing yourself in Cebu the whole time.

Additionally, if you arrive at the immigration booth at the MNL airport and they see you've stayed passed the 21 days, even two days beyond, you'll be ordered to pay 2500P on the spot. It's happened to me before.

Note: fees are approximate, best to my memory.

Archie29621,

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. Goceltics and I were looking forward to three CH mongers in AC at the same time!

I had a similar problem back in February. Epimetheus and I were checking in at the EVA counter in LAX. The agent looked at my Passport and excused herself. She came back about 2 minutes later and told me I couldn't get a boarding pass because since my passport was expiring in a few months I couldn't go because my return date was beyond the last day I could return before being in violation of Philippine immigration laws. After Epimetheus clamed me down I told them to change my return date to come back sooner. As soon as I got through Philippine Customs, and got my 21-day stamp, I called the airline back and changed my return dates back to the original days.

Anyway, Bingo is right - you can extend your 21-day stay very easily. There's an immigration office, near the post office, on MacArthur Blvd. Your problem, however, is that the airlines cannot let you on their plane if there are immigration issues. Granted - you would have breezed through Customs but the airline can't take that chance. They get a heavy fine and also have to incur the cost of sending you back. I'm surprised you couldn't get an extended visa thought the Philippine Embassy. Usually all you have to do is come up with some bullshit reason to stay longer than 21 days. They don't care as long as they get your cash.

There are many companies that specialize in extended work and/or personal visas. I have them for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Dubai. The cost will normally run around $75 plus the cost of the visa....

Better luck next time. Maybe I will see you in July/August… (prog)