I set out for Cebu on short notice to visit an old friend who has frequented Cebu, Manila, Clark and AC for two decades. My spur-of-the-moment excursion commanded a premium: for one, booking a flight less than one business day before departure cost more and yielded less than the best fare or routing. And, though I love Singapore Air, especially their new co-designed Airbus in which Executive Economy class rivals the business class of domestic carriers, a midday departure not only stopped in Tokyo for an hour, but also stuck me in Singapore for 8 hours. Arriving after 1 AM made it both too late and too much trouble to risk problems with customs, so the Singapore night scene was not an option. Instead, I surfed the Net and napped; found some poor sucker’s lost plane ticket on the floor and got it returned just before his flight departed; bought a gift – just another typical night in SIN en route to MNL.

Manila to Cebu, the shortest leg of my trip, proved to be the most challenging. I had called Cebu Pacific Air’s Manila and Cebu offices through the night before departure, since their website kept kicking me off with the pop-up explanation that it could only make reservations 48 hours in advance. I was calling during business hours in RP, yet the only person who answered any of the half-dozen offices I called told me to call a different number, which, of course, no one ever answered. I finally reserved a seat on Philippine Air by cell phone to a travel agent while driving to LAX.

Finally arriving two calendar days later at MNL, I took a taxi to Philippine Air, since it’s in a different terminal than the other international carriers. Only after navigating security and metal detectors to enter the terminal did I learn that their ticket sales department is in a separate building. I exited the terminal and walked to the adjacent building, waited patiently in a long line, only to find that my reservation had been cancelled – something to do with their not accepting a credit card from a US travel agent for a flight not originating in the US, and 2 days passing since the reservation was made. No problem, the salesperson said, just buy a ticket. And once I had, she blithely informed me that there were no seats on the now-delayed flight. “But you just sold me a ticket!” Her inscrutable explanation: “It’s an open ticket.” “I don’t need an open ticket, I need to get to Cebu today!” “You can probably get on the next flight after this one.”

So I trudged back through security to the check-in line, where I was informed that both the next flight and the following were overbooked. “Ahem, Mr. Supervisor - your people sold me a ticket not 15 minutes ago. If they’d told me you had no seats, I would have gone over to the Cebu Pacific terminal and been on my way.” Smiling cheerfully, Mr. Supervisor assured me I was on standby and should come back in 2 hours. Now, I’m normally a go-with-the-flow kinda guy; but I hadn’t slept for more than a few hours over the past five days, had only scheduled two nights for Cebu, and didn’t relish wasting one in Manila; so that two hours of uncertainty was not my cheeriest. But somehow it worked out, and I was assigned a seat on the next flight, delayed only two hours.

Some of you may be familiar with the Sampaguita Lounge in the Manila Airport. Reportedly owned by the airport’s builder, it offers an inexpensive ($8) refuge for passengers unaffiliated with frequent flier affiliate clubs. Comfy chairs, sleeping cabins, light buffet, a bar and big screen TV plus business center with unlimited Internet access make it a real bargain for those with even just an hour to kill between flights.

An upstart competitor has arisen in the form of Club Manila, whose tout-provided flier boasts similar amenities, including “Complete Business Center – Internet Facilities.” However, the flier does not disclose that Internet access is limited to 15 minutes, after which you must pay $2.10 for each additional 15 minutes. I’m not a big fan of “gotchas”, and this facility is no bargain at $10, failing to match the Sampaguita Lounge in any significant category, especially customer service. In fact, my SL salesgirl subsequently sent a cheery e-mail thanking me for my patronage, a far cry from the chilly reception at Club Manila.

Meanwhile, my well-traveled friend was waiting at the Cebu airport, puzzled that no flight was listed to arrive at the scheduled time– the airline had simply changed the arrival time, and refused to acknowledge that the earlier flight had been delayed. As veterans say, that’s the Philippines.


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Wow Tujunga, what troubles you had getting there. I guess if you're going to Cebu, your limited to the Phil carriers. Although I believe SEAAIR out of Angeles is flying there also, maybe a better alternative.