cebu pacific airlines ( very cheap and brand new 737 aircraft )

[shadows]

cheap flights from manila and AC , much cheaper than philippine airlines. worth checking out if you want a cheap trip to cebu and many other places . www.cebupacificairlines.com off the computer its cheaper. but i got a flight for my honey ko to dipolog , round trip for under $120.00 - round trip to cebu is under $100.00 something to keep in mind for cheap trips. i sent honey ko for one week so i could go to AC and play.

[tony999]

I'm trying to book a flight with them right now from Clark to Cebu but they have a problem with accepting US-issued Visa cards (and Australian ones too obviously). I called the help desk in Cebu but that was a total waste of time - they said try another card, a Philippino credit card!!!!

Fucking useless, I'm going to have to wait until I get there to book my flight.

[bobbe45]

I'm trying to book a flight with them right now from Clark to Cebu but they have a problem with accepting US-issued Visa cards (and Australian ones too obviously). I called the help desk in Cebu but that was a total waste of time - they said try another card, a Philippino credit card!!!!

Fucking useless, I'm going to have to wait until I get there to book my flight.

I have booked with my Master Card, just a few months ago on a flight Clark-Cebu-Clark. I am not sure what could be the problem.

[tony999]

I have booked with my Master Card, just a few months ago on a flight Clark-Cebu-Clark. I am not sure what could be the problem.

They have a notice on their site which says something along the lines of "we have problems accepting American-issued credit cards, check back soon or use another credit card". They only accept Visa and Mastercard and they won't accept my Aussie-issued card.

I'll check back in a few days to see if the problem has gone away.

[shadows]

i did not use a credit card , i went to the airport office and paid in pesos and american cash . so i didn't have any problems.

[dick_the_dick]

Apparently ever since the moved to the new aircrafts they manage to be delayed between 1 to 3 hours...

[phillike]

I tried using my American issued credit cards online but it said was declined.
This happened a few times and I checked my accounts to make sure I was not charged.
Finally I was in Manila and went to the cebupacific office in the mall and bought a ticket to Hong Kong. When I told the girl I tried making reservation online but could not use my credit card instead of waiting in line for the dead slow service at their office. She said they do not accept any foreign issued credit cards anymore for security reasons. Obviously some people tried to make reservation on stolen credit cards.
She also said the best way to do is to apply for cebupacific sponsored credit card or open an account in metrobank and get a credit card.
Same thing is happening when I tried Tiger airways also. Maybe they also stopped accepting foreign credit cards.
This is really bad because both of these airlines have excellent fares to many destinations we mongers go. I do not know whether it is easy to get their sponsored credit cards. I had flown on these two airlines and also on Air Asia many times on last minute reservations. I have not tried Air Asia recently but maybe some others in this forum have tried.
They will certainly loose lot of business this way.

My fare one way to Hong kong approx 2900 pesos or around $70 US the day before travel. It was almost $300 US on cathay pacific. This clearly shows last minute travel is very cheap in low cost airlines and I hate to loose this advantage, although it saved me money in the sense I could not book ticket for my girlfriend to join me in manila from Leyte. She was grumbling but had to take 24 hours bus to meet me for the cost of 800 pesos.

[tony999]

Thanks Phillike, you're having the same problem as me.

I went into the site again today to see if the problem is sorted out and I find that they've cancelled the Sunday flights from Clark to Cebu. This is a real pain because I've already booked (and paid for) my hotel in Cebu. Now I'm going to have to get down to Manila and get a flight from there to Cebu. The fucking car from AC to Manila is going to cost more than the flight from Manila to Cebu !!!!

Now I remember why it's so difficult to do business in The Philippines!!!!

[phillike]

Why don't you take the fly the bus from AC to Manila. Your hotel can book this for you. They come and collect you from your hotel.
Cost is 500 pesos to Swagman , Manila. From there take a Taxi to Domestic terminal which should cost you approx 150 pesos.
The bus only runs certain times.

[tony999]

Why don't you take the fly the bus from AC to Manila. Your hotel can book this for you. They come and collect you from your hotel.
Cost is 500 pesos to Swagman , Manila. From there take a Taxi to Domestic terminal which should cost you approx 150 pesos.
The bus only runs certain times.

Thanks mate, I'm going to have to do that. The cost of a car is WAY too much.

Do you happen to have a website with the AC Departure times? I haven't booked a flight from Manila to Cebu yet.

T.

[tony999]

I finally booked a flight from Clark to Cebu using a friend's credit card (a local guy).

I turned up early for my flight, checked in and waited at the departure gate. About 15 mins before departure a guy stands in front of the crowd and announced that the flight (the only one of the day) is cancelled. He told us this in Tagalog I later learned.

Anyway, we all rush out and collect our bags from the checkin counter and we got our departure tax back too. They, eventually, put us on a bus down to Manila airport and got us out on a different flight. I get the feeling this wasn't an isolated incident. I would imagine that if they can't fill the flight they'll send people out of Manila instead; it's cheaper for them. It fucked up my day though. What should have been a 90 minute journey to Cebu ended up taking me 12 hours!!!

I tried them again flying from Cebu to Davao and back and I didn't have a problem with the flights. Nice new aircraft and friendly staff.

[et-sys]

Not to sound like a noise machine, cebu pac uses A320 / A 319

As for the new, yes, most of them are quite new less than 2 year old, compared to the crate (40 year or so old DC-9-80), but that was an experience and I booked that flight just to enjoy the swoosh of the Mad Dogs.

Different folks, different folks.

BTW, Cebu pac has switched back to their "LoW cost model" so expect prices to drop and stay low.

Have fun guys

[venom]

Sign up for the Verified By Visa or Mastercard Secure Code. Once I did that I no longer have problems buying off their site.

[TokyoSmiles]

Thats not the correct link above to Cebu Pacific's Web site. This is:

http://www.cebupacificair.com/

[alc1118]

Same problem using my credit card on the Cebu online site, both American issued Visa and Mastercard. I called Cebu directly. They took my card and booked me as I waited on the phone.

Same problem with Tiger Airways. Didn't accept my credit cards for online purchases. I called a few time directly to the company to book when I was in AC. Some of the agents were stupid and useless. Over the phone I explained to one agent that their website does not accept American credit cards. She went on to say that my card was declined (no shit) and to use another. I went on to say that I used four different cards with the same result and that the issuing banks verified that the cards were good and it is the merchant's system. Dipshit at Tiger kept saying to use another card. Then the idiot said that my reservation lapsed since I didn't purchase the ticket and that the flight was sold out for the next two days of travel. WTF.

Then I asked the girl to put me to the supervisior. I was disconnected. Pissed, I called back and asked for the supervisor and told her the story. She said that if I wanted to confirm the reservation that I need to purchase the ticket that day at the counter at Clark. I walked over to the jeepney stop at the Mall. Some asshole were trying to get 300 pesos for taking me to the airport. I told them to fuck off. Finally, I found the jeepney stand to the airport. It cost only 9 pesos.

At the ticket stand at the airport, the counter girl said that I needed to purchase the ticket 3 days before my departure and that I have to come back tomorrow to see if I can get on stand-by. I was really pissed now. I said that I was specifically told by the supervisor at Tiger to come to the airport to purchase my ticket, that she better talk with someone who has the authority to issue me a ticket. After a few calls, they finally issued me a confirmed ticket.

In short, the failure to accept foreign credit cards for online ticket purchases with these low cost asian airlines is going to throw some curves in travel plans. So plan ahead.