My First Cebu Pacific Piso Fare
Just to give you a brief background about how did trip happened, this all started with Piso Fare of Cebu Pacific Air. Out of curiosity when I saw the add of Cebu Pacific on facebook about their piso fare I grab my phone and visit their website and attempted to book a flight without any further plans at all. I really don’t know where to go and as I browse on the drop down of destinations, Cebu caught my attention. I then made my first round trip booking MNL (Manila) to CEB (Cebu) and CEB (Cebu) to MNL (Manila). During this time Cebu Pacific only accepts debit and credit cards as well as PayPal. Good thing I have my PayPal account active that made this booking possible. I made this booking on November of 2017. Since then I have started to plan my very first Solo trip to Cebu.
February 8 2018 when I received the first email from Cebu Pacific that my flight schedule was changed. Because of this I have the option to confirm the booking, reschedule, reroute, ask for a refund or get a full travel fund for my future travel. This is actually a good but I haven't realize it yet that time. I did not respond to the email in my dismay. I got a couple of notices from them advising me of minor flight schedule changes. This is something I appreciate with Cebu Pacific. They will notify you via email and via text message about any changes. They constantly do this once a week until you get you booking rescheduled. Let me illiterate that these are just minor flight changes though it did affect the itinerary that I made.
On March I decided reroute my entry point to DGT (Dumaguete). Since then I never updated my itinerary thinking that I will still be heading to Cebu. As the days past and my flight is coming closer my vacation leave was then in jeopardy because of different reasons. September (a month from my planned vacation) when I received another notification form Cebu pacific letting me know about the flight changes for my exit point. Out of stress and frustrations that I was going through that time I then decided not to go to Cebu anymore. Out of impulse I immediately reroute my exit point from CEB to MNL to DGT to MNL then I do the online check in for both flight. Another good feature you can get your boarding pass as early as seven (7) days before your flight or even up to four (4) hours for an international flight and up to one (1) hour for your flights within the Philippines. No need to print the boarding pass. You can just present it to the terminal and you will able to board the aircraft. Up to this time there is no guarantee that my leave will be approved. “Que sera sera” I told myself.
February 8 2018 when I received the first email from Cebu Pacific that my flight schedule was changed. Because of this I have the option to confirm the booking, reschedule, reroute, ask for a refund or get a full travel fund for my future travel. This is actually a good but I haven't realize it yet that time. I did not respond to the email in my dismay. I got a couple of notices from them advising me of minor flight schedule changes. This is something I appreciate with Cebu Pacific. They will notify you via email and via text message about any changes. They constantly do this once a week until you get you booking rescheduled. Let me illiterate that these are just minor flight changes though it did affect the itinerary that I made.
On March I decided reroute my entry point to DGT (Dumaguete). Since then I never updated my itinerary thinking that I will still be heading to Cebu. As the days past and my flight is coming closer my vacation leave was then in jeopardy because of different reasons. September (a month from my planned vacation) when I received another notification form Cebu pacific letting me know about the flight changes for my exit point. Out of stress and frustrations that I was going through that time I then decided not to go to Cebu anymore. Out of impulse I immediately reroute my exit point from CEB to MNL to DGT to MNL then I do the online check in for both flight. Another good feature you can get your boarding pass as early as seven (7) days before your flight or even up to four (4) hours for an international flight and up to one (1) hour for your flights within the Philippines. No need to print the boarding pass. You can just present it to the terminal and you will able to board the aircraft. Up to this time there is no guarantee that my leave will be approved. “Que sera sera” I told myself.
Piso fares are real!
Airlines do provide promotions that allow you travel with a huge discount and on a cheap price. Because of limited availability of the seats and technical issues website and internet connection) you really have to have a lot of patience and smart enough to know the “hows” to get one. Here are a few tips to get book you promo flight successfully.
- Follow airlines' on their social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and subscribe to for news letters via email.
- They announce their promo fares ahead of time. You can easily spot them if you are following their social media account.
- Sign up for an account before the sale.
- This will save you a lot of time and hassle typing your personal information.
- By registring for an account via GetGo for Cebu Pacific Air, AirAsia BIG for AirAsia, and Mabuhay Miles for Philippine Airlines you can also get sales EXCLUSIVELY for their members.
- Get your Cards or PayPal account ready.
- Even though airlines now accept non-bank partners to accept your cash payment it is still more faster and more convenient to use a card. Not all promo fairs can be book using non-bank partners some are exclusively for card holders.
- Not all of us have credit card. But good thing is that airline also now accept debit card particularly VISA and MASTERCARD debit cards.
- I personally don't store my card information on websites and an alternate for that is through PayPal.
- 12:00am mark
- Seat Sale starts at 12:00 midnight, be sure to be fast and quick. There is a bigger chance for you to get a seat on the first hour.
- Book on the first day of Sale. Again seat sale had limited slots. Airlines don't disclose the number of sales available and most of the time they distribute it through the promo period. the earlier you book the bigger chance to get a promo seat.
- Once you found a destination and a date with a cheap fare book it right away and don't hesitate nor think twice because it can be taken from you in just a second.
- Use gateway destinations and Off-peak dates
- Davao, Cebu, Bohol and Palawan seem to be the most loved destinations and they can be "sold out' in just a snap.
- Try not so common destinations that can bring you to place that you want to go. Like Dumaguete can be your gate way to the Island of Negros, Siquijo and Cebu.
- Weekend "sold out fast" do consider other weekdays or the off-peak season.
- Small Batches
- If you have companion make sure book them in small batches. If it's more than two people consider booking them separately.
- Make sure to be ready with your companions personal information
- Full name (including middle name and as written on passport)
- Birth date
- Email address
- Contact number
- Passport Number (some airlines require this)
- Passport Expiry Date (some airlines require this)
Additional Information :
- First-time Users - If you are a bit "techcy" try using VPN of proxy servers. Concealing or changing your location can add to your change of booking a promo seat since these airlines usually offers the seat sale to first-time user.
- Travel Expo & Conventions - If you are based in Manila, make sure to watchout for big travel expo & conventions happening in the metro. Cebu Pacific along with other major airlines might have discount tickets exclusive to those attending.
- Read promo details & conditions carefully - Be mindful of important details posted on the announcement, especially the sale period and travel period. You should book your flights before the end of the selling period.
- “all-in” fares - This means that it already includes the base fare, airport fees, and government taxes.
Local Airlines Websites
This is my very first solo backing trip. Please do note that this is not a budget trip though I have provided some tips and good to know information that will help you to make your trip less hassle and budget friendly. This post is going to be a series of blog post link to each other to help you easily get the information that you only need.
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