The complex world of booking flights. Help!

YoucancallmeAl · Post by **YoucancallmeAl** » December 16th, 2010, 1:39 pm

zzzz wrote:I am sure you can do it but I don't know if I would want to. If I was going to take a trip like that I would fly. A quick search showed flights for $26 just now via Cebu Pacific in January (leaving 27 coming back 31).

I will take a one-way flight to Iloilo. The girl I'm meeting there wants me to make it in time for the Dinagyang Festival.
http://www.philippinecountry.com/philip ... tival.html
That means leaving Cebu on Jan 21. And when I checked cheapoair the best price was $98.

(probably so high on that day because of the Festival.)
Anyone know a way I can get a flight for cheaper on that day? Hell, it's only a 40-minute flight.

Also, I read that the way to not get hassled upon entering RP is to be able to show an exit ticket. And since you're just gonna throw the ticket away anyway, Malaysia was recommended as the cheapest option. But when I checked several websites, $350 to Kuala Lumper was the cheapest flight I could find. (when looking at early/mid March, less than 60 days after my arrival in RP)
I really don't want to throw away a perfectly good $350 if I can avoid it. So...
a) Would my internal RP ticket from Cebu to Iloilo be enough to satisfy customs/immigration? Particularly if I told them I don't know from which city I'll be leaving RP from yet?
b) Could I just take a chance and show up w/o an exit ticket and if they refuse entry, just buy the exit ticket then?

zzzz · Post by **zzzz** » December 16th, 2010, 2:01 pm

I don't know, would maybe having an open ended ticket for return work? I've always had a return flight booked. TBH you could probably fake it if you wanted to, they just looked at my print out itinerary, though I guess it is possible they checked with my airline too. It'd also be cheaper just to buy a ticket then change the date with the airline later. I think Korean Air for instance does the first change free then it only costs the difference in fare after that. I'm sure other airlines are similar.

Even at $98 I'd still fly. Travel is cheap in the Philippines but it still costs something. Taking multiple jeepneys, vans, taxis, and ferries would probably cost more than you'd think and you'd probably get lost too along the way.

YoucancallmeAl · Post by **YoucancallmeAl** » December 17th, 2010, 5:48 pm

zzzz wrote:I am sure you can do it but I don't know if I would want to. If I was going to take a trip like that I would fly. A quick search showed flights for $26 just now via Cebu Pacific in January (leaving 27 coming back 31).

btw, where did you search???
I just put several different mid-week dates in 3 different months for a one-way from Cebu to Iloilo into Cheapoair's search and they ALL came out at $94 to $98. WTF?
Where can I find these $26 flights??????

zzzz · Post by **zzzz** » December 17th, 2010, 8:32 pm

http://www.skyscanner.com/flights/ceb/i ... -2011.html

YoucancallmeAl · Post by **YoucancallmeAl** » December 22nd, 2010, 4:25 pm

zzzz wrote:http://www.skyscanner.com/flights/ceb/i ... -2011.html

Damn! Thanks, zzzz. You saved me about $60.

globetrotter · Post by **globetrotter** » December 22nd, 2010, 5:11 pm

For all of you guys who are now in Asia or some other location, airfare BACK to the USA is double or triple what you pay to get to where you are.

YoucancallmeAl · Post by **YoucancallmeAl** » December 26th, 2010, 1:33 pm

YoucancallmeAl wrote:
zzzz wrote:http://www.skyscanner.com/flights/ceb/i ... -2011.html
Damn! Thanks, zzzz. You saved me about $60.

Just tried to book my flight online and it wouldn't let me. I spent 15 minutes putting all my info in, then once it got to payment, it only allowed 1 option: ATM card. And it had to be from a list of RP banks.
WTF?!?
Is it not possible to book an internal RP flight without having a RP bank account???
I would like to pay with my Visa credit/debit card. Why won't it let me do that?
And if I wait til I get there and purchase at the airport day of flight, how much more expensive would it be?

YoucancallmeAl · Post by **YoucancallmeAl** » December 26th, 2010, 1:54 pm

btw, I'll be flying to Iloilo on the day the Dinagyang Festival starts so there's a good chance all flights would be booked on day of flight, but I won't be in RP until the previous day.

And when you go to CebuPacific's website it says you can pay with a Visa but when you get to that step it doesn't give the option.

YoucancallmeAl · Post by **YoucancallmeAl** » December 30th, 2010, 3:44 pm

I tried again with Cebu Pacific and this time it allowed the visa option. Strange.

New question:
I know you have to have an outbound flight ticket to get in. But how far in the future is your outbound ticket allowed to be? I'd like to have it at least 3 months after my arrival date in the RP. But will they allow that, considering that the first tourist visa can only be 59 days?
Of course they must know that I can extend my visa up to 2 years. But do they still require that the outbound ticket I enter RP with be within the time limit of my initial visa?
I tried asking someone at the RP consulate in Chicago but their english was so poor I don't think they could understand the question.

globetrotter · Post by **globetrotter** » December 30th, 2010, 6:02 pm

Try to just get a ticket on to Japan, Taiwan or Malaysia.

Don't use it, or keep it for the short flight/visa run to MY.

If you don't use it just resell the unused leg.

I have found that looking for airfare on Mon or Tues nets the lowest price. Manged to cut $700 off the insane prices from Asia to the USA.

Flights from SEAsia to the UK are only $750 USD on Aeroflot.