Wisdom from the Road #20

(This applies to Cebu Pacific domestic+international connecting flights

and may or may not apply to other airlines.)

Maybe this is what we get for being too cheap. Too cheap to buy a connecting ticket (you know, when you book on Cebu Pacific, you click on Cebu to Taipei, and it gives you Cebu–Manila–Taipei all in one click) because connecting tickets do not ever go on sale.

We bought our Cebu–Manila and Manila–Taipei tickets separately for a total of about half the price of a connecting ticket. We chose the same schedules as the connecting flights. We're on the same schedule as a connecting ticket so the plane would never leave us behind even if the first leg is delayed, right?

The first leg was—what else is new?—delayed (good thing we already paid for our travel tax in the international departure area in Mactan Cebu International Airport) and we arrived panting and wheezing at the check–in counter for the Taipei flight just as it was closing (for international flights, passengers who have checked in online must still go to the check–in counter for checking of travel documents). Add to that an error in our companion's Travel Authorization Certificate and our hearts raced as her fingers raced to fill out the online form not once, but twice (first through smart phone, but it did not generate a pdf file of the certificate; second time through a laptop). A Cebu Pacific agent was shouting "Last call for boarding for Taipei! Last call for boarding for Taipei!" and we had to run like the Flash from the check–in counter, to the international terminal fee counter, to the immigration counter, and to our boarding gate...which happened to be the farthest gate!!! We were involuntarily cast as contenders for a 500–meter dash.

If getting a connecting ticket means [1] having your passport and visa checked at the first airport (in this case Mactan) and [2] tagging your bags as check–thru baggage (bags are tagged through to their final destination and you don't have to pick it up when you arrive at your layover destination) then you won't have to go through all that impromptu exercise. Those are the only two things I can think of as advantages of having a connecting ticket (that's if [1] applies...which I am not sure of).

Lessons learned from this trip:

1. Do not trust the connecting flight schedules. Expect delays especially when going via Manila. A 2.5–hour leeway between flights (especially if the second flight is an international flight) might not be enough.

2. Pay your Philippine travel tax (applicable to Filipino citizens) at the first airport (if it's an international airport).

3. Take advantage of the web check–in. Check in online and print your boarding pass.

4. Ensure your travel documents (passport and visa) are complete and have no errors.

5. Gadgets can be lifesavers. (In our case, Companion #2's effort of bringing a laptop and having data connection paid off when Companion #1 had to redo her Travel Authorization Certificate.)

6. If possible, just bring hand–carried bags.
7. Wear comfortable clothes and running shoes. Just in case.