Air Philippines Express Sale

The banner says it all . . .

HoliDeal Promo Fares -- Air Philippines

For last minute travels in time for the long Holy Week vacation you might want to check Air Philippines for tickets as low as Php 688++. I believe that air tickets for the Holy Week season are now cheaper than 10 years ago despite of the high fuel prices, well, that's the beauty of competition, it is such a good equalizer. I hope there will be more new airlines to come in the future for us to enjoy cheap fares.

Wherever your travels might bring you I hope that we all have a meaningful observance of lent. Happy travels!

Air Philippines: A New-Old Airline?

When you visit the web site of Air Philippines you will notice a front page banner similar to the image above. It seems that Air Philippines will follow the footsteps of Asian Spirit Airlines which became Zest Air without changing ownership. As you will notice the logo is now different and the web address will become airphilexpress.com.

Is this the same banana? I am not a fan of Air Philippines even a bit because I had a horrible experience with them last October 26, 2008 on my way to Iloilo to attend my cousin's wedding. Former Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales shared my nightmare together with a 100+ more passengers as we endure a 5-hour delay because they said that our aircraft is still undergoing some maintenance works. I am not surprised at all because the Boeing 737-200 aircraft being used by this airline is way much older than me. It's a good decision to finally replace those Jurassic-era aircraft with modern Airbus A320 planes.

I can't help to notice that the new logo is somewhat the same with another local airline. Is that an eagle's head? And the aircraft livery... I know I've seen this before. I can't wait to buy a ticket with Air Philippines to give them another chance now that they are rebranding their product.

Philippine Airlines vs. Cebu Pacific vs. Air Philippines

The beauty of competition is that the consumers have a choice and normally prices will go down due to the concept of demand & supply. The three leading local airlines Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines and Philippine Airlines are now head-to-head to capture filler seats for the lean season from July up to mid-October as they currently have a seat sale for their domestic destinations.

Cebu Pacific
- as low as Php699 one-way for its Luzon destinations. Available for online purchase.

Air Philippines

- Same banana but they are more "wise" as you will buy a ticket as low as Php1,398 one-way but your return trip is as they say it "Free." Not available for online purchase.

Philippine Airlines

- Same concept as with Air Philippines, just add a few hundreds of pesos. Not available for online purchase.

All the 3 airlines now include all the surcharges and taxes in their advertised promo fare. So now the choice is yours. It will now come to which airline you prefer if you have a brand loyalty to any of them. If you ask me, I will only choose either Cebu Pacific or Philippine Airlines depending on the schedule of their flights to my chosen destination. An advantage of choosing Cebu Pacific is that it lets you to book its promo fare online unlike the other two airlines.

For reservations and if you have questions please call:

Cebu Pacific Air - (02) 702-0888

Air Philippines - (02) 855-9000

Philippine Airlines - (02) 855-8888

It's Raining Sale!!!

For some reasons I think brought about by the deregulation of air travel with the help of competition and demand-and-supply the 3 major Philippines-based air carriers Cebu Pacific (domestic and international), Air Philippines (domestic) and Philippine Airlines (domestic) simultaneously have their own seat promotions. Whew! I'm now very torn when and where to go to take advantage of these seasonal offerings, additionally I'm confused what airline to choose.

I now truly believe that our country is being dominated by Chinese businessmen that the Chinese traits and beliefs in business are being adapted in this country because you will see the lucky number "8" everywhere. There's nothing wrong with that... In fact, I'm thankful because a domestic seat goes as low as 8 pesos and 888 pesos for Asian destinations.

I will no longer mention the different terms and mechanics on how to avail of the low fares being offered by the 3 airlines as I already mentioned them in my previous posts. Just visit their websites and book online to find out more.

Seat-All-You-Can from PAL and Air Philippines

As competition dictates, after the PISO seat sale of Cebu Pacific, now comes the turn of Asia's first airline Philippine Airlines (PAL) with sister company Air Philippines with their own version of seat sale to all of their DOMESTIC destinations.

The 88-peso seat sale is being offered by PAL as a counterpart of the 8-peso seat sale from Air Philippines. The 88-peso and 8-peso promotional sale simultaneously run from Jan. 8 to Jan. 18 and will be good for travel from Feb. 1 to Mar. 12, 2008. As with any other promotional seat sale, fuel surcharge and government taxes are not yet included in the advertised promo fare. The seat sale of PAL is available for purchase through its website while for Air Philippines you have to go to any of its ticket office nationwide to avail of the promo.

its PISO fare Air Philippines style

Now, its Air Philippines' turn to roll out its own 1 peso seat sale. The PISO seat sale started today and will run up to September 21 for travel from October 1 up to December 15, 2007. Seats are limited so buy your tickets as early as possible to avoid disappointment. You may buy your tickets at any Air Philippines office or your favorite travel agent.

As with Cebu Pacific, more or less a one-way ticket from Manila to any Visayas destination (and vise-versa) will set you back only 1,100 pesos and to any Mindanao destination (and vise-versa) would only cost 1,300 pesos all in. Virtually, the ticket cost consists of government tax and fuel surcharge.