Payday Zale from Zest Air

The banner above says it all. Zest Air is offering a 3-day seat sale starting today for as low as Php888 inclusive of taxes. It's good to know that the travel period for this sale will start tomorrow and ends until the last day of this year.

Many of my friends are still hesitant to book tickets with this airline because of the two incidents in Caticlan, Aklan last year. Personally I won't use this airline going to Boracay because up to now Zest Air does not fly to Caticlan, instead they fly to Kalibo (1.5 hours from Caticlan by bus or van). For a review of Zest Air you can click THIS.

Zest Air Promo for the Off-Season

Zest Air (former Asian Spirit Airlines) is once again active in their marketing strategy as they released an across the board seat sale for all their domestic flights for the off-peak season. A one-way fare will only set you back as low as 468 pesos (all taxes included) for a number of its domestic sectors including the ever popular routes of Boracay, Cebu, Puerto Princesa and Tagbilaran. These one-way fares are applicable for flights originating/terminating in Manila.

I know that Boracay fanatics will be very happy with these fares as I get a lot of questions from my friends regarding the price of Boracay flights for the off-peak season.

Zest Air flies to the following destinations to/from Manila for only 468 pesos: Boracay, Bacolod, Busuanga, Calbayog, Catarman, Cebu, Iloilo, Kalibo, Legaspi, Marinduque, Naga, Puerto Princesa, San Jose (Mindoro), Tacloban, Tagbilaran and Virac. While the Manila-Davao sector will cost you 1,188 pesos.

The above fares are valid for travel from June 1 to December 31, 2009. Act fast as the selling period for this promotion will end on April 15 and the promo seats are only limited.

For those who are not familiar with this airline, I reviewed this airline in my post last February 27, 2009. Click here for the details.

Zest Air : A Review

An Airbus A320 parked at the tarmac of Mactan-Cebu International Airport

Many of my friends are asking me about Zest Air, whether it is a new airline or it is reliable or if the fares are cheap and it is safe to ride in their airplanes. Zest Air is much more commonly known before as Asian Spirit. I happen to ride in one of Asian Spirit's plane last summer to Baguio City and I'm just glad that we landed safely in one of their decades old Dash-7 aircraft which even triggered my allergic rhinitis due to the aircraft's very dusty interior.

It's a good thing that Zest Air now operates only brand new turboprop planes and for the first time they acquired an Airbus plane as they are now expanding their routes. I happen to experience riding in their first Airbus A320 aircraft last December 2008 and the following are some of my rants and little praises for Zest Air.

* What a relief to finally see the Old Domestic Terminal with just several passengers. As far as I can remember even when I'm just about 4 years old on our way to Iloilo that the terminal is always full of passengers as it is the sole terminal of Philippine Airlines for all its domestic destinations. During the 1980's even at 2AM the Old Domestic Terminal is a bustling building because of people taking the "Bulilit Flights" of Philippine Airlines. Cebu Pacific Air outgrew the terminal and is now enjoying the vast space at Terminal 3.

* Check-in was fast. The flight was delayed by about 30 mins. but it is tolerable as it is the busy holiday season. No aerobridge when you board the aircraft as the terminal does not have them.

* I was assigned to seat 5A (I always request for a window seat) but inside the aircraft the flight attendants transferred all the passengers to occupy the middle part of the plane to distribute the weight & balance thing as the flight is just 1/3 full. In the end I was transferred to an aisle seat and I completely blame it on the check-in counter girl as it is her duty to distribute the passengers accordingly because she knows beforehand that we are only 50+ who will take that flight.

* I initially thought that their first Airbus A320 aircraft is brand new but I was wrong the very second I entered the aircraft just because of the smell... Yes, I know how a brand new airplane smells like. It didn't smell like a brand new airplane at all. Aside from that, the seats are not new as there is a cover on the back of the seat where a personal entertainment system of its previous owner might be placed. Then I saw the passenger safety information card, if you look closely on the picture below there is just a sticker of Zest Air covering the words JetBlue. I therefore conclude at that time that U.S.-based JetBlue Airways is the original owner of the aircraft. A funny thing is that it contains a Spanish translation targeted for the Hispanic passengers of JetBlue. I hope by now Zest Air replaced those safety cards as I think it is not that costly for an airline to print those cards so it can display their official company colors rather than the design which is only intended for JetBlue. If they want they can put a Filipino translation to replace the Spanish translation as it is more practical for a Philippines-based airline.

* Inflight service is quite good. I don't know if Zest Air is calling itself a budget airline as the flight attendants pass newspapers just like what legacy carriers offer. And then I was even more surprised when they offer refreshments of either mineral water or Zest-O juice drinks (Zest Air's majority owner is also the chairman and president of Zest-O Corp.).

* The flight ended in a smooth landing at Mactan-Cebu International Airport. When it is time to deplane I was dumbfounded to know that we need to walk all the way to the terminal as Zest Air does not use the aerobridges which Mactan Airport obviously have unlike its terminal in Manila. I don't know why, maybe because the other gates with an aerobridge are reserved for other airlines or Zest Air just does not want to pay extra to access an aerobridge. Oh well, the weather is good at that time and I need a little exercise anyway.

* On the flight back to Manila it is such an inconvenience to passengers when only 1 check-in counter is open to accommodate all of us passengers. I'm still on queue 30 mins. before the official departure time and I found out that the flight is only half-full. It didn't stop there as the flight was delayed for 2 hours and they only announced it way past our scheduled departure time.

* For the inflight service back to Manila almost everything is the same as my previous flight.

Would I fly with Zest Air again? Why not? I had also bad experiences with Cebu Pacific, SEAIR and Philippine Airlines. I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BAD EXPERIENCE AND A BAD AIRLINE. If Zest Air would not improve their Airbus service then that would be a different story and I would tell you again about it here in my blog. It's a good start that they are now operating with newer planes to all of their flights.

Pre-Summer Seat Sale

Cebu Pacific Air and Zest Air have their own versions of seat sales. The images below said it all so I don't need to further explain here in this post. They are both applicable for domestic travel.

Seat Sale from Cebu Pacific Air





Seat Sale from Zest Air

Zest Air All Year Round Fares

Zest Air (former Asian Spirit Airlines) is once again active in their marketing strategy as they released their all year round OKS fares in time for the Chinese New Year celebration. These one-way fares are applicable for flights originating/terminating in Manila.

Php688 ALL-IN for Busuanga, Marinduque, San Jose (Mindoro) and Cebu sectors

Php988 ALL-IN for Caticlan (Boracay), Calbayog, Catarman and Virac sectors

I know that Boracay fanatics will be very happy with this fares as I get a lot of questions from my friends regarding the price of Boracay flights for the months of April and May.

Zest Air Seat Sale... the Philippines is More than Boracay, Cebu & Davao

De Havilland Dash-7 turbopropeller aircraft

I love competition! Now the rebranded airline Zest Air has a seat sale on all of its destinations for only 499 pesos which already includes fuel surcharge and government taxes. You must purchase the 499 bucks tickets up to November 8 if you plan to travel from January 15 to March 18, 2009. The good thing about this seat sale is that you can have your bags to be checked-in at the airport without any additional charge unlike the leading domestic budget airline. Zest Air may be considered as a missionary route airline to some extent as it offers destinations that other airlines would not offer because of being not that too profitable like Antique, Calbayog, Catarman, Marinduque, Masbate, Ormoc, Virac, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo. I'm very glad that there is an airline that connects these underdeveloped but very beautiful provinces to the rest of the country.

I think that Boracay, Cebu, Davao and other mainstream local destinations don't have the monopoly (technically speaking it's an oligopoly rather than a monopoly) of beautiful beaches, landscapes and fun activities. I've been to Antique, Calbayog and Catarman and they have many beautiful beaches, waterfalls and other thrills for the adventure vulture. As I don't have yet a digital camera 3 years ago that is why I don't have pictures of them to post here in my blog. If only Zest Air would extend the travel period to April and May I would love to go to Marinduque of Masbate as I have an inkling for small provinces like Camiguin, Guimaras and Siquijor so I know I would definitely enjoy my stay in Marinduque or Masbate.

Note: photograph taken from the official website of Zest Air

ZEST Air: A New or Old Airline?

It's sad to know that my 4th favorite local airline Asian Spirit is now a thing of the past as it underwent rebranding and change of ownership. It's new business name is now Zest Air, Asia's most refreshing airline, according at least to its owners. The company name is so catchy from a consumer's point of view. I may view it as they are targeting young and single professionals who have a higher disposable income than young daddies and mommies out their. The company through its website promised to serve with enthusiasm and passion. Their passengers will feel the refreshing change of the Zest Air experience from the moment they book their tickets until they arrive their destinations. My most favorite line is: "Our passengers are the VIPs of Zestair."

The president and chief executive officer of Zest Air is Mr. Alfredo M. Yao, who is more popularly known as Juice King of the Philippines for being also the Chairman of Zest-O Corporation. How I miss the ubiquitous juice drink Zest-O, as it is part of my daily diet until my high-school years, specially my favorite strawberry and mango-orange flavors. So I guess, by now you already know the reason behind the name Zest Air.

As I always believe in the beauty of healthy competition, I hope this "new" airline will give its top rivals like Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air a run for their money. According to Zest Air's website it will offer some of the same aircraft as with Asian Spirit but they will also acquire new planes and it looks like that they will also be operating the Airbus A320 model. I know this will be a good investment for the airline.

It's good to start with an appealing brand name, so now all they have to do is offer value for money flights and in no time they can be on top of the industry.

So what's next? Will Cebu Pacific change its name into Chippy Airlines or C2 Airlines? Will Philippine Airlines change its name into Tanduay Airlines or Allied Airlines? I guess only time will tell although I love the sound of Chippy Airlines, hahaha!