Booking process
We booked our flights as three months prior, in August, during a promo and seat sale. Initially, we planned an overnight vacation in Tacloban (November 18-19); the tickets, including extra fees, amounted to $97 (₱5,667) before upgrading it to three days after determining that my class week before this vacation (November 13-17) would only consist of the first three days, which were actually the dates of our periodical examinations. We paid an additional $96 (around ₱5,600) to rebook our departing flight a day earlier.
Cebu Pacific has three booking options ranged from the cheapest to the most expensive: Go Basic, Go Easy, and Go Flexi. While passengers have a free 7-kilogram carry-on baggage allowance in all options, Go Basic only comes with a random seat with provisions for purchasing add-ons (baggage, pre-selected seats, inflight meals) later at a regular price. Go Easy, meanwhile, comes with a 20-kilogram free baggage allowance and a preferred seat plus discounts on other add-ons, and lastly, Go Flexi has the same perks as Go Easy but allows for free cancellation when your plans change. For more information, visit this page.
In almost all our flights, we opted for the Go Basic option, especially when we book our flights months in advance. We then delayed our seat selection to October, and our baggage allowance purchase to early November. Our pre-selected seats cost $4.7 (₱275) for one, while the 20-kilogram baggage allowance cost $10.5 (₱616) for one. All in all, the four seats (two per flight) that me and my mom pre-selected cost us around $19 (₱1,100) and the baggage allowance $21 (₱1,232).
Departing flight: Friday, November 17, 2023
It was a simple Friday morning of November 17, 2023. Clear weather without obstructions. We took a taxi to Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where we arrived at past eight o'clock in the morning. Cebu Pacific operates its flights at Terminal 3 for flights beginning with the code 5J. DG-coded flights are operated by Cebgo, its turboprop subsidiary, from Terminal 2.
Cebu Pacific has self-check-in and self-bag-drop counters at Terminal 3. The latter is used only for passengers on select domestic destinations from Manila to Tacloban, and also Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and Iloilo, to name a few. We utilized these contactless options and, with almost no long lines, were able to finish the entire check-in process in less than two minutes. Unfortunately, I don't have clear pictures of these features; I'll do those on my future flights.
We then went past security checks to the airside, where I did a bit of plane spotting.
Flight information
 |
| RP-C4136, a relatively young Airbus A320neo, took us to Tacloban on this clear day. |
Boarding started at 09:53, with priority passengers coming first before the regular ones. We were then transported by an apron bus to our aircraft, RP-C4136, an April 2023-built Airbus A320neo. This plane was relatively young, delivered eight months before I boarded this flight. Low-cost carriers tend to keep their fleet age young, like what Cebu Pacific does, because the newest planes in the aviation industry are seen to be the most-fuel-efficient.
 |
| This is what you get when you are seated on Row 20 on A320 flights: a nice view behind the wing. |
I was seated at window seat 20A, choosing it because of its nice view behind the wing. The Recaro seats of their A320neo Family aircraft are 17 inches wide, have a pitch of 28-29 inches, and they don't recline.
 |
| The interior of our plane! The new seat design (as opposed to the green-dark blue of older aircraft) looks better than the old design. |
A short snag occurred when our pushback was delayed by ten minutes due to aircraft congestion in Manila. It is a perennial problem nowadays at NAIA—which has been consistently named as one of the world's worst airports (which I agree)—causing several delayed flights. Fortunately, we soon pushed back, and we were on our way to the runway. We took off at 11:00, half an hour behind schedule.
Although we did not pre-order meals, I chose anyway to buy some light snacks, as well as a bottled C2 iced tea. These cost us around $2.22 (₱130).
 |
| A simple, light snack I bought: two packs of Nova chips and an iced tea. |
The signature Fun Games soon followed. Topics vary per flight; the game on this flight was titled "#Millennials". The mechanics are simple: just give the meaning of the correct acronym that the flight attendant says. The passenger who gets the correct answer wins a prize. Only 3 passengers won prizes. There was a passenger seated on the same row as us but on the other side, that felt happy and excited as he received his prize from the cabin crew after he answered the first question correctly.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, as I rested before our long tour in Tacloban. At quarter to noon, we began our descent. We landed at 11:59, six minutes ahead of schedule.
Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport serves as Tacloban's main airport. It was heavily damaged by Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Super Typhoon Yolanda, in 2013. Authorities rehabilitated the passenger terminal building, which was completed by March 2018. The airport is planned to be upgraded to international status by 2026 with a new terminal and extended runway. On January 17, 2015, Pope Francis, as part of his apostolic trip to the Philippines, held an open-air Mass at the airport's tarmac.
 |
| A group picture with the crew of 5J 655! Thank you for the wonderful experience! |
Before disembarking, I had a picture with flight attendants Kate, Aly, and one of the pilots of this flight. I also talked with Aly for a short while before disembarking. Since the day after this flight (November 18) was my birthday, she greeted me in advance. For the first time in my travel journeys, I was greeted by the cabin crew for my birthday.
There's only one conveyor belt at the small terminal of TAC; we claimed our checked suitcase in no time. We then rode a van to our private city tour in Tacloban before dropping off at our hotel. We stayed there for the next 2 days, see these blogs for our private city tour in Tacloban and our countryside tour to Samar.
For an extensive review, watch my trip report here:
Return flight: Sunday, November 19, 2023
Three days later and just like that, we were back at the airport. We arrived at 16:45, less than 3 hours before our flight. After checking in our single suitcase, we made it to the pre-departure area. Our early arrival allowed me to do some plane spotting while waiting for our flight.
 |
| RP-C3277, a 2014-built A320-214, took us back home this evening. |
Instead of rebooking to an earlier flight (unlike what we did for the departing flight), we maintained our decision to remain committed to departing in the evening.
Flight information
 |
| The boarding process at Tacloban Airport for our evening flight. |
Boarding started at 18:53. Passengers boarded from the front and rear door to expedite boarding. Passengers seated from Rows 1 to 15 boarded at the front, while those seated from Row 16 onwards boarded at the back. The same implementation is also done for arriving A320 planes in Tacloban. This process is also implemented in Puerto Princesa, Boracay (Caticlan, departing flights only), Roxas City, and other domestic/international airports in the Philippines without jet bridges.
The process was orderly, but outside, it was raining quite hard. A low-pressure area formed east of the country a few days prior, and we were safe enough to leave Eastern Visayas before it rained hard and flooded the region a few days later. Another flight, AirAsia Z2 330 also bound for Manila, started boarding as well.
 |
| Interior of RP-C3277, an old but decent aircraft. |
The seats of Cebu's A320ceos are just an inch wider than the A320neos, 18 inches vs. 17 inches. But I would say that the seats are just pretty like your average A320 on a low-cost flight.
The "pushback" process in Tacloban is not actually a pushback; planes rotate 180 degrees from the parking bay to the main taxiway. We "pushed back" on time and took off eight minutes later. A light turbulence followed as we flew through a layer of clouds.
 |
| A light dinner to end the day: a cup of Nissin noodles! |
Inflight, I ordered Nissin cup noodles for $3.4 (170 pesos). Like any low-cost carrier, Cebu Pacific charges you when you buy their inflight meals. I didn't bother to eat dinner at the airport (given that our flight arrives before 21:00), and I wanted to go home as early as possible in preparation for my school classes.
More rounds of turbulence, though not that strong, followed. There were only two occasions of such in this flight. We soon began our descent to Manila, and landed eighteen minutes ahead of schedule. Although there was a short delay for our parking bay assignment, we parked at a remote gate at 20:46. Passengers soon started deplaning, but using the front door as opposed to both doors.
 |
| Thank you to the lovely crew members Bri, Ceejay, and Jeddy, as well as purser Han! |
Before disembarking, I had the chance to mingle with the crew and posed for a group picture. As a sign of appreciation, I gave them heartfelt-written letters. They also greeted me a day after my birthday. Amazing, right? This was the first time that the flight attendants "joined" my birthday celebrations.
 |
| It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...from a famous old song. Terminal 3 has been adorned with decorations! |
We then rode a bus to the arrival hall. Manila's Terminal 3 was already filled with Christmas decorations. Personally, I would describe the Christmas season as better than summer and traveling during that season will make my vacations more fun and memorable. The Philippines has the world’s longest Christmas season, starting from September 1 to the first Sunday of January of the following year, brought about by the commercialization of the festive season, which usually starts in late November until early January.
We then claimed my checked suitcase in no time before we rode a taxi that brought us home.
For an extensive review, watch my trip report here:
Verdict
Timing and frequency
At the time. Cebu Pacific offered up to 7 daily flights to Tacloban from Manila. Its schedule is very flexible that you can choose a late morning flight, like we did for the departing flight, and end your vacation at night, like what we did for the return flight. By 2024, however, it reduced its frequency to six daily flights to probably give way for its Tacloban-Iloilo and Tacloban-Davao flights.
Overall service
How I would be impressed once again with Cebu Pacific. Promo fares led to this blog and my two trip reports. Besides comfort and punctuality, I highly applaud the cabin crew's effort to make my flight enjoyable. The birthday greeting from them up-ended my Christmas vibe as well. Kudos to them!
For more updates, visit my blog site and subscribe to my YouTube channel, Enzo's Travel Journals!
Comments
Post a Comment