Cebu Pacific is a low-cost airline that has long been featured on Enzo's Travel Journals since its inception in June 2024. Now on its 30th year of operation, it has continued to fly millions of passengers affordably from the Philippines to anywhere in the world. And this year, it flew me to Mindanao for the first time, specifically to Cagayan de Oro in the northern part of the country's second-largest airline.
How does it feel flying with them again after 1.5 years?
Note: This is a personal blog on our travel experience and is neither promoted nor endorsed by Cebu Pacific.
Booking process
In March 2026, Cebu Pacific celebrated its 30th anniversary with a seat sale lasting until the end of the month. We snagged an affordable deal right before the sale ended, but due to our flights coinciding with a long weekend, fares were higher than usual.
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, while 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, I chose the Go Basic option, especially when we book our flights months in advance. We did just that, and we selected our pre-selected our seats and bought our checked baggage allowance two weeks before departure.
Main review
I left at 4:00 am and arrived at Terminal 3 almost half an hour later.
Flight information
Check-in and pre-departure
 |
| Cebu Pacific's check-in counters at four in the morning: almost no lines! |
Cebu Pacific’s check-in counters are located on the last two rows of the terminal (A and B). Since we checked in online, we just had to line up at the bag drop counter and simply drop our large suitcase. We were not provided with physical boarding passes as we already have one online. We were done in less than ten minutes.
 |
| The new Mezzanine Food Hall at Terminal 3 |
I followed this up with breakfast at the new Mezzanine Food Hall. Since private takeover in 2024, New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation, a consortium led by conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (with the operator of Incheon Airport in South Korea as its technical partner), improved existing terminal facilities and amenities at existing terminals; it recently opened this food hall back in October last year.
 |
| Waiting for boarding at Gate 131 |
We then passed security checks at 5:45 am. Terminal 3's domestic airside consists of four jetway gates (117 to 120) and four bus gates (131 to 134). Since the increased utilization of CEB's widebody Airbus A330-900neo planes for high-demand domestic routes (like Cebu, Bohol, Davao, General Santos, and Puerto Princesa), gates 117 to 120 are mostly used by the wide-bodied planes. That said, passengers on most of CEB's domestic flights, which are operated by the narrow-body A320/A321, are bussed from the terminal building to a remote gate before boarding the plane.
Boarding and take-off
 |
| Your travel journalist with RP-C4144 in the background |
Boarding started fifteen minutes later than scheduled, at 6:05 am; the short delay was due to the aircraft’s repositioning and additional preparations needed. We were then transported by an apron bus to our aircraft, RP-C4144, an October 2023-delivered Airbus A320neo built in Tianjin, China. 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.
 |
| Fair legroom for a 5-ft-10-inch person like me |
 |
| A320neo interior with the new design of the non-reclinable, lightweight Recaro SL3510 seats |
There are two variants of the A320neo CEB operates: a 188-seater version, which was used in this flight, and a 194-seater variant, which has been in operation recently (December 2025). This plane is certified to carry up to 194 passengers; the difference between the two versions is an additional front row and two more seats at the back (on 188-seater planes, there is one row with only two seats on the left; the 194-seater planes complete the two missing seats). Despite the minor capacity difference, the seat pitch remains at 28 inches and the width at 18 inches.
 |
| An aerial view of the airport |
Due to air traffic congestion, our departure got delayed; this was a consequential "domino effect of the short preparation delay. After the crew finished demonstrating the aircraft’s safety features, it took around ten more minutes before we pushed back at 6:58 am. We soon took off via Runway 31 (13/31), the airport's secondary runway, at 7:18 am. Following this, we had spectacular views of the western seaside of the city of Manila; we also had a bird’s-eye view of the ongoing flag raising ceremony at Rizal Park for the 128th Independence Day, as well as Intramuros, Caloocan, Makati, and even our airport.
In-flight experience
 |
| Cup noodles and a bottle of water for 350 pesos |
Although I ate breakfast earlier at the airport, I decided to order hot cup noodles. Prices, however, went up by 50 pesos versus during my mom's flight to Seoul with CEB in January this year. Each cup noodle costs 150 pesos, while a single water bottle costs 100 pesos. Why the heck are they selling water for that expensive? Water is life, isn't it?
 |
| My "defective" tray table seat; notice the small, yellow sticker denoting its defectiveness. |
The flight was mostly uneventful, except for moderate turbulence midway through the flight. However, the only problem I encountered in this flight was that the tray table had a mechanical problem; I saw a sticker, "INOP", which denotes that it is faulty.
Arrival
 |
| Flying over the Chocolate Hills in Bohol |
We soon started our descent at 8:00 am after cruising at 39,000 feet. After one hour and ten minutes (based on Flightradar24 data), we landed at Laguindingan Airport via Runway 27 (09/27) at 8:28 am, eight minutes behind schedule. A few minutes later, we were parked at Gate 2.
 |
| The airport terminal building of Laguindingan Airport |
Laguindingan Airport was envisioned as the gateway to Northern Mindanao. With demand going up for travel to not only Cagayan de Oro, but also Iligan in Lanao del Norte, this airport is located right in between the cities: 46 kilometers from CDO and 57 kilometers from Iligan. Opened on June 15, 2013, it replaced the smaller Lumbia Airfield in CDO, which is now a military base, and Maria Cristina Airport in Iligan, which is now used for general (private) aviation. It has three jet bridge gates, and since 2024, a ground-level gate accessible via air stairs. Since April 2025, operations, maintenance and further expansion of the airport have been under a private firm, Aboitiz InfraCapital, which also operates the airports in Cebu and Bohol.
 |
| Your travel journalist with flight attendants Rose and Jo, and my A320 papercraft. Taken with permission. Cebu Pacific loosely implements a ban on such photos and videos without their explicit permission to protect their data privacy. |
We were getting ready to leave as flight attendants Rose and Jo were coming from behind to clean the seats in preparation for its next flight to Cebu. The former even initially bid goodbye to us, but things took a different turn as they wanted to know more of my special A320 papercraft that I made for the airline's 30th anniversary: a special liveried plane with the "Let's Fly Every Juan" airline motto which was used on three of CEB's A320ceo planes, which are slowly being phased out in favor of the NEO equivalents.
 |
| Bye-bye, RP-C4144! |
We then quickly reclaimed our checked suitcase after having a picture with the crew. The plane continued to Cebu and back to CDO before returning to its main base in Manila. These succeeding flights, however, were delayed due to the plane’s late arrival.
Verdict
Timing and frequency
Cebu Pacific operates around 9 to 10 daily flights between Manila and Cagayan de Oro. In this route, the earliest flight leaves Manila between 4:30 and 5:00 am and the last flight leaves between 9:30 and 10:00 pm. There are multiple options for flights in the morning, midday, and afternoon.
Overall service
My return to Cebu Pacific has been smooth, but not everything was perfect all throughout. A delay led to consequential repercussions, but that is just a minor problem. The friendly flight attendants made this flight fun, and although the signature "Fun Games" did not take place (it only does for flights between 8:00 am and 7:00 pm), I enjoyed it. The only snag was the defective tray table, which I hope it can be fixed in the soonest possible time.
Positive indicators
- Friendly crew
- Clean aircraft
- Flexible snack options
Points for improvement
- Seat inspections must be done regularly, and any defect (including what happened on the tray table) must be addressed.
- CEB should minimize delays to ensure customer satisfaction.
Ratings
I rate each aspect of the flight in a scale of 1 to 10.
- Check-in – 9.9/10
- Punctuality – 7.0/10
- Seat quality – 8.5/10
- Food options – 7.5/10
- Crew – 10/10
- Value for money – 9.0/10
Overall, ETJ rates this round-trip journey an 8.7 out of 10 points.
Thank you for reading! For more updates, visit my blog site and subscribe to my YouTube channel, Enzo's Travel Journals!
Comments
Post a Comment