Rating: 
I booked a red eye round-trip flight right before new year from Singapore to Manila on no-frills, low-cost airline Tiger Airways and I must say that all in all it was a pleasant experience.
The experience started off with online booking on their well designed and easy-to-navigate website. I kept on getting a system error message on the first couple of tries and the website advised me to try again after some time. Minus points for this snafu! Anyway I gave it a rest, tried again the next night was successful! (Note that as of this writing, they only accept VISA or Mastercard so sorry na lang if you have an Amex or Diner's Club.)
Since I booked at the last minute, the round trip cost me about SGD 350-- cheaper than flying PAL or Jetstar but this is still a bit expensive for a budget airline. If you book some months in advance, the price of a ticket could go as low as SGD 9.99!
From Singapore
Check-in was straightforward-- you just show them your passport, they tick your name from their list and and issue you a hand-written boarding pass.
The Airbus A320 left on time from Changi airport, the crew was friendly and the cabin was neat and tidy-- everything you'd expect from an airline! The part that made it low-cost is you had to buy your food (about SGD 8 for sandwiches and SGD 2 for drinks). The seats were relatively spacious and the leg room felt just like a typical economy-class. It could get a bit uncomfortable but hey it's only a 4 hour flight and as in all flights, it won't hurt you to stretch!
The plane landed at Clark Airport where you'd have to alight from the plane and walk on the tarmac. There's a bus from Clark to Megamall that costs about Php350 but just get some friends and relatives to fetch you so you can save yourself the hassle.
From Manila
The experience from CRK was a bit different-- check-in was again very straightforward but the plane departed an hour late!
TIP: Make sure that you're within the 15kg weight limit for checked-in luggage and 7kg for hand carry since they follow this to the letter!
Since there was no sky bridge so you would have to climb the stairs (while lifting your hand-carry items) to get on the plane. This isn't a problem for most of us but some of our elderly passengers could have a little trouble.
I'm tempted to say some more about my experiences at Clark airport but I will save that for another entry since I'm reviewing the airline not the airport!
In Summary...
Four pawikan points because it has everything you would expect from your typical airline. Before you book, I recommend that you check the price of other carriers! I just booked a round trip flight on Jetstar so let's see how that pans out. In the meantime, check out other passenger reviews for Tiger.
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You may also want to read my other experiences flying from Singapore to Manila and back in my review of Jetstar and review of Cebu Pacific Air.
You could also try whatsikat.com which is updated twice an hour with reviews from other Pinoy bloggers, celebrity bloggers, chismis and news.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Singapore to Manila on Tiger Airways
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5 comments:
Hi P! Great post, i'm glad JetStar was a great experience. I hope they'll expand to other countries soon.
Anyway, great site! =) may blog ka pala!!! =) i'll link you up
yah, i've tried jetstar twice before and it was fine, i guess because i travel by cebu pacific more often, had equally good and bad experiences with cebupac. well, what else can we expect from cheaper airlines? but then they shouldn't disregard issues, atleast answer enquirees in their site.
sigh...
Yeah tried Cebu Pacific Airlines. That most amazing air crew in the world flight attendant there is shaking their booty... They are hot chicks..
Beware of Tiger Airways cheap ticket! You might ended up spending more. Read reviews before purchasing it. You might regret as I did.
I booked flight with Tiger Airways CRK-BKK-CRK. Departure from BKK-CRK is Sat Jun 30 at 10:10 am. And I also booked our ticket CRK-PPC 5:50pm departure with another airline the same day because Tiger airways have no flight to PPC during that date. Due to 10 hrs delay of Tiger airways that day, we missed our flight CRK-PPC! I called the management about it in Singapore but they didn't care! What their sorry can do with all the troubles of their delayed flight caused? Because of that delayed flight, we spent almost $250 (purchasing another ticket CRK-PPC, taxi fares and hotel). We book cheap ticket with this budget airline but ended up to spending more! It doesn’t worth. They don’t care for their passengers!
Yesterday while waiting our flight in the airport CRK to PPC, Tiger Airways canceled their flight to BKK that day. Why? Due to “Technical Reason”. This is always their answer if you ask why: “Technical Reason”. How could the airline like this allowed to operate with always having technical problem? I’m sure the airline was OK because we flowed last night with it. But when I talk to other staff in the airport, she told me the same aircraft use to Boracay. I talk with an Australian guy; he told me they used to cancel flight if they don’t get enough passengers that day. And they will never inform you that flight is cancelled. Tsk tsk! Very bad service! I’m sure they will not stay longer.
I feel pity with those passengers that have flight from BKK to other destinations. They will missed or have to rebook their flight and pay rebooking fees because of that delay. Aside from these, they have to spend night in hotels in Clark instead of going back home to avoid more expenses. Like in our part, we spent almost $250 because of 10 hours delayed and we spent 1 night in Clark instead of going home straight to Puerto Princesa that day. It's easy for Tiger Airways to delay or cancel their flight. I do understand that flight delayed or cancelled cannot be avoided but it must be seldom. But for Tiger Airways it’s always happen! It’s normal for them to do that! They have no regards or concern with their passengers as long as they earn money. Very very poor service! If I will rate Tiger Airways service will rate it negative or below zero.
I'm writing this to tell the world to not ever book with Tiger Airways! Choose AirAsia instead. This is an account of my terrible experience with Tiger Airways (Seair). As a gist, Tiger Airways' customer service is terribly poor and deleterious for passengers they strand. It's my first time travelling with this airline, and they have already given me a bad impression which has led me to never book with them again! Please be guided.
Worst airline i've ever had. They didn't email me about my canceled flight from Bangkok-Philippines (August 18, 2012 10:10 AM). No compensation in any way. I waited within the day to receive their email but nothing. If my mom didn't call their customer service hotline, i wouldn't have been able to rebook my flight then. They rebooked me for a flight the next day at night (August 19, 2012 7:05PM), so basically I had to stay for 2 more days. This certain incident caused me a lof of trouble: (1) accommodation and food at my own expenses; (2) not being able to attend the company gathering on August 19, 1pm . If they didn't have the budget to accommodate their stranded passengers, the least thing they could and should have done was apologize. Tiger Airways (Seair) is terrible. If I had to choose between AirAsia and Tiger Airways, I would definitely go for AirAsia because of it's good customer service, convenient check in, and accommodating staff, way to ahead than this substandard airline. The hell with Tiger Airways. I knew later on about some other shitty stuff my friends encountered with this same airline!! Mediocre! Anything could have happened with me staying for 2 more unplanned days in Bangkok while having to compromise my job. Damn!
Don't risk your life with this airline for cheap fares. Choose AirAsia or Cebu Pacific instead! They're more responsive, accommodating, and concerned of their passengers
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