Cebu Pacific Air: Singapore to Manila and back

Dec 11 2007 Update:
I've flown with Cebu Pacific from Manila to Singapore just last November and here's a short update:

• Those extra pawikan points I gave in my original review because of their chic uniforms? Well it's gone now. Those hip, 60's inspired frocks have been replaced by gaudy yellow Bench-sponsored baby t-shirts and slacks. Ugh.
• No more free iced tea on board.
• No in-flight bring-me game
• Check-in was surprisingly quick and the flight left as scheduled and arrived on time. Yay!
• Getting my refund for a flight that I canceled took four months! And even then, I had to send countless of emails (that went un-replied). Although I didn't want to do it, I had a cousin of mine who works for Cebu Pacific go on and "follow it up". I got the refund a week after he looked at it. Plus points for my cousin, minus points for the lousy system.
  

On to my original review...

Rating: 2.5/5
Cebu Pacific's new Airbus A319 aircraft and free iced tea do not make up for the fact that it takes more than an hour to check-in and the flights are rarely on-time. Its only saving grace are its evening (8:30pm from MNL) and red eye (00:40am from SIN) time slot.

Online Booking
Compared to Jetstar's (read my review of Jetstar here), Cebu Pacific's website leaves much to be desired:

• First of all, they did not accept my Mastercard because they were implementing this fancy schmancy extra security "feature" which prompted me to key-in a PIN before my payment is authenticated. But... I don't have a PIN! I called up my bank and they said it's the merchant's problem and they can't help me. I did not encounter any problems using this credit card on other online banking sites so something funny's going on with Cebu Pacific.
  
• Secondly-- you can't change your booking online. To do this, you must dial their call center in the Philippines. Eek!
• Thirdly-- the website lacks those "nice touches" that Jetstar has: like showing flights a day before and a day after your target departure date so that you've got more choices or by showing a running total of your fare, etc...
  
• Finally-- their E-ticket looks like crap. It's hard to quickly find the information you need because all the information (departure, duration, arrival, etc...) are listed in a table with no gridlines or visual clues to help your eyes quickly find what you're looking for.
  

How much is it?
If you book early (a month or two in advance), i've seen it go as low as SGD$79 (excluding the usual taxes and fees). This is at par with Tiger's prices (read my review of Tiger here) and is cheaper than Jetstar's usual SGD$128. During peak seasons like my upcoming flight on Chinese New Year, a round trip can cost about SGD$500-- a couple of bucks cheaper than PAL.

Moral of the story? Book early.

Long check-in times at Singapore's Budget Terminal
Checking in is a pain. It took me a little over an hour to get my bags checked in. (And yes, I was at the airport two hours before departure.) Maybe two counters just aren't enough for 124 passengers. Oh and BTW, there's no skybridge to the plane so you have to walk up a flight of stairs. The elderly or pregnant could have a little trouble specially if they're carrying heavy bags and if it's raining.

Even LONGER check-in times at Manila's NAIA!
Oooh what a nightmare! There were four counters shared by all Cebu Pacific flights serving Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore but before you could get to them, everyone had to go through a pre-line so that the bags could be weighed on a separate mobile weighing scale! (According to the ground staff at the counter, the weighing scales at the check-in counters were not accurate enough. WTF!) This pre-line resulted in the following:

• Since everyone had to line up to use this mobile weighing scale, the queue got really loooong and snaked around the terminal. It was messy and people had to keep asking what the line was for because they couldn't believe it was so freaking long.
  
• It moved very sloooow. By the time I got to the end, my freshly shaven chin had a slight stubble. How could it not move slow when they guy manning the weighing scale was giving away Cebu Pacific stickers, answering queries and doing a million other things!
• Since passengers to different destinations were sharing the same weighing-scale queue, those flying to Hong Kong whose flights depart earlier had to queue behind us passengers flying to Singapore and Malaysia whose flights left later! These passengers were very, very nervous.
• To appease their nervousness, there was a Cebu Pacific staffer going around the queues calling out "Hong Kong! Hong Kong! Anybody going to Hong Kong?". A passenger would meekly raise his hand and would be escorted to the front of the queue so he wouldn't be late.
  

Seriously, I've seen wet markets that were more orderly than this.

"Our Time is The New Filipino Time"
Three out of my three flights with Cebu Pacific were delayed. Two by more than an hour. One time it was late because the aircraft arrived late. Another time, we were late because passengers who checked-in didn't show up and their luggage had to be removed. Another time it was late because... *yawn*.

Who cares. If they boast to be on time, there's just simply no excuse to be late. They're giving Filipino Time a bad rep.

In-flight Service
Finally this is where Cebu Pacific redeems itself. The aircraft looks new, smells new and is spacious enough for me (TIP: ask for aisle seats up front!). The flight was safe and uneventful but I hope that in the future they'd figure out a way to seat families with young children up front (like how Tiger does it) so that they can have an easier time boarding/departing. Bonus pawikan points because:

• They're the only airline i've ever flown that has an in-flight "bring-me" game. (Try playing the game at 2:00am when the flight has been delayed for about an hour.)
  
• They're also the only budget airline I've flown that provides a free iced-tea beverage!
  
• Plus, the female flight attendants' 60s inspired uniforms are very chic.

Conclusion
Two and a half pawikan points. The whole check-in and being tardy thing is a big bummer for me.

But would I fly with them again?

I definitely would. My only reason is that their convenient evening schedule lets me travel without losing a day of work. They've got a lot of potential to be my preferred airline if they sort out their issues. But for now i'll just have to grit my teeth, bring a good book and get to the airport a little earlier.

***
If you liked this review, you might also want to read my review of Jetstar Asia and my review of Tiger Airways.
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