Angeles City

[Sailor Jack]

This had happened at at least 3 different hotels. I used Agoda or Hotels to book a room, stayed a few days, and then wanted to extend for another day or more. The hotels would not let me book directly with them. They told me they had openings but had to book through the third party hotel website. Why is that?

These hotels have simply 'farmed out' their entire inventory.

Hotel Management made a decision to let AGODA handle their entire reservation system. These hotels are in essence throwing up their hands and saying we cannot manage reservations for our hotel. IMHO this is extraordinarily bad management and they lose money by doing this.

That does not mean you should not stay there. Some of these small hotels can be perfect for the Monger. But you got to do extra leg work to make a reservation.

[Goferring]

The best source for current entry requirements is YOUR AIRLINE. Think about it, airlines move tens of thousands of people into the Phils, including their own employees. Airlines MUST have these details correct and up to the minute.

Yes and no. There have been several times where I have had to show airlines staff thier own policies or how X passport is treated by Z country.

Having said that, tread carefully because if you piss them off, then you are going nowhere.

Enjoy. G.

[WestCoast1]

Good info here. What about fake accommodation sites that you can show to family to prove that you are not in a known mongering destination?

On Agoda, many hotels offer two prices for the same room: 1) The regular (higher usually) priced room, with a free cancellation (REFUND); and 2) The lower priced room that comes with NO REFUND. See pic. You could just make a reservation for somewhere in your safe non-mongering city at the higher-priced room, print it out, then cancel it for a refund.

"I am NOT in Philippines drinking with Westy. Honey I am in Scotland golfing!" Of course now you must photoshop some fake pics of yourself on the green.

[Psriches]

Does anyone know if the 'Fly The Bus' or 'Southern Cross' buses are still operating? Are there any foreigner buses that travel back and forth from AC to Manila? Or Subic? I know the public buses are still running.

[Turgid]

The best source for current entry requirements is YOUR AIRLINE. Think about it, airlines move tens of thousands of people into the Phils, including their own employees. Airlines MUST have these details correct and up to the minute.

I have found that even official Philippines websites to be out of date (WTF? Certainly, do not rely on information here or on any other website. Do your own homework.

My requirements (09/2022) were;.

1) ONE HEALTH PASS; You must sign up within 72 hours of departure. Covid vaccination proof required. Fill out the online form (5 minutes if your information is assembled) and you will get a QR code instantly.

2) PROOF OF COVID VACCINATION.

3) EXIT FLIGHT FROM PHILS (more on this below).

Philppines requires that you hold an exit airline ticket from Phils. This ticket should depart WITHIN 30 DAYS of arrival. Otherwise some jerk might hassle you.

Best to PRINT 1) and 2) and 3), highlight key details, encase in plastic sheets. This makes it look like you know what you are doing.

Pro tip; I notice that people who put 1) and 2) and 3) on their phone instead of actually printing it all really slowed down the line. Of course, you carry a backup copy on your phone.

RECENT COVID TEST; not required.

HEALTH INSURANCE; not required.

PROOF OF STRONG MORAL CHARACTER; fortunately, not required.

In my case, I have no definite plan on leaving Phils so I did book a one way ticket into the Phils. I know of two options to produce an exit ticket.

ONWARDTICKET.COM

This worked for me. I 'rented' a REAL airline ticket out of the Phils. The $14 ticket is good for 48 hours, you can get a ticket good for two weeks for $63. Site is easy to use. Best to make sure this booking is on an airline that is not easy for a gate agent to check (NOT the gate agent's own airline or affiliate). Onwardticket.com gave me a ticket to BKK through Seoul on JEJU AIR.

JEJU AIR? WTF I thought, did I just get scammed? No, It IS a real Korean Airline. I have never heard of them. No way a busy gate agent can run that down. Perfect!

FAKE TICKET SITES.

There are several of these around. You provide all the details and you get a total fake ticket printed. I did not think their sample ticket looked authenticate enough. I got about halfway through the process, the site was difficult to use, and my spidey-senses made me think I was being phished. One of my friends has success with these sites. Sorry no details.

Good info here. What about fake accommodation sites that you can show to family to prove that you are not in a known mongering destination?

[Pute Nut]

1) ONE HEALTH PASS; You must sign up within 72 hours of departure. Covid vaccination proof required. Fill out the online form (5 minutes if your information is assembled) and you will get a QR code instantly.

2) PROOF OF COVID VACCINATION.

Correct intel, you might want to add to that you need three shots (for Pfizer / Moderna) to be considered "boostered" and eligible for test-free entry. They were picky about the dates, otherwise it was a breeze coming in with a screenshot of the QR code.

[Sailor Jack]

The best source for current entry requirements is YOUR AIRLINE. Think about it, airlines move tens of thousands of people into the Phils, including their own employees. Airlines MUST have these details correct and up to the minute.

I have found that even official Philippines websites to be out of date (WTF? Certainly, do not rely on information here or on any other website. Do your own homework.

My requirements (09/2022) were;.

1) ONE HEALTH PASS; You must sign up within 72 hours of departure. Covid vaccination proof required. Fill out the online form (5 minutes if your information is assembled) and you will get a QR code instantly.

2) PROOF OF COVID VACCINATION.

3) EXIT FLIGHT FROM PHILS (more on this below).

Philppines requires that you hold an exit airline ticket from Phils. This ticket should depart WITHIN 30 DAYS of arrival. Otherwise some jerk might hassle you.

Best to PRINT 1) and 2) and 3), highlight key details, encase in plastic sheets. This makes it look like you know what you are doing.

Pro tip; I notice that people who put 1) and 2) and 3) on their phone instead of actually printing it all really slowed down the line. Of course, you carry a backup copy on your phone.

RECENT COVID TEST; not required.

HEALTH INSURANCE; not required.

PROOF OF STRONG MORAL CHARACTER; fortunately, not required.

In my case, I have no definite plan on leaving Phils so I did book a one way ticket into the Phils. I know of two options to produce an exit ticket.

ONWARDTICKET.COM

This worked for me. I 'rented' a REAL airline ticket out of the Phils. The $14 ticket is good for 48 hours, you can get a ticket good for two weeks for $63. Site is easy to use. Best to make sure this booking is on an airline that is not easy for a gate agent to check (NOT the gate agent's own airline or affiliate). Onwardticket.com gave me a ticket to BKK through Seoul on JEJU AIR.

JEJU AIR? WTF I thought, did I just get scammed? No, It IS a real Korean Airline. I have never heard of them. No way a busy gate agent can run that down. Perfect!

FAKE TICKET SITES.

There are several of these around. You provide all the details and you get a total fake ticket printed. I did not think their sample ticket looked authenticate enough. I got about halfway through the process, the site was difficult to use, and my spidey-senses made me think I was being phished. One of my friends has success with these sites. Sorry no details.

[Mr Enternational]

Applying 1st world logic in Angeles City works about as well as grilling a popsicle. The employees will do what their boss tells them to and can care less about whether or not they do business with you.

LOL. He said all that as if this was the Paris thread. I learned what you said a long time ago when I went to McDonald's at the end of Fields and tried to get a burger without onions. All I did was confuse the fuck out of them and have to just take the onions off myself. They were taught to make it with onions so as far as they were concerned that is the only way the burger could come. All that first world thinking out of the box shit is not a PI trait.

[WestCoast1]

Applying 1st world logic in Angeles City works about as well as grilling a popsicle. The employees will do what their boss tells them to and can care less about whether or not they do business with you. And how many people on a monger board rent 5 star hotels? Especially in AC where 5 star is pretty much non existent.

So basically, its a sh*t-show, much like before pandemic? All systems nominal.

[Beavis]

Former Front Office Manager here.

Most high class hotels (5 star), and with a management team that knows how to use their brain will more then likely be ok and smart enough to price match directly at the hotel so they can avoid paying commission to 3rd party booker's. If their reservation manager isn't lazy, they will communicate and lower the blocked room count with the 3rd party so they can use the room. 3rd party sites are required to provide xxx number of rooms per month / year anyways so unless it's sold it's a loss for both.

4 star and belows. Up to luck. They might match. They might not care and not want to work and just make you book via 3rd party so less work for them.

If your trying to book on same date and it's impossible as day has carried over to next day (midnight per se), take an initiative to snap shot the price you saw before and ask if they can price match. If the reception is lazy and declines (which is a loss of revenue for them), go ahead and leave them a. Ice slap of a review on trip advisor or whatever site they use for benchmarking, so that their FOM or GM can see the team isn't interested in making money and turning away walk in guests. See if that changes attitude of the establishment in few days LOL.

Applying 1st world logic in Angeles City works about as well as grilling a popsicle. The employees will do what their boss tells them to and can care less about whether or not they do business with you. And how many people on a monger board rent 5 star hotels? Especially in AC where 5 star is pretty much non existent.

[Gen X Baer]

Former Front Office Manager here.

Most high class hotels (5 star), and with a management team that knows how to use their brain will more then likely be ok and smart enough to price match directly at the hotel so they can avoid paying commission to 3rd party booker's. If their reservation manager isn't lazy, they will communicate and lower the blocked room count with the 3rd party so they can use the room. 3rd party sites are required to provide xxx number of rooms per month / year anyways so unless it's sold it's a loss for both.

4 star and belows. Up to luck. They might match. They might not care and not want to work and just make you book via 3rd party so less work for them.

If your trying to book on same date and it's impossible as day has carried over to next day (midnight per se), take an initiative to snap shot the price you saw before and ask if they can price match. If the reception is lazy and declines (which is a loss of revenue for them), go ahead and leave them a. Ice slap of a review on trip advisor or whatever site they use for benchmarking, so that their FOM or GM can see the team isn't interested in making money and turning away walk in guests. See if that changes attitude of the establishment in few days LOL.

[Goferring]

extend at the front desk with cash and get the 20% discount (I'm going to guess that's tax free for them).

It maybe a dodgy tax free cash deal. More likely savings due to not having to pay the App's commission. These commissions can be 30 or 40% so it's understandable that the hotels are keen to avoid them. For this reason the Apps actually have a contractual clause that they are offered the lowest price and cannot be undercut.

Good for us. Not good for hoteliers.

Enjoy. G.

[WestCoast1]

This had happened at at least 3 different hotels. I used Agoda or Hotels to book a room, stayed a few days, and then wanted to extend for another day or more. The hotels would not let me book directly with them. They told me they had openings but had to book through the third party hotel website. Why is that?

Because the third party sites like Agoda each buy a set number of rooms each night, in advance. Agoda has dibs on those rooms, and you and me become the sub-renters (or sub-lets). The hotel can not rent those rooms, even if they are empty, as they belong to Agoda, in the same way that the hotel can not rent your room that you have already rented. Third-party entities (Agoda, Hotels.com, Booking) pre-rent rooms at a discount as they are buying large numbers of rooms, then rent them to you and me for more than they paid, and less than the hotel is charging.

[Goferring]

Today I look at Hotels dot com and magically Central Park is available. Is that related to me calling, who knows....

I'm careful not to window shop for hotels and airfares. Both have tracking in their apps and may present a loss leading price when you first look and it's magically unavailable when you return to actually book.

I search when I'm ready to go and book when I see what I want. Don't come back to confirm everything next week.

[Goferring]

Hi SJ,

So how do non Phil dwellers like me get a confirmed room to arrive to when the prices of the hotels are not always available?

Thanks.

Victor.

Google the hotel by name and get their email or phone to contact them direct. They will likely have some form of booking page on their web site.

I must say though that, as a customer, I have never had a problem with Agoda. Cheap prices, upfront in / exclusions and very easy to deal with if there are any problems or booking changes. My only issue is that you can't book a hotel for tonight only tomorrow.

I do have friends on the other side and yes, the way they treat the hotels, resorts etc is borderline criminal. Outrageous commissions, payment terms and contractual terms.

Enjoy. G.