Angeles City

[SX Doctor]

I am Filipino-American and stay with family, so my perspective may be a bit different. I'm not going to be staying at a hotel and mongering, but I may drop by the casino, get left there to play some slots, and wander off for another definition of playing slots. My relatives who would be interested in such things are generally too poor or too young to know where to have fun, while the rest are female or too religious, so I must turn to this board for advice.

--I know there are short time hotels in the area. Any recommendations, or just leave it up to the girl?

--Do any of the bars on Fields seem to draw more native Filipinos than others?

--Can anyone recommend some good Korean restaurants in Angeles?

[Maple Red]

Pacific Breeze has never charged for internet use in your room to my knowledge (and stayed there last month). If you RENT a laptop from them maybe, and to use the internet in the rooms by reception yes.

Confirmed. Pacific Breeze in room internet is free, even if you rent a laptop from them. Laptop rental fee is 250 PHP per day.

[HornyGeorge]

pacific breeze has never charged for internet use in your room to my knowledge (and stayed there last month). if you rent a laptop from them maybe, and to use the internet in the rooms by reception yes. and transfer rate usually is 100 kb/second, not t1 like speeds but pretty good for the pi and better than dial up. only problem with pb is its popularity.

sanook: for quiet the choice is oasis hotel up on perimeter road. about $65 including a good breakfast. best and least crowded pool in town, and an elegant restaurant (maranao grill) with a piano player, salad bar etc. very few mongers stay up there, more businessmen and well healed types. it is also the place to stay if you do not want all of ac to know you are in town and where you are staying. it really is an oasis.

about 5 minutes by jeepney to checkpoint but late at night you might be held hostage to the trike mafia wanting 70p to bring you home.

[ReallyaNiceGuy]

I had a great time with all three girls I choose. I was usually back to the room with my choice for the night by about 10 PM. Standard operation in the room, she showered, I showered, in bed together for some warm-up, then doing the deed, rest/talk/she might nap for a while, do it again, sleep for the night, wake-up in the morning, have another round, she would shower and then leave. With the girl from Blue Nile, sorry I don’t remember her name, and Nina from Rhapsody we went and got a bite to eat after either the first or second round. I liked that.
The only thing that bothered me, and my experience in Angeles, was how do I say this, the girl’s ability to handle an American man with a little more length. They were all troopers and did what they could to accommodate me but it did change how I did them.
All were total GFE, DFK, BBBJ, DATY, 69 and several positions. I loved them all!
Good thing I had to leave because I could see how easy it would be to call this place home like the American guy I met at the mall, he came for a month stay and that was 3 and a half years ago. Now he is married and expecting his first child. Not that I’m looking to get married but he was happy here, and he said he still played once-in-a-while too.

Mike

[ReallyaNiceGuy]

I got a kick out of checking all of the places out and sitting with the girls. “Hello Sir. Where you from?” Somebody should make a T-Shirt with that on it because you hear it everywhere here.
I would go in a place, walk and look around, not buying a drink, and if it felt right, nice vibe or some thing, I would stay for a while. Then if I felt a connection/attraction to a girl I would ask her to sit with me, not buying her a drink yet.

Here are some shots from Atlantis and the Doll House. 2 of the nicest ones I saw.

Mike

[ReallyaNiceGuy]

Angeles – My first visit

WOW! That’s what I have to say about this city. In all my travels I’ve never seen anything like this city. Bar after bar after bar! From high-class places down to little dump places on the side streets, but they all have some beautiful girls.
Booked 3 days at the Pacific Breeze and liked Angeles so much decided to stay another day but they were booked so they got me a room at Swiss Chalet. The Pacific Breeze was a great place to stay, close to the action, clean, safe, pool, restaurant, friendly staff and a fair price. I would recommend it. The Swiss Chalet was a step down, OK maybe 2 steps down but it was OK though.
If you need the internet in your room The Swiss Chalet was great, fast and free while at the Pacific Breeze it was 60 P an hour and as slow as dial-up. I tried some Internet cafes and found them to be slow too.
Another thing about the Pacific Breeze Hotel, they don’t give free refills on the coffee in the restaurant. So if you’re a coffee drinker, like me, be prepaird to pay for every cup.
I know it’s been said before, but if you stay in Angeles there is nothing else to do here. I went to the mall a couple of times just to look around but didn’t do anything during the day but rest and eat recharging for that nights adventure.

Mike

[Tj555]

Despite all I read to the contrary, it's not the Credit Card company that is at fault with regard to the card not being accepted. It has to do with the airlines' web site secure server or whatever. I have almost all of mine rejected from PAL and I give them a piece of my mind every time!

Just to be precise, it's the financial services processing company that the website is partnered with. Generally websites don't run their own credit card processing, they connect to a 3rd party.

That said, I have 6 different credit and debit cards, labeled mastercard and visa, and all were rejected by Cebu Pacific's website when tried on April 2008. These include american and thai debit cards, and american credit cards.

Phillipine Airlines had the same problem. With one exception. They accepted a debit card from an obscure credit union I'm a member of.

In both cases, PA and CP stated that their websites (the financial processor they use) require card-issuing-banks to be a member of the "SecureCode" program. I'm not sure who runs the program, but very few US cards/banks enroll in it. My credit union was the exception. Even still, CP refused the card at the time.

As has been stated, this refusal occurs prior to any attempt at authorizing the financial transaction on the card. Probably at whatever control servers are run by the SecureCode program. Note that SecureCode is not the same as the 3 digit code on the back of your card. It's a separate password you have to define as part of the program.

As the final point to the story, after hassling with PA and CP for WEEKS trying to get this crap sorted out, I neglected to travel with my obscure credit union debit card. I was thus unable to use the PA ticket I had struggled for, and had to purchase a new ticket (with a standard american visa card, no issues) at the PA office in Cebu. Refund of the online-purchased ticket took 2 months.

[Sanook D]

It's been about 7 years since my last visit to Angeles (although I have been to the PI many times), and last time I was there I stayed at the Sunset Garden, which I thought was pretty much OK. How is it nowadays? If anyone has thoughts about a better option- a like a quieter place, which usually means away from the action a bit- I'd be happy to read about it. Also, what is the best way to get from the airport to town?

Amused at the comments about Koreans. I'm dismayed at suggestions that Korean men are taking over the place- my experiences with Korean males (the women are a different story- gorgeous and whacky, the way I like 'em) have been almost uniformly bad. I generally find them bellicose when they aren't being standoffish; xenophobic like the Japanese but without the civility, loud like the Chinese but with the gregariousness. I do love the food, though, so one upside might be good Korean BBQ joints in Angeles like the ones in Manila- any recommendations? By the way, I recall reading in the Cebu paper about Philippine anger at Korean behavior in the PI- starting fights, treating the locals like dirt, beating workers in their factories. It isn't just Westerners who object to the way Koreans tend to act.

[Redfield10]

Despite all I read to the contrary, it's not the Credit Card company that is at fault with regard to the card not being accepted. It has to do with the airlines' web site secure server or whatever. I have almost all of mine rejected from PAL and I give them a piece of my mind every time!

Hi, guys,

Flying from BKK to Clark on Thursday, Cebu Pacific. After trying about 6 times with two (valid, US) credit cards to book on their site, and enduring a very frustrating Skype call to the CP call center, I decided to call their agent in BKK. Not only did I get the tickets right away, I also wound up saving about 4,000 THB over what I would have paid on the website, which was surprising to say the least. Definitely call the local agent listed on the CP website and see what they can do for you.

[Sanook D]

Hi, guys,

Flying from BKK to Clark on Thursday, Cebu Pacific. After trying about 6 times with two (valid, US) credit cards to book on their site, and enduring a very frustrating Skype call to the CP call center, I decided to call their agent in BKK. Not only did I get the tickets right away, I also wound up saving about 4,000 THB over what I would have paid on the website, which was surprising to say the least. Definitely call the local agent listed on the CP website and see what they can do for you.

[Primo Bolan]

This has been a real problem for holders of non Philippine banks credit cards. I understand same holds with Philippine Airlines.time .Bottom line: AVOID CEBU PACIFIC AND PHILIPPINE AIRLINES.

Living in north of europe, do you think it is a problem to book an online ticket from BKK to Manila, with a Visa card?

PB

[Sleepy Floyd]

Actually you CAN use a foreign CC on PAL's site (but call your CC issuer first to let them know). NEVER been able to do it on CP but never had a problem using the call center and giving my CC info over the phone.

There are not many other options within the PI. Asianspirit.com will take your credit card but number of destinations served is small, ditto SEair.com

There is a new domestic carrier I just learned about last trip, www.zestair.com.ph is the link I think, but I have not yet tried them.

Zest Air is not really new, its just the reincarnation of Asian Spirit. I would advise against using them unless you have no other option whatsoever. They are even more unreliable than Cebu Pacific.

[Professional]

I called my credit card companies (citibank, chase, capitalone) why it was declined they all said the same thing "there is no record of us declining anything it must have came from CP".

I have no balance on my cards (I pay off every month) and have excellent credit with very high limits. I tried my business cards and my personal cards all declined (tried 10 different cards).

One of my calls to my credit card company just so happened to be a call center in Philippines the customer service person told me this happens alot with CP and it is not the credit card it is CP.

[Buko Max]

This post should probably go in another thread but since CP has expansion plans that include Clark, I'll comment here.

The ongoing credit card problems have not effected me since I'm able to book online with my American issued Mastercard; I guess I'm one of the lucky few.

The prices and service of CP were wonderful at one time but they have been going downhill. At one time I had high regard for them but not anymore. Here are a few instances in the past year:

• Last year I was going to fly from Cebu to Clark when we were notified that the flight was canceled for no apparent reason. (The real reason was that there were only about 25 passengers, a cost-cutting move) They flew us to Manila then bused us to Clark, taking four times longer.
  
• Another time my flight out of Cebu was delayed enough that I missed my international connection in Manila. I did not miss the flight but the cut-off time to check in thus they gave my seat away. Nowadays, I always spend a night in Manila and fly out the next day.
  
• Back in May of this year I flew from Cebu to HKG with a stop in MNL just a few days before CP moved into their new terminal. They checked my bag all the way through to HKG but it never arrived along with a few others. I'm still fighting them over this going so far as to check two warehouses in Manila for my lost luggage. Their compensation for lost luggage is measly and there is no doubt in my mind that my bag was stolen.

[Eric Emp]

What other choices do we have flying domestically?

I just booked Manila - Cebu with PAL on the web using my Bank Of America Visa card no problem.

Was unable to use AMEX or MC

//Eric