General Info

Erroll Flynn looks like he does marathons. USA to Manila via Istanbul. And the prices.

My situation is nearly as bad. I spotted a cheap as chips flight with British Airways + Cathay. Checking Travelup, who run it, lots of negative reviews and bait and switches. I don't need that. I now have my eyes ion a reasanable Peoples Republic of China flight.

I don't know why the Yanks don't just follow the swallows and fly south for the winter. Anyway, not my problem.

I have used a variety of cheap Asian airlines with no problem, bar many years ago with PAL where they were charging everyone excess baggage (I got charged for an extra kilo). Luckily, PAL is no longer an option from Europe.

Speaking of Europe, I bought a special Ryanair bag that fits under the seat, so for most of their flights, I now only pay bare minimum. I am not sure how relevant such bags are to Asian flights.

Given the negative reviews Angeles is getting, I think the best move might be to hit on some rural place and bonk away but it is a long way to go for limited returns. There is a definite opening in the market here but, as I reported from Napoli, other options have their own considerable risks.

Most airlines allow back packs which will fit under the seats (many prefer you to do this so there is room in the lockers for suitcases), subject to carry on weight limits.

CP has announced a round of promo fares, both domestic (as low as p199 before taxes / fees) and international. See pic for a domestic teaser, and link for all such fares.

[URL]https://www.cebupacificair.com/en-PH/seat-sale[/URL]

Is 7-11 in Philippines as good as 7-11 in Thailand? Are they as prevalent everywhere like in Thailand? Wrapped meals ready to be microwaved?

Are there lots of legit cheap massage spots in Philippines? Like $6 for an hour foot massage?

[QUOTE=TooDirty;2865954]Is 7-11 in Philippines as good as 7-11 in Thailand? It is an international franchise so it should be near enough

Are they as prevalent everywhere like in Thailand? I never saw one in Thai jungles or paddy fields but there are plenty where lazy mongers go
and the motorbikes are ubiquitous

Are there lots of legit cheap massage spots in Philippines? Like $6 for an hour foot massage?[/QUOTE]The unit of currency in the Philippines is the peso, not the American (56), Australian (36) or Canadian (41). I previously gave the rates blind folk charge in various malls. Do you think you could rtff or would you like me to do that and convert into the currency of your choice?

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2865685]CP has announced a round of promo fares, both domestic (as low as p199 before taxes / fees) and international. See pic for a domestic teaser, and link for all such fares.

[URL]https://www.cebupacificair.com/en-PH/seat-sale[/URL][/QUOTE]I've tried to book those piso fares and can never get them, even if the promo is for the destination and date I'm trying to book. Are they actually real?

[QUOTE=Aml3740;2866066]I've tried to book those piso fares and can never get them, even if the promo is for the destination and date I'm trying to book. Are they actually real?[/QUOTE]Usually only a limited number of these cheap seats on each flight. You really have to be quick, they often go within minutes of being announced.

[QUOTE=Aml3740;2866066]I've tried to book those piso fares and can never get them, even if the promo is for the destination and date I'm trying to book. Are they actually real?[/QUOTE]Yes. You must wait to make the reservation during the stated sale period (in this case, you must make the reservation between Nov 1 and Nov 15), and only for flights within the travel period (in this case, flights between those particular cities between Nov 1 and March 31 2024). They run this type of special 2-3 times per year. I have noted that during the sale period, starting Nov 1 thru Nov 15, the website often slows to a crawl as everyone is attempting to get the discount.

[QUOTE=TooDirty;2865954]Is 7-11 in Philippines as good as 7-11 in Thailand? Are they as prevalent everywhere like in Thailand? Wrapped meals ready to be microwaved?

Are there lots of legit cheap massage spots in Philippines? Like $6 for an hour foot massage?[/QUOTE]Massage is about 350 to 400 P per hour but the quality is much lower than Thailand. Why 7-11 should be a consideration for any travel planning is beyond me but yes, there are 7-11 in the Philippines and probably carry the same food, but again, why that would matter is really strange.

You monger in the Phils to have BBFS with mostly average looking English speaking girls. Thats about it. You don't go there for food or massage or 7-11.

[QUOTE=TooDirty;2865954]Are there lots of legit cheap massage spots in Philippines? Like $6 for an hour foot massage?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=ExpatAmerican;2866151]You monger in the Phils to have BBFS with mostly average looking English speaking girls. Thats about it. [/QUOTE]Usually I agree. But:

[QUOTE=ExpatAmerican;2866151]You don't go there for food or massage or 7-11.[/QUOTE]I have discovered that there is a percentage of fellas that are primarily rub-and-tug fellas. They can go to an asian sexpat destination and spend all of their nawty dollars in massage places. Or alternately they are just massage afficianados who have 1-2-3 massages daily (a full-body each morning, a foot massage every afternoon, a nawty massage caps off the evening). They barfine or find FL girls as a second option only. I find it odd that anyone of such persuasion would go to AC, but I have found them having lunch at Kokomo's.

TD I am not sure of that $6 (p300) price, as Manila prices are often a few bucks higher ($10 maybe) than elsewhere. To twist it a bit more, my province city's prices (which should be lower than Manila) were pre-covid p300, then jumped to p600 for standard 1-hour massage after the post-covid re-opening and remained that way for 2 years, before settling back down to p400. In AC last month p400 was standard, and the place across the street from Scorebirds was p300.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2866146]Yes. You must wait to make the reservation during the stated sale period (in this case, you must make the reservation between Nov 1 and Nov 15), and only for flights within the travel period (in this case, flights between those particular cities between Nov 1 and March 31 2024). They run this type of special 2-3 times per year. I have noted that during the sale period, starting Nov 1 thru Nov 15, the website often slows to a crawl as everyone is attempting to get the discount.[/QUOTE]Even if you have jumped through all the hoops mentioned, often there is only a certain number of discounted seats available on each flight. Sometimes it's a crazy low number like 5 or so. If you are number 6, then it's bad luck.

G.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2866172]

TD I am not sure of that $6 (p300) price, as Manila prices are often a few bucks higher ($10 maybe) than elsewhere. To twist it a bit more, my province city's prices (which should be lower than Manila) were pre-covid p300, then jumped to p600 for standard 1-hour massage after the post-covid re-opening and remained that way for 2 years, before settling back down to p400. In AC last month p400 was standard, and the place across the street from Scorebirds was p300.[/QUOTE]I usually go to a massage shop opposite Robinsons in Malate. I was shocked in July that the price had risen to 350 p which is $A10. I did get a haircut for 100 p and the girl sorry LB was so excited with my 100 p tip. The cut was pretty good BTW.

Thanks for the feedback.

[URL]https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67305693[/URL]

This is a report on how Thailand is getting a different sort of Chinese tourist: top tier and rich LGBT only. I guess the Philippines is still, ahem, virgin territory, helped by itb only catring to Koreans, Western losers and grand papas like us.

Tourism. Last full pre-Covid year was 2019, with 8. 2 million foreign visitors (see graph, first pic). Extrapolating from the bar graph, that would add about a half million to a million per year, if not for the pandemic. Website: [URL]https://www.statista.com/statistics/1053908/philippines-number-of-foreign-visitor-tourist-arrivals/[/URL].

For the first 10 months of 2023 (see second pic), 4 million foreign visitors. Extrapolating to include the last 2 months, it should be close to 5 million. Not yet back up to the pre-pandemic extrapolation (about half as much this year), and a given is that Phils has been re-opened for 18 months. Website: [URL]http://tourism.gov.ph/files/2023/11/11-06/2023-October.pdf[/URL].

And for fun, you can see the list (third pic) of countries with foreign visitors to Phils, ranked in order from most to least. N Korea is #1 so far this year (1.1 million tourists), then the US (740K), Japan, China, Australia (207K), Canada (180K), Taiwan, and UK (125K). No wonder we're getting waxed in AC. Website: [URL]http://tourism.gov.ph/files/2023/11/11-06/2023-October.pdf[/URL].