Air ticket out of the Philippines
A while back someone posted that when flying to the the Philippines you could just say you had an E-ticket out and they would let you board without having any documentation. This does not work on Cebu Pacific from Macao. I tried to check-in and told the agent that I had a flight out the next day on Continental. She would not check me in and I had to go to the airport hotel to print out my E-ticket forward itinerary. The hotel's Internet must be dial-up, because it was excruciatingly slow, especially when your plane is departing, and it also cost me 5 bucks to print it out. When I got back to the counter, the agents were gone. The Cebu Pacific personnel there told me I was too late to check in. I argued that I had been there in plenty of time and I had been forced by their agent to go and print out my itinerary so I could get on the flight. They finally checked me in and I was able to make the flight. Perhaps I had a hard ass agent and maybe it is only in Macao, but I suggest that you have your onward itinerary printed out if flying to the Philippines from Macao.
New Taxi Rates (for Manila anyway)
[QUOTE=Mr Enternational;1130247]Just got to Manila. Went outside and got a Yellow Taxi to Ermita. I forgot what the going rate is supposed to be. But when we pulled up at the City State he clicked the meter and it said 498 pesos. I bitched at him and told him that I have never paid that much. I told him that I usually pay no more than 350 (keep in mind I really didn't remember) and 200 (which I remember) going back to the airport. He talked about traffic and gas prices and told me okay 350. I gave him a 500 and he gave me 150 back. I'm sure the price was supposed to be much less if I recall correctly.[/QUOTE]I believe this is an unusual case, as the Yellow / Orange Airport Metered Taxis were established to improve the level of service. I travel frequently through each airport (at least 50 times each year. Last week I made 4 trips) and I have never been scammed by these guys. You should have reported him for this.
In addition, just a heads-up to those guys who missed it in previous posts. This is not related to the previous post.
Taxis in Manila are currently undergoing re-calibration of their meters to reflect the new 40-peso flag-down rate AND a new 3. 50 peso click for each distance travelled.
However, the recalibration is being done in stages according to the last digit of the taxi registration plate number. They have just done plates 1 and 7 at present. 2 and 8 will be April etc etc.
The only taxis that will be re-calibrated are those that have NEW meters that issue receipts. I had my first ride in one of the newly-calibrated cabs yesterday and it was a 30% increase in the price from home to airport and came as a bit of a shock.
Be wary of any driver trying to tell you that the flag down rate is now 40 php UNLESS his meter has been re-calibrated. He cannot do that.
The LTRFB plan is to get rid of the clapped-out rust bucket taxis since in many cases the cost of the new meter will exceed the worth of the taxi itself so owners will not bother to replace the meters.
So, if you grab a taxi in Manila and find that your usual rate seems to have gone much higher than before don't assume the driver is scamming you. He might have one of the new meters and be charging you the new rate.
Are Any Bar Girls or P4P Girls Normal?
Over the years I've met quite a few bar girls and P4P girls. And almost all are screwed up in some way or the other. Many have bad tempers, bad dispositions, inferiority complexes, drinking problems, or are just weird. I'm finding out that many of them were screwed up before they got into to that profession. I am beginning to think that it is not just poverty that gets these girls there. I believe many poor girls would starve rather than do it. I'm thinking that many if not most of the girls that go into this profession are in a screwed up before they started. What are your thoughts? Have any of you met well adjusted bar girls or ex-bar girls?
Return Ticket when entering Philippines
[QUOTE=Jimmy Boy 99;1130183]A while back someone posted that when flying to the the Philippines you could just say you had an E-ticket out and they would let you board without having any documentation. This does not work on Cebu Pacific from Macao. I tried to check-in and told the agent that I had a flight out the next day on Continental. She would not check me in and I had to go to the airport hotel to print out my E-ticket forward itinerary. The hotel's Internet must be dial-up, because it was excruciatingly slow, especially when your plane is departing, and it also cost me 5 bucks to print it out. When I got back to the counter, the agents were gone. The Cebu Pacific personnel there told me I was too late to check in. I argued that I had been there in plenty of time and I had been forced by their agent to go and print out my itinerary so I could get on the flight. They finally checked me in and I was able to make the flight. Perhaps I had a hard ass agent and maybe it is only in Macao, but I suggest that you have your onward itinerary printed out if flying to the Philippines from Macao.[/QUOTE]I guess maybe you learned a lesson here. Don't listen to people like that who try to talk their way out of things. If you have a ticket out of there, bring a copy with you. You're lucky you had a ticket to print out. My friend didn't get stopped in the states when he left and we connected in Hong Kong. They wouldn't let him connect to Manila if he didn't have a ticket out of the Philippines. He was expecting to buy a ticket when he got there. They made him pay for a full price ticket to make the connection.
