General Info

[QUOTE=Dg8787;1805064]A friend just checked in CP in Cebu and did not have any checked in baggage. They weigh the carry on and it was over the 7 kilo limit. Was charged over P650 for it. I guess they are weighing the carry on for extra money now.[/QUOTE]Some idiots abuse the system and then get pissed when they are caught out. I saw a woman with 2 bags that together must have weighed 10 or 12 kgs get angry when they stopped her.

The rules are very clear, Carry-on up to 7 kgs is free; after that you pay, and it's MUCH cheaper to pay when you book rather than try to short-cut the system and get caught at the check-in.

[QUOTE=Ikksman;1804221]I don't know if it is still applicable, but there used to be at least 3 rates at many hotels (excluding corporate):

1. Local Residents rates.
2. Balikbayan rates.
3. Porigner rates.

Fortunately, it is a number of years since I was able to able use Balikbayan rates!

I think that overall, it is a sensible idea that directly benefits Filipinos, and certainly not a rip off.

Cheers

P.S. Sammon, your Chinese GF possibly went to the Divisoria markets near China Town. That place is incredibly cheap, even for locals.[/QUOTE]I believe Balikpapan rate is same as resident rate if I am not mistaken. Most times it is not 50%off, about 10-20%. I tried one time to get local GF to book a hotel but the problem is they need full amount in cash and no refunds.

I feel comfortable booking through travel sites. Many times I have gotten a good deal with free breakfast.

Waterfront in Cebu is nice and they have good deals as well.

Regarding my Chinese GF it was in China.

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1805198]Some idiots abuse the system and then get pissed when they are caught out. I saw a woman with 2 bags that together must have weighed 10 or 12 kgs get angry when they stopped her.

The rules are very clear, Carry-on up to 7 kgs is free; after that you pay, and it's MUCH cheaper to pay when you book rather than try to short-cut the system and get caught at the check-in.[/QUOTE]True but that also happens for the check in luggage as well. They seem dumbfounded when told it is over 20 kgs ad then they have to remove items from the bag or pay. That is OK but they do this (remove items) at the counter and stop others checking in at times.

For hand carry mine is always around 8 kgs as carries laptops etc. If weighed, I tell them 2 laptops and they are cool.

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1805198]Some idiots abuse the system and then get pissed when they are caught out. I saw a woman with 2 bags that together must have weighed 10 or 12 kgs get angry when they stopped her.

The rules are very clear, Carry-on up to 7 kgs is free; after that you pay, and it's MUCH cheaper to pay when you book rather than try to short-cut the system and get caught at the check-in.[/QUOTE]I agree the abuse seems to be over the top. On a recent flight in the States from one major city to another the flight was full, at the checked in luggage carousel there was only me and 4 other people. Everyone else did carry on!

My friend had only one proper sized, pocketless carry on luggage and no other bag. The carry on was less than 2 kilos over.

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1805198]Some idiots abuse the system and then get pissed when they are caught out. I saw a woman with 2 bags that together must have weighed 10 or 12 kgs get angry when they stopped her.

The rules are very clear, Carry-on up to 7 kgs is free; after that you pay, and it's MUCH cheaper to pay when you book rather than try to short-cut the system and get caught at the check-in.[/QUOTE]Respectfully allow me to take another line of reasoning. There is a capriciousness to the system. The weighing of carryons appears to be nearly non-existant at CP, and or sometimes its random. Assume my own carryon is over the 7 kg limit. Normally I'd expect to pay more when caught with that. However, why would I expect to pay more if the CP clerk did not weigh the carryon items of the 4 groups of customers in my queue in front of me, then weighed mine (only)? At the same time in the several other queues to my left / right, no other customer's carryon is being weighed? Then I get to the clerk and she wants to hit me with an extra fee? Right then my racism-meter is going off and I'm asking to speak to a manager. Several times (Cebu, two different provinces) I've had this situation happen, and I've (quietly, respectfully) asked the CP management if this is racist, and been given a free pass. On another occasion in line in front of me in the province was a young mom and her daughter. In several queues they had not checked anyone's carryon weight (many pinoy travel with no checked luggage, they simply check in and get a boarding pass without weighing their carryon). Then in front of me they checked the woman's (and her young daughter's) carryon. This is random. Their carryon was overweight, and transferring to her checked luggage made the checked luggage overweight. A fee was to be applied. She cried, saying she did not have the extra pesos, and she was given a free pass (that's the culture shining thru). When they checked my carryon weight just after the young mother left to the gate, its a red flag. I asked the manager these simple questions: I'm the only gringo on the flight, just 1% of the customers on the plane. Why am I 50% of the customers whose carryon your agents weighed (1 out of 2, myself and the young mother)? Isn't that racist? What's that? A free pass like the crying lady? Sure.

Red, I don't mind paying the overage fee. But if you are the young pinay mother mentioned above, or myself, the customer will have legitimate concerns over corporate policies being applied unfairly. Question: At the checkin lanes at the airports, is there a sign clearly marked with a message like this: "Cebu Pacific weighs all carryon items. Over 7 kg = surcharge"?

[QUOTE=ImAGuy;1804793]Apparently a lot of thirsty guys have been flooding into the Philippines recently. In the past six months, I have seen the quality of girls on the dating sites go down noticeably, and the price has almost doubled. 4 k / night seems standard now? One girl on PL asked for 15 k / night. Wouldn't budge. 7/10. LOL?

In other news, I did have my first (non-pro) threesome the other day. It's been constant threesomes since. (It's my second month in country.) One girl was previously a virgin, both 20 years old, 8/10 looks. But I'm spoiling them like crazy (you guys would call me a fool if you knew how much I've spent on girls per month since arriving here) and too nice to kick them out. It is fun having two live-in GFs. They get jealous though if I pay too much attention to the other. Question for you guys: when you're with a non-pro and you make her leave, what happens? She doesn't try coming back, or calling, or showing up at your doorstep? Never had slashed tires or something? Every girl I've been with so far has tried clinging on for dear life.

I'm renting a house, plan on living here for a while. It's nice because it lets me avoid the walk of shame (my car has tinted windows and the security guards just wave me through). But I'm worried about meeting a psycho someday.[/QUOTE]It usually does not end well for foreign men who have multiple live-in girlfriends in the Philippines, especially when they try to cut off the cash and evict a member of the harem. The foreigner might get a visit from the friendly local policemen and invited to have an extended stay gratis at their fine resort facility for cheeky sex tourists. The other scenario involves the foreigner being robbed and murdered by unknown assailants. The murder usually goes unsolved and quickly turns into a forgotten cold case.

If you have doubts about this, just do a search of local news articles and expat forums. Filipinos only agree to harem arrangements because of a financial interest in the foreigner. Their family and friends will consider the guy to be yet another foreign "babaero" (disparaging local term for a womanizer) there to victimize their women and deserving of whatever nastiness they decide to mete out to him. Their desperation to hang on should be a cause for concern not flattery. Desperate people do desperate things. When the goose stops laying golden eggs Filipinos would not hesitate butchering it for meat, especially if they think the goose will lay golden eggs for a rival.

[QUOTE=Dg8787;1805332]On a recent flight in the States from one major city to another the flight was full, at the checked in luggage carousel there was only me and 4 other people. Everyone else did carry on![/QUOTE]A slightly different carryon problem exists with carriers in the US (not a weight issue usually). The carriers usually have a metal bin which has the exact maximum dimensions for the customer to check his carryon size, either at the check-in queue, or at the gate, or both. There is not usually an oversize issue. The carriers rarely ever weigh anyone's carry-on (the weight difference between lots of carry-on vs little carry-on luggage is neglible unless the takeoff situation is unusual) on your typical mid-range 737/ A319-type aircraft, the most popular in both the US and on domestic Asian flights. The airline is only concerned with the weight of the aircraft at departure, so fuel can be calculated. They are more concerned in the US with size of carry-on, as the overhead bins can hold only so much. The airlines have created great confusion and boarding problems by allowing free carry-on while paying for checked luggage. The rub from the passenger's view comes from this confusing policy for carry-on: 1 free carry-on (under 21") and one free personal item (intended to be a lady's purse, fannypack, laptop / tablet, etc). Many US passengers no longer pack a larger (25+") suitcase to check ($25-$35/ bag), with one smaller to carry on free. They now skip the checked bag and carry on two 21" suitcases, calling the second small suitcase their 'personal item'. The airlines allow this.

All of this is fine unless the flight is full. If the flight is full, not every passenger can bring two 21" suitcases and stow them in the overhead bins (not enough room). Hence on a full flight, passengers boarding the plane last might find no overhead bin space for their (only 1) carry-on suitcase. At which point the FA's may announce they are looking for other passengers to give up one or more of their carry-on to be re-checked in the cargo hold, which takes time, and leads to arguments between passengers and FA's. Last January I took a domestic US flight out of Miami. They announced at the gate that the flight would be full, and recommended to passengers (20 minutes prior to boarding time) that we should drop our carry-on luggage into the size-bin to see if it was small enough to be considered carry-on, that they would not be allowing any carry-on larger than the bin's limits, and that there was plenty of time to have oversized carry-on checked into the cargo hold. Nobody bothered to check. I was lucky to be 3rd in line for my flight boarding. Sure as rain there was a family in front of me (mom, dad, teen daughter) with 6 pieces of carry-on. 5 of them were 20-21" suitcases, and one of them was a larger suitcase, 25-28" (full luggage). They were stopped as the clerk was taking the boarding passes and told "No thanks" to that larger suitcase. The father caused a scene (he lost the battle and had to check the larger item below the aircraft).

On another flight out of Phoenix in September the plane was sold out, and as the straggling passengers boarded, there was not enough room for their overhead luggage. The FA's made a call for anyone willing to re-check their carry-on to the cargo hold, but nobody volunteered. The FA's started at the front of the coach section and started going thru the overhead bins, asking which carry-on items belonged to which customers. They found several customers amazingly had 3 carry-on (for example, two in the overhead bins and one under the seat in front of them -- how did they get past the agent taking the boarding passes?) And some had oversized carry-on. They got grief from the passengers involved, but finally just checked some of that extra / oversized stuff under the aircraft. Result? 10 minute delay. [B][I]THANKS[/I][/B]!

In the US, flights are typically 1. 5 - 5 hours, near-capacity, with lots of checked luggage. Hence more fuel, and heavier. In phils, domestic flights are usually 20-90 minutes, little checked luggage, and hence much less fuel.

DG, never been to a domestic carousel in the US after a flight that was not ringed with a hundred passengers.

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1805198]Some idiots abuse the system and then get pissed when they are caught out. I saw a woman with 2 bags that together must have weighed 10 or 12 kgs get angry when they stopped her.

The rules are very clear, Carry-on up to 7 kgs is free; after that you pay, and it's MUCH cheaper to pay when you book rather than try to short-cut the system and get caught at the check-in.[/QUOTE]The overage charges are a huge moneymaker for Cebu Pacific as you say. I always check a small suitcase for clothes, cheap pasalubog chocolates etc and never put anything of value in there and never noticed anything lifted. The minimal pre pay baggage called small is 10 kilos usually and its pretty cheap, like P150. Your overage charges are 5 x to 10 x what you would pay in advance. Also deselect your seat choice to save money and ask for a seat of your choice at check in and decline all the phony insurance crap I can imagine trying to cash in on that later. I doubt that giant panda will every get your donation as well.

If you think your carry on is a little hefty keep it on the ground as you approach the counter, don't show it. Drag it up there and keep it on the ground and don't allow the agent to see it. They are usually pretty lazy and don't even like to stand up if they have a seat or tend to be short persons obviously. I see people all the time with tagged carryons but mine is never tagged because they don't notice it and its a good sized Targas back pack. I usually push it to the limit and buy things at the dollar store at home like hand lotion as gifts so I'm always right at or over the hand carry and checked limit.

This is nothing new they have always done it.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;1805334] <SNIP>

Red, I don't mind paying the overage fee. But if you are the young pinay mother mentioned above, or myself, the customer will have legitimate concerns over corporate policies being applied unfairly. Question: At the checkin lanes at the airports, is there a sign clearly marked with a message like this: "Cebu Pacific weighs all carryon items. Over 7 kg = surcharge"?[/QUOTE]I agree that the rules are applied somewhat randomly (capriciously as you suggest) but I am only concerned about my own situation. I don't want the hassle of arguing over weight at the check-in counter, so I comply.

Most airlines seem to only randomly weigh carry-ons and not all the time; sometimes it is merely the attitude of the clerk or the timing of their shift if they can be bothered or not.

It is VERY clear in all of the terms and conditions what are the baggage limits. If you get caught out then it is your problem. It is irrelevant what might or might not happen to other people. WC seems to get away with playing the "race" card but that too can be a very capricious thing.

I have tried telling the policeman that pulled me over for speeding that I was going at the same speed as the guy in front of me so why didn't he stop that guy too. It never works.

Filipinos abuse the carry-on system everywhere (as of course do other SE Asian people). My friendly PAL agent (a filipino guy) who always greets me at the gate in Sydney despairs at the amount (and weight) of baggage that his kababayan try to bring on board. It's why everybody rushes to get on board despite any seat row boarding rules, because they want to be able to stow their 3 or 4 bags, including the assorted stuff in plastic bags.

I wish they weighed everyone's bags and were more strict about number of carry-ons. The "rules" are clear, but rarely enforced consistently by ANY airline. I also think that seats should be fixed so that they cannot be reclined, but that's another topic altogether.

Australians who become down and out in PI and other places have not been intelligent enough to correctly plan for their overseas retirement. One would have to be really, really dumb not to know that there are wild fluctuations in the value of the AUD, and understand the implications for themselves.

AUDUSD rates that I recall (I did currency transfers, at these times) are:
2001 0.53 (fell below 0.50 in 2002, but I was unable to take advantage of the low)
2009 0.64
2012 1.14
2015 0.72.

And I will never forget when the little Aussie bleeder temporarily hit 400 yen. Being primarily paid in AUD, we hit those Akasaka Mitsuke nightspots all night long.

I am sure that it is not only Australians who have failed miserably in their financial planning.

Ikks.

[I]P.S. Note that there are many reasons for the fluctuations of the AUD, but historically the main reasons are its popularity with currency traders coupled with the ready availability of large amounts of the currency (big traders are able to magnify AUD rate changes to their own advantage), and the long term consistent strength of the Australian economy (escaping relatively unscathed from the worldwide financial crises of the last 30 years - unlike the U.S. - as our politicians constantly remind us). [b]Believe it or not![/b][/I]

[QUOTE=ChochaMonger;1805565][b]AUD falls again, Aussie wingman cancels[/b]

[blue]Originally posted in AC forum here: [URL]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showthread.php?1972-Angeles-City&p=1805565&viewfull=1#post1805565[/URL][/blue]

Well, my Aussie wingman from a few months ago just let me know that would not be able to return to Puss Heaven next month. Apparently, he is quite shaken up by the further fall of the Aussie dollar today and the forecast of more economic downgrades to follow. He said if the Aussie dives to P25, as many financial pundits predict, it would force him to declare an indefinite moratorium on his mongering career in Thailand and the Philippines.

It is just as well he decided to cancel his trip. The last thing I needed was helping identify the splatter on the pavement below if he decided to use the express checkout via the hotel balcony due to more economic bad news from Oz. Besides, it would have been most undignified watching him scare up bargain puss on Johnny Street and the LA Caf salvage lot.

Aussie pensioners are feeling like the German 6th Army at Stalingrad when the Red Army launched Operation Uranus squeezing the Germans in a pincer maneuver and cutting them off. Conventional wisdom told Aussie pensioners to keep their nest eggs in AUD instead of pesos. Now a lot of those guys are finding their nest eggs shrunk almost overnight. They want to drink themselves to death but are finding they may not be able to afford it. Their favorite spotlight dancers are now rising ever higher out of reach and they must endure watching the Koreans make it rain pesos from the balconies.

This is a classic example of what can go wrong when retiring to a supposedly cheap mongering paradise without building in a huge buffer for currency shocks, and no exit plan in the event that Puss Heaven becomes unfordable. For the more well-heeled high-rollers, please have a kind heart and give a down and out Aussie monger a jug. Don't be the type who boasts about tipping the girls way over market, but one who steps over a down and out fellow monger sleeping on the pavement with the stray dogs.[/QUOTE]

WRT the recent Angeles City kerfuffle, I attempted to take it off line and sent you a conciliatory PM. [B]But you did not even have the decency and common courtesy to reply[/B], let alone continue a dialogue without disturbing other ISGers. So I justifiably post this open message.

When I post in the PI forums, you often respond, attempting to put me down, twist my words, and misinterpret my posts (often deliberately, to shift the goalposts).

The trigger for your behavior was my response to [B]your very first post on this forum[/B] when you wrote the unconditional statement: [B][blue]Even in Zamboanga I would have no reservations to fly there and stay in the city.[/blue][/B] (and other related nonsense claims).
[URL]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showthread.php?1012-Other-Areas&p=1647413&viewfull=1#post1647413[/URL]

My polite response was to detail why I believed that your statements were incorrect. And the esteemed and Mindanao veteran [B]GoodEnough wrote [blue][i]"Ikksman is 100% correct in his assessment"[/i][/blue][/B]. But, you attacked my response and defended yourself furiously, shifting the goalposts so far they ended up in the car park.
[url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showthread.php?1012-Other-Areas&p=1647481&viewfull=1#post1647481[/url]

I could continue giving example after example, but I am sure ISGers get the general idea!

And now, more than a year later, you still continue your ill-conceived campaign.

[B][blue]And, BTW I don't give a fuck![/blue][/B] I learnt how to handle troublemakers, surviving in the USENET newsgroups and BBS's of the 90's, and learnt even more interesting techniques at Ft Belvoir.

Ikks
[sup][blue]Peripatetic Puki Plunderer[/blue][/sup]

Ikksman I didn't respond because when it comes to the Phils and Angeles in particular, you are poser and have nothing of substance to offer.

You never answered my query why do you post in Angeles with such authority and cocksure opinions? A place you admittedly, which is obvious from your posts, is a place you have NEVER MONGERED? I am not going to bother to have a private dialogue about a place I have mongered and visited scores of times over a decade with a guy who never even got some strange there.

Don't lecture me about Mindanao, a place I have been visiting every year since my second visit. I am an adventurer if you don't understand that sorry your self assurance is so low. It is a place you HAVE NEVER BEEN. Then you quote those who HAVE BEEN THERE. I am sure they didn't have armed guards 24/7. I never advised a neophyte to go there, to Zamboanga. I am not going to rehash that argument with a person who has never been to Mindanao, sorry. I will be in Davao and Butuan (for the first time) over the Christmas holidays, I expect to survive alive.

You are an expert on China so you feel that gives you the right to belch and fart anywhere wildly off topic in ISG where you have zero recent first hand experience to offer other than regurgitating the real life opinions of others or shit you read on the net. Apparently many of the habitual posters who have the same habits agree with you, so be it. I am not the boss here. I don't need the affirmation of other posters because I have useful first hand knowledge from personal experience.

If I came to the China forum and started offering strong opinions rather than asking questions I would expect to be similarly called out.

When I first started posting here in ISG apparently I hurt somebody's vagina and some other newer poster warned me through PM that one of the regular posters sent out a blast PM to all 'important' posters advising them to ignore me and hopefully I will go away. He was wondering why he was on the list of the self appointed mandarins who apparently feel they ruled this place.

Was that you? Whoever it was is a pathetic little creature.

I didn't respond because you have Zero first hand knowledge to offer about Angeles and the Phils in general and its obvious by the content of your posts to a regular visitor. Continue to embaress yourself as you wish here. But I will not be lectured by an admittedly armchair Phils monger, without response.

More twisted excuses!!

I answered your question about posting in Angeles in the PM, so you are twisting the truth again!

If I have never been to Mindanao, then how come GoodEnough says my assessment is 100% true (which of course meant that your assessment was crap)!?!?

Actually, I suspect that GE may very well know about me as we might have been in the same game.

A wonderful example of your shifting the goal posts is in your very last post today. The issue in Mindanao was regarding Zamboanga City. Yet in your 3rd para you talk about everything except Zamboanga City! Twist, twist, squirm, squirm!

I have lived and mongered longer in PI than I have in any other Asian country. I usually say that my first visit to PI was in 1976, but actually I first stayed there starting late 1970 (I don't talk much about this, as it was not a pleasant time).

The fact that I have never mongered in AC is irrelevant (it was not possible when I worked in Manila). I have mongered in many places in PI, however I also prefer freebies.

Did you know that when mobile phones first became cheap enough for texting, girls used to text hundreds of actually random numbers to try and meet guys. I met a girl in Batangas this way. No, of course you did not know this, just as you did not know that most girls in PI do not shave their legs.

I lived in Manila for about 8 years (2 stints), and even owned a condo in Global City overlooking the Manila Golf Course (a shit Megaworld development). Ask Freebie Fan (by PM). He even knows the details, and we both (unbeknownst to each other) used to pick up nurses at St Luke's, which was only a few blocks away. We later shared details of some of our escapades.

St Luke's is still a great place to pick up freebies in BGC (another useful tip), and will be even better when the new Shangri-La is fully operational!

Hell, you did not even know that PI was in S. E. Asia!!

And I have lived, worked and mongered for 30 years in Asia, not short visits like you! Also another 10 years in other countries including Australia, PNG, and Venezuela!

No, it wasn't me that sent a PM or posted a message to all regulars here advising them not to respond to your posts (and I do not remember receiving the message either). But I have seen this strategy openly used on the PI forums against other trolls (I think one such person was LukeSkyWalker)!

So I guess that we are going to continue this in public because you are not man enough to have a discussion in private, where I would rip every one of your BS twisted arguments to shreds.

Ikksman.
[BLUE][sup]Peripatetic Puki Plunderer[/sup][/BLUE]

Pantot, Ikks: Keep the dirty laundry in PM?

[QUOTE=Pantot;1806335]Ikksman I didn't respond because when it comes to the Phils and Angeles in particular, you are poser and have nothing of substance to offer.

You never answered my query why do you post in Angeles with such authority and cocksure opinions? A place you admittedly, which is obvious from your posts, is a place you have NEVER MONGERED? I am not going to bother to have a private dialogue about a place I have mongered and visited scores of times over a decade with a guy who never even got some strange there.

Don't lecture me about Mindanao, a place I have been visiting every year since my second visit. I am an adventurer if you don't understand that sorry your self assurance is so low. It is a place you HAVE NEVER BEEN. Then you quote those who HAVE BEEN THERE. I am sure they didn't have armed guards 24/7. I never advised a neophyte to go there, to Zamboanga. I am not going to rehash that argument with a person who has never been to Mindanao, sorry. I will be in Davao and Butuan (for the first time) over the Christmas holidays, I expect to survive alive..[/QUOTE]You have to give ikks a break. He is pushing 70 and does not monger anymore according to his own posting. He claims he moved to Thailand and does not live in China anymore. But, he gives zero trip reports about his thailand experience for the reason on not mongering and just living through the guys on here. It is what it is.