Getting the lowest domestic air fares

With my frequent travel, I've been a sucker for the cheapest air ticket and hotel deals. In the past few years, I've been booking and buying my own air tickets online as it seemed cheaper than what the ticket offices sold. Just as I thought that buying tickets online was the cheapest way, I discovered a better way.

For domestic air tickets on Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific, check the ticket price online and later call the reservations office (for PAL, its 63-2 855-8888 and for Cebu Pacific, get the phone number of the local agent) and ask for the cheapest domestic air ticket price for your flight date and time. You can then compare which is cheaper.

I stumbled on this the other day when I was booking my Tacloban-Manila-Tacloban flights online. The cost was PHP6,425 (Cebu Pacific's air fare was PHP 3,506) but I was willing to pay for the higher fare because PAL's flight schedule was convenient. However, my online transaction didn't get through as there was server error after I submitted my credit card details. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I was forced to call PAL to check whatever happened to the online booking I had made. The call center agent said that my credit card was not billed as the transaction didn't get through. She offered to book my flights and asked if I wanted a promo fare. I replied that I wanted the cheapest fare. When she mentioned it was P3,978 (with Mabuhay Miles points earned and about P300 less without), I was pleasantly surprised to find the huge difference. The call center agent said that the P6,425 online fare was the price at my booking time but she confirmed that cheaper PAL domestic tickets can be obtained by phone. This rule does not apply to international airfares which are cheaper if obtained online.

Singapore on a budget

If you're going to Singapore on a budget, consider booking a room at Hangout@Mt. Emily. You can book directly with the hostel or enjoy relatively lower room rates if you book your room through the Lonely Planet's Haystack booking facility. That's what I did in April 2007 while on a short trip to have my laptops fixed. I had not stayed in hostels before so I was anxious about the quality of the accommodation. I relied on travelers' reviews in the web. But what I found exceeded my expectations for the low room rate. The double room I got neither had a window nor TV but it didn't diminish its value. It is a no-frills hotel but it offers efficient facilities such as a token-operated laundry room with a washer, dryer, iron and ironing board, free 24-hr broadband internet facility, free coffee, a vending machine for soya milk, softdrinks and chocolate bars. The bedroom was ultra clean and being an obsessive-compulsive person, I was quite pleased. Double rooms come with a free buffet American breakfast consisting of croissants, a wide range of coffees from a vending machine, milk, fruit juice, sausages and muesli.

There are function rooms for large groups to have a meeting or a workshop and an entertainment room equipped with a wide-screen TV and bean bags. It is in this room where the internet facilities, free coffee and vending machine are located.

Hang-out is built on a hill near Mt. Emily park which means that you have to do a bit of walking. There are two concrete steps that lead to the Peace Centre and the Little India mrt station. I had no problem at all walking down the concrete steps to get to the money changer and Cold Storage at the Peace Centre nor walking up the hill from Little India mrt station.

From the Little India mrt station, one finds an Old Chang Kee that sells curry puffs and other local snacks and a Chinese restaurant at the corner of Niven St. I stopped at this Chinese resto to have chicken rice for dinner for only S$3. Not bad at all.