2021 Travel: PH-US-PH

[Adventine 3,196]

@top_secret that's a shame but glad the female officer and big boss did the right thing. Thanks for sharing your wife's experience. 

[Allovertheworld 355]

On 1/28/2021 at 10:54 PM, RO_AH said:

We have it in place in Hawaii. Uniformed police will show up at your door where you have said that you will quarantine. You must come to the door. Can't say you are sleeping or some other excuse.

Wow, Glad I don't live in Hawaii

 

I live in Texas that would never happen here.  

[Allovertheworld 355]

6 hours ago, top_secret said:

On the CFO issue.  My wife has traveled overseas with me and without me dozens of times and rarely had the slightest issue with exit immigration.  She is a seasoned traveler.  However this last time, as she was on her way to Costa Rica, the female Immigration officer at the counter asked her the few basic relevant questions, ie confirmed round trip plane ticket, COVID travel insurance, how well did she know me.  Then she exit stamped my wife passport and sent her on her way, with a perfectly efficient and pleasant exit immigration experience.  Then, she encountered a second, male immigration officer, checking everyone's passports for some reason, after immigration, before security.   That officer challenged my wife about not having a CFO.  That officer held her passport and went and got the female officer who had originally stamped my wife's passport and accused that officer of wrongfully stamping my wife's passport when she had no CFO.  The female officer argued that she had correctly verified all the relevant details, my wife was traveling as a tourist on a round trip ticket with no intention of not returning to her home in the Philippines and therefore did not require a CFO and that that she had correctly stamped my wife's passport.  The male officer refused to accept that argument from the female officer so he went and got the big boss Immigration chief officer guy and dragged him into the fray trying to get the female officer in trouble over stamping my wife's passport when she didn't have a CFO.   The big boss of course knew the obvious correct answer, a Filipina traveling as a tourist on a round trip ticket with no immigrant visa or intent, does not need a CFO.  So the chief guy handed my wife back her passport and sent her on to security.  My wife said the male officer who had made the fuss was giving her and the female officer the most evil dirty look, but the big boss had put that guy in his place and he couldn't do anything.  A bit of tension between Immigration Officers probably still ongoing over that incident.  Other than that my wife's exit from the Philippines was uneventful.

Typical for the Philippines

 

 

[0NI 114]

8 hours ago, top_secret said:

On the CFO issue.  My wife has traveled overseas with me and without me dozens of times and rarely had the slightest issue with exit immigration.  She is a seasoned traveler.  However this last time, as she was on her way to Costa Rica, the female Immigration officer at the counter asked her the few basic relevant questions, ie confirmed round trip plane ticket, COVID travel insurance, how well did she know me.  Then she exit stamped my wife passport and sent her on her way, with a perfectly efficient and pleasant exit immigration experience.  Then, she encountered a second, male immigration officer, checking everyone's passports for some reason, after immigration, before security.   That officer challenged my wife about not having a CFO.  That officer held her passport and went and got the female officer who had originally stamped my wife's passport and accused that officer of wrongfully stamping my wife's passport when she had no CFO.  The female officer argued that she had correctly verified all the relevant details, my wife was traveling as a tourist on a round trip ticket with no intention of not returning to her home in the Philippines and therefore did not require a CFO and that that she had correctly stamped my wife's passport.  The male officer refused to accept that argument from the female officer so he went and got the big boss Immigration chief officer guy and dragged him into the fray trying to get the female officer in trouble over stamping my wife's passport when she didn't have a CFO.   The big boss of course knew the obvious correct answer, a Filipina traveling as a tourist on a round trip ticket with no immigrant visa or intent, does not need a CFO.  So the chief guy handed my wife back her passport and sent her on to security.  My wife said the male officer who had made the fuss was giving her and the female officer the most evil dirty look, but the big boss had put that guy in his place and he couldn't do anything.  A bit of tension between Immigration Officers probably still ongoing over that incident.  Other than that my wife's exit from the Philippines was uneventful.

 

What travel insurance did your wife used? Thanks.

[top_secret 2,421]

5 hours ago, 0NI said:

What travel insurance did your wife used? Thanks.

 

We used travel insurance from https://www.trawickinternational.com which explicitly provides coverage  for COVID related medical expenses.  We did not make any claims so I cant comment on how easy they would be to deal with if you did make a claim but the insurance 'seems' comprehensive and for us the paperwork has satisfied exit immigration in the Philippines, and entry immigration at Costa Rica and Brazil which all have COVID travel insurance requirements.

[0NI 114]

16 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

We used travel insurance from https://www.trawickinternational.com which explicitly provides coverage  for COVID related medical expenses.  We did not make any claims so I cant comment on how easy they would be to deal with if you did make a claim but the insurance 'seems' comprehensive and for us the paperwork has satisfied exit immigration in the Philippines, and entry immigration at Costa Rica and Brazil which all have COVID travel insurance requirements.

 

My friend who recently travelled to San Francisco used the same travel insurance.

 

Seems good. Will use this on my travel to US this end of February. Thanks.

[Adventine 3,196]

For anyone considering the Philippine Airlines nonstop flights to the US:

 

Philippine Airlines to lay off 2,300 employees mid-March (rappler.com)

 

I really would rather avoid transiting through a third country, but if PAL reduces its flights to the US, I may be obliged to. Already, the flight prices MNL-LAX and MNL-SFO are significantly higher than when I last checked a few days ago.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Adventine

[Allovertheworld 355]

3 hours ago, Adventine said:

For anyone considering the Philippine Airlines nonstop flights to the US:

 

Philippine Airlines to lay off 2,300 employees mid-March (rappler.com)

 

I really would rather avoid transiting through a third country, but if PAL reduces its flights to the US, I may be obliged to. Already, the flight prices MNL-LAX and MNL-SFO are significantly higher than when I last checked a few days ago.

The article doesn't mention anything about going to a 3rd country, it talks about laying people off.

 

PAL only goes to a very few cities in the USA anyways, no biggie if they go out of business.  Per the article PAL doesn't expect to return to normal until 2024, you might as well put a fork in them they will be done or taken over or merged with another carrier.  

 

PAL only has like 60 planes so it a pretty small airlines in general, maybe the Philippines government will come in and subsidize them in the future, but who knows if they do stuff like that in the Philippines.

 

 

[nykolos 711]

On 2/2/2021 at 4:02 AM, Allovertheworld said:

The article doesn't mention anything about going to a 3rd country, it talks about laying people off.

 

I think Adventine was suggesting using another airline as an alternative to PAL, since PAL is the only non stop to LAX or San Fran.

 

 

[Adventine 3,196]

20 minutes ago, nykolos said:

I think Adventine was suggesting using another airline as an alternative to PAL, since PAL is the only non stop to LAX or San Fran.

 

 

Yep, that's exactly it. I prefer taking the nonstop flights with PAL, but if the significant layoffs are followed by PAL reducing its flights to the US, I may be obliged to take other flights that transit through third countries. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Adventine

[Adventine 3,196]

Quick update:

• Leave period and work contingency plan: It took a while to negotiate the dates I wanted and backup I needed, but I now have excellent documentation that my employer is fine with my leave and that I am expected back in the office after my trip. Should help convince any skeptical immigration officers that I'm going back to the PH.
• Flights:
  • After a long discussion with my fiancé, we decided the PAL nonstop flights didn't suit the dates/timing that we needed. We booked MNL-NRT-ORD-MEM. Same stopovers for the return flight.
  • I checked the requirements for NRT and ORD before booking. No Japan transit visa requirement nor applicable Illinois quarantine restrictions as of today. Let's hope it stays that way. 
• COVID test: getting this done at Makati Medical Center for PHP 5,000 (PCR test with results available in 24-48 hours). Expensive, but it's the closest to my home. Their testing center is open from Mondays to Saturdays, 8:00-17:00. They allow walk-ins, drive-through and home service (with this third option, you have to pay extra for the staff's transport to/from your house).
• Travel insurance: went with Trawick based on the recommendations here
• Bank and credit card statements: prepped some paper copies of my statements
• Self-imposed quarantine: I like working at the office but I've chosen to working from home until my trip, to reduce my chances of exposure. Even if I'm asymptomatic, a positive COVID test result would mess up everything

 

Now, to keep an eye on the news over the next few weeks...

[flicks1998 1,044]

20 hours ago, Adventine said:

Quick update:

• Leave period and work contingency plan: It took a while to negotiate the dates I wanted and backup I needed, but I now have excellent documentation that my employer is fine with my leave and that I am expected back in the office after my trip. Should help convince any skeptical immigration officers that I'm going back to the PH.
• Flights:
  • After a long discussion with my fiancé, we decided the PAL nonstop flights didn't suit the dates/timing that we needed. We booked MNL-NRT-ORD-MEM. Same stopovers for the return flight.
  • I checked the requirements for NRT and ORD before booking. No Japan transit visa requirement nor applicable Illinois quarantine restrictions as of today. Let's hope it stays that way. 
• COVID test: getting this done at Makati Medical Center for PHP 5,000 (PCR test with results available in 24-48 hours). Expensive, but it's the closest to my home. Their testing center is open from Mondays to Saturdays, 8:00-17:00. They allow walk-ins, drive-through and home service (with this third option, you have to pay extra for the staff's transport to/from your house).
• Travel insurance: went with Trawick based on the recommendations here
• Bank and credit card statements: prepped some paper copies of my statements
• Self-imposed quarantine: I like working at the office but I've chosen to working from home until my trip, to reduce my chances of exposure. Even if I'm asymptomatic, a positive COVID test result would mess up everything

 

Now, to keep an eye on the news over the next few weeks...

What airline are you flying?  If its ANA, be careful as they have cancelled some flights to the US.  Not the MNL to NRT leg, but the NRT leg to I believe ORD.  It came up on Flight Aware and I posted about this in another thread.  Its not every flight cancelled, but it appears they were trying to reduce the number of flights from Japan to the US. 

[Adventine 3,196]

39 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

What airline are you flying?  If its ANA, be careful as they have cancelled some flights to the US.  Not the MNL to NRT leg, but the NRT leg to I believe ORD.  It came up on Flight Aware and I posted about this in another thread.  Its not every flight cancelled, but it appears they were trying to reduce the number of flights from Japan to the US. 

 

Thanks, it is ANA. I'll check out Flight Aware. 

 

Worst case scenario, I'll go back to the original plan and take one of the nonstop PAL flights, and deal with an overnight in LAX or SFO. 

 

[flicks1998 1,044]

6 minutes ago, Adventine said:

 

Thanks, it is ANA. I'll check out Flight Aware. 

 

Worst case scenario, I'll go back to the original plan and take one of the nonstop PAL flights, and deal with an overnight in LAX or SFO. 

 

Dont cancel your flights, but just be prepared you could have a day or two delay out of MNL.  I do know around end of Jan/first week of Feb, there were two dates cancelled on the NRT to ORD route but as of now it looks like things are running pretty consistent.  I would just check closer to the date of your departure.

[Trompie 9]

On 2/3/2021 at 9:03 PM, Adventine said:

Yep, that's exactly it. I prefer taking the nonstop flights with PAL, but if the significant layoffs are followed by PAL reducing its flights to the US, I may be obliged to take other flights that transit through third countries. 

What other options are there? Looks like Taiwan is not allowing foreigners to transit through Taipei airport (EVA Air). Hong Kong seems possible (Cathay Pacific).