Tips on booking affordable plane tickets to Ph

[Dave Knapp 47]

On 11/19/2022 at 11:31 PM, midwinterrose said:

I've found flights on Kiwi.com cheaper than on other sites.  They will mix and match airlines, so different legs of your flight might be with different airlines; sometimes you can save some decent money that way.

 

Flights in general are really pricey right now, and the prices only go up the longer you wait.

If you do that and airline A is late, and you miss your connection on Airline B, it's 100% your problem.  It's better to  spend a bit more and fly one carrier the whole trip.  You can split airlines coming and going, but its risky having more than one carrier on the same leg. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

On 11/30/2022 at 11:29 PM, Dave Knapp said:

If you do that and airline A is late, and you miss your connection on Airline B, it's 100% your problem.  It's better to  spend a bit more and fly one carrier the whole trip.  You can split airlines coming and going, but its risky having more than one carrier on the same leg. 

Yep this happened to me in the Philippines and it was not pretty at all. I had to buy a new ticket from Manila to DVO because original flight from DVO was cancelled

Edited December 3, 2022 by Cyberfx1024

[Jujusmom 49]

On 11/30/2022 at 11:29 PM, Dave Knapp said:

If you do that and airline A is late, and you miss your connection on Airline B, it's 100% your problem.  It's better to  spend a bit more and fly one carrier the whole trip.  You can split airlines coming and going, but its risky having more than one carrier on the same leg. 

Hello! I agree and as much as it’s the prices are lower, the risk is not worth it specially when traveling with children. That’s why we just waited and kept looking and fortunately able to buy through the airline. 

2 hours ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

Yep this happened to me in the Philippines and it was not pretty at all. I had to buy a new ticket from Manila to DVO because original flight from DVO was cancelled

This is what my husband and I are worried about. If it’s just the two of us we really don’t care but we have a kid so not gonna risk it. 

[Jujusmom 49]

On 11/22/2022 at 6:35 PM, top_secret said:

For me in San Diego, it is usually hundreds of dollars cheaper to fly from LAX rather than from SAN.  If it's a family x 3 it's a big deal.  I can drive 2 hours and park near LAX for $12 a day,  or I can rent a car one-way from my neighborhood Avis and drop off at LAX for ~$60.  So, always check from any nearby major hub cities vs your own city.

 

Also more recently, Singapore Airlines was hundreds of dollars cheaper than their competitors for Philippines to LAX.  I haven't actually carefully explained the geographic downsides of that to my wife or stepdaughter, but they were quite pleased with the quality of Singapore Airlines service.

I actually tried this but no luck with nearby airports. But this is actually a good hack and will always use this as an alternative when looking for flights. Thank you!

[Jujusmom 49]

Hello again everyone! Just to update, we are able to book our tickets! Woohoo! We ended up booking directly with the airline BUT I will not be able to do that without all the tips and suggestions on where and how to look. I found the flight we want through Kayak but instead of booking with different agencies that offer deals, I went to the airline’s website and tried if I can book it with them directly and I was able to. So after 3 years, we are going home to Ph!

 

Thank you for all the tips and suggestions! They all helped me a lot and will surely be part of my flight searching arsenal haha! God bless you all! 

[Dave Knapp 47]

3 hours ago, Jujusmom said:

Hello! I agree and as much as it’s the prices are lower, the risk is not worth it specially when traveling with children. That’s why we just waited and kept looking and fortunately able to buy through the airline. 

This is what my husband and I are worried about. If it’s just the two of us we really don’t care but we have a kid so not gonna risk it. 

The airlines are more stressed than they have ever been, and they are not dealing with it very well.  You might want to rethink the concept of not caring if a flight is cancelled.  With kids or without, if you have multiple carriers on a journey and earlier one is late or cancels, unless you bought fully refundable tickets, you don't have a leg to stand on to get your money back from the flight you missed. If you have that kind of money to throw around and you don't care about what happens to it, I'll give you my Paypal account and you can give it to me.  

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

On 12/2/2022 at 11:41 PM, Jujusmom said:

Hello again everyone! Just to update, we are able to book our tickets! Woohoo! We ended up booking directly with the airline BUT I will not be able to do that without all the tips and suggestions on where and how to look. I found the flight we want through Kayak but instead of booking with different agencies that offer deals, I went to the airline’s website and tried if I can book it with them directly and I was able to. So after 3 years, we are going home to Ph!

 

Thank you for all the tips and suggestions! They all helped me a lot and will surely be part of my flight searching arsenal haha! God bless you all! 

This is what I did when I booked my asawa's nd our daughters flights. I looked on Expedia then I looked on the Singapore Air site directly. What surprised me is that it was actually cheaper on the Singapore site directly than going through expedia. 

 

Which is anyone doesn't know is that they fly directly in to Davao with having a stop in Manila .

[Jason and May 79]

On 11/22/2022 at 7:24 PM, IWander said:

We flew MSP-DTW-INC-CEB on Korean Air.  Total trip time was less than 24 hrs including layovers.

I absolutely love Korean Air and ANA! Those are the best airlines I've ever flown. 🤙🏾

[Jason and May 79]

On 11/19/2022 at 8:41 AM, Jujusmom said:

Hello it’s me again (I hope I’m not annoying you guys). I’ve been looking at plane tickets and they are still pretty expensive. I am not an experience international traveler so Idk where to properly look at. I just wanna ask if you know any tips or suggestions on how we can score affordable tickets. I’m flying with my husband and our toddler and hopefully fly this Feb. I’ve checked Kayak and other websites but I just want extra tips from you all. Right now tickets range around 6k for all of us. And sadly that’s way out of our budget. Thank you! 

I've read some pretty good tips in here! 

The only real tip I've found for myself, which isn't a hack at all, is to book my tickets at least 6 months in advance (to the Philippines). There are a number of myths about air fares, such as fares resetting on Tuesdays so therefore ticket prices tend to be cheaper on Tuesdays. There are some really good articles out there on airfare trends and the debunking of what have over time become myths; there's also also some solid information that turned out by research to be largely true, such as avoiding travel for the host country's high season (if you're looking to save money on travel), and travel on Mondays and Sundays generally being slightly more expensive. One universally accepted truth, however, is that booking 3 to 6 months in advance of your intended travel will save you buckets of money--potentially--depending on your destination, and depending on if it's the high season for the country/region you intend to visit. 

That said, it looks like you're intending to travel during the latter quarter of the Philippines' high season, so your tickets will likely be more expensive based on that alone. Coupled with February being only a few months out, you're going to pay quite a bit, I would suspect. 

For perspective, I'm flying to the Philippines this month and will return in late January. I purchased my tickets in August. In early August, quoted airfare via Skyscanner and Google Flights for a December departure and late January return averaged about $1,100 for a roundtrip ticket with decent travel time. I purchased in late August and missed the window of opportunity; the airfare jumped over $600. Then, it steadily climbed until now, and it's peaked for now at just over $2,000. So, late August, I paid just over $1,700 for good travel time there and a horrible return flight path. 

 

I plan to fly back this summer. So, if I go out to August/September, airfare for roundtrip is about $900. I will purchase my tickets soon to make sure I lock that airfare down. 

So, I would absolutely use some of the tips you've been given, like use of Skyscanner and Google Flights, and consider booking while you can now, because that airfare will likely go up a little each week over the next month and then will skyrocket, if it hasn't already. 

Last, I also advocate for avoiding lesser known third-party sites. Sometimes Skyscanner and Google Flights will end up collating from third-party sites that are extremely shady. Before you purchase through a site, visit a trusted review site, such as TrustPilot, and vet them a bit before purchasing through their site. Safest is always booking through the airline itself, but it's not always cheapest. Sometimes, though, paying a few hundred dollars more, if that's within your budget, might save you some heartache and/or headaches down the road. 

Best of luck with your travels and I really hope your family enjoys your stay in the Philippines! 🤙🏾

[Bob in Boston 675]

I am leaving from Boston Ma this Friday. 20 hour trip airport to airport on Korean Airt. Leave at noon and get there at 9:55 PM manila time. I paid $1535 and booked the trip March 9th. Im due back Jan 8 at 9am. Had I played around with the times and dates I could have got it a little cheaper but this worked great for me. Leave mid day and get home in the morning.  Good luck to all in their travels.

Edited December 14, 2022 by Bob in Boston

[Stevephoto 230]

Philippines Airlines is offering a sale NOW (I THINK it is book by the end of December and fly after March 1st.) The fares are MUCH more reasonable than any time in recent memory. Be aware that they will charge you a "seat upgrade" in Economy class if you want to sit together ($20.00 in our case). 2 passengers (with seat "upgrade") roundtrip for a little over 2K.