My PAL Express experience

Ever since our Cebu Pacific fiasco last year in Naga Airport and my Cebu Pacific experience in Busuanga almost 2 years ago, I never booked a flight with Cebu Pac again - no matter how many piso fares that come my way. Hey, I take grudges seriously and the inconvenience the airline gave me is just totally unacceptable. 

So since then I have been flying with PAL and it's budget friendly airline Airphil Express - now called PAL Express. I never had a problem with the airlines up until my I booked a Kalibo flight with them. Last December 2012, I booked a flight for nine people for a family vacation. Come March 2013, I got a notification via email that our flight back to Manila from Kalibo was moved from 5:15pm to 7:55 pm. I get it. Things happen. So I let it go and just continued planning our trip. Then come April, I got a call from their booking office and was told that our flight from Manila to Kalibo was moved from 11:25am to 4:30pm AND our flight going home which was scheduled for 7:55pm was again moved to 8:40pm. I called their hotline again and was told that I have no choice but take the flight because all the earlier flights are full already. After a lengthy conversation with their booking officer I had to give in since they really did not give me any other option. 

Imagine the inconvenience they caused! First, our hotel booking starts at 2pm but since our 11:25am flight was moved to 4:30pm we got to Boracay at around 10pm already! I forgot to mention that our 4:30pm flight left Manila a little past 5pm  already. We totally wasted our first day with just travelling. Second, our hotel booking ends at 12pm so our original 5:15 flight back to Manila was just right, no waiting time and no rush at all. But nooo they had to move our flight to 8:40pm. Imagine the time we had to spend in the scorching May heat with our bags in tow. I am pregnant by the way. 

On the day of our flight, all nine of us were lined up in the PAL Express check-in counter about 2 and a half hours before our actual flight. I allotted an extra 30 minutes since I am pregnant and I had to be cleared by the airline's clinic.Once we were at the counter they told us that only 5 of us can board and 4 would be left for the 7:10pm flight. They said that our flight was overbooked and they are allowed to overbook as allowance for no-show people. I stood my ground and asked them to find a way for all of us to be in the 4:30pm flight. Flying at 7:10pm would mean the risk of not being able to get to Boracay on the same day since the last trip of  the ferry going to the island is 10pm. I am travelling with the my sisters and the baby daddy plus his brother and sisters. most of them are first time flyers that is one of the reasons why I don't want them to put us in different flights. I gave PAL EXpress my EMIS (Expectant Mother's Information Sheet) so they knew I was pregnant but still I waited standing up for almost an hour while they figure out how they can fit all of us in the 4:30pm flight. I had to remind them that I was pregnant before they finally provided me a chair to sit on while I was waiting. It was almost 4pm and I had to walk up to them at the other end of the check in counter to get an update. They told us that we were all flying at 4:30pm. Wheew! But since they had to print out our boarding passes and check-in our baggage we were still at the check in counter at 4:10pm and our flight is at 4:30pm. We had to walk fast to get into the security area and the clinic and all the way to boarding area in 20 minutes! I was running out of breath and my back was hurting - but still we made it just in time to board the plane. I was disappointed by the experience but relieved at the same time because we were all in the same flight even if we are seated far away from each other. It was an exhausting experience. 

Our return flight was a breeze though - I even got an SMS from a PAL Express representative the night before our flight to confirm that we are flying at 8:40pm the next day. While we were traveling from Caticlan to Kalibo I got a call from PAL Express again and the rep informed us that were checked in already and that they got all nine of us seats that are next to each other. There was no delay in the flight as well and we got to Manila 7 minutes earlier than the expected arrival time. I am happy with the updates they provided me on our return flight  - maybe it was because of the comment I made back at the Manila check in counter that hopefully our return flight won't be as stressful for me and the baby as our flight out of Manila. I am glad I stood my ground and demanded what was due to us, other passengers were not as lucky and got left behind. I just wish that PAL Express would review  and improve their overbooking policy. It is totally unfair to paying customers. They are after all our flagship airline - we deserve better from them.