Airfare ouch!

I looked today at SFO-MNL in mid-late April. ANA has seats for $900 round trip. Interestingly, I couldn't figure out why, but PREMIUM Economy was $6000.00 plus! While Business class was $4500 or so. WTH?    -@Larry Fisher

When that happens it generally means the Prem Econ is not offered, except through a different route that is much more expensive. If you pull down the dropdown and look at details you will see this. I have noticed there are very few airlines that fly from the west coast that offer Prem Econ. It is usually either Coach or Bus class. I can't do coach for 14 hours and I won't do Bus class class for $5K, which is one more reason for my lovely and enjoyable route through Honolulu.

And yes, I meant STOPOVER, not LAYOVER, thanks Lotus for the clarification. Yes I usually fly Delta over there,  with points from Amex. I always enjoy my 1 or 2 day stopover in Honolulu, the 11AM departure, and the under 10 hr flight to Manila, in Prem Economy with plenty of room and 3 great meals... for $2100 roundtrip.  PAL Prem Economy is much nicer than the US airlines.  PAL customer service may not be the best but that route is still fine by me and fits my budget. And this trip they didn't even ask to see an onward ticket..

As everyone knows or should know the airlines use algorithms taking many factors to determine pricing. It's possible to have one price in the morning, then you think about it and decide in the evening to purchase to find out the price has changed.

In the past I've checked prices months out and watch them fluctuate, making a mental norm what the lowest price is.

As they go up and down I've drawn a mental picture what a low price is. When I see the bottom price sometime in the future, I pull the string and buy.

Buying an airline ticket to the Philippines is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

@Jackson4

A bit like dating a Filipina for the first time..

Big pain trying to figure this out and purchasing tickets!  Hard to figure but I am sure I paid a bit more buying directly from the airlines as you suggested.  But is cheap insurance, I'm cheap not stupid! I cannot book from Ft Myers RSW  without having long delays making for long travel times.   So flying out of Ft Lauderdale FLL which will add car rental and hotel. 

Booked EVA Air economy basic  FLL, to LAX code share Jet Blue,  then EVA LAX to Taiwan Taoyuan  TPE, and return $2454 US dollar, oh wait you want to sit with your wife? $50 each there and return = $200 US, so $2654.  Short and domestic flight I will not pay extra and they always sit us separately, I think on purpose. 

Spend the night near TPE airport and on to Cebu the next day,  Looks like about $250 RT per each so $3000+ US  trip.  Then once in Cebu is a boat ride to Leyte and Kamikazi van ride to Naval.  We have 2 Pilipinas  that went home recently who paid $1400 and $2300 each round trip.  The $2300 had added travel insurance, no idea what it cost?  Money in the toilet I think. 

Cost of trip may go up some more as I cannot determine if I will have to pay for baggage on codeshare with Jet Blue and reading through volumes of useless info to try and find out.  If I have to pay I can prepay and save a few dollars.   Think I will call EVA air and ask.   

Side note,  I have celiac disease and it was no problem ordering gluten free with EVA,  if I get the meal is another story.

So the whole ticket purchase was a big pain you guys here on the forum were a big help and I appreciate it!! 

Well, you could have used Skyscanner - I always do - and paid $2.5K for 23 hours flights. BTW, I would never travel without travel insurance, I'm 65 and I'm not mental, so I get excellent cover before I fly. Can't understand why anyone would not do so. Saved me a £7,000 medical bill and I got £3,000 back for lost holiday time/expenses.

@tammas2000   Not my experience with travel insurance. What insurance??    OK you paid $2300 from where to where. 

Well i recently purchased 2 premium economy round trip tickets from Best travel store (BTS) flying EVA Air flying during March 2024 paid $4735.33 for both. LAX TO CEBU. EVA AIR is our preferred airline , we have been flying EVA since 2007 and have not been disappointed yet. We will arrive in Cebu at 11:15 am, on to the port for a 3 hour fast craft boat to Ormoc Southern leyte and yhen a couple more hous in a private (brother in law) ride to our place in Macrohon. Good luck to you all and best wishes for safe travels!

Looked around trying to find out if I was going to have to pay baggage on Jet Blue and was going to call EVA air.  Decided to read tickets to see if everything is correct.  On the tickets is baggage info for flight. 

@Prince James

Only my 40 odd years of flying and booking allowed luggage is part of your ticket. For me especially the last 25 years on the net that info is provided online before you book the flight, say I fly from Oz to the Sates I am allowed 40Kgs check in and 6/7kgs carry on. Oz to Europe 25Kgs and the same carry on, to Asia 20Kgs and the same carry on, they are all economy flights and if you want extra luggage you can also book online and pay the extra while you book your flight,,,,, much cheaper online than at the airport.

Normally connecting flights will carry the same Kgs. My experience only.

Cheers, Steve.

My brother is trying to make plans to go to Manila around March. So he was looking online through the travel agencies that we all see spams from. He said it was hundreds of dollars difference in price, almost one thousand dollars less to fly out of LAX over SFO. He lives 40 mins from SFO. So I suggested he gtfo of the travel agencies and go direct to the airlines. Too much "little recourse" with agencies. But booking direct from airlines you can get the best fares and seating and still get "service after the sale".

So I looked online. Low and behold I found the ticket price about $10-$20 difference, not hundreds.

BUT! OMG United is damn proud of their new route to the Philippines! Between a couple hundred higher, to literally THOUSANDS of dollars higher. How about Economy SFO-MNL-SFO for $1300+ each way (vs $900) or PREMIUM ECONOMY for $10,000.00+!!!

Good luck with that new route United Airlines. Never liked you anyways.

@Larry Fisher "...Good luck with that new route United Airlines. Never liked you anyways."

I avoid this flying greyhound bus whenever possible.

Good luck with that new route United Airlines. Never liked you anyways. -@Larry Fisher

They do have the best theme music.

    Good luck with that new route United Airlines. Never liked you anyways. -@Larry FisherThey do have the best theme music.        -@mugteck

It seems that many passengers agree with you.  United currently ranks 49 out of 100 on the Skytrax 2023 airline rankings.

I can understand that many people have a budget to work with but on a long haul flight of 10 hours or more surely the quality of the carriers overall service is a factor too.

Personally I would be more than willing to pay an extra $100 or so for an enhanced experience.

Often the ’cheap charlies’ of this world end up cutting their nose off to spite their face.

for me the quality of the flight is more important on a long flight, say 11+hours on the longest leg. For shorter flights i don't really care if it's a little more expensive, but that is just me.

Same stuleer but Oz to Manila is only an 8/9 hour flight and longer flights are Dubai or Singapore with a couple of hour lay over, good to stretch the legs no matter the country you are visiting., cheapest flight for me and I can sleep in cattle class as can Ben.

Cheers, Steve.

What I have learned with my limited international travel is I am going to be miserable at the destination so does not matter what class I fly. A year long hiking and camping trip in the exotic orient digging holes to sleep in makes a small seat a real luxury.  Breaking up the flight with a layover is the only thing that helps. Back in the good old days I could at times get an entire row to myself,  those days seem to be long gone. 

Of course flight delays will screw up my plan.   

Agree Prince James, the days of spreading out on long haul flights seem to have disappeared, old days the other 2 seats empty, put the arm rests up and sleep with the supplied blanket, strap the middle seat belt on, now a cocoon. I have never wasted my cash in business or first class, much better to save the cash for travelling and delicious food in the country I travel to. !4 hour flights are painful, better to break it up.

Cheers, Steve.

          This year for an extra $120 on PAL HNL to Manila I could have purchased 3 seats together two days before the flight.  Day of the flight every seat was taken, wonder how that would have worked out.

Bit like Miles per gallon mugteck, we all watch and learn.

Cheers, Steve.

i understand some like to break up the trip, but not me......i get on and grin and bear it as it will soon be over. i could not go through all the pain to go through to stay a night then do it all again. We all have our likes and dislikes about travel.

Well PAL for me was a no brainer, boarded at LAX at midnight, slept almost the whole nonstop flight to Manila.

I could have flown round trip in the same time as some play wack-a-doodle passengers that transfer between two, three or on four airlines for their trip to the Philippines.

I didn't go through any time lag or need a day to recover.

Don't fly on a Boeing 737 Max 9.

I used to choose emergency exit seating (or regular exit) for more space and more leg room. Not anymore. Reason: door plug may off mid-flight.

Jackson4 said. . . . Don't fly on a Boeing 737 Max 9.
I used to choose emergency exit seating (or regular exit) for more space and more leg room. Not anymore. Reason: door plug may off mid-flight.

*************************

(1) 737 Max 9 has problems.

(2) The emergency exit is not one of the problems.

(3) The door plug failure is unrelated to the emergency exit.

(4) Thousands  & thousands have sat in a seat next to a door plug without knowing it.

(5) I'm glad you don't sit next to the emergency door exit anymore, you may be too old to operate the emergency door exit properly.

    Well PAL for me was a no brainer, boarded at LAX at midnight, slept almost the whole nonstop flight to Manila. I could have flown round trip in the same time as some play wack-a-doodle passengers that transfer between two, three or on four airlines for their trip to the Philippines.I didn't go through any time lag or need a day to recover.        -@Enzyte Bob

I flew EVA out of LAX to CEBU. I'll take a 90 minute layover to change planes in Taipei ANY DAY over PAL direct even. The service and comfort is that much better. And often at a better price than PAL to boot! Newer planes. More trusted service. MUCH higher customer satisfaction ratings. Better on time record. No frozen sandwiches!

I also flew ANA via Tokyo to MNL then transfer to PAL to Cebu in 2022. ANA was again fabulous service and on time. But the 9 hours in MNL and moving to the Domestic terminal was stupidly uncomfortable. Especially at 2am.

United? Hell no. And they're not cheaper than EVA, PAL, ANA etc

@Enzyte Bob what do you do if they switch airplanes at the last minute? and it's not the type of plane you want? will you say no and switch planes? I would think , perhaps some carrier uses planes you don't like, then just avoid that carrier.

stuleer said to me. . . .  Bob what do you do if they switch airplanes at the last minute? and it's not the type of plane you want? will you say no and switch planes? I would think , perhaps some carrier uses planes you don't like, then just avoid that carrier.

*************************

(1)  You could call me an infrequent flyer.

(2) 99% of my limited traveling was for domestic vacations.

(3) I always used direct nonstop flights.

(4) I always booked to get to my vacation destination first thing in the morning.

(5) When leaving I used the last flight out.

(6) I didn't care who the carrier was and what type of aircraft.

    @Enzyte Bob what do you do if they switch airplanes at the last minute? and it's not the type of plane you want? will you say no and switch planes? I would think , perhaps some carrier uses planes you don't like, then just avoid that carrier.        -@stuleer

This often can happen for operational reasons. Another benefit of booking direct with the carrier is that airlines will prioritise passengers who booked directly with them. i.e if the flight is overbooked or there is a switch to a smaller aircraft. Travel agent ticket codes are at the bottom of the pecking order akin to the Dalits in Indian society

Every Boeing 737 Max 9 with a plug door is grounded at the moment while investigations continue.

I fly back Home to Dipolog from Washington State in 29 days... My favorite route lately has been with United.... Pasco, Washington to San Francisco,  little Layover (4 hours), then direct to Manilla.  This time I am meeting my sweetheart there at the hotel connected to terminal 3(love that)... then we fly out to Bali the next day... Cheers All!! 🍻 Here's to a great, successful, and memorable 2024!

    I fly back Home to Dipolog from Washington State in 29 days
   

    -@Wellsfry

...."Home" to Dipolog ....

Cheers to you Wellsfry!

   
    @Enzyte Bob what do you do if they switch airplanes at the last minute? and it's not the type of plane you want? will you say no and switch planes? I would think , perhaps some carrier uses planes you don't like, then just avoid that carrier.        -@stuleer

This often can happen for operational reasons. Another benefit of booking direct with the carrier is that airlines will prioritise passengers who booked directly with them. i.e if the flight is overbooked or there is a switch to a smaller aircraft. Travel agent ticket codes are at the bottom of the pecking order akin to the Dalits in Indian society -@Lotus Eater

The US DOT website warns about this;

"Purchasing a ticket through a travel agency

Passengers often book air travel through travel agencies.  When you purchase a ticket through a travel agency or agent, you are not buying a ticket directly from the airline.  You are allowing the agency or agent to find and book air travel on your behalf.

If you encounter any problems with your ticket during your travel, you should first contact the travel agency or agent directly.  The airline that you are flying on may be limited in the type of assistance that it can provide to you because you did not purchase your ticket directly from it.  You should check with your travel agent for any restrictions on these tickets."

Actually I ran into this once and if you have any issues, the airline just refers you to your travel agent who will likely be in the US and you may not be able to get ahold of them right away. It really is a risk.

    I fly back Home to Dipolog from Washington State in 29 days... My favorite route lately has been with United.... Pasco, Washington to San Francisco,  little Layover (4 hours), then direct to Manilla.  This time I am meeting my sweetheart there at the hotel connected to terminal 3(love that)... then we fly out to Bali the next day... Cheers All!! 🍻 Here's to a great, successful, and memorable 2024!         -@Wellsfry

Welcome to Runway Manila and the Belmont hotel Wellsfry Cebu Pacific to Denpasar ?

@danfinn

BAck in the day I booked where I could get the cheapest most convenient tickets.  Now when reading about delays and issues in transit it makes sense to buy directly.  My inconvenience is no major carriers come to my city.