We gotta get out of this place if it's the last thing we ever do

Sorry to hear u got so much issues.  Hope u have a good trip ASAP.

Yes, I cannot believe what you have had to deal with on this Mugtech. Good luck, I hope it goes well.

did you see the price tag for last seat on 6/18/20 flight?
$4650

lasvegan wrote:

did you see the price tag for last seat on 6/18/20 flight?
$4650

It had been over $2,000 last I had looked, about a week ago.

Well with only 600 total passengers a day at NAIA probably be cancelled yet?
I booked for July 7th hoping that 01JUL20 is a date they will no longer continue this crap

That sucks, Mugtech. My flight to the Philippines next Monday was also just canceled, and I assumed it was for the reason you noted (quarantine capacity). Korean Airlines has totally given up on the Philippines so now I'm booked on PAL from LAX on 6/27. I'm hoping (gambling) that the 14-day quarantine program in Cagayan de Oro is lifted by the time I get there.

Went to the Santa Department of Health to get updated certification for myself, the wife, and both drivers.  Handed them our April copies so all they had to do was change the dates.  Then we were instructed to walk to the Police Hq to get our official Travel Authority.  The top of the page has in large letters Joint Task Force COVID Shield.  It is dated today, 6/15/20, as says This travel authority is granted to the persons listed below to pass at the established Quarantine Control (QCPs)/Checkpoints, Seaports and Airports from point of origin to point of destination and vice versa as it may deem necessary.
               Listed was our 4 names, travel date 6/18/20, point of origin as Santa, Ilocos Sur, destination NAIA Terminal 1, Vehicle is Nissan Urban Van (silver) with the plate number.  Under remarks my wife and I have "Go Home"  while the other two are listed as "Driver".  The seal of the commander was pressed into the lower left hand corner. 
               Our drivers were not pleased to learn that upon their return they will be quarantined for 7 days in the local school house and then be expected to self quarantine at home for 7 days.  I assured them that I will give them extra money for food for their 7 days in school.  Still waiting to hear from our limo service from JFK to Bethlehem, PA.

Good luck!

GODSPEED!
POST YOUR ARRIVAL!
I'm still good for 24th but we'll see!
When you see Lady Liberty shout out hello for me! LOL!

“Warmest congratulations on your achievement.”
& Have a safe trip!

This would be a good story to tell your grandkids. If you have any.
Be safe and have a good trip back.

yup

Jackson4 wrote:

This would be a good story to tell your grandkids. If you have any.
Be safe and have a good trip back.

Well, let me tell you the of the story of a man name Mugtech
On a tragic and faithful day
He put 10,000 pesos in his pocket, kissed his wife & family goodbye
Went to fly with "PAL"

Well did he ever return, no he never returned
and his fate was never learned
He may fly the skies with "PAL" forever
He's the man who never returned

W9XR wrote:

Jackson4 wrote:

This would be a good story to tell your grandkids. If you have any.
Be safe and have a good trip back.

Well, let me tell you the of the story of a man name Mugtech
On a tragic and faithful day
He put 10,000 pesos in his pocket, kissed his wife & family goodbye
Went to fly with "PAL"

Well did he ever return, no he never returned
and his fate was never learned
He may fly the skies with "PAL" forever
He's the man who never returned

And they lived happily ever after.
The End

W9XR wrote:

Jackson4 wrote:

This would be a good story to tell your grandkids. If you have any.
Be safe and have a good trip back.

Well, let me tell you the of the story of a man name Mugtech
On a tragic and faithful day
He put 10,000 pesos in his pocket, kissed his wife & family goodbye
Went to fly with "PAL"

Well did he ever return, no he never returned
and his fate was never learned
He may fly the skies with "PAL" forever
He's the man who never returned

Used to ride the MTA in Boston, always returned.

Have a good trip!

Took the trip to Manila, left at 5:30 AM, got to the La Union border in an hour, showed the guard our flight info and that was all he needed.  It was the only time we were stopped all the way to NAIA.
              Pulled into Terminal one at 1 PM and were guided into a door at the end of the terminal.  Went through security only to find out we could not check in at the PAL spot, as they were not open yet for the 7 PM flight to JFK.  The big board showed 2 flights had left that day from Terminal One and 15 were cancelled.  Our flight and the PAL flight to California were the only ones listed as scheduled to fly.  They were distancing all the passengers, allowing only half the seats to be used, so many were standing,
              At 2:35 PM they decided to allow people to start checking in, but we all had to go outside again to go into Terminal One through a new door.  Everyone had to go through the security check again, removing belts etc.  We were at gate 14 by 3:15 PM waiting for the 6:15 boarding time.  At 4 PM it was announced that everyone would have to go through another screening because the plane was landing in the USA.  Of course we had gone through another screening after getting our boarding passes but before going to the gate.  So everyone had to line up at gate 10 to go through the screening again.
               This 4th screening was the most useless and longest I have ever seen.  Only one guy was checking each person's carryon luggage and cell phones or computers.  We got near the front and were done by 4:50 PM while some stood in line until 6:30 PM to be checked by this "specialist".  We had to take our shoes off for the first time that day, so evidently the USA is the only ones still worried about shoe bombers. 
               When I got up there the guy asked me where's my cell phone.  Told him I don't have one just this tablet I handed to him.  He looked at me suspiciously and tried to pull the Samsung tablet out of the case in which it was snapped.  I took it from him and opened it for him.  So he untapped the case and started inspecting the tablet,  flipping it over and then back again.  "Please start this tablet" he requested, so I reached in and hit a button.  As it came on he quickly told me to shut it down and move on.
               When we boarded everyone wore masks except one white guy who wore a mask around his chin like it was some heavy duty chin protector.  The Filipina he was with wore a mask that barely covered her upper lip, her entire nose was exposed at all times.  Earlier they announced that the flight was fully booked, asking people to check some carryon luggage for free to allow enough room in the cabin.  It appeared that by takeoff there were about 10 empty seats.  It was a 3-3-3 seating arrangement with 65 rows.  We got seats D and E in row 39 but the next seat was vacant, lucky us.  Everyone kept their masks on except when eating or drinking, and three meals were served, including chicken and rice, beef lasagne, and chicken adobo  There were seafood alternatives. 
               There was no real social distancing, it went like a normal flight, and afterwards at the checked luggage merrygoround it was wall to wall people.  Our limo driver was not allowed into the terminal at JFK,but no other flights were landing at 11:15 PM so he was easy to find outside about midnight.  The longest day ever topped off with a 2hour 15 minute drive home by a driver who knew where we lived in Bethlehem but knew nothing about the Philippines.   It was a quiet ride.

Congratulations, Mugtech!!! I am expecting a similar experience going the other way, via LAX, next Saturday (fingers crossed). Looks like a good time to flee from Florida - new cases are exploding here this week. Too many idiots crowding around with no masks. I'm getting an antibody test tomorrow - maybe I'll get lucky and find that I've already had it and didn't know it. Get some rest and enjoy the summer!

Glad to hear you made it home Mugtech!
Hope all goes well for you rcvining!
I'm scheduled to fly out July 1st for LAX! PAL flight and hoping less screening in July LOL!
I have to get my ECC yet! So a trip to Intermuros main office! But with GCQ now and being 73 not suppose to travel but have my BI chat that says ECC is essential travel so will venture down there and hopefully it will go smooth!

I thought foreigners didn't need an ECC. I have to go to the BI office to pick up my ACR-I card (applied for it at the end of January - long story). I guess I should engage BI in a chat as well since I'm 64. I also hope this all eases up on July 1st. Good luck to you as well, sir.

mugtech. What a feat! Now you can start planning your trip back to Ilocos.

rcvining wrote:

I thought foreigners didn't need an ECC. I have to go to the BI office to pick up my ACR-I card (applied for it at the end of January - long story). I guess I should engage BI in a chat as well since I'm 64. I also hope this all eases up on July 1st. Good luck to you as well, sir.

Hi
If you are leaving the Philippines for the first time since you arrived here and have been in the Philippines for more then one year you need an ECC before you can leave. If you return here your Visa restarts with a 29 day stamp and you won't need an ECC again unless you stay past your 6 months! Just be sure to take a quick over night trip out of country before your 6 months if you plan on leaving the country every so often! Looks like you're just really getting here! If picking up ACR-I card be sure to go over it with the officer giving it to you as many are incomplete! Good luck on your stay and enjoy!

Thanks, LV. I've been there many times but only for 1 or 2 weeks each visit, so never had a problem leaving - until the last time in January. I entered with my new 13a visa stamp but nobody told me I needed to get the ACR-I card before I could leave again. That was a surprise when I was heading back to Florida, and spent 2 days going through the process with the B of Quarantine and the B of Immigration to get the application filed, and then to get a travel waiver that allowed me to leave while they processed the application. While it was frustrating (as has everything with planning this move), it actually confirmed my desire to live in the Philippines. Everyone I interacted with during those 2 days (no fixers) was super helpful and sympathetic to my situation. You just need to have lots of patience, cash for the fees and taxis, and accept that you're a visitor and must follow their rules (kind of like when I joined the Army).

rcvining wrote:

Thanks, LV. I've been there many times but only for 1 or 2 weeks each visit, so never had a problem leaving - until the last time in January. I entered with my new 13a visa stamp but nobody told me I needed to get the ACR-I card before I could leave again. That was a surprise when I was heading back to Florida, and spent 2 days going through the process with the B of Quarantine and the B of Immigration to get the application filed, and then to get a travel waiver that allowed me to leave while they processed the application. While it was frustrating (as has everything with planning this move), it actually confirmed my desire to live in the Philippines. Everyone I interacted with during those 2 days (no fixers) was super helpful and sympathetic to my situation. You just need to have lots of patience, cash for the fees and taxis, and accept that you're a visitor and must follow their rules (kind of like when I joined the Army).

Yup!! LOL!! Hurry up and Wait! That should have been the first general order! LOL!
Great place to live if you are patient person and don't mind no common sense most of the time! So much beauty here! Hope all is smooth sailing for you now!

mugtech wrote:

fighting with Cheapoair to get our flight rescheduled.

last time i flew to the US from phil. i booked cheapo...after traveling from biliran to luzon and getting to airport the desk said i HAD NO TICKET ! found some girls upstairs that let me use a phone and got ahold of cheapo, they said they overbooked and i was bumped off,claimed they sent me an email but i never got one. checking bank balance, i did NOT get my money back. found another ticket and my card was denied when i tried to buy it..the girls upstairs were very helpful and let me sit at a desk to use their computer. so now i had no money and no ticket and it was like 3 am. girls could not call USA to talk to bank so i had to call the embassy and they called my bank and patched- me- thru. the woman at embassy was very helpful at 3 am.
the bank said i had withdrawn just under $300 repeatedly til my checking was depleted ( quick math thats 10,000 peso, the limit at atm machine here)...asked them to please transfer enough from my savings to my checking to afford a ticket the hell out of here..they helped to turn on my card again and transfer the funds. the woman from the embassy was listening the whole time and after bank was offline offered help if i get stuck still.
back to girls computer, bought ticket, had enough in my pocket for cheap hotel, slept about 5 hours and got up to catch my plane.
made it home. the bank said it was an error at the atm machine here (i think it was a scam where they put a device and capture your data to repeat withdrawls again and again) they replaced the missing funds, however i never got my money back from cheapo !

It's a scam.  What a difficult and scary time u have. Take care my brother.

Richard Yan wrote:

It's a scam.  What a difficult and scary time u have. Take care my brother.

Trap for young players. We all have our ups and downs.


Cheers, Steve.

Soonretired wrote:

mugtech wrote:

fighting with Cheapoair to get our flight rescheduled.

last time i flew to the US from phil. i booked cheapo...

i never got my money back from cheapo !

Some time ago somebody had a post about Cheapoair, if that poster reads this maybe they will comment.

What they said (paraphrased) they had to call Cheapoair during this pandemic and waited a long long time before they answered the phone. It seems hardly nobody showed up at work, I think they were told only three people made it in.

Myself I would never fly Cheapo even during good times. Some time ago, before the pandemic I was checking prices on the Cheapo website, cheaper yes, but with three connections over two days.

Imagine your first flight takes you to China, then your connection gets cancelled, when they answer the phone, you get a flight the next day to UAE, on the third leg they tell you they're overbooked and you have to wait till the next day.

Lesson, take a non stop once you leave the Philippines.

(A side note) While living in Chicago (awful winters) a friend that worked for a major airline, said one of his  benefits at the time was free travel. He said the airline discontinued this practice when one flight to Florida had only two paying customers and the rest of the plane was employees. The worst part is they bumped paying passengers off the flight.

He said it was common for employees to fly to Florida for the weekend and come back in time to go back to work.

          .Thought I would update this thread.  I no longer use Cheapo for anything.  Prefer to search on Expedia and then go to the airline's website if possible.  Will be flying PAL for the first time since 2020 next April when going to Japan and then a cruise to Seattle.

            When we got home our neighbor had 2 months of mail for us and then we got the previous 6 months mail at the UPS store.  The local real estate tax people waved all late fee penalties.  We filed our income taxes in July, had no balances due and were charged no late fees.  We eventually got all of our stimulus payments.  Wife came back to the Philippines in April of 2022 to help the family straighten out some business problems after two family members died of Covid in September of 2021.  They had not been vaccinated. As the early vaccines went to healthcare workers and other public workers. No family members were vaccinated until 2022.  In April of 2022 my wife had to be tested at JFK prior to boarding the plane, she got there 6 hours early and found out 3 hours later she tested negative.  The cost was $200.