禁漫天堂

@PalawOne Thanks, good useful info.

I wish there was something like this for all Airlines. I know from experience that there are different rules and regulations for some airlines. So for example an Airline based in Europe is not the same as Cathay Pacific or other airlines based outside Europe, at least for the return journey portion of the trip.

Thanks 馃檹 for this information

One thing to remember, airports themselves have been cancelling flights lately.

@AaronAardvark

Yes true. However the usual summer 'airport bun fight' has now subsided at least here in the UK. Summer is over, schools are back (I believe Filipino children are now back in school ( goodness knows the damage that covid has done their educational attainment which has always been minimal) and on the bright side flying from or through international airports at least until Xmas will be a more pleasurable experience than pre covid because of reduced passenger numbers.

Just a quick one on airlines and connecting flights - How much time do you feel comfortable with between flights when you have to get a connecting flight,

Last time due to a late arrival, I missed my connecting flight. I flew to the Philippines from Leeds/Bradford Airport with a connecting flight in Amsterdam. The flight from Amsterdam went to Manila with a stop in Bangkok, where passengers for Manila just stayed on the aircraft. It was on the way back I missed a flight, routed from HCMC to Bangkok, again no need to get off, then on to Paris and Amsterdam and finally arriving back at Leeds/Bradford. I missed the flight from Paris to Amsterdam on the way back because of arriving late from HCMC.

Every time I look on Skyscanner or other search engines, the connecting times are tight, normally between 1 hour and 1-5 hours. The alternative to this is a long journey, normally in excess of 30 hours duration, with more connections. I have read many times information from flight crews saying it is best to leave more time.

So what in your experience is a good amount of time to leave between connecting flights and how do you find these flights if they are available?

Cherryann writes, "Just a quick one on airlines and connecting flights - How much time do you feel comfortable with between flights when you have to get a connecting flight, Last time due to a late arrival, I missed my connecting flight.. I missed the flight from Paris to Amsterdam on the way back because of arriving late from HCMC.

Every time I look on Skyscanner or other search engines, the connecting times are tight .. The alternative to this is a long journey, normally in excess of 30 hours duration .. So what in your experience is a good amount of time to leave between connecting flights and how do you find these flights if they are available?" -@Cherryann01

`

Mate I'm just not sure there is a 'safe' time allowance between connecting flights.

It depends on so many things.

But one thing I think is a major factor are the various passenger-terminals often involved with connecting flights. Having different terminals involved in any plane journey will immediately make any one hour connection difficult.

But for us, a two hour flight connection wait seems about right. Not a boring wait, yet also seemingly a safe one?

Must admit though, it does seem to depend on where you're flying from. From and to Australia PAL is daily-direct, also they offer a squadron of provincial connecting flights all over the Philippines from this same terminal. Makes things easy.

I am sorry you have a much more complicated journey.

Sometimes, it might make one wish to avoid making the trip

Hope not!

"But one thing I think is a major factor are the various passenger-terminals often involved with connecting flights. Having different terminals involved in any plane journey will immediately make any one hour connection difficult." @PalaOne

Yes, that rush between flights can detract from the whole experience, even if you do make the flight. Any information that alerts you to a cancellation or delay prior to the flight saves a lot of hassle.

Re waiting times in transit - I think the decision to wait longer depends on the facilities at the airport too.

In the early days, I took all sorts of airlines and routes from UK to Philippines. For budget reasons would always go for for the cheapest flights, sometimes with ridiculous wait times in transit. Most airlines I booked with would take you to their country-base for the transfer, obviously, so you could end up anywhere. There was no real information on the internet, so you didn't always know what the transfer airport would be like.

One of the most progressive airports was Singapore. Simple things like clean toilets and nice restaurants made it comfortable. Also, I think it was first with (free) airport internet monitors and sleeping facilities on site, and (I heard) a complimentary city tour, where you didn't need to pass through immigration as long as you didn't get off the bus, to make the wait bearable. This would need to be fact checked.

By contrast, I once booked with the Russian carrier Aeroflot...oh dear. I had 23 hrs in Moscow airport, ended up lying on a concrete bench. It was cold and grey, and the food was expensive slop, and I can't recall anyone smiling. There were no duty-free shops, or places to get a coffee or beer, and no toilet paper in the bathroom (always carry a roll gents). I'm sure it has changed.

Then, we had a couple of kids...carrying car seats and prams and formula through airports...and crying and sick babies, sleeping toddlers...etc. That was a whole new level of angst. Then I learned the value of paying a little extra for direct flights. Somehow we made it.

When I fly overseas, I don't use connections . . . .

When I fly overseas, I don't use connections . . . .
-@Enzyte Bob

I have no choice unless I travel down to London, stay overnight and get the direct PAL Flight to Manila and I don't know if that is still operating.

I am thinking of loaning the Tardis from Dr Who if I go again.

These days we have become spoilt with a cornucopia of options when booking flights.

Back in the 60鈥檚 you probably had one flight a day with limited carrier choice. Long haul meant 2-3 stopovers for refuelling.

There is a price trade off in terms of convenience: departure timings, layover periods and number of legs per journey. You can get cheap flights if you are flexible on all the above.

If you do you are making yourself a hostage to fortune in terms of delays, missed connections and often overlooked ,your baggage going astray.

As mentioned on a previous post I use the Arabian Gulf super carriers and have stuck with the same airline for many years namely Etihad. The layover out and back is 2-3 hours for most Asian destinations which allows me to have some exercise, a shower and a 15 minute free head massage from a Filipino guy. The connecting flight leaves at midnight meaning if you are flying from the Uk you are just ready for sleep on the second leg.

One also should consider your arrival time at your destination. If you are staying at a hotel it can be difficult to check in before 2pm. If you arrive early morning you may have to pay for two nights rather than one with more sensible timings. Moreover the Arabian Gulf airports are 鈥楬ubs鈥� ie more transit than final destination passengers meaning they will often 鈥榟old鈥� the plane for you if the initial flight is late arriving. The transfer of course is with the same airline so they are aware of timing issues.

What is often overlooked by frequent travellers are loyalty schemes. For most Expat readers they will be on long haul flights even from Aus and your airmiles can add up as quickly as the interest on a missed credit card payment.

These can be used as cash for future flights or indeed upgrades - often you will be upgraded anyway.

Booking the cheapest fare is often a false

鈥楨conomy鈥� - pun intended.

@Lotus Eater

You are spot on with your observation about booking cheaper is often a false economy. Although I did not book the cheapest ticket last time, according to Skyscanner it was the best and was through a company called Jet Abroad. I ended up having to pay for seat selection also.

I have visited the Philippines five times now and still do not have a preferred carrier or route and I sometimes like to stop off on the way there or back to have a little looksie at somewhere else. So far I have stopped for a few days in Seoul and HCMC. I had flown from Manchester the first four times but since Leeds/Bradford is only about 6 miles from me, thought I would give that one a go this time. So I have flown Emirates, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific and KLM/Air France. My reasoning to go from Leeds/Bradford this time was to stop off in HCMC on the way back and avoid paying for parking, hotel accommodation, food and a few pints at the hotel in Manchester. The journey to Manchester is easy to make on the day of the flight but I like to stay overnight to avoid any possible delays on the M62 and to get a good relaxing nights sleep the day before the flight.

Both Emirates and Qatar Airlines were excellent and I may look at flying with them again. The time I stopped off in Seoul was when I flew from Manchester to Doha and then onto Seoul. So just the two flights to Seoul and then I flew Seoul to Manila and then onwards to Davao.

`

Fascinating discussion, thanks guys, Gsturdee, Bob, Cherry and Lotus, really interesting.

Was wondering, has anyone had more rather 'unique' airport terminal experiences?

Gsturdee writes of an amazing gulag-like experience at Moscow airport terminal.

Am wondering of other such terminal situations, encounters and experiences?

For example, the first time my sister and myself flew into Manila, we passed through the airport body metal-detector. At the time I was wearing braces / suspenders, with metal clips, so to avoid wearing a bulky and uncomfortable leather belt for the flight.

These metal clips always set-off the Aussie airport detectors.

But, we just sailed straight through the metal-detectors at Manila airport?

Haha thinks I, a bit odd? Aren't they aren't switched on? And even now, being an old-hand at transiting Manila, my metal-clip braces have never once set off the Manila "metal-detectors"

Then next, when we were nearly through the Manila terminal entry barriers, I got to chatting with a Philippine policewoman, as you do while waiting for your sister. However, I was a little surprised when, in a friendly way, she whispered, asking me for my spare Australian coins.

Soon, the six police-people who were also hanging around the terminal barriers also asked.

Therefore, while emptying all my pockets of small change, there was moi, surrounded by a sizable group of police folk, looking for all the world like they were arresting me, but all of us smiling and chatting away, as you do in a friendly way in an international airport terminal.

It was when the first lady officer then asked if I had some spare paper-money that I started to get a little worried about being surrounded by a party of police. Couldn't help wondering what would happen if I said that I didn't have any Aussie notes.

Happily my sister noticed the little party by this time, and looking somewhat pale, loudly asked me if everything was alright.

Her intervention seemed to break into our happy little free-money party-celebration mood, and hence a couple of Aussie dollars lighter and completely 'relieved' (literally of Aussie coins) we continued on our way to Palawan.

Anyone care to share more such like airport terminal adventures

"Travel News"

TOP TIPS .. especially

鈥淚 work for an airline 鈥� these are the three things you should always do if your flight is cancelled鈥�

By Jon Hornbuckle,聽 Apr 2022

AN AIRLINE employee has revealed the top three things passengers should do if their flight is cancelled.

With cancellations and delays happening all over the world due to staff shortages and other impacts of the pandemic, these tips could save your holiday.

An airline staff member and travel blogger has revealed what to do if a flight is delayed or cancelled

Posting the video on her TikTok account, Natalie said gave her best pieces of advice amid a wave of flight cancellations both in the UK and the US.

Her first piece of advice was to google the "Bill of Rights" with the airline name - in the UK, the alternative is the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

She explained: "It will let you know what your rights are as a customer and what kind of compensation you would get for being on the tarmac for an hour, or if maybe you've been in the airport for five hours, what you get for that."

For example - the Ryanair website currently says that compensation will not be paid if the cancellation was announced more than 14 days in advance, if the delay is outside of Ryanair's own control, or if the flight is delayed but you still arrive at the final destination less than three hours later than scheduled.

Airline worker Natalie's next bit of golden advice is to download the official smartphone app of the airline you're flying with.

This could give you up-to-date notifications just as fast as the airline employees located at customer service points at the airport.

However, if there's an issue and you need to contact someone to arrange a new flight in the case of cancellation or delay, Natalie urged all of her followers to make sure they contact the company they booked with.

While that could be direct with the airline themselves, it's highly likely that anyone who booked with any third party would just be told to contact them directly.

Natalie's third piece of essential advice for anyone experiencing a flight cancellation or delay is to use a website called ..

Flight Aware.

The aviation site gives passengers the ability to track the location of your specific aircraft, by inputting the relevant flight number and date of travel.

Doing this even hours before you arrive at the airport should help you gauge if your flight will be running on time.

--

An amusing recollection PalawOne. Yeah you could write a book on airport terminal experiences. In fact you could probably write Volumes on the travails of Ninoy Aquino International over the last 40 years or so. The airport was voted the Worlds worst in 2011 & 2013.

One year I was travelling out of the old T4 domestic terminal (before T3 was opened) around 2008 maybe. What a laugh. We were flying on a turbo prop to Caticlan for Boracay and the flight was called. We exited through the barrier (for those who have not used T4 before its pretty basic - some would say it has 'character' ) . Anyway you know how it is everybody just follows everyone else. Somehow the ' caterpillar' as I called it took a wrong turn and we ended up half way across the apron near a taxing aircraft when an airport service guy came running after us. Jeez just about every health and safety record in the book was broken!

On a more practical note I have just realised from my flight reservation made yesterday that most non Philippine carrier international flights have been moved from T1 to T3. T1 is now used mostly for Chinese carriers. Anyone aware of this? To be fair being processed through immigration at T1 was fast as was getting out the building. There is never a queue for the yellow taxis which there is in T2. Has anyone arrived recently at T3 international (not domestic) and can give me a heads up as to where the taxi rank is? Cheers in advance.

When I fly overseas, I don't use connections . . . .
-@Enzyte Bob
I have no choice unless I travel down to London, stay overnight and get the direct PAL Flight to Manila and I don't know if that is still operating.

I am thinking of loaning the Tardis from Dr Who if I go again.
-@Cherryann01

Yes in many ways Cherryann its a 'split decision' based in Bradford. My neighbour along the Terrace took the Philippine Airlines flight direct from Heathrow and although she went business she did not rate it highly (she had to go PA as she was in a tour group). 12 hours in one shot can be debilitating - realistically how many Bloody Mary's can you pop?

You are also correct to point out airport car parking charges which can add up. I know some airport hotels that do 'stay & park' deals. Not sure about Manchester.

Let me know about the Tardis - I'll share with you. (Our American friends probably think we've gone doolally )

@Lotus Eater

I will let you know about the Tardis and for out American friends, well there is always the Delorean from Back To The Future.

London Heathrow is a non starter for me so that leaves Leeds/Bradford or Manchester. Flight times and connections are better from Manchester because I could go Emirates or Qatar Airlines. Leeds/Bradford does cut out all the issues with hotels, parking and the journey by car. I did find an hotel on one of my trips聽 that did car parking in the package so all I had to do was get their mini bus back from the airport, pick up my keys from reception and find my car in their car park. It is still however a tiring journey back to Bradford since I am unable to sleep on planes.

@Lotus Eater

Is there a difference between T3 international and T3 domestic? We are flying into T3 as well, I just assumed it was all the same?

@dadof3at1ce

I'm not sure. You might be right. I have flown into and out of T3 for domestic internal flights to the islands. I've only departed on international flights with Cebu Pacific. I prefer the Yellow airport taxis to the white variety; newer vehicles but not that much more expensive. Last time I flew into T1 in November 2019 I went through from aircraft door to taxi in about 30 minutes. Departing this terminal is a nightmare though and one I won't miss. Ironically the airport authorities gave T1 a makeover a few years ago and it is an improvement. The great thing about T1 is that you had very few aircraft using it as all the domestic traffic utilised the other 3 terminals so no taxi queue wait times.

Going back about 10 years, I took my wife at that time to Budapest for a 3 night break. I drove to Manchester and we boarded the flight there with no problems. My wife was Ukrainian and had a Ukrainian Passport, with leave to stay in the Uk.

We had been before before we got married. I wanted her to come to the UK but her visa was denied and I suspected this may be the case so I had a backup plan of meeting in a country which did not require either of us to get a visa. That time we had a lovely time, exploring Budapest and we also stayed by Lake Balaton for a few days.

Anyway the second time, like I said no problems boarding at Manchester but when we arrived in Budapest there was a big problem. In 2004 Hungary joined the EU so that meant my wife needed a visa, They asked us for our marriage certificate which we did not have so the end result was she got deported. I wanted to come back with her but she insisted I go to the hotel, get up early the net day and go down to the IT room and look for an earlier flight back to Leeds/Bradford. I found one so called her and was about to book two tickets so I could go home with her but she insisted I stay.

We were told she would be at the airport in a nice room, free to eat at the airport cafes but it turned out she was put in what she described as a cell and given stale bread and water even though I had left her with plenty of cash to buy proper meals.

I did stay but felt guilty especially since the hotel was lovely with great views from the Pest side over the river to Buda and at night everything was in lights. It was beautiful. Great city, great country, just a shame about my oversight. I should have checked on visa requirements but I thought things would be more relaxed regarding visas.

She did fly home to Leeds/Bradford and my Dad picked her up at the airport and took her home.

One more thing about Hungary, I went with a friend once on a trip to Prague, Salzburg, Warsaw and then Hungary. I was working at a place at the time with a lot of Eastern Europeans and asked one Hungarian for some basic Hungarian phrases. One was two beers please. He translated for me but added a bit on the end so when I finally used the words, by lake Balaton in a bar, I actually said what he had taught me. TWO BEERS PLEASE YOU FAT BAST--D. I managed to talk my way out of that one

@Cherryann01

Eastern Europe, never been, but keep meaning too. Prague in summer would be good.

I enjoyed the story about accidentally insulting the barman. Hopefully he was good humoured.

@gsturdee

You should try to make the time to go. Prague, Budapest, Riga, Tallinn, Warsaw are all great cities and there are more in that area. Went to Vilnius last September with my English daughter and had a great time. We even went in a Hot Air Balloon over Trakai Island Castle, which stands in the middle of Lake Galve and is surrounded by forest.