How to Compete for that Seat Sale

A lot of my friends have been trying to convince me to put up a sort-of list of how to grab promo fares especially with Cebu Pacific Air.

To begin with, let me share with you the many trips I've gone to with plane tickets at very low prices.

1) In 2008, I was able to book 10 FREE (no taxes, take note!) round trip tickets for different people (including for myself) because CEB won their very first award. I don't remember anymore what kind of award that was but I'm sure many of you remember this one. I think I slept around 3:00AM after they broke this fabulous news online because I wanted to go to sooo many places. One friend was so thankful she had a free trip to Cebu, another to Camarines Sur.

2) Holy Week of 2011 - I was able to book round trip tickets to Cebu for my family of 7 people for only P10,000!

3) September 2011 - I went to Taipei. My RT ticket cost me only P3,000.

4) February 2012 - HK (RT ticket for only P2,000)

5) Holy Week 2012 - Seoul, my roundtrip ticket was priced at P5,000! If my memory serves me right, one-way fare is only P888.

4) November 2012 - Bohol with family. I spent P5,000 only for round trip tickets for 4 people. That's one helluva deal!

5) For June 2013, which is supposedly a birthday treat for my father (may he rest in peace) to HK, one round trip ticket cost me only P2,500.

6) In January of this year, my birthday month, I finally was able to visit HCMC and I purchased my round trip ticket for only P3,400. Tickets to Vietnam usually costs P5,000-P6,00 depending on the season.


Here are some ideas if you would like to grab those cheap fares:

1) Make sure to have a copy of Philippine holidays for the current and the following year. Yes, that's how OA I am :) When the Office of the President released the list for 2014 (Proclamation No. 655), I immediately printed copies -- for my desk and my phone for quick reference. Take note of the long weekends. This year we have 4 awesome long weekends:

January 31 (Chinese New Year), February 1 and 2 (DONE!)
April 17-20 (Holy Week)
August 23-24 and August 25 being National Heroes Day (falls on a Monday)
December 26 (non-working Friday), 27-28

2) USUALLY, if a holiday is coming up, CEB will also come out with a promo. The EDSA anniversary is in a few days, I'm guessing there'll be a seat sale so be sure to be online when midnight strikes.

3) Most of the time, and if you are too late to check, promo seats on a long weekend are the first to get taken. If this is the case, try checking flights the night before your intended trip. Usually they are cheaper, if not on sale. And for your return trip, take the early morning flight (arriving in MNL between 4AM-5AM, esp. with international flights).

4) Create an account with CEB Club. It will save you time filling up the name and address fields. Also, you get to see the remaining seats on that flight.

Feel free to add to this list. :)

Let's travel!