Cebu Pacific

[onemore]

Hello travellers,

Does anyone have any experiences with Cebu Pacific, from Sydney to Manila, that they would like to share?


Cheers,

 

[Melburnian1]

It's been operating 4x weekly since 09 September which isn't very long.

I have been on numerous 5J flights but not on an A330 and nor of a duration of more than three hours.

Expect a 'fun game' at some stage during the flight and tightly packed seats.

 

[jetlagger]

Hello travellers,

Does anyone have any experiences with Cebu Pacific, from Sydney to Manila, that they would like to share?


Cheers,

I managed to sample the newish MNL/SYD 5J 7295 route last week.
Not a very pleasant experience after an unexpected 3.5 hour delay ex MNL with constant BS typical excuses dribbled through from Cebu Pacific.
Lack of communication, uncomfortable seating, cough food & overzealous security by all accounts, as a shortened review.
My perception for the 5J MNL/SYD flight was close to the underwhelmed reality. :-|

 

[YSSY]

I managed to sample the newish MNL/SYD 5J 7295 route last week.
Not a very pleasant experience after an unexpected 3.5 hour delay ex MNL with constant BS typical excuses dribbled through from Cebu Pacific.
Lack of communication, uncomfortable seating, cough food & overzealous security by all accounts, as a shortened review.
My perception for the 5J MNL/SYD flight was close to the underwhelmed reality. :-|

Sounds like ops normal for 5J. Did you get offered a jollibee burger during the delay?

 

[jetlagger]

Sounds like ops normal for 5J. Did you get offered a jollibee burger during the delay?

Haha! Jollibee :shock:
After several loud protesting passengers - some very small sized cup noodles were offered during the boarding process.. I politely declined.. , & mentioned to the boarding check that I would prefer more honesty in communicating to the pax in valid reason for delay instead of giving the usual spin of 'late arrival of aircraft" when it was clearly in view of the boarding gate for the past 1.5 hours... :mrgreen:

 

[YSSY]

Haha! Jollibee :shock:
After several loud protesting passengers - some very small sized cup noodles were offered during the boarding process.. I politely declined.. , & mentioned to the boarding check that I would prefer more honesty in communicating to the pax in valid reason for delay instead of giving the usual spin of 'late arrival of aircraft" when it was clearly in view of the boarding gate for the past 1.5 hours... :mrgreen:

Sadly it's just the way they operate, and they always have been the same. In 2009 I was delayed in Hong Kong for 5 hours without info for a 5J flight to MNL, they don't have staff there at boarding time the display just said delayed. I called the handling agent after an hour who said that they only know the location of the inbound aircraft once it enters HKG airspace, and his calls to Manila Airport and 5J operations went unanswered... The plane just turned up as though nothing happened... Not a lot we could do. Have been delayed other times and received a Jollibee...

Reading any online reviews is hilarious.

 

[dajop]

Honesty is all one should expect from LCCs. Unfortunately in much of Asia truthfulness is often a victim of saving face, or telling you what they think you want to hear. But expecting anything like food vouchers etc is unrealistic.

 

[jetlagger]

Sadly it's just the way they operate, and they always have been the same. In 2009 I was delayed in Hong Kong for 5 hours without info for a 5J flight to MNL, they don't have staff there at boarding time the display just said delayed. I called the handling agent after an hour who said that they only know the location of the inbound aircraft once it enters HKG airspace, and his calls to Manila Airport and 5J operations went unanswered... The plane just turned up as though nothing happened... Not a lot we could do. Have been delayed other times and received a Jollibee...

Reading any online reviews is hilarious.

IME: Most of the 5J inexperienced ground service staff are totally useless & often consist of groups of them chit-chating & staring into their newly acquired smartphones whilst eating often all at the same time whilst checking in/boarding passengers..
As for the games - sure have a drawer of coughpy items often won by showing a P200 note, toothbrush or guess the Elvis song onboard for the dummos IQ test...
Often little alternative (at times) for me other than to endure the garish 5J airline for a transport mode.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I managed to sample the newish MNL/SYD 5J 7295 route last week.
Not a very pleasant experience after an unexpected 3.5 hour delay ex MNL with constant BS typical excuses dribbled through from Cebu Pacific.
Lack of communication, uncomfortable seating, cough food & overzealous security by all accounts, as a shortened review.
My perception for the 5J MNL/SYD flight was close to the underwhelmed reality. :-|

You're expectations were higher than ground level ??

Off course it was ****ty, the price was good though

 

[Alanslegal]

Hey guys, thought I'd add some feedback here. We flew SYD-MNL on 20/11/14. Usually when we fly economy we try to allocate pair seats so that we don't have a third seat mate / wheel to disturb us So we allocated ourselves near the back where the seats are 2-4-2 config. Check in wasn't too painful as we had arrived early, and our flight was delayed for about 30 minutes iirc. Flight was around 35-50% full so quite a few people were able to go to the 4 seats and lay horizontal for the flight. Seats were pretty basic, almost sterile-like. Food was payable in PHP and also AUD ableit a very poor conversion rate. There is in-flight paid internet, I did not activate the service but for USD$12 for the duration of the flight, it may be worthwhile to a few people who like to be connected. Service was fine, plane was clean, departed in a fairly timely manner and arrived fine. For $99 I would have no hesitation flying them again, and once at MNL, it's only a relatively cheap connection to anywhere in Asia.

 

[jetlagger]

Off course it was ****ty, the price was good though

Price was circa PHP14k = AUD380. o/w so yes very cheap I guess.
FWIW & IMO - Still easier & more favourable on the legacy carriers

 

[albatross710]

The inflight games are funny. Sitting in row 1C the FA was going to make it easy for me, i even had my sunglasses in my hand ready, she says "Sunglasses" and i was still beaten by a pax in 19D. I mssed oout on my toy

I assume the average age of 5J staff is about 21.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

Hi Everyone,

As its been a year since anyone has posted anything I thought I would bump it and see if anyone else had feedback from flying with them, I plan on doing a few flights next year (2016) and am trying to work out if I fly QF SYD-MNL and then Cebu Pacific to Cebu or Cebu Pacific for both.

Thanks
Ryan

 

[jetlagger]

What would you like to know regarding Cebu Pacific? I'm still flying with them on a regular basis so could offer feedback if you require.

 

[Melburnian1]

FuzzyAUS, I strongly recommend flying either Cebu Pacific (5J) or Philippine Airlines (PR) to Cebu via Manila rather than QF.

With the first two, they will book your luggage directly through to Cebu and it is normally a same terminal transfer (T3 for 5J, T2 for PR.) With QF, it is a pain because it arrives or departs from T1 but the domestic flights with either 5J, PR or AirAsiaPhilippines (Z2) do not - and like LAX, MNL terminal transfer is best avoided although they seem to have a reasonable shuttle now on the airport side (avoiding the need to use public roads.)

Sometimes you may get a better price by booking with a travel agent SYD - MNL - SYD with PR and booking online with 5J for the Philippines domestic sector; with 5J, I don't know if travel agents will always book it because like AK and its numerous subsidiaries, travel agents may not receive commission. You can book 5J (like PR) online but always check to see if the fare all the way through is the same or cheaper than booking it in two return sectors i.e SYD - MNL return and MNL - CEB return.

If you book separate sectors, try to have them subsequently placed on the same PNR (passenger name record.) This may be hard if one part was booked through a travel agent and the other online, but if the bookings are linked that may allow the through carriage of luggage in the aircraft hold.

PR has an A$475 special return to MNL (outstanding price) available through some travel agents including I think North Suburban in Brunswick or Coburg, Victoria: I don't know the dates but you can bet your house that it excludes the January 2016 school hols ex Australia. Not sure if that fare has expired though. Ring them on 2 January 2016 and check.

The 5J flights are doing well in terms of posteriors on seats; not sure about the yield. Strangely, because PR now flies daily ex SYD, you may have a much better chance of three seats to yourself on it.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

What would you like to know regarding Cebu Pacific? I'm still flying with them on a regular basis so could offer feedback if you require.

Thanks Jettlagger,

Mainly around delays and seat size really, im 6'4" so pretty tall, and I am built very solid so dont want to be sitting there with my knees in someone's back, (I did a death star flight 18 months ago (domestic to MCY and vendor paid) and when i sat in the seat my knees were an inch into the seat in front of me, luckily there was no one sitting there and the flight was 1.5 hrs, I would rather not be that way for the 7-8 hrs)

I can use the AMEX lounge in Sydney rather than Qantas, so I can still get some work done etc..

My other option is to fly QF up to Manila then CP over to Cebu, but I am told (and have read here too, that changing terminals and baggage isnt always easy)

Cheers
Fuzz

 

[Melburnian1]

FuzzyAUS, ask for a seat down the back - say an aisle next to a window - in rows 47 to 52. This maximises the chances of a 'shadow' next to you.

Leg room may be difficult if you are 190cm plus but if you have an aisle seat, you can often get up and stroll around. Unlike QF, the 5J attendants will never be aggressive and ask you to return to your seat (unless of course the seat belt sign is switched on.)

 

[FuzzyAUS]

Thanks Melburnian1,

Any idea what the exit rows are like and if the armrests are fixed? I think I have only ever been asked to sit down once, normally I spend a lot of time talking in the galleys to pass the time (just at the other end of the plane).

If my destination was Manila only, then I would just stick with QF J

A friend who flys 5J 10-12 return trips per year and is about the same height books the exit rows, his just not as cuddly as me !!!

 

[onemore]

I just completed a flight from Singapore to Manila with Philippine airlines which was about 3 hours with my knees straddling the seat in front of me as there was no way I could put my legs together, I reckon they might pitch the seats to accommodate the height challenged people, which is typical of budget airlines.

So I reckon I might as well get onto Cebu Pacific from Sydney to my destination which ranks up the top of the most horrible airports in the world.

 

[yohy?!]

I just completed a flight from Singapore to Manila with Philippine airlines which was about 3 hours with my knees straddling the seat in front of me as there was no way I could put my legs together, I reckon they might pitch the seats to accommodate the height challenged people, which is typical of budget airlines.

So I reckon I might as well get onto Cebu Pacific from Sydney to my destination which ranks up the top of the most horrible airports in the world.

not sure I would be in a hurry to take Cebu Pacific over PR with their 400+ configured a330s!