On booking flights and premium economy

It's been awhile since I've blogged and since them I've been been bitten by that travel bug and suffer from fits of wanderlust.  So here's a random post on some travel tips I've picked up over the years.  Disclaimer here of course is that I do not subscribe to the backpackers lifestyle of traveling but I am very much conscious of sticking to budgets as I am after all still very much a mere mortal saving up for retirement.

Anyways here goes after a long long long hiatus, just a few tips to help those out there when they start their trip planning.  I know it can be daunting and oftentimes we have no idea to start.  Here's what I would do first when planning a short or not so short getaway from the Philippines.

How to book cheap tickets Manileno style

Tip #1: Use a web crawler like Skyscanner (https://www.skyscanner.com.ph/) or Google flights.If
you are dead set on going to a particular country, have an inkling of where you're going, or just wanna check out how much it costs to hop of on a plane to any point on this planet, try a web crawler.  

Goggle flights is one of my favorite options as its a no-frills, low on ads site that allows you to compare prices across airlines to your choice destination.  Filters and sorting capabilities make it easy to sift through all the information.  

Wanna see how much it costs to fly business? Prefer a particular airline alliance?  Google flights let's you do all that with minimal ads bugging you.

After you have an idea of how much air travel you can do the following: 

a) book through one of the options that skyscanner makes available (examples of which will be expedia)

b) through the link to the airline itself or 

c) you can go directly through the website or booking hotline of your weapon of choice.  

I've done all of the above and gotten quite a number of deals along the way.  Skyscanner and Google flights at the very least helps you peel off layers and layers of initial canvasing and you can see flight options on one page.

Tip #2: Book an open jaw ticket through a promo
Open-jaw tickets or multi-city tickets open up your travel possibilities.  Given that you're probably just like me and your leave credits are limited like the number of good restaurants in the Alabang area, you'll probably want to cover as much ground as possible.  

A multi city itinerary allows you to fly into one city, travel via train, bus, boat, car, canoe to other cities and then fly out of a major city with an international airport at the end of your trip.  Obvious savings in time accrue as opposed to heading back to your airport of entry, every hour on vacation counts! 

I've done this several times, flown into one country, found my way via local budget carriers around my travel itinerary and concluded my trip in a major city with a hub back to Manila.  Skyscanner let's you check for options using the multi-city tab while major airlines like CX let you book open jaw tickets, even on their Super Saver promos, catch is you need to book over the phone.  Heck, never had any problems with this and the time saved from traveling open-jaw helps preserve precious time on vacation.  Costs roughly the same.

Tip #3: Fly premium economy

With air travel becoming more and more competitive, we've seen carriers around the world competing for every segment in the market.   All this competition has helped push down airline ticket prices allowing you to fly to Europe or the US for as low as $700 from MNL.

The end result however is that some carriers have resorted to cramming an extra seat per row in an already crowded economy class cabin. This means a 777s now feature seat configurations of 3-4-3 and 787s offer 3-3-3 configurations as opposed to their more palatable 3-3-3 and 2-4-2 offerings.  

Gulf carriers are noted to have brought down the cost of travel but you'll be sure to be seated in maxed out capacity seats in an economy cabin.  Sure you get to fly for ultra low cost, but you'll probably be exhausted right when you arrive.  Add insult to injury in that after all that flying in an ultra cramped cabin you get zero miles to boot.  Some airlines have begun offering premium economy seats, once only seen in EVA air (I'm not sure who else had it prior to the current movement), to cater to the even more segmented traveler market. 

Roughly the size of a business class seat of old, a premium economy class seat will give you a couple more inches of breathing room both on seat width and recline pitch.  Food options have been upgraded but don't expect a game changing meal worthy of business class, plastic spoon and forks of course.  

Entertainment systems are usually upgraded as are your headsets.  For carriers such as SQ and CX, PE gets you into a snug cabin of roughly 32-40 passengers on a 2-4-2 abreast seat configuration, with 777s giving you the added bonus of having a bathroom nearby.  You also are allowed to board at your leisure and have less problems jockeying for that last open space on the overhead compartment!  End result is that you arrive at your destination less tuckered out and ready to start enjoying your vacation from the get go.  

Cost is roughly 50% more than what you can get on economy but you get 110% of miles even if you book on promo fare.

I hope I was able to share some travel tips For your next vacation and I do hope to catch you here on my next blog on manileno travel!