Just recently I found myself needing to book airfare from Manila to Cebu. How expensive could it be if I decide to book it maybe that same week? Apparently, it can be VERY EXPENSIVE and it makes absolutely no sense, it should be considered illegal.

So I was looking at airfare for ideally just an overnight stay – a weekend. Normally I’d think it should only cost me maximum PHP5k per head roundtrip. Guess how much it was? More than double – PHP12+k/head! DAFUQ?! It was so outrageously expensive, it got me thinking how do these airlines even decide on pricing these tickets?

The cheapest for 2 pax was probably AirAsia which cost me exactly PHP23,845.00 – DISGUSTING! Cebu Pacific priced it at about PHP2,000 more expensive, while Philippine Airlines priced it at about PHP10,000 more. I mean, seriously, I could go out of the country for much cheaper!

And to prove a point, here’s a direct comparison over at CEBPAC where it would cost me PHP100 cheaper to go Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, than to go to Cebu. IMAGINE THAT! Isn’t that a blatant and direct way of airlines telling people how they’re clearly f*ckng with us in terms of pricing? MNL to CEB will be a total of 3hrs back and forth, while MNL – KUL will easily be 8hrs back and forth – 5 hrs of gasoline more expensive. On top of that. MNL and CEB are local destinations, vs KUL which calls for an international border type of relationship, which I’m guessing calls for some sort of a more hefty fee and taxes for the usage of that airport. Weird.

What’s even f*ckng with my brain more is that it’s cheaper to stay overnight with hotel accommodation fees, than to just go back immediately that same day. Even cheaper to go for 3 days with cost for a hotel included. SMH.

Sure, one could probably say “Hey, that’s how airlines make money“. But really. MNL – CEB vs MNL – KUL? And really now, I can possibly accept some kind of economic thing going on in here. But I personally believe this is simply a power play and we just need more competition in this space. I mean, Uber can do price surges. Then again, if you don’t go with Uber, you have Grab, Taxis, other PUVs, or even carpooling with friends as options. With airlines, what? Do I just ask my friend if I can maybe carpool with his helicopter? Because yeah, it’s easy to find a friend with one. If only we’re not a country made up of bunch of islands, then maybe I could’ve just sent these people on a sleeper. And no, would you even consider riding a ferry? Do you even think it’s an okay option?

So anyway, I did get the 23k fare with Air Asia Philippines for 2pax – no choice. But what’s ticking me off is the fact that the airplane was poorly kept. I’ve always found myself taking promo fares with CEBPAC and hated when people complain a lot of the cheap fares they got. But when it’s in this case where you pay for more than what’s necessary, and you end up with mites and insects in your seat’s arm rest, aren’t you supposed to be entitled to something?

Unfortunately, it wasn’t me who flew out and my delegated passenger didn’t bother taking a photo of the mites on the rest, but here’s a photo of her arm, full of bites – Thanks Air Asia.

I don’t know. It just feels wrong and I feel like there should be some kind of ceiling with airlines within the country. It feels like a braindrain version only for tourism. In either case, I hope I never find myself need to book a domestic flight again with such short notice. It absolutely feels like you’re being robbed face to face and you can’t do anything about it.

I personally feel like you owe me money right now, Air Asia, but that’s just me. Hopefully our airlines rectify such issues. I know most of the times bot AirAsia and Cebpac are considered ‘budget airlines’. But do they really have to act like it? Hopefully current CEO Maan Hontiveros can manage to hear this out.