1) Be prepared.

I know that sounds so vague, but what I mean is, have a list of destinations you want to go to and a list of dates or holidays you can get away for a trip. 

Many people have one destination or date that they're eyeing, and while that isn't bad, if you want to score cheap tickets and travel to many different places, you have to be flexible about it. Most dates around holidays and long weekends run out quick so you have to adjust sometimes.

When I scored my roundtrip tickets to Coron for Php 750, I didn't plan for that at all. There was a surprise seat sale last December and while I was eyeing to fly internationally for my birthday, tickets to those ran out fast, so I decided to check the local destinations on my list and thankfully, Coron was available.

Back when I booked my tickets, I already knew I'd be working but I honestly didn't think I would stay in my company for long so I went ahead and booked them.  Cause even if I decided not to use them, what is Php750 right?? But I decided to stay and I'm pretty lucky because even if I work in a plant, I only have to work 5 days a week. So even though I don't have leaves yet, I can work on weekends and swap my days off with other days.

Anyway, if you're employed like me, knowing when the holidays and long weekends are, is helpful. The Philippine government usually shares a list of holidays for the next year before the current year ends. Use this information to wisely decide when to plot your leaves.

2) Know the standard rate of fares.

I always believe that when it comes to airfares, price is relative. For example, there are people that think discounted fares are enough of a steal for them and there are people that can afford not to wait for piso fares and just fly at regular fares or even a standard carrier like Philippine Airlines--for reasons like convenience or better service.

But if you're reading this article, you're probably like me--someone who doesn't care about cramped seats and crying babies (okay, I'll admit I get peeved by this last bit, but at least not all flights have this) as long as you can travel. Afterall, you just need something to take you from point A to point B, at the lowest price possible so that you can allot more of your budget to activities and food.

That being said, if you have a list of destinations you're eyeing, you should probably check fares for these places every so often (if you don't already). That way, you become familiar with the standard price range. From there, you can gauge whether a flight is cheap or expensive for you.

For example, I regularly check fares so I know that you can get tickets to Taiwan for anywhere between Php 1990 to Php 2500 per way normally, so imagine my dismay when my best friend told me she was able to get hers for Php 6500 roundtrip on a "sale", and the travel dates were still about 8 months away. I told her, "Girl, the prices on those tickets can still drop!", but she was okay with her purchase. But if it were up to me... alam niyo na. HAHA. I can wait it out pa.

I'm going to Bali this year and I know that the normal fare to Bali can be anywhere from 5-6,000 per way, so when I saw Cebu Pacific offer discounted tickets (Php 3000 per way), I thought that was a steal, considering it'd be for my preferred travel date and that I bought it 3 months before the date. Besides, Bali is a popular destination for Filipinos, so laging ubusan ng tickets during piso fare sales.

According to a study by CheapAir, generally, the best time to buy tickets are 3-4 months away from your preferred travel date. But if you're after those piso fares, know that they sell airline tickets for travels anywhere between 6 months to a year later.

You can check sites like Skyscanner every now and then to compare flight prices. Note that if you're looking for promo fares, they don't always display those, but you can use this as a gauge to know the standard cost of fares.

One good thing that comes out of knowing the standard rate of fares is that, you won't always be stuck with low-cost airlines. Low cost airline doesn't always mean cheap. Sometimes, when you check PAL, their fares aren't far off from Cebu Pacific's, so why not pay the little extra for a better experience?

3) Be a member of airline mailing lists and loyalty programs.

If you don't check airline websites often for promos, you can do the shortcut and sign up for their mailing list. You'd get emails informing you if they have special sales coming up. I suggest mailing list cause generally, everyone checks their emails.

(Just saying though that sometimes the emails come in late, so if you're abangers [waiting] for a piso sale, you're better off following these airline on social media so you can get ready and not learn about it in the morning when all the tickets are sold. But if you're okay with discounted fares, not a lot of people buy during those sales so it's okay if you're late.)

But, if you're more of a social media person (aka millennial or Gen Z), follow these airlines on social media as well because sometimes they even have contests where you can win free flights. (Hello to the roundtrip Bohol tickets I won during the Miss Universe pageant last year!)

Other than signing up for their mailing list, I also recommend you to sign up for their loyalty programs.

Many people have this misconception that paying for a loyalty program is dumb or not worth it. I saw this post about how someone thought he outsmarted SM by not paying Php 100 to be an SM Advantage member. While he makes a good point--you have to spend Php 20,000 a year at SM to get back the Php 100 membership fee back (Php 200 to earn 1 point)--if you constantly shop at SM anyway and use their affiliate partners on a daily basis (Shell, etc) even without the card, wouldn't it make more sense to be a member because you're getting rebates and rewards in exchange for something you already do anyway?

I am admittedly a tita who does patronize loyalty programs but I am smart about it--I do the computation thing to see if it benefits me in the long run. (If you want to check out which membership programs I think are worthy, I wrote about this in my old blog)

Anyway, I digress.

For airline loyalty programs, you don't have to worry about paying for anything since you DON'T HAVE TO PAY A MEMBERSHIP FEE TO JOIN (Cebu Pacific asks for Php 150 if you want a tangible Getgo card though), but you'll still get rewarded with free flights.

Nope, you don't have to fly often as in once a month or once a week (though that does help!) since points don't expire as long as your account is active, but you do have to fly with that specific airline of your choice. That's why it's called a loyalty program.

Aside from flying with that specific carrier, you can also earn through points through their affiliates (like Cebu Pacific's GetGo program allows you to earn points from Petron, Robinson's Department Store and Supermarket, Agoda, and more) and by using banded products, like the Unionbank GetGo debit and credit cards, which allow you to earn Getgo points everytime you spend.

Other than that, these loyalty programs often hold special points sales--some of them member-exclusive and some of them allowing members earlier access--which is how I get to fly at a steal.

My friends think I'm crazy when I'm like, "Why didn't you sign up for GetGo or AirAsia BIG? Sayang your points!" because honestly, sayang talaga. So if you know you're gonna be flying a number of times in the next few months (or even if you're not, since the account doesn't expire anyway), sign up for a program.

And in the interest of not making this post any longer than it should be, I'll be making a separate post about how these specific airline loyalty programs work.

4) Try alternative routes.

It's no secret that most routes fly out of Manila. But, in an effort to decongest the Manila airport, airlines are starting to offer routes from other airports like Clark or Cebu.

When airlines introduce new routes from these airports, fares tend to be cheaper to entice people to fly from these airports. For example, the roundtrip tickets my best friend and I got for South Korea were cheaper because we flew from Cebu. My sister was able to get tickets to Iloilo from Clark for only Php 866. And when we went home to Davao for Holy Week, tickets from Clark were about Php 1500 cheaper than when we flew from Manila. Yes, it was a bit of a hassle--I had to ride a bus from Batangas to Manila, and ride the P2P bus from the airport to Clark all in one night--but with the aim to save, I was definitely able to save.

(Note: this is not for the faint-hearted, big groups and those who can't take discomfort, aka if you're traveling a large group that include kids and old people. I feel like I'm definitely able to do this because I'm still young, but when I'm older, I'd pay a premium for comfort.)

If you're from the North, consider flying to places from Clark. There's less traffic than having to go all the way to Paranaque to NAIA and the fares are cheaper. If you're from the South (as in Mindanao-south), try flying internationally (or locally) from Cebu.

My friend Dexter and I were talking about going to Siargao for his birthday in November but flying in from Manila would cost about Php 7000 roundtrip. I found out that roundtrip tickets to Siargao from Cebu would only cost Php 2700, and knowing that you can get tickets from Manila to Cebu for as low as Php 499-700 per way, that would bring the whole trip to a grand total of about Php 3700-4100. Even if you got tickets to Cebu for Php 1000 per way, that would still only amount to about Php 5000, which means the Php 2000 saved can go to your accommodations.

actual screenshot I sent to Dex

If you plan on going to Batanes, Philippine Airlines also flies from Clark to Basco. It's cheaper, not to mention, nearer to Batanes when you fly from Clark!

same dates, different prices

If you plan on going to Japan, Jetstar flies from Clark to Osaka for as low as Php 3000, which is really cheap for a ticket to Japan!


And Qatar Airways has cheaper flights to Europe from Clark (than Manila)

5) Consider flying popular routes.

6) Start your vacation early (or late) and on a weekday.

Looking for accommodations for your next trip? Book a room on Booking.com with this link to get a 10% rebate on your first booking! :)



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