I have been flying with Cebu Pacific for 2 or 3 years. Ever since they introduced the cheap fares, I’ve been taking advantage of their flights to travel. Last year, I started working in Shanghai and because of that I have been taking Cebu Pacific flights 2 to 3 times a year to go home.

I’ve tried Cathay Pacific to fly to Hongkong. I’ve tried Philippine Airlines to fly from Shanghai to Manila, and tried Cebu Pacific a lot of times to fly from Shanghai to Manila as well. Cebu Pacific’s service in my opinion is way way on top of what I paid for. You know, we often hear people saying “You get what you paid for.” I got more than what I paid for with Cebu Pacific.

February 2009, I took Philippine Airlines back home. I paid good cash but got the service lower than that of Cebu Pacific. The stewardess is the same generation as my grandmother and some of them are even so fat that they can’t fit the aisle. Well, that’s just one. 2nd, the flight was delayed and to add to the frustrations because of the service, the weather was not good for flying as well. There was a lot of turbulence, and had a bad headache the whole duration of the trip. When landing, I would expect Philippine Airlines to hire competent pilots but the plane bounced as it landed. Unpleasant as well. From start to end, Philippine Airlines was a symbol of Manila, it could have been a good city, but it’s not because of reasons that are deep. Promised myself never to pay good money with Philippine Airlines anymore unless the schedule fits exactly to what I want, and if the price is cheaper than Cebu Pacific.

On the other hand, Cebu Pacific offers lower prices, as low as 330RMB for a roundtrip ticket. That’s just around 3000Php and around 60USD. Crazy huh? Compared to the crazy 4000RMB/24000Php/480USD of Philippine Airlines. I am not expecting good service, pleasant flight, and on time departure/arrival. But that was not the case, Cebu Pacific was above expectation. The stewardess were young, energetic, and attentive. The flight was on time if not earlier than scheduled. The plane lands without you knowing that the wheel already touched the ground and sometimes there were some small, short games to kill of time. I didn’t expect much, but I got a lot. There’s no food in Cebu Pacific unlike Philippine Airlines, but you can bring your own anyway.

Another thing, PAL uses the old and small airport, NAIA 2. Cebu Pacific the new one, NAIA 3. There is a Yellow Cab pizza stall, Dimsum and Dumplings restaurant, Jollibee, Mister Donut, Kopiroti, Ministop, Japanese restaurant, Seattle’s best, a small massage area, duty free, and even National bookstore!

I never regret flying Cebu Pacific. I don’t have anything to ask for, I got what I paid for and that’s good! Philippine Airlines should improve themselves, show that the expensive price tag means top quality service.

Cebu Pacific rocks!