Airline Woes

 

My family recently had the sad experience that our brother suddenly died. I decided to go to Bacolod to see him one last time before he was cremated.

But this post is not about my brother. It's about the experience my wife and I had with the airline that we took. I'm going to make a video about my brother but I haven't decided if I will make a blog post about him.

I bought tickets for me and the wife several days in advance. The flight was on Monday and the tickets were purchased four days earlier. Since there were no direct flights to Bacolod from Cagayan de Oro, we had to have a layover in Cebu. Our flight to Cebu was scheduled for 1:35pm, arriving in Cebu at 2:25pm. The next leg was Cebu to Bacolod, departing at 4:45pm and arriving at 5:50pm. 

The first sign of trouble was an email informing us that our Cebu to Bacolod leg had been cancelled so I had to find another flight. I was able to get a flight that departed Cebu at 7:30pm and arrived in Bacolod at 8:35pm. So, instead of a layover of 2 hours and 20 minutes, it had become 5 hours and 10 minutes. We'd have a late dinner but that couldn't be avoided.

The trip started from Cagayan de Oro a bit late. The departure was delayed by about 30 minutes (can't remember exactly). This was just the beginning. We arrived in Cebu and settled down to wait for our next departure. It was around 3pm so we had a long wait until our 7:30pm flight.

It was already around 6:50pm when we heard the announcement that our flight will be delayed because the plane that was supposed to take us to Bacolod had not yet arrived. The airline was kind enough to provide snacks and then dinner (Jollibee one piece chicken with rice). At least we didn't get hungry.

It was around 9:30pm when the plane arrived. It discharged passengers and then began boarding around 9:50pm. We took off around 10:20pm and arrived in Bacolod around 11:20pm. That's about six hours after our original, scheduled arrival.

The wake for my brother was from March 13 to 16 (Monday to Thursday) and our departure was on March 18. On March 15, I received an email saying that our 8:30am flight from Bacolod to Cebu had been cancelled. The only choice for us was a layover in Manila instead of Cebu. Again, no choice.

Come March 18, we arrived at the airport for our 11:15am flight. We'd have a two hour layover in Manila which meant we'd have lunch at the airport in Manila.

It felt like deja vu when we received word that our flight was delayed. We would be taking off around 12:30pm. The trip is about an hour and ten minutes. We'd have to hurry to our gate to make our connecting flight.

The flight to Manila was uneventful except for the last part. Air traffic meant that our arrival would be delayed. Nothing we could do about it but just hope for the best. 

Eventually we got clearance to land and we touched down around 2:10pm. The boarding time for our flight to CDO was 2:40pm. We hurried through the airport and in our haste, got lost. We actually passed the departure entrance but didn't see it. We wandered around the airport until we spotted the sign that identified the departure entrance.

There was a long line to get to the x-ray machines but my being a senior citizen saved the day for us. We got ahead of the line and entered the departure lounge. We hurried through the different gates and finally arrived at our gate. They were already starting the boarding process. Loida and I decided to visit the restroom before lining up. Again, being a senior citizen gave us first dibs on boarding.

Another bonus, they told us that they'd be taking our baggage and putting them in the baggage compartment, for free. We won't have to lug them up into the plane. The flight left around 3:30pm.

Just a funny aside. Our boarding passes didn't have a gate assignment yet. I did see on the big screen what our boarding gate was so it wasn't a problem. When we were already seated in the plane, I received a text message from the airline telling me what gate we were supposed to board. I shook my head. Things were really messed up with the airline.

The flight home was uneventful. We arrived around 5:30pm. At the airport in CDO, our baggage took some time to come out but that was just the last hurrah for all our troubles. We took the Magnum van to Limketkai and had dinner at Jollibee. We got home around 8:20pm.

The airline wasn't finished with us, however. The next day, I received another text message from the airline reminding us of things concerning our flight (check in, baggage rules, and baggage check-in procedures).

This airline has a lot of complaints about its services. I felt I just went through five years worth of problems with them in just a week.