Tag: budget travel

Hey, I hope you’re coping well. I know most of us miss flying & going on vacations. The Covid-19 pandemic stopped leisure travel & has forced us to stay in our homes indefinitely. While most of the countries all over the world are restarting leisure travel, we, Filipinos, are still not allowed to do so – even domestic travels are not allowed. All we can do now is to look back & relive the great memories we made in our previous trips.

One of the trips I keep on revisiting is our Fukuoka 2019 surprise trip. My friend & I surprised another friend in her supposed-to-be first solo international trip. I already shared with you details about this trip in the following posts – 48 Hours in Fukuoka for less than ₱12,500 all in, Nekokura Hostel of the Day feature & 5J 922 Cebu Pacific Air Flight Report. Today, I will share with you details of our Cebu Pacific Air 5j 923 flight from Fukuoka, Japan back to Manila, Philippines. Know how organized Japanese people & airports are & generally how the flight went in this new flight report.

In case you missed it, I post reviews & features of my flights since June 2019. I’ve covered airlines such as EVA Air, Indonesia Air Asia, Singapore Airlines & Cebu Pacific Air. All posts about these flights are found under the Flight Reports category.

Cebu Pacific Air

As mentioned in my previous 5J flight report, Cebu Pacific Air is the Philippines largest low-cost carrier. It flies to more than 60 domestic & international destinations across the country, Asia-Pacific & the Middle East. It is wholly owned by JG Summit Holdings, led by the Gokongweis. Including its subsidiary Cebgo, the airline operates a fleet of 70+ Airbus & ATR commercial & cargo aircraft with a number of new generation aircraft orders in place.

The airline has opened the opportunity for every Filipino to fly domestic & international at extremely low prices compared to its industry rivals. It is known for its ₱1-base fare promotions offered a few times a year. It has its own loyalty program called GetGo & is a founding member of Value Alliance, the world’s largest alliance of low-cost carriers.

Airfare & Inclusions

My friend & I got the return ticket to & from Fukuoka, Japan for only ₱2,873.74. We booked it through the airline’s loyalty program, GetGo, ‘5,000 points off’ promotion. At the time of booking, one-way base fare to Fukuoka were valued at 2,400 points. The return ticket cost us 4,800 points plus airline (minus 5,000 points – yay, so basically free base fare) & airport taxes. My friend & I only paid for the taxes & charges imposed by the airline – a decent deal, eh? It definitely was a steal considering the tickets were bought 3 weeks before the flight schedule.

Cebu Pacific Air is a low-cost carrier – meaning tickets only include the passenger’s base fare & taxes. The airline offers baggage allowance, seat selection, meals & refreshments & all over flight services for a fee. The airline’s fleet don’t have personal or communal entertainment screens. The fare my friend & I bought only includes a 7-kilogram carry-on luggage which was enough for our 48-hour Fukuoka trip. The full list of the airline’s add-on charges is found in their website.

Flight & Aircraft Information

This Fukuoka to Manila Cebu Pacific Air flight was operated by a 5.5-year-old (that time) Airbus A320-214 aircraft with registration RP-C3277. The airplane has an all-economy configuration (just like all other Cebu Pacific Air aircraft) with 180 seats on a 3-3 layout. The flight left Fukuoka station at 7:48 pm JST & arrived Ninoy Aquino International Airport (in Manila) at 11:10 pm PHT. The flight took 4 hours & 22 minutes from one airport gate to the other.

Ground & Airport Experience

International flights arrive & depart from Fukuoka Airport’s international terminal. The terminal is 10-minute (free) bus ride from the Fukuoka Airport Subway Station / Domestic Terminal. Upon arrival at the terminal, my friend & I went to Row C check-in counters. The counters opened 3 hours before the flight.

Check-in process was quick & efficient. Heavy bags & boxes undergo security checks before they can be accepted by the ground staff for check-in. There were 3 normal check-in & 1 online check-in counters that day. All ground staff strictly check & weigh each passenger’s carry-on items. They only allow 7-kilograms of carry-on baggage & up to 2 items only. My friend & I already checked-in online & queued in the online check-in counter. We requested for exit row seats; the lovely check-in counter crew granted our request. Our whole check-in process took 20-minutes & that included 15 minutes in queue for the luggage security check.

In case you missed it, we almost missed our Manila to Fukuoka flight because of lengthy check-in process & slow immigration lines in NAIA 3. Know more about this almost-missed flight in this flight report.

Immigration & final security took less than 10 minutes. There were no long lines or whatsoever. The flight boarding process commenced 30 minutes before the scheduled departure. Passengers with children & those needing special assistance boarded the aircraft first. The regular passengers boarded next. We boarded from Gate 56 & finished after 15-20 minutes. Boarding has quick & smooth.

In-Flight Product

Cebu Pacific Air is known as a no-frills airline. The airline keeps their fares low by providing the most basic product on air – a guaranteed seat on the flight & a 7-kilogram carry-on baggage allowance. Additional flight features such as baggage allowance, in-flight meal, insurance, seat selection & the likes are available at an extra cost.

My friend & I were assigned at exit seats 12B & 12C. These exit row seats have enormous legroom but do not recline. Regular seats on Cebu Pacific Air’s Airbus A320 aircraft feature 28 inches of seat pitch & generous reclines. These seats were made & designed by Recaro, a world-renown seat manufacturing company known for their light & ergonomically-designed seat products. Each seat features a decently sized tray table & a small seat pocket with the aircraft safety card. The seats don’t feature personal entertainment screens. The only available form of entertainment is the monthly in-flight magazine found in every seat pocket.

Shortly after take-off, the cabin crew rolled out their snack cart & offered snacks to all passengers. The list of items for sale is found in the Fun Café menu in the seat pockets. The crew also handed out the pre-ordered snacks & meals to those who availed them. The airline allows passengers to pre-book their meals & snacks from the time of booking up to 24 hours before the flight.

This night flight didn’t feature the usual in-flight fun game. The crew gave the passengers the time to rest & sleep. I didn’t have the chance to visit the lavatory during the flight; I was dead tired after a long day of walking around the city.

Cabin Crew Service

The cabin crew welcomed us into the flight with their biggest smiles. One crew also went up to us & explained the additional protocols for passengers seated in the exit rows. I didn’t have much chance to interact with the crew on this flight but those small encounters made a big difference in the flight experience.

Overall Experience

It was another pleasant flight with Cebu Pacific Air. My friend & I definitely enjoyed this flight from Fukuoka to Manila. The pleasant experience started with getting return tickets for only ₱2,873.74 without baggage. I still can’t imagine how this is possible in the current times? The ticket is even cheaper than a domestic ticket to destinations like Coron & Siargao or even international destinations like Hong Kong & Singapore. Cebu Pacific Air changed the game by giving every Juan the chance to fly in the most affordable rate.

The airport & ground experience was superb! It was the total opposite of my experience on the flight from Manila to Fukuoka. The check-in lines were fast-moving bur organized. The check-in process was efficient. The ground staff were reasonably strict but were nice & very accommodation. Immigration, final security check & boarding process didn’t take long. It was my 3^rd time flying out of this airport & the experience hasn’t changed. I am amazed how the airport management maintained it even with the increasing number of passenger traffic. All my Fukuoka Airport experiences were very close to ideal.

The flight experience was alright as expected. The cabin crew greeted us with their best smiles upon boarding & disembarking from the plane. I didn’t have much to talk about the in-flight experience because I was asleep most of the flight. The only thing I didn’t like was our plane didn’t have an available airport gate when we landed in Manila station. We waited inside the plane for more than 15-20 minutes before we finally got our Terminal 3 gate assignment. I really hope the local airport authorities do something about this once everything does back to normal.

I cannot wait to fly out again with Cebu Pacific Air in the future. I have plans of trying their long-haul flights (again but this time feature it) to perhaps Sydney or Melbourne once Australia opens. I also want to just fly out to wherever possible & take some time off. I will surely fly with them on those trips. For those of you who want to know the flight & aircraft details, here are the information you want or need:

Airline: Cebu Pacific Air
Flight Date: 20 October 2019
Flight Number: 5J 923
Route: Fukuoka (FUK) Japan to Manila (MNL) Philippines
Duration: 4:22 hours
Seat Number: 12C
Aircraft: Airbus A320-214
Aircraft Registration: RP-C3277
Aircraft Engine: 2 x CFM International Jet Engines
Age: 6 years old
Year Delivered: 2014

Thank you for joining me in today’s flight report. Do you have any questions about the flight or anything mentioned above? Feel free to post them in the comments section below. You may also send these questions via e-mail to contact@thewkndtravel.com.

How I wish we can all soon go back to the times when flying & travelling is safe & places are virus-free. Those safe times are far from happening based on the current vaccine & treatment developments but I hope you are coping well with the effects of pandemic. Let’s us all hope for better times in the future. For the meantime, we can all connect & talk about our previous travel experiences. Follow me on my social media channels – Facebook & Instagram.

Don’t forget to check out my previous Cebu Pacific Air flight reports: Legazpi to Manila, Manila to Jakarta, Manila to Caticlan (Boracay), Caticlan (Boracay) to Manila on Cebgo & Manila to Fukuoka. Other flight reports can be found under the Flight Reports category. Until next time. Stay safe!

PS. Photos were taken using my HTC U11.