Expensive LBC Padala

My beloved was furious the other day when she sent the ticket print-out for her parents’ flight from Iloilo to Davao. She said that LBC (touted as Hari ng Padala) ripped her of money. She went to a LBC branch in Laguna to have the two pages of ticket print-out be sent to Iloilo. My beloved was forced to send the print-out through LBC Padala because Cebu Pacific doesn’t allow its passengers to board the airplane if they don’t have a print-out of their ticket.

The LBC Padala clerk gave her the regular price for sending documents to the Visayas. According to the LBC Padala website, the regular price for the regular sized documents is just 95 pesos. The price suddenly went up to 165 pesos when the LBC clerk saw that she is sending a Cebu Pacific ticket print-out.  The clerk insisted that the ticket print-out is “very” important document that’s why the price for an LBC Padala was increased. My beloved insisted that the ticket is just simple print-out.

.

LBC Padala Rate Calculator. It seems like the assessment of the LBC clerk
for the print-out is high.

I am a suki (regular customer) of LBC. I have been using LBC Padala whenever I am sending something to the provinces. I believe that 165 pesos price for a simple print-out is too much. This incident made me wonder if LBC Padala is the best and cheapest courier in the country today. I guess it is time to check the other courier companies like the JRS Express AND Air21.

---

Visit Before the Eastern Sunset and read my post for Bonifacio Day.

The Problem with AirPhilippines

“You need a credit card to avail of our promo fare.” - this is the explanation of the AirPhilippines call center representative when I asked them why I can't book for their 888-peso promo flight. This answer made me feel frustrated and caused me to book online at Cebu Pacific airline.

My beloved ask me to help her book a flight from Iloilo to Davao last month. She specifically told me that I book the cheapest flight that I could find because her budget is limited. The flight is for her parents (and my future in laws), who are now going home for their short vacation from Iloilo. Following her instructions strictly, I searched for cheap flights from all the budget airlines in the Philippines. I am fortunate to find an 888-peso promo fare from AirPhilippines, which prompted me to book through the AirPhilippines website. Everything is OK until I reached the “Payment Options” page where I discovered that the only available payment option is through credit card. The bad thing is that I don't have a credit card because I avoid having one.

.

I called the AirPhilippines hotline to book the 888-peso promo flight. The call center representative told me that I am not allowed to reserve for 888-peso promo fare. Only the regular (and more expensive) fares are the only available ones available for those who doesn't have credit cards.

AirPhilippines promo fares are not open for the general public. I believe that this is the reason why AirPhilippines lags behind Cebu Pacific. AirPhilippines promo fares are only available to credit card users while Cebu Pacific promo fares can be availed by anyone. Cebu Pacific allows anyone to book their cheapest fares and still give them the chance to pay through credit card or payment centers like LBC and Banco de Oro.

It is understandable that AirPhilippines is reducing the risk of unpaid booking reservations for its promo fares. This is the possible reason why they only allow credit card users to avail the AirPhilippines promo fares. This is good protection for the airline but it causes frustrated clients like me to book flights in Cebu Pacific.

---

Visit Before the Eastern Sunset and read about Eng Ho mamon cake.

Mother from Bulacan is the first PPUR Millionaire

It was blessed day for a mother of three when she received the news that she won 1 million pesos from the “Pera sa Kweba” text raffle. Marites Balagtas, who is the text raffle’s first millionaire, was awarded the facsimile of 1 million cheque by the Task Force PPUR at Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City. 

The “Pera sa Kweba” text raffle was initiated by the private sector to promote the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) in Palawan. The three telecom giants in the Philippines; namely Globe, Sun and Smart; gave 25 million pesos in prizes for the PPUR text raffle. PPUR was recently included in the provisional list of New7Wonders Foundation.

The 1 million-peso prize came at the right time for Marites as her son was stricken with dengue. Her husband, who is a pedicab driver, is ill for several days. Their house was also flooded during the onslaught of Typhoon Pedring. Marites said that she will invest her 1 million-pesos prize for the education of her children and for the building of a small house.

.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje said that the text raffle for the PPUR is extended until December 30, 2011. The grand prize is 25 million pesos that is why he urged the public to continue texting. Aside from the grand prize, there are still five 1 million pesos consolation prizes that are at stake for the PPUR text raffle.

Anyone can join the PPUR text raffle by typing the word PPUR then send to 2861 for all network. Each text costs 2.50 pesos.

---

Visit Before the Eastern Sunset and read about the mamon cake from Eng Ho.

Follow me in Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and YouSayToo.