Cheap Airfare to the Philippines

Jetsetter daw kami sabi nung isang kapitbahay namin nang makita kami last Holy Week. Sabagay, ten months ago lang nang huli kaming nandito ni TanTan sa Pilipinas. Tapos last March, nakita niya rin siguro sa Facebook na nagpunta kami sa Caifornia for a few days.

Pero syempre kapag sinabing "jetsetter," may connotation yan na sosyal. At ang layo namin sa pagiging sosyal noh! Haler, super mura lang kaya ng plane tickets na binibili namin palagi!

Here's how much we paid for our roundtrip Vancouver-Manila plane tickets this year:

That's just around Php53,000-56,000 for two pax, depende sa conversion.

Hindi na masama kasi naalala ko dati, sobrang mahal ng pamasahe sa America. Ang dami kong kamag-anak na taga-doon at talagang bihira silang makauwi ng Pinas noon dahil mabigat nga ang pamasahe. Ngayon dahil sa competition at proliferation ng budget airlines, affordable na ang airfare kahit paano.

This is actually our (Nathan and I) fourth time to go home in Pinas. Noong una (2015), Nathan was only 7 months old so we flew via Philippine Airlines (PAL) para direct flight na from Vancouver to Manila. We were still living in Edmonton then kaya we needed to fly pa to Vancouver. We paid a total of $2068.81 (around Php83,0000) for those flights. Take note, wala pang bayad si Nathan noon kasi baby pa siya. $319.50 lang ang charge sa kanya for taxes and other fees.

In short, ang mahal ng PAL! Kaya I told myself na di na ako uulit sa PAL kahit na mahirapan ako. Sayang kasi ang perang matitipid, panggastos na rin yun sa Pinas.

We were already living in Metro Vancouver sa pangalawang pagbabakasyon namin sa Pilipinas (2016). While looking for cheap flights, my husband learned na mas mura pala kung magdi-direct booking sa airline company mismo. Nasa Vancouver na kami kaya posible yun, hindi na kailangan ng "agency" na katulad ng CheapOAir. So yun, he booked us a flight on China Airlines for $1379.74 for two pax na.

For our third vacation (2018), sa EVA Air naman siya nakatagpo ng cheap flight. He paid $1445.40 para samin ni Nathan.

So yun, ang two cheapest airlines so far na nakita niya ay China Airlines at EVA Air. Both have layovers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Halos pareho rin ang time ng flights nila.

For our latest flight, hubby asked me kung ano ang preferred airline ko sa dalawa. Sabi ko kahit ano, parehas lang naman kako, basta kung ano yung mas mura na lang.

China Airlines won this time. Cheapest na talaga sa ilang araw na pagbabantay ni Ford ng rates online. Nagfa-fluctuate ang  fare prices so medyo kailangan ng tiyaga sa pagbabantay at pagko-compare. Contrary to popular belief na kailangang matagal pa dapat ang flight sa pagbu-book para makamura, hindi naman talaga. Chambahan lang din kasi talaga ang pagbu-book. In our case, Ford bought our tickets less than two months lang before our trip.

That's our plane!

Ang drawback lang talaga ng cheap airlines ay ang layover. Pero two hours lang naman usually going to Manila (4 hours going to Vancouver) kaya hindi naman masyadong matagal ang ipag-aantay. So may additional 4 to 6 hours ka lang sa buong trip mo. Not bad given na sobrang laki ng matitipid mo.

Nathan in Taiwan

Recently, may promo daw ang PAL na $800+ lang for Vancouver-Manila roundtrip flights. We checked it out kung totoo. Olats, parang joke lang. the cheapest we found was $1200+ (we tried all the dates). At yan din ang complaint ng ibang Pinoys who were trying to book, nanloloko lang daw. Hay naku, never na nga akong aasa sa PAL tutal may China Airlines at EVA Air naman.

Overall, I was satisfied naman with our recent flight. The plane was new (Airbus A350-900) and the food was good. Naprioritize kami sa pagpasok sa loob (Vancouver to Taipei) dahil sa bata (but not in Taipei to Manila kasi less than 2 years old lang daw ang may priority). Hindi rin naman sila ganun kahigpit sa carry on bags (or else yari kasi andami naming dala at mabibigat pa). I was happy, too, kasi malapit na yung gate for our connecting flight, unlike dati na kailangan pang mag-train at maglakad ng malayo kasi nasa dulong-dulo ang gate.

Heavy Travelers!

We've had a very smooth flight and I have to give credit din to my well-behaved son. Imagine, 25 hours ang total trip namin (from our home in BC to our home in Marilao) pero hindi siya tinopak man lamang. Such a trooper, my boy! =)

Guarding our bags dutifully. He was such a great help to Mommy!

It's hard to travel with a small kid pero "pro" na nga yata kami in flying. Kaya I don't mind kahit hindi kami direct flight. =)

Movie Tickets From Costco

The last time Ford and I were able to watch a movie here in Canada was in July 2014 pa sa Edmonton. I was five months pregnant with Nathan that time at talagang nanood kami ng KathNiel movie (lol, jologs!) kasi alam namin na after I give birth, matatagalan na talaga uli bago kami makanood ng sine.

And fast forward to four years later, hindi na nga kami nakanood haha! Kung merong Filipino movies that we want to watch, nagpe-pay-per-view na lang kami sa TFC.TV. To be honest, hindi naman kami mahilig talagang manood ng sine kaya keri lang. Sa Netflix lang eh solved na kami.

Pero syempre I still wondered kung kelan nga ba kami uli makakapasok sa sinehan, lalo na at may movie house dito malapit sa amin na palagi naming nadadaanan.

Pero wag ka, just a couple of days ago, we heard our son saying na gusto niyang manood ng Incredibles 2. Puro kasi yan ang laman ng youtube ngayon.

Haha, napag-usapan na namin ni Ford ito not long ago. Sabi namin makakanood kami uli ng sine pero for sure pambata ang palabas dahil nga kay TanTan. Eh parehas pa naman kaming di mahilig sa mga ganyan. Pero syempre no choice kasi ang batang yun ang sentro ng buhay namin lol.

At eto na nga, nag-aya na ang bata. I've seen several FB friends na nagsasama na ng anak sa sinehan, na mga mas bata pa kay Nathan, so I agreed na rin with hubby na manood na nga kami ng sine. Siya naman kasi ang hindi makatiis sa request ng anak hehe.

Ang technique namin kapag manonood ng sine is to buy the tickets in Costco. Mas good deal kasi.

Landmark Cinemas yung movie house na malapit sa amin kaya syempre ito na ang binili namin (meron din silang Cineplex):

For Adults (two pax)

For Kids (one pax)

Haha, medyo naguluhan si Nathaniel kung bakit "big" daw yung ticket. Ang idea niya kasi ng tickets ay maliit -- as in yung tickets na lumalabas sa mga arcade games haha!

Actually yung cardboard na yan ay for payment purposes lang naman. Pagkabayad mo sa cashier, pupunta ka sa may area ng Manager at siya ang magbibigay ng actual tickets.

We paid a total of $42.50 for the tickets ($28.99 + 11.49 = 42.50 + 5% tax). Approximately Php1,700.00 na iyan.

(Note: I didn't know until now na wala palang PST o Provincial Sales Tax na 7% ang movie tickets)

Now how much were we able to save?

Kung sa cinema kami mismo bibili ng tickets, $12.99 each ang adult at 8.99 ang bata. So aabutin ng $36.72 ang three tickets (tax included na).

Yung difference na $5.78 lang bale ang worth ng two medium drinks and two medium popcorn for us ni hubby at snack pack (one small drinks, one small popcorn, at one candy treat) for Nathan. Kaya sobrang good deal na talaga. Ang mahal ng pagkain sa sinehan, alam nyo naman. In fact, yung snack pack nila for kids ay worth $9.00+ na (according to Landmark Cinemas' website).

So there, if you want to watch movies with popcorn and drinks, at dalawa kayo (hindi pwedeng isa o odd number kasi nga good for two ang binebenta nila), better buy sa Costco. Sobrang sulit din yung tickets for kids. Ang drawback nga lang is that you have to be a Costco Member to be able to purchase from them.

We'll be watching later tonight (Friday) and we're excited. Sa totoo lang di kami excited ni Daddy Ford sa Incredibles 2 kasi nga di naman kami mahilig doon pero syempre looking forward kami sa first movie experience namin as a family. Nagreserve na kami ng seats online kaya sure na na makakapanood kami.

Chikahan ko uli kayo later! =)

#CheapEats: Fresh Slice (pizza by the slice)

Ever since I got diagnosed with diabetes last year, ito na lang yatang Fresh Slice ang kinakainan ko sa mga foodcourt. Kasi dito per slice ang bili ng pizza at tantyado ko na that my sugar level wouldn't rise kung isang slice lang naman ang kakainin ko. In fact, I noticed na kapag ito lang ang kinakain ko for dinner, nababawasan ako ng weight haha. Sabi ko friend ko, meron daw isang food talaga na no matter how "unhealthy" or "fattening" ay makakapagpapayat sayo. Hmm, totoo kaya yun?

Anyway, if you're on a budget din at ayaw mong mag-splurge ng $10-13 sa foodcourt, mag-Fresh Slice ka na nga lang.

Maraming flavors to choose from (minsan nga lang you have to wait kung naubos yung gusto mo at nagbe-bake pa sila):

A slice only costs $1.99 (classic flavor) or $2.59 (feast flavor). Pwede ng ipambayad yung mga barya-barya mo sa bulsa. Additional $1.00 if you want to add a cup of pop (or softdrinks).

Ayan for $3.77 (tax included), may dinner na ako. Around Php150.00 na yan pero syempre dito sa Canada mura na yan hehe.

I always order the "all meat" flavor kasi feeling ko sobrang nabubusog ako talaga sa protein. Very filling siya. At ang sarap din ng Diet Pepsi nila ha.

Solb na ako talaga dito! No guilt-feeling pa. =)