It doesn’t cost much to fly to the Philippines. Expect to pay $900 or less roundtrip from Los Angeles or San Francisco. Some members of the "Living in the Philippines" list say you can get flights from LA for as little as $400. These are courier flights, with no baggage allowed. You can find other flights from LA for $600, with advance purchase requirements and other restrictions.

Public transportation is great in Cebu City. The same cannot be said for Manila.  There, taxis are hard to get and they try to make "contracts," rather than go to by the meter, illegal but done more often than  not.  Her in Cebu City, taxis are air-conditioned, reasonably  new, and readily available. In Davao too, they are new and fair, but many are small Korean cars, not air conditioned. 

You can go anywhere in town, here in Cebu,  for $2 (U.S.). A long trip to the airport is about $4. Recently I went to visit a friend and my taxi fare was 25 pesos (about 50 U.S. cents). I gave the driver 30 pesos. After I got out of the taxi, the driver chased me so he could return my change. He could not understand why I gave him such a big tip - or any tip, for that matter.

Taxi drivers here have a dress code with most companies.  They  wear white shirts and black pants.  Most have good to fair English.  Occasionally you  will get a driver who thinks he can speak English, but can't.  Get another taxi.  He will be happy and so will you.   (There are no women drivers)  Holiday Taxi's are radio dispatched.  So you can call one on your cell phone.  There is another company or two who have radio dispatched taxis too.

I do not recommend buying or driving a car in the Philippines. Most people who do have cars usually have drivers. The traffic is heavy, and drivers pay no attention to the rules of the road. They drive intuitively. However, I have a couple of friends here who drive cars and love it. Click here to read about Driving in the Philippines

Jeepneys are the way most people travel. They are modified Jeep style vehicles carrying 16 to 18 passengers on benches facing each other in the back. One or two more passengers ride with the driver in front. Jeepneys have flags, decorations, colors, family names and nicknames, logos, mud flaps, and other ornaments. Most have altars on the dashboards. The shotgun seat is best and reserved for the disabled. You can travel across the city of Cebu for about 8 U.S. cents. It is the cheapest public transportation in the world, I understand.

Light Rail Transit, Manila

Jeepneys are a bit hard to get at rush hour, though there is not much rush here. (Have you heard of Filipino time?) Jeepneys range from almost empty to extremely crowded.

The roads are often bumpy, and the drivers may drive erratically. If you are tall, watch your head.  This is another good reason to wear a hat, maybe a straw made locally, like I do.  It does not provide much protection, but  telegraphs the blow so you can move away.

Riding in a Jeepney has all the excitement and charm of riding a roller coaster.  But it is really cheap and a good way to meet many nice local folks.  I ride taxis because of a back problem.  I really miss riding the Jeepneys.  I made so many friends on them.

High-speed water transportation is available between islands. It is best to use the "Super Ferries". They have cabins and bunks for overnight travel. You can include meals in your ticket. Expect to see rice with each meal. Some of the smaller lines are overcrowded and don’t have enough life jackets to go around, especially during holiday seasons. Filipinos in the cities take the boats to their homes for holidays, so it’s best to wait until after holidays, or travel by plane. Get a reservation early.

Inter Island Superferry

Smaller boats, called bangkas, make short trips between islands. They are native boats made of plywood with bamboo outriggers.

They are fun, but don’t go out when the seas are rough. It can be very dangerous.


Air Tickets to the Philippines: Consolidators A few years ago I learned that the cheapest way to buy tickets here in the USA, on an Asian carrier into the RP, is through consolidators. There are a number of reasons for this (which could be the subject of a different thread). Suffice it to say, this is done by design & with the full support of the carriers.

In the course of conversation with PAL's US based reservation office, I asked them which consolidators they recommend. They provided me with the following names:

A & A - (213) 365-7090
Citi Tours - (213) 487-1227
Leisure Life (213) 385-0131

Some travel agents claim to be consolidators, when in effect, they're not. They buy their tickets from one of the above "official" consolidators, and add their own commission (so you're paying two commissions, or mark-ups).

Please keep in mind that some consolidators specialize in one particular airline, as opposed to others. So Agent "A" maybe be the best to use for Philippine Airlines (PAL,) but "B" may be better for Cathay, KAL, Asiana....... etc. Shop around until you find the best Consolidator for your preferred carrier.

Lastly, the observation was made that PAL tends to be the most expensive. In my experience over the years, this is 100% correct. I also use them +95% of the time for a couple of reasons. (1) They're the only airline that flies nonstop between the USA & Manila. 100% of the time the MNL/LAX flight is nonstop. About 1/3 of the time, the LAX/MNL leg is nonstop. (2) Their schedule works best for cross country connections, and I like the early morning Manila arrival. (3) Their Mabuhay Miles Reward Program is fabulous. For top-level, frequent fliers you're virtually assured of an upgrade to the next class of service EVERY time you fly. So while the economy ticket might be nominally more expensive, it's actually a steal if you think of it as purchasing a Business Class ticket for the cost of an economy seat.

Each traveler has their own circumstances to consider, but for me it's a no-brainer. Worth the extra USD$100 - $150 each & every time. Contributed by Bob Seller