MANILA, Philippines – Nena Grace “Ninz” Tagle was supposed to travel from Iloilo City in central Philippines to Manila at 8 AM last April 27, then go on another flight to Doha, Qatar at 1 PM. But when the domestic flight got massively delayed, not only did she have to miss the international flight, she was told to shell out Php70,000 for the new ticket because the next trip to Doha only had business class seats available for sale.
Tagle lamented the situation, especially because she had to find a new budget for her ticket, which she considers as quite costly.
“Our supposed to be 8am flight from Iloilo to Manila naging 3pm flight. Imagine the 7hrs delayed flight and they will just say sorry for the inconvenience and they will just give free voucher,” she wrote.
“Now I have to book another flight to Doha and I don’t know kung saan ako kukuha ng budget kase di naman ako mayaman na OFW. I will not forget this day, sobrang pagod at puyat then missed flight pa but they didn’t do anything just like nothing happened.”
In a lengthy Facebook post, Tagle detailed that she hadn’t expected the trip to be that eventful. Considering that a trip from Iloilo to Manila is only around 1 hour, she believed she had ample time to make it to her 1 PM international flight to Doha.
Tagle had booked the domestic flight via Cebu Pacific, and the international flight with PAL. However, other netizens and travelers were quick to point out two things that were supposedly wrong with her decision:
1. She chose flights that were close to each other, on the same day, leaving very little leeway in case of delays (which can actually happen quite often) She chose two different airlines, which can make it more difficult for her to handle transfers in case of problems
2. The people who commented on her post appeared to have gotten it right. According to Tagle, she first sensed trouble when the airline announced at around 7:30 AM that that flight was “overbooked” - and offered free travel vouchers plus Php3,000 cash to catch the next flight on the same day.
She said that she was unsure if anyone ever accepted that offer, but soon felt queasy when no boarding announcement was made despite their schedule approaching. Soon enough, the airline announced that the flight would be delayed.
By 9 AM, she was frantic. With each passing minute, her chances of catching the international flight were growing slimmer.
By 10 AM, she learned of another flight to Manila. She asked the airline staff if she and her brother could get on that plane. Sadly, after minutes of waiting, they learned that it was also fully booked by around 10:30 AM.
Desperate, she tried to beg the airline staff for help with her connecting flight to Doha. She had expected the airline to rebook her international flight because it was their fault that the domestic one got delayed. However, she was told that they couldn’t do that because her international flight was with another carrier, Philippine Airlines (PAL).
Frustrated and angry, Tagle admitted to crying at the counter. But the airline staff couldn’t really help her out. Instead, they were only able to assist her by providing PAL’s contact details. They also gave her a certification of the delayed flight, but she was furious to learn that she was the one who had to email PAL to get the flight rebooked.
“Imagine ako pa ang pinapahanap ng paraan kung ano pwde ko gawin, it’s supposed to be sila ang hahanap ng paraan kung ano pwde nila gawin sa akin. There’s 1 guy na staff ng Cebu Pacific binigyan ako calling card ng PAL mag email daw ako sa kanila ng concern ko. What the heck, ako pa inutusan mag email when in fact sila ang ngka problema kaya di ako maka board ng international flight ko,” she explained.
What’s worse, Tagle learned that the next flight to Doha was also nearly fully booked – and she had to pay Php 70,000 if she wanted to be on that plane because the only available seat was in first class.
She lamented, “Bigla ako nanghina. Imagine I lose my international flight because of them and ako pa magbabayad ng another available flight ko. Mapapaiyak ka nlang talaga. I’m just a normal OFW, Imagine pag mag over baggage ka lang ng 1kg it’s 400 pesos ang charge nila. Tapos pag na missed mo ang flight mo because of them wala silang magagawa. We lose money and time pero there’s nothing they can do.”
The domestic flight eventually left at 3 PM, but she had already lost hope that she could get on the next available flight to Doha.
Later, Tagle added that she had to rebook her international ticket for a Php17,000 fee since the flight had already left. Also, she didn’t receive compensation from Cebu Pacific over the fiasco - and she also had to extend her vacation leave from her job for at least 2 more days, losing more money in the process.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY ILOILO-MANILA and MANILA-DOHA FLIGHT (April 27, 2025) Bare with me guys kase mahabang story...
Posted by Ninz O. Tagle on Sunday, April 27, 2025
In response, Cebu Pacific commented on her post with the following statement:
“Hi Ninz, we regret for the inconvenience caused of flight changes. For safety reasons, we need to adjust our schedules. As a point-to-point carrier, we will re-accommodate passengers affected by delays or cancellations on the next available Cebu Pacific flights.
Should you have connecting flights with other airlines, we will not be liable for any misconnections brought about by delays, cancellations, and any flight arrangements you may choose to make.”
Netizens commenting on her post agreed that both local airlines are known for flight delays, and she should have picked different dates for her trip.
“That's why you never book same day flights if you have a connecting international flight in the Philippines. Always the day or 2 days before your international flight. Both PAL and Cebu Pac are notorious to having delayed and cancelled flights,” one wrote.
Another commented, “It is better to book the same airline for both domestic and international flights. this way, pag meron delay sa domestic flight, the airline can rebook your connecting international flight without additional charge.”
Others also shared that it’s best to get travel insurance to cover things like this.
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
