it all sounds to go the times, leaving london 8,40 pm arrive next day 5.45pm, hotel 20 kms away from airport , the marriott, then we fly out jan 2 or 3 at 5.45pm and get to manila at 7 45pmcoming back to england leave late again and arrived next morning just after 6amsounds sweet to me and going to disney while at hong kong my treat
Thanks for your advice. great.Originally Posted by Englishman2010
we was going direct as we said before to manila then onwards to borocay for a week or so , but we have done that then you start to think of the kids while we are there so this is going to be our treat to ourselves, but Ian we will be around cavite from jan 2 to the 20th so i meet up for drinks if you are around, and that includes anyone too
We'll defintely meet up Steve, I get there on Dec 30th, I'm not sure where I'll be going during my stay in the Phil's but I'll be around for a few days at the same time. Elaine would love to meet you and Emma too
Will get in touch nearer the time. Too early for me just yet.
If we are in Marikina we would love to join anywhere.
God Bless
Insha'Allah
etc etc
marikina is were we will be going sometime to Terpe,thats where Emmas dad still lives
Crikey, almost a date already.
funny how not long ago we all did not know each other but look at us all and it just shows how small the world is really
i wonder when any of us saw another whitey in the phils, what the chances that person was a member on this forum
If they are extremely fat and hairy, and wearing shorts and flip flops, 0% ..... it's an American
Keith - Administrator
indeed , we should get hats made without the kiss me quick but fillipino forum
not the fat but the rest , thats me
steve me & florsel may be going to the phils next xmas & new year not decided yet but if we are we will definitely meet up
hay ho steve some good flights at this time coming out , when i booked to se emma i paid £615 booked that july and flown on dec 09 so dont wait to long, and be great to meet up
I see most of you tend to use KLM or Emirates. Myself I tend to use Etihad, I was working in Abu Dhabi for last 1.5 years, so was through ease of use for me. I can understand that most people who only fly 1 or 2 times a year transit times and price are the overiding factor. I am also aware that the Airport at Abu Dhabi in no way can be compared to the facilities at Dubai.
For those that travel more than 1 or 2 times a year, do many of you belong to the Flight Guest programmes available. I am a Gold Member on Etihad and looked at staying with the same airline for the following reasons:
I get an extra 15kg of luggage on all flights
Get to use the buisness class check in desk even when flying economy
Free use of Buisness Class lounge with 1 guest (Good when few hours transit. The buisness lounge in Abu Dhabi is very good)
Free use of showers, massage, and ironing of fresh clothes
Now I admit that the tickets are not always the cheapest compared to some of the great deals some are getting on here, but the rewards points I get means about every 4 flights I have enough points to use for a free flight and always use that one at peak times when tickets are overpriced ie Christmas and Easter. Also when flying through Abu Dhabi as a gold member I have had free upgrades to buisness class seats on at least 50% of the time so an added bonus.
So in reality with all that you are in fact getting over a 25% discount on price paid if you use the free flight at the right time. Also all the points from my gf,daughter,and kids from previous marriage who visit me in the Phils are credited to my account so they soon mount up.
I know rewards programmes are not for everyone and in no way am I selling Etihadbut those that fly more than 2 times a year should consider joining. I know Emirates have a good reward programme as well.
Now stuck in Syria workingand from here no airline seems to have decent transit times so end up in Abu Dhabi for over 7 hours now and takes over 24 hrs to reach home to Phils.
Yes Peter, I would always join the programme, I was Flying Blue Platinum for two years and had half a million miles at one point, I lose my lounge privileges in April and baggage privileges April 2012 to be honest I rarely used the KLM lounge in Schipol and the KLM one in NAIA is not very good and is often very busy so I always used Club Manila in NAIA for 600 odd peso.
Exactly same reasons as you it does work out at a free flight every year if you travel 3 or 4 times, if you only fly twice a year it can still be worth buying business class (if you are already elite) because of the miles multiplier so you get two bonuses you get a free flight have a better chance of staying elite and when you are flying you are much more comfortable.
KLM Flying Blue was a great scheme very generous up to about two years ago then they tightened up a lot, fewer miles on economy fares harder to qualify for elite, miles expired quicker 22 months instead of 36 months, so not as good now and I have less than 100,00 miles left so I look for the promo awards where possible managed to get one at Christmas UK to Manila one way for 20,000 miles it's usually 40,000.
Definitely good advice to join a programme even if you only fly once a year.
we first flew with etihad and what a grteat experiance that was, upgraded coming back which was a bonus, but i have not thought about flying rewards, i do use the rewards program with marriot vacation club been using it for years and that to me is great, the only problem is it spoils you, you get use to having the best and its nice to be spoilt too sometimes,
Regarding reward points, I'm building mine up, but didn't bother registering on my first two flights to AsiaI'm now with AF/KLM Flying Blue, Emirates and Saudi's reward programmes. It probably doesn't really make sense to use 3 different schemes as the points can't be used anywhere else.
I've got enough for a one way to Manila with KLM, as long as its half points on one of their promotions or enough for a return to the NE USA or Canada, I might take up the latter option as one of my best friends lives in Maine.
If you ever build up a lot in one scheme you may want to ask for a status match transfer to another scheme so always worth being a member of the other ones just in case but yes how many times a year are you going to fly on multiple different airlines, depends on your job I guess some people get to fly loads.Regarding reward points, I'm building mine up, but didn't bother registering on my first two flights to Asia
I've got enough for a one way to Manila with KLM, as long as its half points on one of their promotions or enough for a return to the NE USA or Canada, I might take up the latter option as one of my best friends lives in Maine.
Loyalty schemes are a great idea.
Unfortunately those dizzy heights days are gone for me.
I was a gold member with BA for many years. Such good days they were too.
I actually had many many completely free flights and hotel stays all around the world.
Same with Virgin also.
Ah, happy days.
Never tired of travelling.
Unfortunately I have to pay for all of my own flights, I fly for pleasure not for work, therefore I always have to find the cheapest and most practical route which means using a variety of airlines.
I don't know what the equivalent of 3 UK - Ph return trips in economy a year is worth in points and how many flights it would take to get a free UK - PH return?
I've currently got 2 X far east returns with KLM in points, 2 X far east returns with Emirates and 2 X far east returns with Saudi
Englishman, if it's your own hard earned money, it's gotta be difficult to gain sufficient
cost/benefit rewards. IMHO
TBH, that's always been my opinion, which is why I have booked flights with a variety of airlines based on costs and other practical reasons. Having said that, if I can build up enough points with an Airline to get a free flight, I'm not going to refuse it, but booking with one airline to get another few points isn't high on my list of priorities.
I've just registered with PAL for Mabuhay miles too as I usually take 3 or 4 flights a year with them too. Even if it only gets me a free flight to the Visaya's from Manila, I'll still have it. Now to put a claim in for my missing miles from Jan (HKG - MNL round trip, and MNL to PPS roundtrip), if I'm lucky I might have enough for a trike ride from the airport to Makati
Me too I have always had to pay for my own flights, sadly the scheme is not as generous now. If you took 3 of the cheapest flights a year with KLM at an average of around £650 quid each you would only get 21672 miles which would not get you status for the second year and you need status to start ramping up the miles in the subsequent years.
That's about 2000 quid for 21000 miles, in the old days you could have gotten 45000 miles for about 1500 to 2000 quid plus you would have attained Gold elite by that time, now you would need 4 flights to get silver.
KLM Silver gives you double baggage allowance and 150% miles on all future flights, Gold gives you lounge, double bags and 175% miles on future flights, Platinum does not give you a lot more but you have a much better chance of getting a free upgrade.
You also get access to better seats at reduced prices.
In reality you really have to have a reason to be going 4 times a year now in order to qualify for elite status and that is not easy for many folk, I was lucky when I started going over that the system was more generous at the time.
I would still collect miles on all the different programmes if I could as even if you fly different ones all the time eventually you will build up a useful number of miles on each one and each flight you take will help prevent expiry of your bonuses.
That makes sense Jim, and is what I am doing. Whilst a free flight or an upgrade at a future date would be nice, I'm not banking on it.
I've just looked at KLM's promo awards, they are offering 50% off certain routes before the end of Feb. There are some pretty good deals there, and they also have a 20% discount on buying additional miles. As it happens, I dont want to go (or can't afford to) anywhere in Feb, but I'll keep on looking throughout the year and perhaps something will take my fancy
Yeah I'm trying to stretch the miles I have left by using promos, Manila is not on the list this period but might be next period, they often alternate back and forth over their promo periods.
Buying miles is about equal to buying a flight but always remember you will still be paying the taxes even on award flights, it really only makes sense if you get to buy a promo award or if you are a few miles short of an award flight.
If you live in the NW and want to fly KLM and save a few £££££'s, flying from Liverpool is cheaper than Manchester even though it's further. The downside is a 4hr wait in Holland rather than 2hrs.
Keith - Administrator
They run 4 flights a day Liverpool-Amsterdam two of them connect up with the 14:00 KL803 flight, personally I prefer the earlier flight as I like Schipol airport and I like knowing that I am definitely on time
The later Liverpool-AMS flight gets you to Schipol just in time, you have to rush to board the next flight, I prefer a slower pace.
The saving on the flight is only a few quid but I also save about 20 quid on taxi fares.
This is the strange thing, only a couple of days ago after reading posts that I was in Boracay at the same time as stevewool back in Jan '10!!! We also stayed at the same hotel, Fairways and Bluewater also!!!i wonder when any of us saw another whitey in the phils, what the chances that person was a member on this forum
bwahahahaIf they are extremely fat and hairy, and wearing shorts and flip flops, 0% ..... it's an American
...and what? baseball cap
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Whatever is meant to be will always find its way.
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