Cebu Pacific Airlines Reviews

I asked if I could speak with the manager and same thing, she said there is nothing she can do. I told her that is the most unreasonable thought having to rebook my 14 year old, who is a minor mind you, and we were not even from the city! I told her in the first place, we came back in at 12NN (per airport time) and she said they are following Cebu Pacific time at 12:12 already. They did not listen, stuck with their words and no amount of emotions could actually move them. They were rude enough to even shout back. These people, particularly the station manager for Cebu Pacific (Surigao), should be taught how to handle customers with care. What ended was, I gave my seat for my 14 year old son and my other son while I was left in Surigao with no refunds and took a boat back to Cebu on my own instead. This is the most horrible experience I got from years of flying Cebu Pacific!

I called the Cebu Pacific hotline, and a representative told me that I should call Allied Bank because they cannot find the booking. We're from the province and the Allied Bank hotline was always putting me on hold (all voice recording and no one answering the call), just imagine our long distance call charges! My point is the charge appearing on my mom's credit card did not just magically appear there. There was a booking, I am sure of it. It was successful but Cebu Pacific somehow managed to lose it and they're even saying I was at fault for not printing the receipt! The flight is on August, it is still April! They got paid by the credit card company already and so they are the ones who gained most from this. If they can't find my booking, I just want them to return the money in the form of a travel fund on my mom's Cebu Pacific account. I twitted them, sent message on Facebook, called the hotline, but no one is hearing me. The customer care representative even hinted that I was at fault and that maybe there really was no booking! Imagine that!

Problem: overweight is 3 kg (limit is 7 kg) as pointed by customer service agent. This puzzled me because it states that personal belongings are exempted (my backpack).

Facts: The following persons are just so incompetent: Riesshelle ** (customer service agent) and Geraldine ** (lead customer service agent). Riesshelle ** does not even know the difference of personal belongings. I repeatedly asked if clothes are personal items or not. She scratched her head and looked puzzled. Not knowing what to do, she looked for some evidence of her ignorance and left the counter. It took her like forever to look for it, only to later to bring her lead customer service agent (Geraldine **), who is equally ignorant of the facts that personal belongings are not included in the weight limit. They wanted me either to leave the excess weight behind or pay the exorbitant fees.

Result: I left the excess in the car park to my dismay. And for the record, our conversation was recorded for any investigations. They soon found out and prohibited me from recording further. Why? Are they afraid of the truth? The truth shall set you free. Another fact: The flight was delayed an hour going to Bacolod and 3 hours coming to Manila.

In conclusion:

5. Company image is always tainted by incompetent and ignorant employees. I would recommend for Riesshelle ** and Geraldine ** to find another job. You both suck at your jobs.

This incident was not our fault. The airport staff didn't want to rebook our flight, not unless we pay 30 thousand each! That is insane! Well, after arguing with your airport personnel (Ms. Jinky and Ms. **), they did not re-accommodate our flight. They kept on rolling their eyes and showing sarcastic faces. Even when your Cebu Pacific representative named Joanne was incompetent. This rep was not even suited to take in calls. She placed me on hold for more than 5 minutes for four times and advising the same thing. A supervisor named Romie was interrupting during the call as well.

I worked with Hawaiian Airlines so I know how the policy works. I don't understand why you did not re-accommodate your passengers knowing that 9 people experienced the same thing we did. One security approached us and stated, "**." Well, there's our answer. Your airline is the worst. It's a good thing we were able to call Tiger Airways to book a one-way flight for us (which, by the way, was very accommodating and friendly).

I want a refund on our outbound flight and baggage fees because, once again, "it was not our fault" missing our Clark to Macau flight. And please train your staff again and teach them how to show real customer service. I'm hearing a lot of bad things about Cebu Pacific Airlines not until I experienced it myself. Thanks to you, this is my first travel and you guys blew it.

To our surprise, we were charged almost P1500 each for rebooking charges and airfare difference. We were booked on the next available flight at 0630H. We waited patiently for our flight when an announcement was made that our gate assignment was changed. Minutes passed by and nothing was heard from any staff until we came back to the check-in counter and was told that the 0630H flight was cancelled due to technical problem of the aircraft. We demanded a refund of the rebooking charges we paid but according to Mr. Nelson (duty manager), that wasn't possible. He advised us to make a written complaint regarding our concern and just booked us to 0855H flight. We still took the flight hoping to catch our appointment, but to no avail. The people we were supposed to meet had to catch on their flight back to Manila.

Isn't it so unfair paying for rebooking charges and airfare difference for a cancelled flight? We decided to take Cebu Pacific because of the scheduled time posted online, but we ended up missing an appointment because of your fault. We demand a full refund of the charges made. Thank you.

Just before the final x-ray to the boarding area, we were stopped by CebuPac personnel and were told that one of our handcarried bags was too big and that we had to check it in. So, despite the hassle, we cheerfully went back to the check in counter where we were told that we had to pay extra if we checked in the bag. We told them it was not our fault because the size of our handcarried bags were in conformity with the standard sizes allowed and that the weight of all our bags were also within the limits allowed. (To be more specific, the bag in question weighed 5 kgs only).

The female supervisor (name unknown but I'm sure CebuPac can figure it out) kept insisting that our bag was too big and could not fit the overhead cabin space. One of CebuPacs staff got the bag and tried to fit it into the bag size tester which was located right at the check in counter area. Lo and behold! The bag fit perfectly! When we pointed this out, the female supervisor just kept insisting that it was still too big because the plane was the propeller type and the space was smaller.

I told her that since it is not our fault that they decided to change the plane, and since we followed all their limitations and rules, they should just either allow us to handcarry it (and it would have fit under the seats), or they could intercept it, or they could simply just check it in at no charge to us since it was all their fault. I told her that i'ts obvious that we followed all the rules and that the problem is with Cebu Pacific.

To make a long story short, we finally checked the bag in with one of our companions who barely had any luggage with them. During all this time, the supervisor kept on insisting that rules must be followed and telling all staff at the check-in counter to double check our companions tickets to check if we could be allowed to pool our luggage. I told her to go away since I solved the problem myself. She took the time to tell her staff to double check everything before she left. Good riddance, I say.

Now, this was such a simple matter and any of the suggestions I gave above would have solved the problem (the plane was not even full). What started as an enjoyable vacation got ruined by this female supervisor who obviously had all the staff cowed and who would not listen to reason. It's really simple. We were not at fault, it was CebuPac's negligence (and plane change) and therefore, CebuPac should solve it. Is CebuPac really that desperate to earn a few hundred pesos?

My family have been regular Cebu Pacific fliers and despite several misgivings, we have continued to patronize CebuPac. But this seems to be the last straw. Let me point out some things: Cebu Pac claims to make flights affordable for every Juan. It's really unfortunate that most people are not named Juan. If you happen to be a Carlos, or Jose or Miguel, rest assured that Cebu Pac will try to put Juan over you. The succeeding numbers will tell you how and why.

They want us to think that savings are passed on to the customers. I'm afraid not! Using a Turboprop (propeller) plane saves CebuPac lots of fuel (and I mean lots!). But when it inconveniences passengers who are forced to check in their otherwise valid sized handcarried bags, CebuPac will refuse to check it in for free. Oh no! Those extra hundreds of Pesos you need to pay is just what CebuPac wants to happen. Want more?

If your luggage is 1-2 kgs overweight, even if you're travelling as a group and your handcarried bags weigh a lot less than 7kgs, CebuPac will insist on charging you for those extra kgs. It's either pay or transfer some of your items to your handcarried bags (which I do). It's not as if they'll be carrying extra weight, they just want to try and make a couple extra more Pesos. Try PAL, and you'll see that they're a little bit more flexible.

CebuPac tries to save on a lot of things: smaller legroom (PAL definitely has more legroom), no use of airport tubes (saves on payments to airports? I guess buses are a lot cheaper but really a bother especially if you're travelling with kids), no snacks, etc. How come PAL does all these things and I pay practically the same amount (sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less) that I pay CebuPac. It makes me feel stupid for patronizing CebuPac when PAL always gives a little bit more.

I've noticed that when booking online, CebuPac has a lot of add-ons to the price. You think you're going to pay P1,000 for a flight. Click and your final charge becomes a lot more. And be careful when booking international flights because the maximum weight allowance for your baggage is usually pre-checked. That means, you'll be paying for 20 or 30 kgs even if you just plan to bring up to15 kgs. Hmm, maybe I should write congress about this. They can follow the new US airfare advertising regulations that started this Jan. 26, 2012, which requires airlines and advertisers to post the final price and put it into law.

And I'm not even going into how many times CebuPac flights have been delayed. Maybe, if I changed my name to Juan, I might get better service. So now, since I have no intention of changing my name to Juan, I'll be emailing this message to CebuPacific. Let's see if Cebu Pacific responds to this message. If I get no reply, oh well, I expected that. They lose my family's business and anyone else I can get to listen.

P.S. It's been about 3 weeks since I sent CebuPac this complaint and as expected, I got no reply from CebuPac (except for the system generated message that told me they'd get back to me in 1 week).

For the rest, they are cowboys. I could leave it to that. But let me explain. I was at Bangkok airport one time about one year ago. I had my printed confirmed and booked ticket at hand. But they said to me, “Your credit card payment did not arrive, so you have to buy a new ticket for tomorrow.” After a lot of discussion because I was flabbergasted of course, one of the ladies of CPA told me in private: "I understand you sir. Actually, I never fly with CPA. It's terrible." What can you do? Just buy a new one. This was all one year ago. After this happening, I sent several decent emails to the "contact" form at their site. I still have to get an answer (one year later). The only thing that works at their site is the online payment.

Now my recent experience with them was one week ago when I flew from Europe to Manila (by Royal Dutch Airlines). That flight was canceled the day before, so I missed my connecting flight from Manila To Dumaguete (yes, had again made a booking at CPA). It was the same day my flight from Europe was canceled. I tried of course to change the flight Manila-Dumaguete on "manage booking" link at their site. Does it surprise you, it did not work? Whatever I tried and at whatever time, it's not functioning. It seems to be phoney. I wrote of course a letter to their "contact" link again. Now it's one week later and I got no answer. So instead of changing my flight, I could buy a new one. How can a cheap cowboy line turn out to be expensive?

The day I arrived at Manila, there came the other usual surprise, the disaster of their checking in. Although there are more yellow shirts as at any airline at the check-in counter, they have an absolute world-record in waiting, and chaotic handling. The check-in counter looks like a chaotic restaurant where one staff member does not know what the other is doing. Count on 7-10 minutes for each passenger to check in. I have checked it at my watch. So, if 10 people are in front of you, reckon on more than one hour. So indeed, you are risking to miss your plane. But they have a "solution" for that - planes that go very soon and because of the restaurant-handling. There is another. Many ladies are holding a shield and walking around, yelling that passengers for that flight can go first . Otherwise, several planes would go without a number of passengers. I know it's hard to believe but you can simply check it at terminal 3, second floor at Manila airport.

So dear readers, it is the way it is. I can't make it more beautiful. The cowboy-airline is so lucky. They have no real competition in the Philippines ( except the more expensive Philippine Airlines). And the Filipino people don't like to complain apparently.

On that day, all are excited, especially my son since it's his first time to ride a plane. We woke up early even if we are just near the airport and arrived 2 hours before our departure. I did not expect long queue at the gate. So we still waited until our baggage was checked. Even up to the check in counter, the line stretched still.

I was aware then that we should check in 45 minutes but no one was announcing. Finally, when we're in front of the line, it's already 5:22, and the lady/staff told us that the check in is already closed and that we are late 7 minutes. I said, "Can't you see we are just right there waiting on the line and you will just simply say it's close? Are you blind? Can't you see the situation that we came in early and we've waited a long time to check in and now it's closed?"

The lady referred me to the teller and asked if they can consider my ticket. The teller told me that the system is already closed. I can ride on the next flight at 8:15 am, but I have to pay Php 6,000.00. What? You must be kidding me! My husband was already yelling at them but the crew and staff we're just like deaf and blind with no empathy to what we've felt. They're just so arrogant and they said that it's not their policy that it should be 2 hours before departure.

Take note! I was not the only one who was late that time. There were several of us who complained of their services, and they had no consideration! Why would they blame it on us? if we were late, it is because they did not prioritize those who has an early flight and there's no announcement made. So, I was confident that they will let us in even if it was beyond 45 minutes and we were just 7 minutes late. The plane was still there. This was not my first time to ride a plane. I have tried AirPhil and PAL. They are accepting the passengers even if it's only 20 minutes before departure.

What a horrible experience we had at Cebu Pacific. ** with them! Corrupt! No heart! The crew and staff don't know how to handle customers. Poor customer service - very, very poor! We did not get any refund. It's as if as we just threw our money for nothing! I should've donated it to the flood victims! It should have been my first time to ride Cebu Pacific and this is what I've got!

So what can I say? Is there's someone I can complain to and get my money back? But I doubt it, with a company like them! Corrupt! That is why there's no improvement in our country because of our greed in money. There should be an exemption to the rule! ** with Cebu Pacific!

They advised us that passport extensions can be done the same day, and that purchasing a ticket will help speed up the process. This is also incorrect. And not a single manager spoke to us. It took us 9 hours. The matter is still unresolved up to now. They refuse to refund ticket payment, even if it was their mistake and promised that they will refund the money. Now, they are falsely creating a story about our reason in going to DFA, just so we don’t get a refund and their agent won't get charged the amount of money we paid them up front. I told them up front not to pursue their idea, as I was not agreeing to it and it was illegal.

When I reached home, my two cameras were missing. Those were expensive ones. Please return my cameras. In many years I've used Cebu Pacific, this is the first time I lost items.

Aside from my ticket on March 12, BKK-MLA, I was also booked MLA-HK on March 13 Flight 5J-119 7:55 am. Cebu Pacific check-in counter officers at Suvarnabhumi Airport headed by Khun ** insisted that we have to come back the next day since they cannot accommodate us anymore and that they can't do anything for they already asked some people already boarded to give their seats away. I was at the airport before 10 pm but the lanes were all full and slowly moving. At around 11pm, we noticed that something is really going wrong as the officers are trying to compromise with the people in front to come back the day in exchange of a round trip ticket that will expire in 6 months. Saying things over and over again to the 27 people waiting made us burst in anger as we all have different important reasons why we should be arriving our destination as confirmed and paid.

I demanded for a ticket going to manila with another airline anytime until afternoon but they said that they do not have the capacity to do so and they cannot do something more about it. The officer even told me to buy myself a ticket then have it reimbursed to Cebu Pacific. Crazy! Why should I spend for another ticket that I already booked and paid a few months in advance to avoid hassles?

The officer told me to go on with the March 13 flight assuring that I will still have 3 hours to catch my flight MLA-HK at 7:55 am.

They took my luggage which did not have locks because I always carried it with me. Unfortunately, upon arrival at the airport in Manila, I found out that my Nokia communicator was missing, obviously stolen by Cebu Pacific personnel. Besides, they charged me in excess of $40 US because I am allowed 7 kilos. 13 less 7 is 6 x10 = 60; 100 less 60 is 40 which is to be refunded to me. As a frequent flyer of your airline, may I expect swift and just action on this complaint? Return the Nokia phone to me and refund me the $40. Thanks.

The prices that Cebu Pacific charges for this route are much higher than the fare for the same route from Manila to Singapore and back. This is very unfair. Since Cebu is south of Manila, the air mileage from Cebu to Singapore is less than the same for Manila to Singapore. Yet we, people in Cebu, have to pay more. The amount of fuel that the airplane needs to use from Cebu is less than the fuel requirement from Manila. Why then should we, Cebu people, have to pay more?

In addition, the name of the airline is Cebu Pacific, not Manila Pacific. So Cebu should be the exit point to any flight leaving the Philippines, not Manila. Why then do we people in Cebu have to pay to fly to Manila when we fly outside the country? Cebu Pacific should be loyal to its name and the Cebu people.

We wanted to visit Singapore from our home in Cebu, but we don't want to pay the higher flying cost that Cebu Pacific charges to Cebu people, which is so unfair. The cost of flying outside of the Philippines should be cheaper from Cebu than Manila and not the other way around as is the present policy of Cebu Pacific Airlines.

Cebu Pacific's pricing policy also hurts all the people in the Cebu area economically. Manila is already crowded enough already, without forcing everyone to fly to Manila to go anywhere. The high cost of flying from Cebu is like an extra tax on the people of Cebu which keeps them down compared to the people of Manila. Why can't "Cebu" Pacific favor "Cebu" City over Manila?

On August 20, 2010, we checked in at the airport counter. Since my wife is coming with us on our return flight to Cebu, we were surprised that they only gave us 2 boarding passes, one for me and the other for my wife, while they could not issue a boarding pass for my son since they couldn't find the name of my son in their computer. So, they advised me to go to the airline counter within the airport. Much to my surprise, they told me that I have to pay another SGD 8.00 (Singapore Dollars) so they could issue a boarding pass to my son. I argued with them regarding the additional fee and they told me that I re-booked my ticket. I told them that I did re-book my ticket online because it was purchased online, as what the airline advised.

I was arguing with a staff member and she was very arrogant, not even words of empathy came out. Her face looked towards elsewhere every time I spoke to her. So, I decided to pay the fee since my son was already feeling uncomfortable at the airport. Just when we thought that everything was going smoothly, the staff member made a mistake. We only noticed it by the time we were clearing immigration and the officer told us that we should always be careful and always check whatever documents we have when going through immigration.

It turns out that the airline staff member tore off the boarding pass of my wife and instead printed another boarding pass for me and my son, so now I have 2 boarding passes and 1 for my son. My wife had to go back to the check-in counter all by herself only to be refused by the staff member. Since I was needed, my wife returned back to the immigration counter only to be told that it was not possible for me to go out since I was already cleared by immigration. So, she went back. But by the time she reached the counter, the staff member was already searching through her garbage bin and the the new boarding pass was already issued. This was so humiliating and so pathetic.

The staff member should have acted professionally. They must learn to understand the discomfort and humiliation brought about by the situation but not even a very polite "sorry" was uttered from that staff member. We sent several complaints on their website but we haven't received any reply. Every time I re-booked my ticket, even though I purchased them online, I have to call their call center in the Philippines just to inform them about the changes in flight schedule. It was so troublesome since I have to call long distance here in Singapore.

Boycott the Philippines and Cebu Pacific Airlines. The whole country is totally corrupt! It is one of the worst countries on the planet!

*Literally, I could not sit in the seat without spreading my legs. Even then my knees pushed into the seat in front of me. And when spreading my legs I offended the passenger sitting next to me because I was pressing my leg into her 'space' and leg.

*Man in front of me like to put his hand over his head and on the back of his seat. His hand was within 8" of my face because of the seats being so close together. And this was without him reclining his seat.

*The eating tray could not be lowered more than 1/2 way because it bumped into my stomach.

* When submitting a complaint to the crew, I had to use the back of the seat in front of me to support the paper I was writing on. This was because there literally wasn't room to write on a hard surface or in a normal writing position.

* Crew were nice and apologized.

I believe this close seating presents a potential safety problem. In the event of rough weather I would have had my knees slammed into the seat hardware in front of me. In case of a crash landing I believe the close proximity of the seats would have prevented me from exiting. Anyone over 5' 9" and 170 lbs should not use this airline.

Let me know if you want pictures of this seating. My daughter took pics of this ridiculous seating arrangement.

Approximately 55 min before the flight, we had finally made it to the front of the line. We were next to be serviced. A gentleman in charge of a Korean bus charter walked up, just as we were to be serviced and handed the customer service agent 30+ passports. The agent serviced the Korean customers and did not service us until 40 prior to departure. She refused to service us, citing the 45 min pre-departure check-in. She refused to refund us or put us on the next flight. We were out $175 USD. We found a flight next day from Iloilo and paid an additional $100 for taxi fare and an additional $175 to get to Cebu City. Completely unacceptable!

On June 12, 2010, I threw a ticket in the trash and bought a new Zest Air ticket, because I knew I could not get a refund from Cebu Pacific and I did not want to wait 2 1/2 hours on a delayed flight like I had the previous Tuesday, Davao to Cebu.

On 21/05/10, I called the Bangkok office on number 693-7888. I gave the details of the flight to be booked. I also asked to add an extra 15kg to my baggage allowance asking my full allowance 30kg and I also asked to cash in travel fund I was entitled to. It took me two phone calls just to get this far. The price of the flight was for some reason more expensive, which I was not happy about. Once the booking was correct, I was informed by the Bangkok office that they did not accept credit card payments over the phone and I would have to visit the office to make a payment in cash. I told the advisor I wanted to make a payment with my credit card and that the office was miles from me and it wasn't possible for me to visit in person. She lied and said there was no other way to pay.

From previous experience, I knew there was a call center where I could pay over the phone but unfortunately it was in Cebu or Manila and I would have to pay for international call rates. I now tried to call the Cebu and Manila call centers to make a payment over the phone. After five attempts of calling the office, speaking to five different people and continually having the call cut off, I decided to try and visit a more local Bangkok office to make the payment. I took a taxi to the address advertised on the internet only to discover when I arrived at the office it was closed. Your advisors in Bangkok had mentioned nothing about any of the offices being closed and I had just again wasted my time and money trying to book this ticket.

When I returned to my hotel, I tried again to call the payment line and this time I eventually got through to an agent and we managed to complete the call to the point of authorizing my card payment. At this point, the agents all have my telephone number and email address to use for communication should they need to. As the payment was being processed, the advisor said that if my card was not authorized, the flight would be cancelled. I told her I needed the flight and it should not be cancelled under any circumstances. The battery on my phone began to run low. I informed the agent of this and asked her to email me the itinerary receipt. I received no further communication from Cebu Pacific. The next day I had to make a trip and did not have access to the internet or my email.

When I returned early on 23/05/10, I checked my email and no itinerary was there. I was in a rush to pack and make my flight to Hongkong. When I arrived in Hongkong, I asked them to check my itinerary and they informed me my flight had been cancelled as my card was not authorized. They told me my only option now was to pay the full fare which was more than double the price. I waited to speak to a manager and was told that they were agents of Cebu Pacific and had no control over the tickets. I would have to call Manila to discuss it. He agreed to allow me to call from the airport. This call took almost an hour, immediately asked to speak to a manager and for the whole time I was on the call I was not able to. I spent 80% of the call on silent hold waiting for the assistant to get back to me and every time she did it was without a manager and she was talking nonsense answering questions I hadn't even asked her. I was forced to buy a standby fare ticket for the flight to the amount of HK$2423.00. This payment was made on exactly the same credit card which I had been previously told had not been authorized.

I was then told I would have to pay HK$45 per kilo my baggage was overweight. I managed to get the airline to agree to waive this fee but only because I was so exhausted, stressed and at this point in tears! My flight was below average as always while traveling with Cebu Pacific. I have traveled with many budget airlines and your flights are always by far the worst. The seat I was given didn't even recline for me to try and sleep comfortably. The temperature was freezing cold and as always was not offered any complimentary drinks or blankets for the duration of the flight.