PH>VN: Tacloban to Ho Chi Minh?

Let's go to Vietnam, okay lang? Okay na, andito na ako as I write this eh! 😁

Ah eh.., this is still my Philippine Travel Notes blog, and as always, I will not regale you with sights and scenes of other countries to entice you in going there. Aba oy, loyal Pinoy pa rin ako. Sometimes, I just need to describe them (like now) for comparison purposes, with travel-things in our dear inang bayan!

So, I flew from Tacloban to Ho Chi Minh, but it required 3 connecting flights with layover in Singapore.

Look at the white arrows representing my flight routes - 1] Tacloban to Cebu on PAL, transit lang (hey I passed by T2 on a bright time of day!), 2] Cebu to Singapore on Air Asia (slept at Changi Airport T2, as usual, para libre!), then early this morning, 3] Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon yan!) on Scoot Air.

There are new (and updated) 'learnings' I want to tell you! As for the yellow arrows, yun ang pabalik ko, 4 flights yun! But let's talk about them later - as coming here alone, was already a long (but fun) story!

Make that plural - yes, stories! Many things here, there and everywhere, all about traveling!

Oh, before everyone starts asking, let me just as well explain why that circuitous route, when I actually had no business nor activities in those cities I passed-by (Cebu and Singapore). Answer: Gusto ko eh!

Hahaha! I think I said this in a previous article: it really depends on the personal circumstances of the one traveling and/or the one spending for it, if not one-and-the-same. It normally involves 2 important factors: 1] Schedules - the availability of flights (if at all there are), plus the availability of the traveler; 2] Finances - the ability to pay for tickets and related expenses. Then you choose the best mix for you.

But do you know how and where to check schedules?

Note: known or popular routes may not be the cheapest, although the cheapest may not be the best!

Take the above destination as an example. The most common Pinoy blunder is to think Manila, since it's a known fact that, if there are any flights to Vietnam, it would come only from Manila. True, but not necessarily the cheapest. Pero, pwede naman ako dumaan ng Bangkok muna, before Vietnam, di ba?

Okay, we are getting there. Whoah!

Hmm, if pwede BKK, eh di pwede rin HK, KL or SG muna instead of direct MNL to HCM diba? Tumpak! But that's only half the effort! Ows? Yes, since we can/should also consider, that going to those cities, di naman kelangan manggaling sa Manila lang! We have many international flights from many places!

Soo, paano nga hahanapin ang schedules at ang cheapest fares? Itatanong sa airlines o website nila? Itatanong sa travel agency o website nila? officemates or friends? Yes to all, but all of them are passé!

The simpler way is to check non-airline online travel search tools. They come in so many names such as Online Travel Agencies, Online Booking Platform, Travel Aggregators, Travel Search Engines, Travel Marketplaces, Virtual Travel Agencies etc. Remember: you're browsing to just look, not book instantly!

Examples of those sites are Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak, Priceline, Trivago, CheapoAir, Traveloka, ah there are so many! Some are annoying, dumb or even shady, kaya ingat konti! Then, note your choices.

I'm used to skyscanner [they're not a sponsor of this blog, fave ko lang talaga], but the simplest way is by mere google search. Example, i-type mo lang "Tacloban to Saigon", maglalabasan na ang choices!

Teka teka... bakit naman nasali ang Saigon sa eksampolang ito? Aw, baka 'di ka pa nasabihan, Saigon was the original name, but was changed into Ho Chi Minh noong 1976 pa! But it is okay, some people (including me), even in Vietnam itself, even many websites still use those two names interchangeably.

Just don't over-indulge in that interchangeability. Baka pati yung West End Musical na Miss Saigon eh tawagin mong "Miss Ho Chi Minh" haha! Masagwa! Tao kasi yan si Ho Chi Minh. Para mong sinabi na ang Miss Quezon City eh si Miss Manuel Luis Quezon City"! He was usually called by their citizens as "Uncle Ho". But don't also insist that the West End Musical of Lea Salonga be called "Miss Ho". Kalain!

Here's a nice trivia: until today Ho Chi Minh City still uses SGN as its IATA destination code!

Okay, back to how I book flights, because we are not yet done!

After checking my destinations and preferred itinerary, I compare their prices as is (in those websites) versus prices displayed on the airlines websites. Sometimes it is cheaper with those sites, sometimes cheaper with the airline. So I decide on which to buy, taking note that if I do not trust a site, I won't buy.

Don't worry ayaw kahadlok, those searches take only a few sconds oi! Pwede ra sa phone!

So, after so many bla bla blah above, how much did that route cost me? Around PHP10,300lang!

Breakdown:
TAC-CEB PHP1981 PAL. Reserved on 6A.
CEB-SIN PHP3689 AirAsia. Reserved on 14F.
SIN-SGN PHP4598 ScootAir. Reserved on 5A.
*Note those amounts are not even just fares. They already include seat reservations - oo me bayad na ngayon yan, mula nang nauso ang mga budget airlines na yan -nakigaya naman ang full service airlines!

TAC-MNL that time was priced halos 3x of TAC-CEB price, and there was no connection. Uuwi pa ako sa Fairview? How much would that have been by Grab. OR how much gas would that have been kung nagpa-sundo ako? While in Cebu, I just transferred from T1 to T2, picture-picture, kain dito kain doon!

Overnight layover at Changi, libre. Tapos lalakad lang to departure gate going to Vietnam. If I stayed in Fairview, sasakay ng malayo, hassle pa sa airport, at ano ang pipictyuran ko sa NAIA 1, 2 or 3? Aber?!

Hahaha! Actually, it was just "tsamba" that all economic, social and physical considerations were not in favor of me transiting in MNL! At times kasi, it happens that you prefer this or that, pero mas mura ang other choices. In fact, the route I did was not cheapest. Via Kuala Lumpur was lowest. Ayaw lang!

Thus, our 2 important factors above should have a 3rd one - the travelers' preferences - including his wants and whims. His comfort & convenience! Kung saan ka masaya, doon ka, basta kaya pa ng bulsa!

Tama!

Okay okay, let us talk about details, the sights and scenes along the way, mag-aatreber nanaman tayo, ano nanaman pakikialaman ko (rants & comments lang naman), 'til I got to Ho Chi Minh this morning!

This must be another 'series' of many blog entries - nararamdaman ko na!

But let's start from the very beginning - my departure from Tacloban!

In the next entry.., I mean.., ahihihi!