June 13, 2008 – My flight from DMIA (Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is at 11:45 AM via Air Asia.  The flight is about 2 hours and 45 minutes unless otherwise. 

It is very convinient for me to leave the country from DMIA instead of going to NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) in Manila.  Less travel hours, less traffic and less expenses.  I hope that DMIA will cater more destinations so a lot of people will benefit from it.

Before I booked my flight to Kuala Lumpur, I went to a travel agency and asked how much is a round trip ticket to Kuala Lumpur.  They quoted me PHP 26,000.00 ($590.00, $1.00 = PHP 44.00 convertion rate) via Malaysian Airlines and that is a Manila-Kuala Lumpur-Manila.  The agent advised me to take Air Asia instead because it’s much cheaper rate than Malaysian Airlines and I will leave from Clark.  She told me it’s about PHP10,000.00 and if I agree she will book me online.  I thought of why not book it myself since I have a Credit Card.  So I said that I will be back with the booking ‘coz I’m in a rush.  What I did when I reached home, I booked it myself and printed the itinerary.

During the booking process, you have options to have a meal or not.  I chosed not to have a meal during the flight in thinking that the flight will only last for an hour, I was wrong.  I mentioned earlier that it’s almost 3 hours flight.  

While I was checking-in my baggage , that was the time that I knew about the baggage weight limit.  The baggage weight allowed is 15 kilos.  Mine was almost 22 kilos because of the Filipino food (can goods and delicacies) that I brought for my buddies at work (you know who you are guys).  A kilo is about PHP 200.00 so I paid PH 1,320.00 extra. 

Then I have to pay Travel Tax of PHP 550.00 and another tax for PHP 1,600.00 (I can’t recall what is it) before I can go to the Immigration department.  This time I passed them, unlike the incident I had last February on my way to Singapore.  (Click here to read that story). 

While waiting I had a chance to surf the internet with my iPhone with their free WiFi access.  Wow, DMIA have a free Wifi unlike other international airports you have to pay the connection. 

To round it up, I recommend Air Asia to everyone, they have courteous ground and flight staff and the plane was not bad at all.  In fact I like the leather seats.  The only thing is that if you are late to board the plane, you can’t choose the seat you like.  They boarding pass didn’t have an assigned seat, probably it was only an Asian flight.

My next story will be my trip to Malaysia.

Caption: Aerial view of Clark Airbase, Angeles City.

Click here to see more photos.