The Visa Collector

A blog about travelling with a Filipino passport, and life overseas

Archives for Airports

Planespotting: KC-135 tankers @ BHM

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I took these photos last March. The USAF base for these planes was in full view of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM), in Alabama. Been reading about KC-135 tankers all my life. Finally got to see them in real-life albeit from afar.

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Filed under Airports
Jun 29, 2013

Planespotting: Airbus A380 @ SFO

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Couldn’t get an aisle seat for my Chicago – San Francisco flight. But I was rewarded with the following views of the largest of today’s jumbo jets.

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Filed under Airports
Jun 28, 2013

Need flexibility? Get your name on two flights

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I had always thought that the standby list was primarily for folks who didn’t hear their alarm clocks in the morning and missed their flights. A symptom of travel plans gone terribly wrong. That was, apparently, an unfairly dismissive generalization.

On a recent trip to Dallas TX, I booked my return flight to San Francisco via United Airlines (UA) flight 6220 which was set to depart at 7:13 pm. It was my first time teaching a particular class format for my new company. So erring on the side of caution, I booked an evening flight to make sure there was enough time to get everything done.

However by 10:30 am that day, the work day was over. So I hustled to the airport and sought an earlier flight. There was a 30-day old baby waiting for me back home and an SR-71 Blackbird travelling at Mach 3 couldn’t me get out of there fast enough.

Walking to the bag drop-off counter, I braced my self for a hefty cancellation fee and fare-difference charge. To my surprise, the UA attendant at the counter informed me that flight cancellation wasn’t necessary.

She instead advised me to sign up to be a standby passenger on an earlier flight. If a seat became available, I would be accommodated. If none were to be had, my confirmed seat on my original flight would still be available. There was still a $75 charge, but only if I actually managed to get a flight. My misconceptions about the list were obliterated completely.

Getting on the list was easy. It’s part of the normal bag drop / check-in process and could be initiated from any self-service kiosk. By the time I was done, this is what the kiosk screen looked like, and the kiosk issued me a boarding pass with the word “Standby” lieu of a seat assignment.

kiosk  pass-stdby

The first available flight was UA 6291, which was due to depart on 1:39 pm. PERFECT!!!!

I had been the first to sign up for the San Francisco standby list, so the first slot was mine.

list

For privacy reasons, passenger names aren’t completely displayed on the list. So for example, if your name were “Cornelius Manswolfenstein”, you will appear on the list as “Man C”.

UA 6291, however, was a disappointment. All passengers made it to the door on time. The fact that they asked for volunteers to take a later flight should have given me a clue about my chances. But I tried staying optimistic . . . to no avail. The ramp door closed and it was “goodbye plane”.

By then, I vaguely recalled that the attendant at the bag drop-off had said that my standby status would be automatically carried over to next flight. That sounded waaay too convenient so I stayed on my toes and kept an eye on my check-in status on my United mobile app on my phone. Most gate attendants had left by the time the plane was pulling away from the gate, and the lone remaining attendant was escorted a passenger with an issue to his alternate gate. But with my trusty app . . . what could go wrong? Right? By the time the 1:39 flight was out of sight, both flight records disappeared from the app!!! Not only was I no longer on the flight that had just left, there was no record of my original flight either. Cue claxons.

By then there was nobody at the gate. Air travel in the US was so routine, the airlines seem to assume that everybody knew how everything — like the standby list — worked, right? Umm . . . no.

So off I went to pester United gate attendants at two other gates, as well as the customer service desk, for information about how to make sure I was still in the running for the next seat on the next flight. It turns out that once you’re on the list you stay on the list. My standby status was automatically transferred to the next flight and stayed in the same spot on the queue.

As for the disappearing mobile app record. It re-appeared several minutes later. This time with the next flight appeared in place of the previous 1:39 flight. Apparently the app discards the entire old record before it displays the updated information.

app2 app1

The next opportunity was UA5591, set to depart at 3:28pm. It was the last flight before my original flight. So the wait for the final scheduled passenger to board the plane was nail biting. After the boarding line was exhausted, and a quick head count on the plane to ensure seat availability was completed, the gate attendant called me over and handed me my boarding pass. I was going home!!!

pass

It wasn’t until I got to San Francisco that it occurred to me to ask “what about my checked-in bag?” Although I couldn’t get on to the 1:39 plane, my bag apparently did. Note the flight number on the baggage claim tag: UA 6291. It was waiting for me at the customer service desk at the baggage claim area, and I didn’t have to wait for it on the baggage carousel.

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All in all, it was trouble-free experience. I got home 4-hours ahead of schedule . . . in time for the next diaper change.

 

Apr 27, 2013

Why all the funny airport codes?

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If you travel often enough, you will run into airport codes that make sense:

DVO = Davao International Airport (shameless plug for the hometown)

SFO = San Francisco Airport

SJC = San Jose Airport

The “O” in these codes were still mysterious, but at least the first two letters matched up with the host city. Then you have codes that that just come out of nowhere:

YOW = Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport

SNA = John Wayne Airport (Orange County)

ORD = Chicago O’Hare Airport

Shouldn’t Chicago be  “COH” or something?

I had just gotten back from a trip to Chicago, so its ORD was top of mind when I did a casual search of the answer. It was a fortunate choice, because it was one of the samples in the following 1994 Airline Pilot’s Association magazine article. The rest of the article is available here. The relevant portion has been reproduced below, in accordance with fair use principles.

Oh, still wondering about the world’s busiest airport, O’Hare International, and its ORD code? Well once upon a time, before the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Colonel Robert McCormick suggested a name change as tribute to pilot Lt. Cmdr. Edward “Butch” O’Hare, United States Navy, there was an airstrip well to the northwest of Chicago with a quaint, peaceful name—Orchard Field

Now to find out what “MPH” means.

Filed under Airports
Mar 18, 2013

Favorite inflight safety video

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I’ve been travelling for a few years now, and have been on over a dozen airlines. This remains the most entertaining inflight safety video yet . . . happily its from the motherland.

Filed under Airports
Jun 12, 2012

About the Philippine travel tax and terminal fee

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The Philippine Airlines website presents the following information the travel tax on their FAQ. Sadly, the link on this page that is supposed to take you to a government site for more information leads to a site that has been suspended.

From: http://www.philippineairlines.com/faq/checkin/check_in.jsp

How much is the Philippine Travel Tax?

For adult passengers, the travel tax is PHP1,620 (Business and Economy class) and PHP810 for children (2-11 years).

I bought my ticket from your website. Is travel tax already included in the total amount paid? No. Philippine Travel Tax is not included in the total fare quoted online. For international journeys, Philippine travel tax, if applicable, shall be collected by the Philippine Tourism Authority at Philippine Airports.

Travel tax shall be levied on (a) all citizens of the Philippines; (b) permanent resident aliens; and (c) non-immigrant aliens who have stayed in the Philippines for more than one (1) year, who are leaving the country.

If you are exempted from paying the Philippine Travel Tax or entitled to a reduced travel tax, please secure applicable certificates such as follows, from Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), Department of Tourism (DOT) before making reservations:

Tax Exemption Certificate (TEC) if you are exempted from paying the Philippine Travel Tax

Reduced Travel Tax Certificate (RTTC) if you are qualified for a reduced Philippine Travel Tax and

Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) if you are an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW)

How much airport terminal fee will I pay for my flight?

Airport terminal fees are PHP550 (effective 01Feb12) for international departures and PHP200 for local/domestic departures. These fees will be collected at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Centennial Terminal 2).

For AirPhil Express code-shared flights, PHP200 per passenger will be collected at the NAIA Terminal 3.

Filed under Airports
Jun 3, 2012

Rethinking the terminal fee at Philippine airports

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If there is anything about going home to the Philippines that I really really hate, it’s dealing with the cash-only terminal fees at the airport.

The first time I ran into this was on my first return trip to Taiwan in 2000. The explanation they gave me for the fee was that since my ticket was purchased outside the Philippines, it did not include the terminal fee in the ticket price. So I had to fork out the funds myself — on the spot.

Over the years, I had learned to deal with this gargantuan incovenience by making sure I always had the required amount with me long before I got to the airport. But on my last visit to the Philippines after a lengthy hiatus, my initial calculations proved insufficient. The fees had gone up significantly, and I had to go through the expletive riddled experience of finding out that there were no ATMs past the secure zone of the security area . . .

. . . and that I had to exit the building . . . find an ATM . . . and then re- enter the security inspection line.

I typically arrive well ahead of my flight, so getting in the first time was a breeze. Not so after the trip to the ATM. By the time I returned to the security line it had grown to a very long slithering snake.

Virtually every foreigner I know who visits the Philippines for the first time, and who unfortunately didn’t have a friend or family member who was familiar with this procedural frakas, goes through the same W-T-F experience that I went through above.

This problem doesn’t kill anyone. Nobody gets hurt by this inconvenience (at least as far as I know. Has a drunk tourist ever let fists fly because of this?). But I maintain that it is still something that needs to be looked at. Here are some reasons off the top of my head:

It is counter-productive tourism to promotion efforts. This blatant display of inefficiency is the last thing tourists see as they leave the country. What do you think they will tell their peers about their experience? The Department of Tourism promotions budget for 2012 is P250M wouldn’t it be a shame for all that money to only bring in one-time-only visitors who don’t come back?

Delicadeza. Wikipilipinas describes this word as: “a sense of propriety refers to sensitivity regarding the limits of proper behavior or ethics in a situation. Filipinos try to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.”

I don’t know about you, but I feel mooched when I pay with these fees. It doesn’t matter how polite the people at the fee collectors are, these feel like superfluous fees because its just doesn’t make sense to collect them separately from the ticket . . . and in cash no less. No credit or debit cards allowed. Given how cash transactions are associated with efforts to avoid scrutiny . . . it just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

This problem has been around for over a decade now. If a problem this simple can’t be addressed . . . how much more with even more complicated problems?

It’s time to speak up about this. Join the Facebook group below . . . tell your friends . . . and have your voices heard by the people in-charge who appear to be asleep at the switch:

Rethink the terminal fee at Philippine airports

Photos from NAIA Terminal 2, December 2010

 
Filed under Airports, Impressions
Jun 2, 2012

Planespotting: Airbus A380 at LAX

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2011 was a very quiet year travel-wise. Only one trip to Canada, and that was it (lots of snow-related observations on that trip, but that’s for another post). 2012 is shaping up to be more interesting.

One of the side-benefits of travel is plane spotting. This is the first Airbus A380 I ever saw. Thanks, in no small part, to the fact that I couldn’t get an aisle seat on this flight from Taipei.


 
   
Filed under Airports
May 7, 2012

Phones as boarding passes

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My wife and I flew to my nephew’s wedding in New Jersey last month. While processing our online check-in, she noticed the mobile boarding pass option. Keen to try new things, she signed us up for it. I was new to this pass, and hadn’t read up on them by the time we got to the airport. So I walked up to the security line cold . . . not a particularly good idea.

I knew my wife emailed it to me, and that it involved a Quick Response (QR) code of some sort. So when the pre-screening attendant at the security line asked to see my pass I whipped out my iPhone  confidently . . . opened my email and looked for the code . . . and kept looking. I had to step out of the line to figure out what was going on.

Turns out the mail simply contained a link to the code. The image below on the left shows the email. Tapping on the the “Get mobile boarding document” opened a browser and voila . . . the boarding pass QR code appears. See image on the right.

At the San Francisco airport, I showed the code at three points: to the pre-screening attendant at the security line, to the TSA officer at the security line, and then finally at the departure gate. The latter two locations had code readers like this:

I usually switch my phone over to flight mode before boarding the plane. So as a precaution, I took a screen capture of my boarding pass before getting onboard. These are the images is used for this post.

The boarding pass is very convenient, and I intend to use it for my flights moving forward. But as with all things new, if you don’t take the time to figure out how it works before you use it . . . you will initially lose more time than you save.

Aug 12, 2011

Power @ airport

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When traveling, I lug around two laptops, a digital camera, and an iPhone. This stuff isn’t checked-in with the rest of my luggage. These are on my person as I wander around airports looking for a seat . . . and a power outlet. As an Economy class traveler, one that still hasn’t earned enough miles in his travels, the lounges are not an option . . . yet.

At most airports, there is a silent race for the sweet spot: the chair-next-to-the-outlet. These are few and far in between. If someone beats you to it . . . happily most airports I’ve been too have had clean floors. Here’s a sampling of both from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport

Some airports like San Francisco Int’l Airport (SFO) offer special booths or kiosks specifically for “wired” patrons.

Terminal 2 (Centennial) at the international airport in Manila (MNL) has powered high-top tables at the pre-departure area.

These facilities, however, are often away from the gates. So if your not careful, you’ll be at a disadvantage when the embarkation lines form, and consequently behind in the race for overhead space on the plane.

“The dream” would be to have power outlets where the seats are. Happily, airports are responding to that need.

The Ottawa airport (YOW) offers a few seats with outlets for both regular power sockets, as well as devices that draw power from USB ports.

At the moment, my favorite seats are in the San Jose airport (SJC). They’re a nice blend of style and function, just what you’d expect from a Bay Area/Silicon Valley airport.

Just a word of caution with these outlets though. Make sure that your actually getting juice out of them by pressing the red button, between the outlets, to reset the circuit breaker. Found that tid bit out the hard way.

Nov 13, 2010