Zest Air: How I Love and Loathe You

August 15, 2013. Our trip to Iloilo was planned way ahead, hence the promo tickets that we bought from Zest Air. Julie and I were so excited about the trip that we decided to start it with a dinner and a movie on a Thursday night. Our flight was 4:20 a.m. Friday morning so we made it a "walang tulugan" event.

August 16, 2013. Being at the airport at 2 a.m. just to be advised that our 4:20 a.m. flight was moved to 8:55 a.m. I don't even understand the airline staff explaining why our flight was delayed. This is a first for me with Zest Air since I've been using their services since 2008. My flights were always on time.

Killing time at the airport...

My first time to sleep at the the airport uncomfortable. Waiting for our flight for six hours was insanely boring! That is if you've got enough sleep, but we haven't had any so we tried to sleep anyways. I even lie my back on the chairs but after a few minutes, ouch, backache! So I then tried to sleep sitting. I had just a headache after an hour. After a few more minutes of turning on our seats, we gave up. No more sleeping! A cup of White Chocolate Mocha from Seattle's Best helped us to stay awake.

Then comes the departure. Smooth sailing, I might say. Yada-yada-yada, usual flight instructions and everything. 

Then at the arrival, the plane already landed but we can't get off the plane because one of the engines was still running and the pilots wasn't able to stop it. 
We waited almost 30 minutes for advise from Manila base, as per the captain. Super tense moment! Then finally the doors opened, but there are no steps/ladders for us to get off! I'm already sensing tension between passengers at this time. Then moments later, to ease the tension, I think, an old man from the back commented, in Ilonggo, and this is what I understand on what he said: "Ano ba yan, delayed na nga, ayaw mamatay ng isang engine, pagbukas ng pinto, palundagin pa mga pasahero." He said it jokingly, that's why we couldn't help but laugh. Tension eased. 

Then we continued our journey to Iloilo City and Guimaras for our weekend adventure.

August 17, 2013: "Dear Valued Guest, please be informed that all Zest Air flights on Aug. 18, '13 have been ordered cancelled. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by these cancellations..." says the text message that I've received Friday night.

CANCELLED FLIGHT! But then I told myself, just calm down, everything will be all right. But in my mind, I'm already cursing the airline. I tried calling the customer hotline but I couldn't get through. I tried calling several times to the point that I asked my cousin to call them also in Manila while I am in Guimaras.

Now I feel much better, relaxed, calm. I will enjoy my weekend because this is just one of the downsides of travelling. At least I experienced it locally and not in some foreign land. Tomorrow is another day.

August 18, 2013: Checked out from Ong Bun Pension then off to the airport. Since we were notified of the cancelled flight, we brought foods for the long wait because we anticipated the chaos in the Zest Air boarding pass ticketing booth between their staff and the pissed off passengers, just like what we saw on the news the night before.

We went straight to the ticketing booth. I saw that there's only two passengers on the line, I thought, this must be good. 

I handed my confirmation ticket to Kichi, the Zest Air staff, and she apologetically explained about the cancelled flight. Even the Zest Air security staff apologized to us. Then Kichi said that we will be transferred to Philippine Airlines and that there's two flights available for that day: flight for 10:20 a.m. and the other is at night. I automatically chose the 10:20 a.m. flight since it's 9:00 and we're already at the airport. 

We waited for the boarding pass for at least 10 minutes while we ate our breakfast in one of the benches beside the booth. We just sat there while Kichi ran back and forth from Zest Air booth to the PAL ticketing office.

Thankfully, we didn't wait long to board the plane. Our flight to Manila was on time.

Eventhough Zest Air pissed me off with the delayed flight and the cancelled flight, they makeup for it with the fast rebooking of our flight back to Manila, along with the apologies we got from their staff. 

As I said, this is just a bump in travelling, you have to have a plan B. But then my plan B slapped me in the face with the MV Thomas Aquinas sinking, plus there's a low pressure area brought by typhoon Maring. I got scared travelling by sea.

Great weekend getaway to Iloilo and Guimaras, plus the misfortunes at the airport, equals some lessons learned and experiences earned. Happy travels!