Cebu Pacific Air’s Piso Fare promo has caught the fancy of many would-be budget travelers and backpackers. After all, who wouldn’t want to go to far-flung place at virtually no cost? But before you get your panties in a bunch, let tell you how it exactly works.

First, Cebu Pacific’s Piso Fare isn’t really “Piso”.

Cebu Pacific’s Piso fare costs more than “piso” (₱1 / USUS$ 0.03). Instead, “piso” refers to the base fare only. This means that the final amount that you’ll have to pay may vary based on additional carrier-imposed fees and government taxes. Among all these additional costs, the biggest chunk can be blamed on the fuel surcharge, the value of which depends on the distance to be travelled.

Here’s a summary of all these additional fees as of Jun 23^rd, 2014:

₱ 120 - Web Admin Fee,

₱ 200 to ₱ 550 – Fuel surcharge for domestic flights

₱ 900 to ₱ 5,400 – Fuel surcharge for international flights

₱ 50 to 550 – Terminal Fees

₱ 430 to ₱ 1,138 – Country-specific taxes

Check-in Baggage

For example, I booked a round-trip September 2014 piso fare flight to Hong Kong. The total base fare was ₱ 2, but the miscellaneous costs jacked up the total price to ₱3734.51.

Effectively, this means that a one-way ticket from Manila to Hong Kong is around ₱1867 (US$ 43). But then, the cheapest non-promo round-trip fare to Hong Kong costs more than ₱ 7000 (US$ 160), so the piso fare option is still very cheap.

Second, Cebu Pacific’s Piso Fare Seats are Limited.

If you want more choices, click the monthly view link.

Piso fare seats are limited. That’s why you will need to adjust your schedule so you can find a flight with available piso seats. First, choose a date that falls within the travel period where the promo applies. If the initial results page does not offer piso fares or has piso fares on inconvenient dates, click “monthly view” so you can see all your options. It’s worthy to note that non-booked piso fare seats from an older promo may still be available, so be on the lookout for those.

Choosing the monthly view option will show all the dates with available piso fare seats, just like in the image show below:

Cebu Pacific Piso Fare Monthly View

Third, you don’t need a credit card to pay for Cebu Pacific’s Piso Fare seats.

Credit cards remain to be the most popular method to pay for piso fare seats. However, there are other ways to pay for your tickets. Aside from credit cards, Piso Fare bookings can be paid through:

Debit cards (e.g. UnionBank EON Card)

ATM cards via ATM Machines (e.g. BDO and Megalink member banks)

Bancnet Online

LBC Branches nationwide

Bayad Center

Robinsons Department Stores

To check your bank’s eligibility, or for a complete list of payment options, click here.

Instead of credit cards, I use a Visa/Mastercard debit card. My UnionBank EON Visa Debit Card, for example, costs only ₱ 350 per year to maintain, there’s no required maintaining balance, and it works almost just as well as any credit card.

Fourth, mind the piso fare promo’s fine print.

It’s too good to be true if it sounds too good to be true.

Cebu Pacific Piso Fare seats come with additional terms and conditions, most of which are far from trivial. Let me list them down, one by one:

Piso fare bookings are non-refundable, so don’t book one unless you’re certain that you’ll use it.

Piso Fare seats are still rebookable, but are subject to fees and seat availability.

You can still increase your baggage allowance up to four (4) hours before your flight schedule. Any later than that and the excess baggage costs will be pretty hefty.

Fifth, piso fare or no piso fare, here are a few extra tips.

Hand-carry Luggage: Cebu Pacific (and most other airlines) are pretty lenient with hand-carried baggage. The standard maximum weight is 7 kg but this rule is seldom enforced. I have even seen people who bring big bayongs on board.

Fluids in Bottles: Airport security confiscates – with no exceptions – any sealed bottle or container whose volume exceeds 150 mL. If you plan to bring a hand sanitizer, liquid soap, or whatever, make sure that the package is small enough. In case you really need to bring one, put that container in your check-in baggage. Lighters and matches are also confiscated.

Check-in Baggage: Airline companies in general are also lenient with excess baggage if the weight is over the limit by just a kilogram or two. If you’re extra nice to the check-in counter person, he may even let you go over 5 kilos or more. For example, I was cracking jokes with the check-in counter guy in Changi Airport. He then found out that my excess baggage was 6 kilos, but he just gave me a cynical smile and let me go.

If you have additional questions about Cebu Pacific’s Piso Fare promos, or flight bookings in general, please leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

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Cebu Pacific Air’s Piso Fare Promo: How does it Work?