Earlier this week, Cebu Pacific celebrated a milestone: it recorded its 200 million passengers, who were awarded a full year of unlimited domestic flights. And it made me think a lot.
My first thought was, “Wow! What a lucky guy!” I was happy for him, of course, but I was jealous too! I was there, planning my trip for the rest of the year, and I could really use those free flights.
But then it hit me. I was My travel plans For the rest of the year. 2022. Planning Travel. This is the first time I’ve said this in over two years. For the first time since the epidemic, he has nurtured his ugly head. It felt unreal, but it felt optimistic. A sign that good days are coming!
But that is not the only indication that things are getting better. Cebu Pacific, already operating 96% of its pre-epidemic internal capacity, is also set to recover 100% this month after expanding its network after easing travel restrictions. Budget airline has registered a 200% increase in its average domestic and international flights since 2020.
At the Cebu Pacific event on March 29, CEB President and CEO Lance Gokongwei shared, “It’s exciting to see and feel the return of confidence on the trip. “We are excited for every Juan to fly safely to their destination so that they can reunite with their families and loved ones, or pursue their business interests, or return to a tourist destination.”
Earlier that week, the top carrier sold 100% of its CEB Super Pass, their flexible open-dated vouchers for those who have not yet decided on a travel date or destination. These vouchers have been sold in just five days. I’m one of those lucky souls who was able to snatch dozens (yes, 30+ vouchers) from that sale – so I mentioned the trip plan earlier. (Yay!)
But the symptoms are not just in the clouds. Here on the ground below, signs everywhere, too! Take a look at Manila-Baguio bus operators just like Victoria Liner. Their latest schedule is almost back to their pre-epidemic schedule, with the frequency rising just after Metro Manila and many other areas were placed under alert level 1.
Genesis Transport’s Manila-Clark P2P bus schedule is getting more beautiful with each update, good news for those who prefer to fly from Clark Airport instead.
Hopefully, everything will return to normal. Better yet, I hope what we have in front of us is better normal. It seems that we are entering a new era.
For our team, who have been severely affected by the epidemic, we are ready to return to the first destination we visited to update the information on this blog. We hope more travelers will be excited to go out and explore in the coming months, especially this summer, to meet their two-year travel drought. And as always but especially at this time, we want to equip them with the necessary, useful information. Expect more updated travel guides on this website next week.
No matter what happens, always remember to plan smart, travel safely and make every trip worthwhile!