Airphil Express improved booking process

Recently I wrote a post about Airphil Express additional charges in their eticket computations for the total fare cost, where they didn’t include the web admin fee (or service charge) in the total fare but it was billed separately in my credit card. I sent a detailed email on July 15 to their online support (onlinesupport@airphilexpress.com) complete with computations regarding this and got a reply on July 24 (more than a week later) telling me “May we reiterate that each person who makes an online booking was recapped more than thrice with all the details. Moreover, there were no any human/system interventions for bookings made by you through online consumer portal.”

I was not satisfied with their cold reply, so I sent another email telling them to improve their booking process to be more transparent to their clients. “Even if you say that “each person who makes an online booking was recapped more than thrice with all the details,” still your system is not transparent. My point is, just include the web admin fee in calculating the total fare amount that you issue in the eticket. Don’t bill it separately. I don’t see any reason why, except you want your customers to think that they bought their tickets at a lesser price.” I also included the link to my blog post about the hidden charges.

After that, I completely forgot about it. Personally I just felt I had to tell them my concerns even though I was not sure if they would even care or not. More than a week later, I got an email from them, this time more polite and apologetic, “Thank you for your email. We regret and unfavorable impression your reported experience may have caused you as a result. Please be inform that e will escalate your this to the concern department. Thank you! Fulfillment Center.” The reply (I copied it as is) may not have the best grammar but at least it was better than the previous one.

What a pleasant surprise it was though last week as I was looking for the lowest fares for a mid-August trip. Nope, the trip was not your sort of couple’s holiday at Rendezvous St Lucia but it was for a domestic flight from Bacolod to Manila for a friend who’s attending an important convention. After browsing through other airlines – Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and Zest Air – I finally chose Airphil Express, as they had the lowest fare for our preferred schedule. After my previous experience on the hidden charges, I carefully went through the fare breakdown and was glad that they already included it in the online computation for the total fare.

Fare breakdown during the booking process

Fare breakdown after eticket purchase

I was sent a link to the e-ticket receipt on my email and the total fare computations still didn’t include the service charge.

Fare breakdown in the eticket receipt – service charge not yet included

Well at least the fare breakdown was clearly listed in the booking process although they need to correct their e-ticket receipt as well. Thus, if you are buying ticket for somebody else, just inform them that there is an additional service charge or you can get a screenshot of the booking details to let them see.

Anyway, I’m glad the booking process for Airphil Express have improved. One thing I learned about Airphil Express’ customer service is that if you have an urgent concern, don’t send an email to their online support. I got their replies more than a week after I sent my email. It’s best to call their customer support hotline. You can view their reservations and branch office contact numbers here. I’m also glad that they do listen to their customers’ concerns as I’m sure I’m not the only one who have been unhappy about the separate hidden charges.