Seasonal flights of SEAIR (Southeast Asian Airlines)

Seasonal flights of 

SEAIR (Southeast Asian Airlines)

I tried finding flights to Caticlan for a friend of mine and discovered as of this writing     that SEAIR, who's famous for having the shortest flight to Boracay thru Caticlan, currently has no flights to Caticlan. The reservation officer said that Caticlan flights are expected to resume in October 2012. So check this out in October. 

So I decided to make this post on the seasonal flights of SEAIR because a lot of people are asking me why these routes cannot be booked online when they have it in their route map in their website. The routes that currently cannot be booked online are their seasonal flights.

What are seasonal flights?

These flights stop during low travel season in the Philippines and begin during peak travel season. In the Philippines, the low travel season are from mid-June to mid-October, November to mid-December, January to mid-March. At SEAIR the seasonal flights usually involve flights using small turbo prop planes, which are usually 19-seater or 32-seater planes. The seasonal flights do not fly during low travel season. These involve the ff. SEAIR routes:

Manila- Basco (Batanes)-Manila flight 

Manila-Tablas Island (Romblon)-Manila flight 

Manila-Caticlan (Boracay)-Manila flight.

SEAIR stopped flying to El Nido

In our trip to El Nido last April 2011, we used roundtrip SEAIR flights to get there. Sadly, since March 2012, SEAIR no longer flies to El Nido airport. At present, the only airline using El Nido airport is Island Transvoyager.  

Island Transvoyager is the official carrier of El Nido resorts. So the Manila-El Nido flights are usually reserved for El Nido resorts guests. If you are not an El Nido resorts guest, the Manila to El Nido flight is only bookable 5 days before the flight. Email Island Transvoyager for more information.

The El Nido-Manila Island Transvoyager flight, however, can be booked in advance through El Nido Boutique and Art Cafe. 

Making Sense of New York City Hotel Rates

Photo courtesy of the New Yorker hotel website

Making Sense of Your New York City Hotel Rates

Update as of March 22, 2019!!!: I booked the New Yorker hotel and the same tax rates still apply. But now, in addition to the taxes and fees mentioned below, hotels now charge a facility or resort fee, which is a fee for the use of the gym, wifi and other facilities of the hotel. This facility or resort fee is charged whether or not the guest uses the facilities mentioned.

Below is the post I wrote in August 2012:

When booking your New York City hotel, be aware that in addition to the room rate that the hotel will quote you, multiple taxes will still be charged to you in addition to the room rate. Make sure to clarify that whatever rate the hotel will give you should include all the taxes already. To help you understand how it's computed, see the sample below:

The taxes and charges per room per night as of 2012 is $3.50 + 14.75% of the room rate  per night broken down as follows:

• NYC Hotel Unit Fee: $1.50 per day
• Occupancy Tax: $2.00 per day
• New York Sales Tax: 8.875% of the room rate broken down as:

• 4% New York State Sales Tax

• 4.5% New York City Sales Tax

• 0.375% Transportation District Surcharge

• New York City Hotel Tax: 5.875%

So if your room rate per night is $300, your tax is $47.75 ($3.50 + $44.25, which is 14.75% of $300). Total room cost is now $347.75 per night. Almost 1/8 of your total room cost is tax so it's important to know beforehand if the rate you're booking includes the tax or not.

Check out this site for an easy Hotel Rate Calculator

Manila International Airport Lounge: The Sampaguita Lounge (NAIA Terminal 1)

Manila International Airport Lounge: 

The Sampaguita Lounge (NAIA Terminal 1)

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 is the second oldest international airport terminal in Manila. It was built in 1978 and has recently earned very bad reviews because it is old and has not been renovated for quite some time. Most international flights still depart and land on this airport terminal. 

Despite the dated facilities of this terminal, one of the perks for us when using this terminal is the free use of the  airport lounge courtesy of our credit cards. The credit card holder has free use of the MIASCOR lounge and can bring a companion for free. However, on the day of our flight, the MIASCOR lounge was full so we were redirected to the Sampaguita lounge instead.

The Sampaguita Lounge used to be the Mabuhay Lounge, which is the business class lounge of Philippine Airlines. Philippine Airlines transferred to Terminal 2 and no longer uses this lounge. It's being managed by Microasia Catering. So it's now open to the public for a fee.

This is one of the pay lounges of the NAIA Terminal 1. Using this lounge can help the economy class traveler endure the poor facilities of this terminal while waiting for their flights to depart.

Amenities of the Sampaguita Lounge

Spacious lounge

Free wifi

Unlimited Food and Drinks

They have chicken arroz caldo/congee, assorted bread, pastries, 

sandwiches, coffee, softdrinks, water, instant noodles soup.

Tariff Rates/Entrance Fees 

450 pesos or $10 for adults

370 pesos for kids 5 years old and below

• All you have to do to be able to use this lounge is to go to the Sampaguita Lounge on the day of your flight, enter the lounge and approach the counter near the buffet spread, and pay the tariff rates.

You see the counter above beside the buffet spread?
That's where you pay the entrance fees.

Where it is located

At NAIA terminal 1. After immigration, go straight through the duty free shops, then turn right going towards the direction of Gates 9 and 15. Map below shows that the elevator going to the Sampaguita lounge is before Gate 15. The elevator goes up to the next level where you will find the Sampaguita Lounge.

Photo courtesy of Sampaguita Lounge facebook page

Contact information

See Sampaguita Lounge facebook page

Telephone No: +6328313141
Hours of operation: Mon - Sun: 4:00 am -11:30 pm

Word of Warning: The toilets are passable and old and needs to be upgraded. But it's better than the airport toilets outside the lounge but not great.


If you have a choice between using the MIASCOR lounge and the Sampaguita Lounge, choose the MIASCOR lounge. The MIASCOR lounge, although much smaller, has great facilities and a hotel-like ambience.

The view from the window of the Sampaguita Lounge

Half-Day Cultural Heritage Tour of Batanes (First Day)

Half-Day Cultural Heritage Tour of Batanes

(First Day)

If you stayed at Fundacion Pacita several years ago like we did, the package included a complimentary half-day cultural heritage tour of Batanes. The itinerary below is the complimentary tour we took at Fundacion Pacita in March 2010. We arrived in Batanes in the morning and took this tour in the afternoon. 

Since October 31, 2011, Fundacion Pacita phased out its complimentary tours. However, I still think this itinerary will be useful to those who wish to take half-day tours, combining a slow, relaxing morning with some sightseeing in the afternoon. The guide we used for this tour is Roger Doplito.

But take note: this half-day tour does not include all the must see sights on Batan Island, like Marlborough Hills. I still recommend that you take another half-day tour which includes Marlborough Hills. This tour is best taken in the afternoon of your arrival as a nice introduction to the Batanes you will see in the next few days. We also took another tour in the afternoon of the second day of our trip. More of that in a subsequent post.

Advantage of taking half-day afternoon tours

You don't need to wake up early and rush into sightseeing.

Disadvantage of taking half-day afternoon tours

You pay the guide twice instead of just once for the whole day tour. The van rental depends on the number of hours you use it. But the guide is paid on a per day basis. Everything however is negotiable. So perhaps you can negotiate a discounted rate with your guide, especially when you arrive during low season.

What is included in the complimentary half-day cultural heritage tour of Fundacion Pacita
The half-day tour is conducted the day of your arrival. It lasts from 2pm-6pm. The tour includes the ff:

2:00PM:

1st stop: Radar Tukon

Our guide, Roger Doplito, explaining how this device records 
how sunny it is during different parts of the day. When the 
sun is out, the heat of the sun burns a path on the piece 
of paper inserted in the device.

Because of the strength of Batanes winds, hedgerows are planted to shield their crops from the strength of the wind. 
The crisscross pattern that you can see above are the hedgerows.

3:00PM

2nd  stop: Chanarian View Deck 

The Chanarian view deck has stairs you can use to get a closer view of the site. 

This is halfway down the steps.

The view below. 
You can still go further down if you want to.

3rd stop: Mahatao: San Carlos Borromeo Church

4th stop: Oldest house

4:00PM

5th stop: Ivana

Ivana Church

Ruins of the 1st Church of San Jose

Ivana Port with Jackstones

Honesty Coffee Shop

Outside Honesty Coffee shop

Inside Honesty Coffee Shop

The Rules inside the coffee shop

Vakul (Batanes headress) for kids
being sold at Honesty Coffee shop

5:00PM

6th stop: Naidi Hills

A Batanes woman wearing the traditional vakul

6:00PM

7th stop Basco lighthouse

7:00PM
Dinner at Basco lighthouse
Note: We paid driver and van overtime because we went beyond 6pm

Carmel Cars and Limo: Best Budget New York Airport Transportation for 6

Carmel Cars and Limo: 
Best Budget New York Airport Transportation for 6

When we visited New York in May 2012, I discovered that the cheapest airport transportation  for a family of 6 is Carmel Limo. We used Carmel Limo from Yonkers, NY (New York Westchester area) to JFK. 

Check out the New York Rates

Why use Carmel Cars:

1. It's the cheapest airport transportation for a family of 6

I normally use Supershuttle for my Los Angeles airport transportation, but in New York, Supershuttle is more expensive than Carmel Limo. 

For a family of 6, the total cost from Yonkers, New York to JFK (one-way) is $102 + tip for a total of $120, broken down as follows:

Mini Van good for 6 people is 89 usd, plus

Roundtrip toll to JFK ($6.50 per way) is 13 usd, plus

Tip (20%) is $18.

Take Note: For 6 people, you have a choice of a MINI VAN or an SUV. What's the difference between a minivan and an SUV? Why is the mini van fare $89 while an SUV fare is $168?

The answer is LUGGAGE!!! 

A mini van's trunk can only accommodate six (6) people and four (4) checked  luggage. In our case, we had six (6) carry on luggage and one (1) checked luggage. Two (2) carry-on luggage is more or less equivalent to one (1) checked luggage. So the dimensions of all the luggage we had were equivalent to four (4) checked luggage. 

Do not make the mistake of indicating less luggage than you actually have so you can order the cheaper mini van instead of an SUV. It will be more expensive and will cause delays to call for another ride in case your luggage s do not fit. 

This photo is from Carmel Car website.
Our minivan was color white.
This is just to give you an idea about luggage space at the back 

2. Carmel Cars has a wider area of coverage than other car service

Here is a list of covered areas: 

Airports 

JFK 

Laguardia 

Newark 

Other airports: Teterboro, Long Island/Mac Arthur, Westchester County 

New York City 

New York (Manhattan)

New York (Hotels)

Queens 

Brooklyn

Bronx

Staten Island 

Out of Town

New York State 

New York Westchester 

Long Island

New Jersey State

Pennsylvania 

Connecticut 

3. Carmel cars is easy and reliable to book online. 

The confirmation number you get is easy to remember since it's the phone number you provided. And the cars arrive on time so it's reliable to book online. 

4. Carmel cars do not require prepayment of the fare when reserving and booking their cars online.

My review: 

The car we ordered came on time. In fact, several hours before our pick up time, the driver called us to find out the exact time of our flight to make sure that the pick up time we indicated in the online form is enough time to travel from Yonkers to the airport. He encountered horrible traffic in the morning because it was Memorial Day weekend so he was concerned that we may not have known that detail when we indicated the pick-up time. So more than arriving on time to pick us up, he made sure we arrived at the airport on time.

The drive lasted an hour and the driver was very friendly and conversed with my husband the whole trip.

In conclusion: I will definitely use Carmel Car again when we visit New York and will recommend it to friends and relatives for its value and good service.  

American Taxi: Best Budget Chicago Airport Transportation for 6

American Taxi: 
Best Budget Chicago Airport Transportation for 6

In our recent trip to Chicago, I discovered that the cheapest airport transportation  for a family of 6 is the American taxi. From Chicago O'Hare to Wilmette, where our relative lives, the total cost is $50 + tip, broken down as follows:

Fixed rate from O'Hare to Wilmette: 29 usd, plus

2 usd for every additional passenger over the age of 12, plus

8 usd added to the flat rate for a van request, plus 

2 usd airport exit rates (when you come from the airport) plus, 

1usd fuel surcharge

See the American taxi rates in your destination


Chicago Airport Express quoted us a rate of $80 + tip. Obviously, American taxi is much cheaper. However, one thing to take note of when deciding whether to take the American taxi of the Chicago Airport Express is the amount of luggage you have. In our case, we only had 6 carry-on luggage and 1 checked luggage. The American taxi van can fit 6 passengers but can only fit 4 checked luggage at most.


How to get the American taxi at Chicago O'Hare International Airport


1. Claim your luggage first.


2. On the same level of the baggage claim area, find a free kiosk phone near the exit door. You can use the free kiosk phone to call a taxi. Photo is shown below:

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This free kiosk phone can be found at the same level of the baggage claim area,
near one of the exit doors leading to the area where you take your taxi.

3. Lift the phone, and touch the screen for suburban taxis. 
Note: this phone is not solely devoted to calling for taxis. It includes hotels so you need to touch the screen that will open the screen for suburban taxis.


4. Photo below shows the screen for the suburban taxis. As you can see, there are several American taxis indicated. The one with the X is not the American taxi I'm referring to in this article.

This is the screen that you see in the kiosk phone.
The one marked by X are not the real American taxi

The photo below is the Real American taxi:

The photo below are the fake American taxi:

My tip: To avoid confusion when you're actually calling them, bring a printout of the logo above or remember their telephone number 847-255-9600. In my case, i forgot to bring a printout and when faced with the multiple choices above, I got confused and couldn't remember the logo of the real American taxi. But the good thing is that I kept their number so I was able to compare their number with all the others and was able to filter and find the real American taxi.

5. Call the number, and tell them the following:

I am requesting a VAN TAXI, good for 6 persons going to (state your destination or give the telephone number of your destination)

6.  The operator will then assign you a taxi number. Don't forget your taxi number.


7. After the phone call, go to the exit doors on the same level and walk to the extreme right of the exit doors. Wait for the taxi number assigned to you to arrive.

Note: Exit Doors in O'Hare: 

Terminal 1- Door G; Terminal 2 - Door E; 

Terminal 3 - Door G; International Terminal 5 - Door E

The American taxi pick up lane is on the middle lane on the right side of the exit doors. See photo below:

Follow the arrows above 
to find the area where you can wait for the American taxi.

How to identify the American Taxi

1. The taxi has blue stripes on the side

2. The flat rates are shown on the taxi.

3. Check the logo and phone number

4. The taxi top sign shows " American"