Manila Airport Information

Philippine Airlines is the country's flag carrier and links Manila to 26 cities and 19 countries worldwide. Philippine Air also provides service to and from 43 local destinations. There are twenty-eight airlines serving Manila. Daily flights from the United States are offered by Northwest Airlines www.nwa.com, Continental Airlines www.continental.com, as well as Philippine Airlines.

From Europe there are a number of airlines serving Manila including Air France, KLM www.klm.com.ph Swissair and Lufthansa www.lufthansa-philippines.com. From Asia Pacific region, Korean Air, Cathay Pacific www.cathaypacific-air.com" ,Thai and Singapore Air www.singaporeair.com , and other airlines, fly into Manila. Within the Philippines, linking the island's major cities and reaching the small resorts, domestic airlines include; Air Philippines www.airphilippines.com , Asian Spirit www.asianspirit.com , Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific www.cebupacific.com and many air charter companies.

Flights are often overbooked. It is a good idea to reserve seats well in advance for any travel you may wish to do as flights and hotels are often full for weeks at a time, especially around Christmas, Chinese New Year and Holy Week. We always booked our Christmas vacation by Feb. of the previous year. If you have children in boarding schools or colleges abroad, be certain to book their flights in and out of the Philippines as soon as possible. Especially at Christmas, it can be very difficult to get reservations. Usually, as soon as the school calendar was issued for the next year, we booked all vacations to and from the Philippines at one time for the entire year.

There are now three airport terminals for flights in and out of Manila

• NAIA Terminal - All international flights, non-Philippine Airlines
• Domestic Terminal - All domestic flights, non-Philippine Airlines
• Centennial Terminal - All Philippine Airlines flights only

There is an airport tax of P550 for international flights and P100 for domestic flights. In addition, depending on your visa status, you may be required to pay a rather substantial sum every time you exit the country. There is a separate line AFTER the lines for general immigration where you must go with your "Special Return Certificate" (or as we called it, "the green thingie"), where you pay the exit fee. Your local attorney can procure "a multiple SRC" (special return certificate: allows you to exit and reenter the Philippines) which is valid for one year. Do not stand in the first series of lines, they won't let you pay there and will make you move to the booth right past these lines to pay. You can wait forever, so don't do it twice!

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)

NAIA is only 7 km. from the city, but traffic can be fierce and you will have to allow yourself a substantial amount of time to reach the airport. The longer you live in Manila, the better idea you will have as to that "substantial" time (dependent on day, time etc.). A good driver will be skilled on various routes to take to get you to the airport and will generally have a feeling as to what time you should leave for the airport.

Remember that you must be at the airport two hours before flight time for international flights. During holidays, you will generally use all two hours, especially if you are traveling in coach, to get to the ticket/baggage check in line, pay your airport taxes etc. Security is very tight at the airport. You will undergo numerous security checks, both of your bags and of your person. There is a separate line for women and men by the second luggage x-ray machines where a sensor will be run over your body and you may be "patted down." A final hand search of all carry-on bags and purses is required at the entrance to the waiting area by the gate.

Domestic Airport

A short distance from NAIA on Domestic Road. This is the older terminal, which can become quite chaotic outside, with throngs of people milling about awaiting taxis and meeting people.

Centennial Terminal

Located next to the Philippine Village Hotel on Airport Ave., the control tower complex. This terminal is exclusively for Philippine Airline flights. Opened in October 1999, this modern airport is quite large. There is a lounge for business and first class passengers on the lower level. Security procedures are followed closely in this terminal as well. Terminal fees and exit taxes will be applied in this terminal as well.

International Flights: Tel 832-1961

Domestic Flights: Tel 818-6757 or 831-1395

A comprehensive site of all major airline carriers and toll free numbers can be located at:

www.airtravelcenter.com

See their airlines, (directly at www.air-travel-center.net/airlines.htm )

Alphabetical scroll down listing of all airlines, web sites and phone numbers.

• www.continental.com 800 525-0280 Continental Airlines
• www.philippineair.com 800 435-9725 Philippine Airlines
• www.nwa.com 800 225-2525 Northwest Airlines
• www.ual.com 800 241-6522 United Airlines
• www.cathaypacific.com 800 233-2742 Cathay Pacific Airlines
• www.lufthansa.com 800 645-3880 Lufthansa Airlines
• nederland.klm.com 800 374-7747 KLM Airlines

Getting from the airport to town and exploring the city

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) is eight miles (12 kilometres) south of Manila. Take only official, metered or pre-booked taxis, do not accept rides from people that approach you in the terminal. The taxis in the line in front of �arrivals� are metered and will charge around 150-200 Pesos (6USD-8USD) to central Manila hotels. It will take about 20 minutes to one hour for the trip, depending on traffic. Many of the major hotels run cars which you can book in advance, or you can look for a hotel representative in �arrivals�. The cost is around 750-950 Pesos (30USD-38USD), and is considered well worth the cost for the convenience and security. Once you�re in town you may be advised to use the pool of taxis operated by your hotel. They have fixed fares and provide a more convenient and safe way around the city than driving yourself or dealing with the difficult public taxi system.

Arrival Manila

Arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) may be a nearly unique lifetime experience. Because of security, no one without special authorization may come into the airport. All "greeters" must remain outside, across the street from the main entrance. There is an air-conditioned, glassed in raised waiting area, where for a nominal fee, your "greeters" can wait. Because of the huge number of Filipinos who work overseas, Balikbayans, the luggage area can be pure mayhem. Take a deep breath. You're here!

WARNING: Watch your purse and carry on baggage while you are standing at the carousel waiting for your luggage. Although undoubtedly no worse than any other large city, there are pickpockets and thieves about who take advantage of your distraction to rob you. I know of at least one seasoned expat whose welcome to Manila included the theft of her wallet and all of her money, documents, and credit cards. Exercise caution!

Immigration

With a current passport, valid for 6 months, you may enter the Philippines without a visa for up to 21 days, which can be renewed for up to 59 days, but you must have a ticket showing your exit from the Philippines (onward ticket).�

You will need a "Baggage and Currency Declaration Form" which you will be given on the plane or upon arrival. Currently, the only required vaccination is for yellow fever for anyone coming from an infected area.You should check with your travel agent or a travel MD for any change in this requirement.

Luggages carts are available as you walk into the baggage claim area. You prepay for the cart, either US$1 or 46 Pesos. Then hand this receipt to attendant who will give you a cart. The baggage carousel is generally jammed. Balikbayans, over-seas Filipino workers, are under special laws governing limits brought into the country and will generally have huge cardboard boxes to be lifted off of the carousel. It is a mad house. Since you are generally already exhausted, it is a great time to practice that big, if not sincere, expat smile and grit your teeth. Once in a great while, all your luggage seems to come off quickly and at the same time, but generally allow for a long, crowded wait. After collecting your luggage from the carousel, continue on to customs.

Customs - Duty Free & Foreign Currency Regulations

There are large signs in English that indicate which lines are for "Nothing to Declare". Your luggage may be searched at this point. Be patient and cooperative. Visitors are allowed to bring in the following duty free: reasonable quantities of clothing, jewelry and toiletries, 400 sticks of cigarettes or two tins or tobacco and two bottles of wine or spirits not exceeding one liter each. Visitors carrying more than US$3,000 must declare the amount at the Central Bank of the Philippines counter in the customs area. You may not take out more foreign currency than you brought in. Duty free items and amount of cash brought into the Philippines is restricted.

Meeting Points - Without special clearance, no one can come into the airport, either to the gate or luggage area, to meet you. Greeters must wait outside and across from the main entrance to the airport. As in any large airport, finding your pick up person or contact is difficult. As you exit the airport, taxis and hotel cars are directly across the street. However, if a private car is meeting you, you will have to cross the street and go down a long ramp either to the left or right depending on the letter of your last name. When you get to the lower level, there are signs indicating letters (i.e. A-G) under which you stand until your ride sees you. They can at that point drive the car up to you to load. Currently, a car must loop around the airport to get back to where you are, so be patient.

Note: As you exit the arrival area, there will be numerous heavily armed police and sometimes military personnel. Chances are you have not arrived just in time for a military coup. The presence of armed guards throughout Manila is omnipresent. Amazing as it may seem, with time you will grow use to this presence. Remember no matter what time of year that you arrive, it will be warm and humid. Layer clothing accordingly.

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Hotels in Manila – Filipino grandeur with warm hospitality of the Grand Boulevard Hotel in Manila

Serving with greatness as his style and warm Filipino hospitality at its core, connects the Grand Boulevard Hotel Manila business and leisure in a service like no other. These three (3)-star hotel basks in the orange sunset of Manila Bay, as it stands proudly on the busy Roxas Boulevard.

Each of the 413 guest rooms and suites are designed and furnished to the exacting needs of all types of customers from the busy business man on the boredom of urban needs.With full air-conditioning, individual temperature controls, IDD / NDD telephone, satellite TV, coffee and tea making facilities, bathrooms and toilets, a newspaper and a stunning concave glass windows, guests are sure to remember every day of monotonous urban life. Showered with broken walls and a cool lime by soft lighting and warm wood furniture, the rooms are sanctuaries guests would like to come home.

The kitchen also has its own magnificenceChoices range from exotic Cantonese cuisine (Fu Manchu's dimsum specials served with hot pasta and seafood dishes) to an international buffet at Café Montana ravine, where guests are not only good food, but the majestic Manila Bay seascape. Drinks and snacks served with cool music is the main attraction in Rick's Bar Come for a drink with friends and colleagues and cooling down after a hard day of work.

In addition to the on-site bar, the hotel's surroundingrich of many tourist and historical attractions. Harbor View Square offers a variety of bars, restaurants and cafe on the bay. The SM Mall of Asia (SM MOA), the nation's largest mall, offers the only 3D IMAX theater in the country and in Southeast Asia only Olympic size ice rink. Sitting along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, SM Department of Agriculture is the place for the chic and hip. For the aesthetes, offers the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the country's proudest works of art,Music, theater and film. And for business executives, the hotel is the ideal place to stay, because there are only few minutes away from prime locations such as the World Trade Center, the Philippine International Convention Center, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Manila Domestic Airport.

For on-site business services, the Grand Boulevard Hotel Business Center offers topnotch services of e-mail and Internet access for printing and secretarial services. HotelIn addition, there are eight first-class operation with state-of-the-art visual presentation equipment, making them perfect completion for seminars, congresses, conferences, workshops and others.

Thus topnotch for business appointments and first-class holiday town, check-in is now in the Grand Boulevard Hotel Manila, and you'll discover a sublime would be a happy to come home.

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Visiting Philippines – Hotels

For first time western visitors to the Philippines, first impressions are likely to be created by the first hotel at which they stay. Fortunately, hotels in the Philippines tend to be good value, and of a comparable standard to those you might find in the west. As elsewhere, hotels in the Philippines do reflect price, but you sometimes find exceptionally good value.

Manila is the main arrival destination in the Philippines, with its busy international airport. Both cities have international standard hotels such as Shangri-La, Intercontinental and Marriott. First time visitors to the Philippines need not worry about their hotel accommodation, as they are as likely to find a decent hotel for their budget here as they are in other countries.

The cost of living in the Philippines is low compared to western countries, and Asian countries such as South Korea and Japan, and this can mean you can get a higher standard of accommodation than you might be used to elsewhere for the same price. However, it is essential to shop around for the best price for the hotel of your choice, as offers can vary. If you know somebody local, then it can be best to get them to book for you before your arrival.

There are many good standard Philippines hotels, so first time visitors need not worry about finding decent accommodation. The Ermita and Makati districts of Manila have a good selection of hotels, and are convenient locations to travel to and from the international airport. If you have not booked in advance of your flight, then there are accommodation kiosks in the arrival lounge where the staff will only be too pleased to help you. A hotel in Manila, Philippines can be as good as just about any capital city.

For many visitors, especially tourists, Manila is the launching pad for travel to other parts of the Philippines. For many travelers,, an overnight stop in Manila is unavoidable, depending on arrival times, connections, and ultimate destinations. be sure to check whehter the hotel you are considering has an airport transportation service; preferable free. Taxis are plentiful should you wish to, or have to, be independent.

Like any capital city, there are many restaurants in Manila which provide international food, while fast food addicts can always get their fix nearby. The larger hotels have their own restaurants, which can be reasonably good quality and value. I personally had one stay where the food was not good value and disappointing in quality, but generally speaking you get what you pay for.

The Philippines is noted for the warmth and hospitality of its people, and having lived there for 8 years I can certainly vouch for that. The more remote the place you go, the greater the friendliness seems to be. Philippines Travel is as much about meeting the hospitable people as it is about seeing all the beautiful tropical islands. Manila is a welcoming capital, unlike many Western capitals, and you can still appreciate more warmth and friendliness than my home city, London.

Tourists who stay in hotels in the Philippines) for a week or more, and travel outside the capital, will find a beautiful country of over 7000 islands to choose from. Most have no hotels as such, but many do have beach resorts, white sand beaches, clear blue seas, and excellent diving. Most people, though, when visiting the Philippines, are most struck be the hospitality of the Filipinos themselves.

If you have time, be sure to take a one hour flight to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Palawan is the Philippines Last Frontier, a wonderful province with more than a thousand islands with white sand beaches, many uninhabited. It is a paradise found with no comparison anywhere in the world.

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