PAL-pak

I was lucky enough to book 4 tickets to Palawan in October before everyone else knew about their 788 promo. Our internet connection at work is slower than a sloth so I decided to call their booking office. It took me 20 to 30 minutes to connect to an operator. It was so long I was able to memorize their packages for Hawaii, Ho Chi Minh and Sydney.

I bought tickets for my mom, sister #2 (Kookee) and nephew (Ethan) for Php1592 each…not bad! They gave me my confirmation code and told me to pay at the nearest PAL office. I was a little bit surprised ‘cause in Cebu Pacific you can pay direct even through phone bookings. Anyway, I asked for their nearest office because I live in Cavite. The operator told me the nearest one was in Padre Faura cor. Adriatico. Padre Faura? Nearest ba yun? So I asked, “Don’t you have an office at NAIA 2?” Operator replied, “Meron po ma’am pero pinaka malapit po yng sa Padre Faura.”

Ummm…hello? Mas malayo kaya ang Padre Faura. It was “Nice-To-Be-Everyone Day” that day so I just “Okay.” But on normal circumstances, I would have said…

“Excuse me iha. May map ka ba jan ng Luzon? Hanapin mo yung Cavite. Tapos hanapin mo kung nasaan yng NAIA 2 and Padre Faura St. Using your finger, trace the way going to NAIA 2 from Bacoor and Padre Faura St. from Bacoor. Anong mas malapit?”

Moving on, our deadline for payment is tomorrow April 30, 2009. So I told my mom yesterday that I have to pay for our tickets today.

We left the house before 10:00am for NAIA 2. After meeting a lot of idiotic people on the road, we finally reached the PAL office.
The guard asked me, “Ma’am ano po yung business nila?”

I replied, “Magbabayad lang ng ticket.” He then gave me a pink stub. The stub said I was number 39. I glanced towards the counter meter and it said that it was serving no. 2.

WHAT THE HECK?! Number 2 palang?! Nagugutom na ako!

We had no choice but to wait. Mom and I went to look for vacant seats. Malas! We sat beside an Ilocana who just came from “ELAY.”

I wish I brought ear plugs with me.

She was carrying on and on about PAL being delayed (I agree)…her dauter (daughter)…roundtrip ticket…the weather…Pangasinan…waking up early…the ants who bit her. Ah basta! Nakwento na nya buong buhay niya. I glanced sideways to see how my mom was reacting to this lady…she also had her fingers pressed to her ears.

I almost jumped when Ilocana Lady suddenly asked me my number. I said, “Thirty-nine po.” She replied, “Oh may, your eeben purder dan me. I’m number chirty-tree.” The Chinese dude beside me suddenly stood up…and transferred seats. Crap! Naunahan niya kami!

After two hours…

We were still there. Waiting…with fingers pressed to our ears. ANU BAZ?! Ang tagal tagal! My mom was super irritated she went up to one of the counters already. They were getting the numbers mixed up. Some people were already making “singit.” Some customers were just booking the flights there. Hello?! MAGBABAYAD LANG KAMI. The LV lady beside me also went there just to pay for her tickets. She was on the phone from 9:30 PM to 12:00AM to confirm her flights. Bwiset talaga!

Finally, my number was called. Guess how long it took them to process my payment…

10 MINUTES.

TEN MINUTES LANG! I firmly suggested, after I paid for my tickets, that they should have had a separate counter to deal with those who have confirmed flights already. Of course the PAL attendant didn’t reply.

Ang galing galing talaga.