Masskara 2009: Flying to Iloilo, Partying in Bacolod

A lot of people has been asking me how am I able to get cheap (as in CHEAP) plane ticket Masskara 2009. You want to know how much I paid for my plane ticket?

PHP575.00 Five Hundred Seventy Five Pesos, Round Trip, ALL IN!

Going back home during fiesta means either shelling out thousands of pesos for the airfare or spend a night in the middle of the sea via Superferry.

And a few years back, I discovered that many airlines have this so-called “embargo dates”. These are pre-determined dates where they cannot AND will never give out Promo fares on these dates. Usually these are the Christmas season, Holy week, fiesta week on specific destinations.

Iloilo Airport Baggage Claim area

So going back home in Bacolod mid-week of October means I have to shell out regular fares. But for the adventure seekers, there is a not-so-secret way to experiencing Masskara Festival in Bacolod and the Dinagyang Festival 2010 in Iloilo city: Fly to the other city.

The idea is simple. When it’s Masskara season in Bacolod, take a flight that will land in Iloilo City. From the Airport take a shuttle to SM Mandurriao or you can arrange with the driver to bring you to the Iloilo port in Muelle Loney.

Shuttle from Iloilo Airport in Santa Barbara to SM Mandurriao

Shuttle from the Iloilo Airport (in Santa Barbara) to SM City Mandurriao is approx PHP50. You may ask the driver if he can drive you to the port directly for PHP100.

When in SM City, you can take a cab going to the port, or take Public Utility Jeepneys that will pass by the port.

There are a lot of ferry operators plying the Bacolod-Iloilo vv route. normally I take the ferry that’s going to depart immediately.

When I traveled last week, I took the Weesam Express and they currently have a promo PHP400 for Round Trip ticket. I asked the staff to set my return ticket to “open date”, meaning I can just use it anytime that I want. Ferry from Iloilo to Bacolod vv is approx 1 hour.

Weesam Express Terminal

During the Dinagyang Festival season in January, plane tickets to Iloilo is also skyrocketing. So what I do is the exact opposite. Fly to Bacolod take a ferry to Iloilo.

This way, I get to save some moolah for more food and pasalubong.

This technique can also be followed in Cebu-Tagbilaran route. or Tagbilaran-Dumaguete route.

Now you know how yo save on plane tickets for Masskara festival 2010 iloilo Dinagyang Festival 2011 or during the Sinulog Festival 2011?