Joe Philippines: Back Home
I thought the natural conclusion to this series of posts on various trips to the Philippines would be one describing the process of going home again. I had thought we might go back to the Philippines this coming year and I would have more posts to write but alas, due to my brother-in-law's expiring tourist visa, they are coming here for a couple weeks next summer. I can't wait to see them again and unfortunately, I'll have to wait to see the Philippines again.
The airport in Manila is notorious (in my book anyway) for being a model of inefficiency. It has three terminals that are separated by some distance and I had only been through terminal one up to this point in my career. However on this trip we were leaving via terminal two which I have never been in. With our distance from the airport, the huge increase in traffic congestion and other uncertainties, we opted to leave at 4 a.m from Tarlac for our 11 am flight out to Los Angeles.
The traffic ended up being light due to our early departure time and we had time to eat and get out at the terminal two curbside at 7 am, four hours before departure. Be warned, the following description is a graphic narrative of what it takes to reach your gate at terminal two in Manila.
1. Find a cart for your luggage push it to the curbside check-in where your documentation is inspected.
2. Once through you head to the next area where all baggage is scanned through an x-ray machine. We walk through another x-ray machine. Because you can't take the luggage cart through the machine, you must find another one to load up all your bags once through the x-ray machine.
3. Now you get in line for the ticket counter.
4. Part way through that line, you reach a wider part of the line where all your documentation is checked a second time.
5. Further down the same line you come to an area where every single piece of luggage is opened up, unpacked, swabbed, repacked and closed. All three of our pieces of luggage were overweight so we also had to buy a colorful canvas bag to get everything under the limits.
6. Once you finally reach the ticket counter we have our third documentation check. Our bags were checked through but since we were flying Philippines Airline and they can't communicate with other airlines, we only have our ticket through Los Angeles where we will have to get our tickets for the rest of the trip meaning another future trip through security stateside.
7. Once we had our tickets, we entered another area next door where we began with an x-ray scan of our carry-on-baggage for the third time and our bodies the second time.
8. From there we waited in line to go through immigration and our fourth documentation check.
9. Once through immigration, we walked through the duty free shops and restaurants to our gate which is roped off and where we wait in line for our third trip through the x ray machine for our bodies and fourth time for our carry on luggage. We also submit to our fifth documentation check.
10. We made it with about an hour and a half to spare. After an hour, I decide it was time to go to the bathroom and get some water for the long plane ride at facilities ten feet outside our roped in gate area manned by a half dozen security personnel. We can leave but are told we have to go through the security again. So I exit, use the restroom, buy two bottles of water and re-enter the security zone, perhaps ten feet away. I get x-rayed for my fourth time, my two bottles of water get x-rayed and had I bought any of my carry on baggage, it too would have been x-rayed for the fifth time and of course my sixth documentation check. Unfortunately, all bottled water was confiscated even though I have been through four previous x-ray machines for personal effects and couldn't have possibly brought liquid explosive this far. It was stuck in a drinking water case with many other unopened bottles of water that I'm sure were carried across the aisle to the store where I bought it from so they can resell it to the next unsuspecting passenger.
11. Finally we boarded the plane after going though my seventh documentation check.
After arriving at LAX, we retrieved our luggage went through immigration and customs in about a half hour, printed off our remaining boarding passes for the rest of the trip, went through a personal x-ray scanner, a carry-on baggage scanner and documentation check, ONCE, in another half hour and had the next four hours to do whatever we wanted without anymore checks before boarding the plane. I never thought I would ever say this but god bless the U.S. TSA!
Despite having four hours between check-in post customs at LAX before our flight to Dallas and a two plus hour layover there before getting the last flight home, none of our bags were there upon arrival even after we forked over $5 for a baggage cart. Turns out one of the bags was still at LAX and the other three in Dallas. So we did the paperwork and drove home without them. Fortunately the U.S. system for finding and reuniting lost bags with owners is very efficient and 15 hours later they were home with us. It would take us over a week to fight the 14 hours of jet lag and another two and a half weeks to fight the colds we got somewhere along the way back.
It's good to be back home.
The airport in Manila is notorious (in my book anyway) for being a model of inefficiency. It has three terminals that are separated by some distance and I had only been through terminal one up to this point in my career. However on this trip we were leaving via terminal two which I have never been in. With our distance from the airport, the huge increase in traffic congestion and other uncertainties, we opted to leave at 4 a.m from Tarlac for our 11 am flight out to Los Angeles.
The traffic ended up being light due to our early departure time and we had time to eat and get out at the terminal two curbside at 7 am, four hours before departure. Be warned, the following description is a graphic narrative of what it takes to reach your gate at terminal two in Manila.
1. Find a cart for your luggage push it to the curbside check-in where your documentation is inspected.
2. Once through you head to the next area where all baggage is scanned through an x-ray machine. We walk through another x-ray machine. Because you can't take the luggage cart through the machine, you must find another one to load up all your bags once through the x-ray machine.
3. Now you get in line for the ticket counter.
4. Part way through that line, you reach a wider part of the line where all your documentation is checked a second time.
5. Further down the same line you come to an area where every single piece of luggage is opened up, unpacked, swabbed, repacked and closed. All three of our pieces of luggage were overweight so we also had to buy a colorful canvas bag to get everything under the limits.
6. Once you finally reach the ticket counter we have our third documentation check. Our bags were checked through but since we were flying Philippines Airline and they can't communicate with other airlines, we only have our ticket through Los Angeles where we will have to get our tickets for the rest of the trip meaning another future trip through security stateside.
7. Once we had our tickets, we entered another area next door where we began with an x-ray scan of our carry-on-baggage for the third time and our bodies the second time.
8. From there we waited in line to go through immigration and our fourth documentation check.
9. Once through immigration, we walked through the duty free shops and restaurants to our gate which is roped off and where we wait in line for our third trip through the x ray machine for our bodies and fourth time for our carry on luggage. We also submit to our fifth documentation check.
10. We made it with about an hour and a half to spare. After an hour, I decide it was time to go to the bathroom and get some water for the long plane ride at facilities ten feet outside our roped in gate area manned by a half dozen security personnel. We can leave but are told we have to go through the security again. So I exit, use the restroom, buy two bottles of water and re-enter the security zone, perhaps ten feet away. I get x-rayed for my fourth time, my two bottles of water get x-rayed and had I bought any of my carry on baggage, it too would have been x-rayed for the fifth time and of course my sixth documentation check. Unfortunately, all bottled water was confiscated even though I have been through four previous x-ray machines for personal effects and couldn't have possibly brought liquid explosive this far. It was stuck in a drinking water case with many other unopened bottles of water that I'm sure were carried across the aisle to the store where I bought it from so they can resell it to the next unsuspecting passenger.
11. Finally we boarded the plane after going though my seventh documentation check.
After arriving at LAX, we retrieved our luggage went through immigration and customs in about a half hour, printed off our remaining boarding passes for the rest of the trip, went through a personal x-ray scanner, a carry-on baggage scanner and documentation check, ONCE, in another half hour and had the next four hours to do whatever we wanted without anymore checks before boarding the plane. I never thought I would ever say this but god bless the U.S. TSA!
Despite having four hours between check-in post customs at LAX before our flight to Dallas and a two plus hour layover there before getting the last flight home, none of our bags were there upon arrival even after we forked over $5 for a baggage cart. Turns out one of the bags was still at LAX and the other three in Dallas. So we did the paperwork and drove home without them. Fortunately the U.S. system for finding and reuniting lost bags with owners is very efficient and 15 hours later they were home with us. It would take us over a week to fight the 14 hours of jet lag and another two and a half weeks to fight the colds we got somewhere along the way back.
It's good to be back home.
It's quite a process! So many security checks and strict rules remind me of the airport in Dakar. Everyone was wanded including employees. Our carry ons were physically searched and once we entered the room where the bus picked us up to drive us to the plane, we couldn't leave for any reason. No food, drink or restrooms.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've been through quite a number of international airports, I have only gone through security at a few and they have been pretty much on par to U.S. security. I've never been to Dakar though.
DeleteOh, my goodness! What a story! Hope you are feeling better now. I remember years ago when we did the "European tour" with our small children in tow. All our bags arrived safely home except for the one that had all our new purchases in it! Why didn't they lose the one with the dirty clothes in it!? But, you are right! We had lost bag delivered to us within three days!
ReplyDeleteI'm a man so please excuse me when I compare traveling to the Philippines with childbirth. It is a painful process at that moment but once you arrive, it quickly becomes just a memory.
DeleteWhat an ordeal. Good thing you are still almost a kid. It sounds daunting to me. Did you not have to remove your shoes at some point, or did I just miss that? Imagine having to remove them 4x. 😀
ReplyDeleteI think that removing shoes is still just a U.S. thing. But I've never flown out of Canada so perhaps it is a northern North American thing.
DeleteI wonder how many folks will face an experience to rival this traveling over the next few days!? I'm glad I'll be at home and our kids can just make day trips to come celebrate.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like there may be some horror stories happening today through Saturday. Like you, I'm thankful to be hunkered down until next week sometime.
Deletethe water purchase racket is terrible. I often travel overseas with a backcountry water bottle with a filter so I can drink tap water, if needed. It is amazing how quickly we can get lost bags back to us. Welcome home!
ReplyDeleteI thought so too but didn't argue the point since my flight was less than an hour from taking off. With corruption so prevalent, I assumed that the gate x-ray personnel were just padding their income. It certainly made that first drink after takeoff much more anticipated.
DeleteMakes me glad I don't fly! But it's a great description and great ending post to this series, Ed.
ReplyDeleteI have never enjoyed flying, well at least not since I was a kid and it was this novel experience anyway. But it does take me to some exotic locations in a quick fashion and so I try to accept it for what it is.
DeleteI was in Manila over 40 years ago but I don't recall having such an ordeal at the airport. Of course that was before 9-11 and we were airline crew so I was spared the ordeal you go through. I remember feeling very sorry for the Filipino Nationals as they went through customs in Honolulu with their huge roped up cardboard boxes of "luggage". The agents would cut the rope, cut open the boxes and cans of every sort would fall out.
ReplyDeleteFilipinos have great pride in what they do and so they often times do things to excess, including security. You are correct though in that all of this is a result of 9-11. I can still remember the day when the only check was as you were boarding the flight and they checked your name against the passenger list.
DeleteQuite the adventure just dealing with all of the checks at the airport. Maybe this is why I don't want to travel anywhere outside the U.S. Sorry you didn't get to make it to the Phillippines this year but glad the brother-in-law and his family are heading your way.
ReplyDeleteI haven't found anything nearly that bad but I'm sure they are out there somewhere. Most of the airports I have used are quite efficient like the U.S. Some, like Hong Kong, are even superior as there are an arm of young men and women standing around waiting to just answer any question you might have and to help out if necessary.
DeleteOK, now I really don't need to go to the Philippines. Wow! I asked for Apple tags this year from my Secret Santa. I hope that gives me a better feeling of security for my luggage when we travel.
ReplyDeleteI've never permanently lost any luggage in all the years of traveling around the globe. When it does get "lost", it has always come a day or two later. But the thought of sneaking one of those tags onto my MIL when we travel and she wanders off, has crossed my mind.
Delete