The good, the bad, and the ugly at the 2014 PTAA Travel Expo

The 2015 PTAA (Philippine Travel Agencies Association) Travel Expo has come and gone, and GMA News Online has some few takeaways that people can learn from.

The good

There are a lot of Travel Expo exclusives that were available at the event. Aside from promo airfares, hotels and travel agencies had a lot of notable deals. One travel agency in particular offered processing Japan visas for just P500, a great deal considering the usual price is around P1,200.

Promo fares were offered everywhere. Air Asia had a legitimate P650 all-in, one-way fare for several local destinations. This writer was able to get a trip to Tagbilaran for P1,300 roundtrip for the month of July.

Cathay Pacific was offering a "Buy one, pay 50% for the next ticket" deal, which had US West Coast destinations ringing in at a bit over $1,600 for two, but these were specifically available only to Citibank cardholders.

The bad

Those who have been going to the Expo the past few years may notice that the deals this year are not as crazy. The destinations are limited, and there were times when the airline employees at the counters were even encouraging people to just book online.

Most deals available at the Expo went live on the internet hours before the event started, so those who lined up may not have gotten the deals as they have already been booked online.

In fact, Jetstar's buy-one-take-one deal for Osaka and Singapore was cheaper if booked on the internet, because it charged a P200 "admin fee" for booking at the Expo.

Before you troop to the Expo, check your choice airline's website if the deals are available there. It will save you a lot of hours lining up.

The ugly

The charm of travel was lost for some. There's no fun having to wait for 2-3 hours to book a discounted flight.

And when you get to the counter, most of your choice destinations and dates may have already been booked, leaving you to pick other dates.

This adds a lot of waiting time for the hundreds more in line. Most people who lined up were older people and seniors, who may not be well-versed with online purchasing and the internet. I find in inexcusable that they had to stand for hours, but that's the price one pays for not braving the internet, I guess.

Another realization is that marketing ploys were quite misleading. Some agencies offered tickets to New York and Paris for just $460, but this was still before taxes and other surcharges.

The bottom line

Amidst all the stressful scenarios at the Expo, there are still a lot of reasons to go there. Travel agencies peddled itineraries worth emulating when it's time for you to take the trip. New hotels that may be worth visiting were also present at the event.

Being at the Expo also makes us think about alternative travel options. This writer wanted to see what Laboracay was all about, but with airfare skyrocketing to more than five digits, I trooped to the 2go booth and booked a roundtrip ticket from Batangas to Caticlan for under P1,300. Nine hours of night travel on a boat isn't so bad, and it surely beats spending P12,000 on airline tickets.

Finally, it encourages us to try out new places. South African Airlways was very visible, as well as Turkish Airlines. Aeroflot was also there trying to promote Russia. They all remind us that there's more of the world to see, if we are brave enough to try the not-so-popular destinations. — BM, GMA News

The PTAA TravelTour Expo was held from Feb. 13 to 15 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.