The big problem is finding a flight that isn't sold out.

http://www.cebupacificair.com/

Nobody else flies to Clark from outside SE Asia. The Cebu Pacific flight from HKG is second best, and CP has FINALLY sorted out their website issues so you can now buy online using US issued credit cards which is a HUGE improvement. Now the bad news: no baggage interline agreements which means unless you go carry on only you must clear customs in HKG and then recheck your luggage which is time consuming and makes you pay the HKG terminal fee (which they will refund provided you go to the counter at HKIA with copies of papers showing a breakdown that includes the HKG120 terminal fee). Finally, CP free baggage allowance is only 15kgs per passenger and they gouge you on overweight so travel light! Allow at least 3 hours between flights, and because it is a separate ticket if your flight to HKG is late and you miss the connection you are SOL, hasn't happened to me but I Do worry when going that way.

Don't do Macau or AirAsia so cannot comment on that, but all the other options, i.e. via BKK or SIN add lots of flying time.

PAL's flight from HKG to MNL is often not much more costly and they do interline baggage and provide better service but it goes to MNL which is much less convenient. Not only does the drive add almost 3 hours (and it can be much more, the less than 2 hours is pushing it now with rainy season even with PAL's arrival before 5am), MNL airport is a sea of thieves and scum and packed with locals greeting or sending off relatives, a veritable circus. For first timers especially, if you can avoid that airport do it. One other option is Cathay Pacific to Cebu via HKG, then connect to the CP flight to Clark. Or stay a day or two in Cebu which is much nicer than Manila and has plenty of girlie bars itself.

HKG is not the only option either as I often fly UA to ICN then Cebu Pacific from ICN to Manila. CP also serves Taipei, Shanghai, Sai Gon and Osaka so look at all those options to see where you can get to most cheaply then connect to CP flight to MNL.

PS Whenever you fly CP pay the extra 200pisos to reserve a premium seat in advance.

Our plans are to go on a couple of one ways - SFO to HKG and BKK to SFO on UA metal. We have good shots at getting upgraded since most of use are 1Ks on UA. Once we're in HKG, take the Macau ferry from the Skypier at HK airport. Spend a couple of nights in Macau and take the Cebu-Pacific flight from HK to CRK at 9:45 AM. You get in at 11:30AM in AC. If you fly from Macau, you leave at 11:00PM in the evening. Cost for this one way is around $100 USD (including the pre-purchase of reserved seats, a few extra kilos of luggage, taxes, etc). Yes, you do pay an extra $28 US for transiting Macau to HK Airport via ferry.

Return was a little more complex since the dates for the direct from Clark to BKK was sold out for several days that we wanted to return. Looked at flying out of Manila but too much extra time spent just to get back to Manila via taxi/car. The direct on Cebu doesn't leave until late night and gets in around midnight in BKK, similar to the US bound flights to BKK, not something that I'm fond of.

We wanted to get in during the day or early evening and fly out of Clark.

Option 1) AirAsia has one flight to Kuala Lumpur then you have to do some juggling to transfer between another AirAsia flight KUL to BKK. Cost was around $180 all in for the two segments. Decent time as flight leaves at 1:30PM and gets to KUL at 5:35. You then have to jump on to another AirAsia flight at 6:45PM or 9:00PM. 6:45 may be tight to transfer to depending on how they handle the luggage issue.

Option 2) Tiger has direct from Clark to Singapore. They should be able to move our luggage to the second Tiger flight, SIN to BKK. Total for the two segments is around $150.

Advantage to Option 2 since Tiger is based out of Singapore, should be able to move the luggage to the second flight and won't force us to pick up luggage just to re-check back in for second flight. We'll see if this works. I'll be calling Tiger directly to ask them if they can do the direct transfer of baggage. This flight also gets in at 8:00PM BKK time. Perfect for getting into Pattaya by 10:00 and Walking Street should be just heating up...

Juplo

I think if you have a few guys, splitting a private car costs is way better to Manila airport is easier and less hassle.

To each his own.

Ride from airport is 2500 or so if split 2 or 3 ways so you are correct on cost. But customs and baggage claim is 10 times worse at NAIA, as is departure when security, terminal fee and immigration all involve waiting in separate lines. It is horribly overcrowded while Clark is underused. And it is not always only 2 hours to Ermita depending on traffic, while there is never more than a 10 minute ride to Clark.

Thanks for the great info Surfer!! The last trip I made I thought long and hard to take Asiana but that 12 hour layover in Seoul was the deal breaker. If it was in HK, I can always make a run to Macau and hit up an amazing spa (Rio, 18, Boss etc.) and then take a direct ferry to the airport but I have no idea what to do in Seoul for that long. Time is valuable. That's why I like flying into Clark and avoid that awful car ride to Manila but 12 hours on the return is way too long in Seoul, so I would rather look into other options.

In the future I think it maybe much better for flights as the Philippine Government has wisely decided to expand Clark as it's International hub instead of that old crumbling Manila airport. Though that expansion might put an end to the Bars of Fields Ave.

Anyone have a link on why it's good to get points on UA? I seem to recall an excellent post on why getting points on UA international is better then traveling on SG, Cathay, and other high end International fleets. I've been flying a lot lately and my points on SG and Cathay barely add up to any free upgrades.

As for utility of UA miles, I use them for biz class awards on Asiana or Singapore (2 of my 3 favorite airlines along with Cathay).