March 29, 2024

12 thoughts on “Texas Trip – Day 1, Part 2

  1. I don’t under stead what you guys are talking about return trips or tickets. Sounds to me like the Filipino air lines has figured out how to screw the public and make it legal. When my son worked for Northwest Airlines I would fly to Philippines with my wife as standby with no return ticket to show. When we wanted to leave we just checked in at the terminal and ask if we could get on flight. We had to wait at gate to see if seat was open. If not they would take us back through security and tell us to come back and try again. We had are passports stamped several times as leaving before we got out.

    1. How long ago was that George? Maybe it had something to do with you son working for Northwest. I agree we are getting screwed, but the ticket doesn’t have to be with a Philippine airline at all, just any ticket departing the Philippines. However from what I understand, that is not exactly whatn it says in their regualtions. I need to get and print a copy of what it actually says and carry it around with me when I travel if they are contradicting themselves. Besides that, it sounds like you could use up a lot of passport pages doing it that way.

  2. Hi John,I am back in the seattle area and have caught up on your travels.Sure sounds like you didnt have a boreing trip,but at least you made it there safe and sound.I am wondering are you glad to be back in Texas or cant wait to get back to calbayog.
    You talked about having return tickets that same thing happened to
    me on a trip to Thailand i didnt know i needed my return ticket from the PI to the USA so had to get cheap ticket on return to the PI,i was told the reason for this the philippines dosnt want people stuck there.
    well i hope you and Lita are enjoying your selves and everthing is going as planned.

    1. Well Wayne you’re right, our trip sure wasn’t boring. It was something adventurous almost all the way. We were always wondering if we would be able to make it. I’ll have to admit that we got lucky and didn’t have to spend too much money. It made us more aware of how Space A travel can be, so we will be better prepared next time.
      I know why they wanted the return or follow on ticket, but in our case it wasn’t feasible to get one. There must be a way to get around that easier when someone is going to be using Space A.
      We are kind of torn between whether it’s better to be here or back in Calbayog. The prices here have certainly increased, so that isn’t helpful. I think that if we had more money to enjoy ourselves better, we’d like it back here more, but since we don’t, I believe we will be happy when we return. I miss being able to do the blog everyday and it seems my rating is being affected too because I do not have constant updates. My ads don’t seem to be getting much attention either even though they are supposedly in ideal positions now. Living with others (my parents in this case) is not something we like to do either, so overall I think we will be happy when we return to Calbayog.

  3. Where did “trip” come from? Correction on the first correction: sub “PART” for “trip.” 🙁 I do hope I’ve got that straight now.

    Must be great to be back in TX again where your favorite BBQs, hot salsa, tender beef, Jalapenos… are never too far away. 🙂

    Yes, I know Tx is just a spit away from the border, that it was known as Mexican Texas between 1821 and 1836, when Tx was an integral part of Mexico. I’m surprised the rest of the state’s population do not speak [Mexican] Spanish as fluently. 🙂

    Have a great time, JJ. Lita might not want to go back to Catbalogan after being with the grandkids again!

    Keep typing!

  4. The way I understand it is when citizens of one country originate in a country other than their destination, airline policy is that they must possess an ongoing or return ticket before they can be processed. The airlines will not be held responsible for dumping anyone off in some country where they may not be able to afford to return or where they can become a burden on that country. Question: Did Lita obtain U.S. Citizenship when living in Texas?

    1. That seems to be the policy yes.
      Lita has been a US citizen since 1989 and did obtain it while living in Texas.
      My point is that there needs to be something that can be used by people going to use Space A that the airline will accept. Space A is unpredicatable and buying a return ticket could, and most likely will, result in you having to change your ticket and thus costing you more money.
      Of course if there was a place to start Space A here in the Philippines, this whole thing would not be an issue.

      1. Actually, I believe it should not be a mandate for the airlines to practice immigration control. Countries are just putting this off on them like it’s their (the airlines) fault that illegal immigration exists. If I want to fly one way, and my passport allows me to, then so be it. What good is a return ticket to anywhere if the individual(s) violate their stay or just refuse to leave? I see so often where expats (or travelers) are required to purchase a cheap “junk” ticket only to satisfy visa requirements. What if you wanted to just take a row boat to Borneo? The rights of individual choice and responsibility for one’s self have simply disappeared.

        1. I’ve tried that argument with the airline before when we first came to the Philippines. They say they are just going by their by-laws. I’m going to read those by-laws because I heard that it doesn’t actually say what they claim it says, but it is ‘safely’ interpreted that way.

      2. Hi JJ!

        Where do I find your latest blog? I’ve read trip 2 day 1; any more after that?

        How are you doing in good ole TX? How is Lita now that she’s back in the US of A? Where are you based – staying with which one of your kin?

        Thanks for such a detailed account of your outbound trip. I’m a real who-what-where-why person so that satisfies my inquisitive mind. 🙂

        Can’t wait to read your next blog.

        Keep typing !!! Salamat.

        1. Oh great. I meant “Day 2 Trip 1” – is there a Day 2 Trip 2? Family reunions?

          Celsius to Fahrenheit: times 2 plus 30 is a good approximation of the conversion.

          Hasta manana [ma-NIA-na], amigo.
          Hanggan mamaya, kaibigan.
          Later, ‘gator.

          1. Howdy Winda. So far I have only done 4 posts since we left. I have Day 1, Part 1 & Part 2 and Day 2, Part 1 & Part 2. I wanted to do another one today, and I probably could, except I left my notes at the flea market yesterday and they will not open again until Saturday, so I’ll have to wait. I could probably do most of it from memory, but I’m sure to forget something and I don’t want to do that. Lita is doing fine and we are getting things done that will help us once we return to the Philippines. We are staying with my parents and just got some news about how long we are able to stay today, but I’m not saying here, you’ll have to wait until I put it in a post.
            The Spanish words you don’t realy have to explain to me, I know a lot of Spanish words, more than I know Tagalog. I don’t speak Spanish, but if they talk slow enough, I get the gist of it, without Spanglish even.
            I figured the extra detail of the trip would help others if they ever had a similar experience and/or were in that part of the world. I’m glad that it “satified at least one inquisitive mind”.
            I’m not getting too many comments on the posts I’ve done since we left, so I hope that people are still reading. I know they tune in for “Philippines”, but “Texan” is still part of me too. Okay gotta go put some dishes away, Lita is too short to reach the cabinet.

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