Philtranco Shuttle Bus from Megamall to Clark Airport

My dad, who turns 82 soon, will be celebrating his birthday in Sabah, Malaysia. Together with my mom, he will be taking the flight to Kota Kinabalu from the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines.

He asked me to check on airport shuttle arrangements but at the last minute, decided that he would rather have the driver bring them to the Clark airport. Well, no effort is ever really wasted so what do I do with the information I obtained -- what else, but blog about it!

They will be taking the Air Asia flight from the Clark airport at 4:45pm. If you wish to check Air Asia out for their cheap and affordable flights, you can visit their website at www.airasia.com

The website though is not that easy to navigate. Flight schedules are not readily visible from the front page. I had to look for the site map to be able to find the flight schedules.

On to the shuttle bus arrangement. You take the shuttlebus from SM Megamall. The Philtranco terminal is at the back of Building A, across Watsons and BPI bank. There is a booth there (at the waiting shed), where you can pay the P300 fee per person (one-way). It is good to make a reservation to ensure that you will have a seat but you can pay at the booth on the day itself.

You can check out the Philtranco website at www.philtranco.com.ph although I also called their offices at 851 8077/78/79 in Metro Manila, Philippines and it seems that the schedule of the shuttle services in their website is not updated. Based on the website, there is a shuttle service from Megamall to Clark at 11am and at 12pm but the lady I talked to on the phone said that there was also an 11:30am shuttle.

It's a nightmare calling the Philtranco numbers. I was only able to contact a number once (to actually inquire) and from about 3:30pm to 7pm, I was calling it once in awhile to actually reserve but I just got either a busy tone or continuous rings. Good thing my dad changed his mind about reserving so I don't need to call the numbers again.

I also tried to inquire via e-mail (through the address posted on their website) and I got a message that the quota has been exceeded and that their mailbox is full. Makes me want to check out the e-mail address for complaints and see if that is full as well.

Anyway, the lady that I talked to on the phone gave me all of the above information regarding the shuttle (for my purposes at least). They usually allot two hours and a half for the one-way trip from Megamall to Clark so for a 1645 or 4:45pm flight, she was recommending the 11am or 11:30am shuttle. Before that though, this is how our conversation went:

Angel: Kung 4:45pm yung flight from Clark, aling shuttle yung dapat kuhanin -- yung 11am, 11:30am or 12pm? (If the flight from Clark is at 4:45pm, which shuttle should we take? The 11am, 11:30am, or 12 pm?)

Lady Staff of Philtranco: Oo (Yes.)

Angel: Oo, ano? 11am? 11:30am? or 12pm? (Yes to what time? -- Note: She was obviously not listening or paying attention to me or what I was saying.)

Lady Staff: Yung 11:00 or 11:30am po. Huwag na po yung 12pm (Take the 11am or 11:30am shuttle. Don't take the 12pm).

There you go. As for me, I think I will take all my flights from Manila. =)