PAL penalizes passengers for coming late

MANILA, Philippines - National flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has started penalizing passengers for coming late and for bringing excess baggage.

PAL said it would impose a P1,500 for late check-in fee on passengers who would report at the check-in counter less than 45 minutes prior to departure.

The airline said late passengers could still take the same flight provided that there is an available seat.

However, PAL said a passengers would be considered a “no show” if he or she reports at the check-in counter at the same time or later than the estimated time of departure.

Furthermore, PAL is also imposing a P1,500 re-accommodation fee on passengers who want to be accommodated to an earlier flight as long as the flight is on the same date of travel.

PAL also slashed the free baggage allowance per passenger to 10 kilograms from 15 kilograms and at the same time raised the fee slapped on excess baggage for domestic flights to P200 inclusive of value added tax from P150 plus value added tax.

Last December, the DOTC and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued administrative order 01 detailing the bill of rights for air passengers and Carrier Obligations covering denial of boarding, flight delay, flight cancellation, off-loading of baggage, overbooking, advertisement of promotional and regular fares, re-fundability and re-bookability of fares, death and bodily injury, and express lane for persons with disabilities and senior citizens.

The bill of rights state that no passenger may be denied boarding, unless there is a legal and valid cause such as, but not limited to, immigration issues, safety and security, health concerns, non-appearance at the boarding gate at the appointed boarding time or government requisition of space.

The bill also stated that the airline should shoulder any expense, consequence, or inconvenience on passengers due to overbooking. If the flight is overbooked, the airline should announce that the flight is overbooked and that it is looking for volunteers willing to give up their seats in exchange for compensation.

For cancelled flights, the airline should notify passengers using public announcement, written/published notice and flight status update service through text messaging. Passengers should also be given sufficient meals or refreshments, hotel accommodation, transportation from the airport to hotel, free phone calls, texts, emails or first aid.

Furthermore, the airline should transport the off-loaded baggage in the next available flight, deliver the same to the passenger either personally or to their residence and tender an amount of P2,000 for every 24 hours of late delivery, as compensation for the inconvenience.