Here are 8 steps to book the promo fares from Airasia for real.

Step 1. Focus.

Make sure you have nothing to do for the next hour or so. If you get distracted, you might not be able to find the promo fares you are looking for.

Step 2. Visit Airasia.com.

Select your preferred destination, then the travel date. The 300 promo fares are only for local trips in the Philippines. For my sample trip, I’ll be selecting a trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan for 1 person.

Step 3. Select the Promo Fares if available. 

If it’s not available on the date you selected, click on View by Month to look for dates with promo fares. Now this is the part where you have to focus. It took me maybe 20 minutes to find the promo fare for this example but I’m not too picky with the travel date. Remember: not all the dates you prefer will have a promo fare, so you have to keep looking at other months. There will be promo fares bound to show up. Just be vigilant.

Once you find the perfect travel dates with promo fares, click on the promo fare for both depart and return trips. Your total will show up on the right side of the page. Click continue.

Step 4. Fill in all the necessary details.

While in the Guest Details section make sure to enter all the necessary details correctly and then click next.

Step 5. Minimize check-in baggage.

When booking check-in baggage, my advice is to get the check in only for the trip back in case you bought souvenirs.

And if you're not planning to get a lot, just go for the lowest check-in which is 15 kg for 170.

For this example, I selected the 15 kg one and added 170 PHP to the total.

Step 6. Don’t get the Travel Protection insurance. 

It costs 300 PHP. If you want to, of course you can get it. But it beats the point of getting cheap fares. Click on Checkout to pay for your trip.

Step 7. Pay for your booked trip in the Payment Section. 

The total in my sample trip is now 770. 

600 for the Round trip and 170 for the check-in baggage for the return trip.

Now depending on the payment method, there will be a processing fee that will be added to your total.

Let's look at the processing/payment fees:

Credit Card (Visa and Mastercard)

Paying with a credit card will add 134.4 for each passenger each way. Since the sample booking I clicked is just for 1 passenger, the processing fee is already 268.80 making the total amount 1038.80 PHP. Imagine how much this will be for a booking of more than 1 person.

Credit Card (Big cards)

Big Mastercard and Big Visa has zero processing fee, but I don't have either. I don't think these are available in the Philippines.

EZPay

Paying with Airasia’s EZpay has zero processing fee and will even give you a discount for baggage fee of 26 pesos. But this service is not available in the Philippines.

Payment Partners

Paying thru Payment Partners has a lesser amount for Payment fee. The Payment fee is 134.40 PHP per passenger. But it’s still a considerable amount. Another downside of this option is that you have to make sure to pay for the booking within 12 hours of clicking purchase on the website. This could be a problem if you don't have any of the Payment Partners near your area.

Internet Banking

Payment thru Internet banking or Direct Debit is still the BEST way to pay for a trip in Airasia.

Trust me. Right now it’s not showing any additional processing fees. Let’s click on Purchase to see the next screen.

On the next screen, select BPI Express Online/Mobile Fund Transfer option from the drop down menu. 

Then enter your BPI Expressonline email address

This option is the easiest way to pay for your trip. It's online, you don't have to go anywhere and this process only adds a few cents for the verification fee.

Just follow the instructions on this page to pay for the trip thru Fund Transfer.

https://gw.dragonpay.ph/Bank/GetEmailInstruction.aspx?refno=KV9FBTF8

After Validation, you're all good to go.

Step 8. Wait for the Itinerary

Once you are booked and paid, all you have to do is wait for the Itinerary email from Airasia. It only takes a few minutes. Once you receive it, you're good to go! :D

And there you have it. Booked and ready travel. I hope these steps help you in your search for the cheapest fares. 

Visit Airasia.com to book your own trip!

Ever been to Hong Kong? 

If not, and you're planning to go, here's a beginner's guide to prep for your first trip to HK. 
These are all from my preparations for my first trip to HK. :D

Hong Kong Skyline. This was after we watched the Symphony of Lights

First, Book your Flight

Always check Cebupacificair.com or AirAsia.com for cheap promo flights. They usually have promos during holidays. 

From my experience:
We booked a promo flight for two to HK for 6400 Php roundtrip including the Check in baggage fee! That's really cheap! The only down side of getting promo flights is that it's for a much later date. We booked the flight on Sep 2013, and the flight is on Nov 2014. Haha

Second, Prepare your Passport

Make sure you have a valid passport before even thinking about leaving for HK. 
The minimum validity of the passport should be 6 months before you leave the country. 
Just to be sure, apply for a passport (or renew your old one) at least 1 month before your trip.
We don't need to prepare a Visa because Philippines has Visa-Free Entry to HK. Awesome right?

From my experience:
I already had a valid passport before our trip to HK and since it's valid for 5 years I didn't need to do anything.

Third, Book a Hotel

It's always better to book your hotel before  going to another country. You might even get a cheaper rate if you book early. The sites I usually check are Agoda.com or Airbnb.com. Try to look for a hotel as soon as you book your flight. 
Another tip is to read as many of the hotel reviews as possible. The experience of other guests at that hotel could be the key to finding the cheapest and coziest hotel. Check Tripadvisor.com for reviews of the hotel you're planning to book. 

From my experience:
We booked a small apartment in Mong kok for 5 nights at 10000 Php and it was pretty spacious for 2 people. I was afraid of getting a room with absolutely no space whatsoever, where the bathroom is one step away from the bed and the room is so small you can't even fit your luggage inside(which is the norm I'm afraid in Hong Kong for cheap rooms). But at 2000 Php a night in Airbnb we got a pretty decent place that's 5 minutes away from the MTR station and Ladies Market is right downstairs.

You can register at Airbnb using my link and you get 25 Dollars or 1122 Php discount on your first booking!

www.airbnb.com/c/apagulayan1?s=8
The base is 25 US Dollars, so the Peso rate will change depending on forex for the day.

Fourth, Prepare an Itinerary

Okay so you have your flight, your hotel, and your passport ready. Now you have to plan what you're gonna do in HK! Always make an itinerary based on what you want to do and where you wanna go, not what everybody says you should do. Your trip is successful if you enjoyed it, and you can only enjoy something if you truly want it. But once you get there, you don't have to stick to your itinerary. Go where your gut tells you to go. It's a vacation after all. It's not a requirement to go to every single tourist spot in HK. :D

From my experience:
I was researching for things to do and I mostly researched for promos once I get there. haha. I just took down the list of "WHERE TO GO" like Tsim Sha Tsui, or Ladies Market. But not what we're gonna eat there. I thought we'll just choose based on what's available and boy were there a LOT of choices.
I also thought of going to Tim Ho Wan right in Hong kong. But based on a blog post that I saw before we left for HK, there's always a line in that place. So we didn't bother to go. I'll just waste time there.

Fifth, Check weather

Before packing your clothes for the trip, it's best to check the weather forecast for the area you'll be visiting. And also try to consider what you'll be doing when packing clothes. Will you be hiking? Are you going to a fancy restaurant? Is it cold there? Should I bring a sweater?

From my experience:
I asked coworkers who went to HK on November to get a feel of the weather there. And I was told it was cold. It's also cold based on Accuweather. But we still brought shorts. Coz it's just like Baguio. I mean, it's not that cold in Baguio right? But when we got there, boy oh boy, did we make a mistake. We were shivering right after stepping off the plane. We bought nice jackets at Ladies Market tho. XD So we look cool and feel warm in the cold weather.

Sixth, Prepare your Money

Budgeting for the basic stuff should be easy. Set aside enough money for the hotel you booked, the flight you booked, and the activities that you will DEFINITELY be doing once you get to HK. Once you have that set aside, the rest of your money can go to extra stuff you want to buy and random delicious looking food being sold on the streets. And make sure to exchange some of your money either here in Manila or at the Airport before heading out.
Read my other blog post about exchanging money for more tips:Exchanging Money

From my experience:
We spent a little over 16,000 php on airfare and hotel expenses. Then we set aside 3000 HKD for the payables for Macau, Ngong Ping 360, Ocean Park, etc. After setting that aside, the rest of our money went to whatever the hell we want! :D

Once you have all of the above set, you're good to go. If you have anything else that you prep before you go to HK or any other foreign country please comment below. :D

If you are travelling to another country and will need to exchange your Philippine Pesos to another currency, here are a few tips that I learned from my previous trips and would love to share with you. (I've only traveled to South Korea, Hong Kong, and Macau so far tho.)

This is more of a list of options on how to exchange money than tips, but what the heck. :D

Tip # 1

Never exchange all of your money at airports.

Airports have the worst exchange rates and are always lower than local money changers in that country.
Make sure to exchange just a small amount of your cash and then exchange the rest of your money once you find a local money changer.

From my experience:
Before our flight to Korea, we exchanged our money to Korean won while in NAIA Terminal 3.
We already thought that the rate was pretty good. It was at 1 Peso = 20 Won
or 10,000 Pesos = 200,000 Won
When we got to Korea, the local money changer's rate was so much better.
It was at 1 Peso = 24 Won. Later on we even found a better one, at 1 Peso = 24.5 Won.
If we exchanged 10000 Pesos at the last money changer we could have earned 245,000 won instead of just 200,000.

For HK and Korea, they do accept Pesos in exchange to their currency, you just get a better rate when you exchange US Dollars.
But IMO, you lose money if you'll have to exchange your Pesos to US Dollars, so just go with exchanging directly from Pesos to the other currency you need.

Tip # 2

Withdraw foreign money from an ATM

You can also withdraw money from your Debit card( ATM Card) right at a foreign ATM.
As long as it also has a Cirrus or Expressnet logo. (I'm referring to BPI atm cards) You have to check if your ATM card has the same logos as the ATM you'll be using in another country. There will be a withdrawal fee of course but it's the more convenient option than having to go to a Money Changer.

From experience:
Well it's not really from my experience. It's more from a friend's experience in withdrawing HKD.
You have to call BPI first to enable the option to withdraw at an ATM in a foreign country.
After that, you will be able to withdraw money in the currency of the country you're in. But you have to take note that there's a withdrawal fee of 2% of the withdrawn amount or 3.5 dollars whichever is higher.

Tip # 3

Buy foreign money from friends or family members

Let's say a friend of yours just went to Hong Kong and has extra HKD left from their tour. You can also exchange your pesos for their HKD. That way you don't have to wave your hands around while trying to talk to a foreign money changer who knows very limited English.

Tip # 4

Exchange your money while in the Philippines

You can also be super prepared to the nth power by exchanging your money while in Manila. You can buy foreign money at local banks, SM forex counters, local money changers, and Czarina. Most of them have the currency you'll need. But if you'll be buying a large amount, you may want to call them up first before showing up to pay for the foreign currency. Just sayin. Coz they may not have enough of the currency you need when you drop by.

Tip # 5

To buy foreign currency is to pay the larger amount

When you look at the money exchange tables, you'll see two columns.
One for Buy and one for Sell. This really got me confused. What the heck is the difference of the Buy and Sell rate?
The words confused me because I'm buying foreign currency, so do I look at Buy column?
Or do they sell the foreign currency, so I have to look at the Sell Column?
Correct Answer. It's actually the latter. Sell Column.

For example:
The exchange rate for HKD on the forex board is like this:
Buy = 5.55
Sell = 6.25

Interpretation:
I had to give them 6.25 Pesos for every HKD they will sell me.
For me to get 1000 HKD, I had to give the money changer 6250 Pesos.

Gets?

Tip # 6

Convenience is the best policy

Go with whatever is most convenient for you. Exchange at the airport, withdraw from an atm, or exchange at a local bank. Don't waste your time looking for a better money changer in the country you'll visit. You're there to see the sights, taste the food and experience the culture, not look for a better exchange rate!

So there you have it, some tips when exchanging to foreign money. Hope it helps you out on your next trip. :)