Zest Airways Philippines — a horrible passenger experience
I just had the worst travel experience with Zest Air Philippines earlier today. I have flown with Zest Air and other budget airlines in the Philippines but I have never experienced something as bad as the one I just had this morning. I’ve heard a lot of negative stories about the airline’s horrible service but I never took them seriously. For one, I never experienced these kind of things and some events are just so inevitable that we can let it pass — especially for companies like Zest Air who does better in producing artificially flavored juices than running a small fleet of hand-me-down Airbus planes.
November 27
13:20
At around 1:20 PM last Saturday, a day before my scheduled departure from Iloilo, I received a call from Zest Air’s Manila office informing about the change of schedule of my ILO-MNL flight. It was originally scheduled on November 28 20:35 but was moved to November 29 05:55. Since I only itinerary is only until November 28, I asked the agent if the airlines could possibly shoulder the hotel expenses from November 28 to November 29. The agent assured to call back once she gets an answer from her superior. I waited until in the evening for her call but I received nothing. I tried calling her landline number but I received no answer. I also tried calling Zest Air’s hotline but I was greeted with pre-recorded messages telling me that my concerns can only be answered during office hours (Monday to Friday). Since getting through Zest Air’s communication lines seems hopeless, I decided to give up and settle whatever that can be settled in Zest Airway’s Manila office upon arrival on November 29.
Since my flight is scheduled early in the morning, I decided that it would be impractical to extend my stay with Iloilo Business Hotel. So what I did, I left my stuff in Ate Aileen’s room and decided to get it before I head out to the airport. Since I have no hotel to stay, it also meant that I won’t be getting any sleep.
November 29
01:00
Since I didn’t have a place to stay for the night, I decided to leave Iloilo City earlier so I could spend the rest of my time in the airport until my flight schedule. So after preparing everything, we went to pick up a taxi that would take us to Iloilo International Airport. Getting to Iloilo Airport by the way is not a walk in the park. It usually takes around 40 minutes to get to the airport from Iloilo City on a taxi. After getting into the cab, the driver told us that the airport would not open until 4:30 in the morning. Since airlines require its passengers to be in the airport two hours before the scheduled departure time, I left the city at 4:00 a.m. so I would be early enough for check-in and just in time for the airport to open.
04:40
At approximately 4:40 a.m., I arrived in the airport. Though the main airport gate has already been opened, the departure gate was still closed and the passenger queue had been building up. During that time, most of the ticketing offices are still closed.
05:00
After waiting the long queue, I finally entered the check-in area of the airport. The only airline receiving check-ins was Cebu Pacific. I was hoping to see someone from the Zest Air counter since it’s already an hour before my scheduled departure but not a single Zest Air employee can be found. I went up the airport to see the flight information for the day. I was devastated to find out that there are no Zest Air flights scheduled in the morning. I went back outside to see if I could find someone in the Zest Air ticketing office, but there was none. I started getting restless and impatient at that time due to stress and lack of sleep.
06:30
I went back to Zest Air’s ticketing office to see if someone has already arrived but still, there was no one. Even the check-in counters, no one from Zest Air showed up. The flight information displayed didn’t display an ILO-MNL 5:55 flight either.
7:00
Waiting for anyone from Zest Air seemed hopeless, I decided to buy a ticket from PAL so I could leave Iloilo and get fill my sleep deprivation when I get back in Makati.
22:00
I tried calling the Zest Air’s express counter in Manila International Airport. The ticketing office in MIA is the only Zest Air channel I could contact. Giving the airlines the benefit of the doubt that I got the flight details wrong, I tried asking for my flight details. I confirmed that my flight was indeed rescheduled from 20:35 Nov 28 to 05:55 Nov 29. Furthermore, airline records showed that they didn’t have an ILO-MNL flight scheduled at 05:55 Nov 29.
Also, the guy who I talked to informed me that I owe Zest Airways P1220.00 P1120.00 for not showing up on my flight.
Zest Air rescheduled my original flight to a new time where no planes are scheduled to fly. What they did cost me money, time and a lot of stress. The incident made me swear not to ever trust Zest Air again. It only happened once and I will not let it happen to me again. I doubt AMY Holdings Corporation will take responsibility of this incident. I have heard a lot of similar incidents and Zest Airways didn’t do anything to compensate for the mistake or improve their service. I don’t expect Zest Air to compensate for the damages they caused me but one thing’s for sure, they lost one customer and they will surely lose more if they continue this kind of attitude towards their customers.
If you have other horrible Zest Air experience, please feel free to share. Zest Air already made a lot of damages in the past and we wouldn’t want other to experience the same.
UPDATE:
November 30, 10:20 a.m.
Last night, when I called Zest Air’s Express ticketing office, they confirmed with me that the fight was moved to November 29, 5:55 AM and that no Zest Air flights were scheduled on that day/time. The guy I talked to advised me to contact Zest Air’s hotline this morning to check what can be done. After calling the customer hotline (while keeping my cool) this morning, I learned that their records show that it the flight was supposed to be 5:55 a.m. on November 28. I was surprised. Since I still owe them P1120, the agent still CAN’T send me the transcript of my flight details not unless I pay the no show fee.
I was pretty sure that the agent who called me last November 27 told me that the flight was moved later and not earlier. Most parts of our conversation were about the request for hotel and accommodation compensation since my flight will be moved on a later date. Why would I request for a accommodation if she had told me that the flight was moved to an earlier time, diba? And another thing, if indeed it was moved to 5:55 a.m. on November 28, why would they leave their customers only a few hours to prepare for their mistakes? The agent ended our conversation assuring me that she will call back after she receives a feedback from her superior(s) regarding my request. Yet, she never called back.
Getting the transcript from the Airlines is hopeless since there’s no way I’m gonna pay for that P1120. Heck, why would I? I even paid for a new Philippine Airline Ticket (to get back to Manila) which is way way way more expensive than the original cost of my FAIL Zest Air flight.
Originally sharing his experiences of being a "yagit" in Davao, he now tries to find his luck in the busy district of Makati. He still finds time to blog and go on weekend trips despite his hectic schedule. Join Batang Yagit, now that he has developed from "rags" to a more abundant supply of rags.
Hays… Zest Air? Wag na… Isama mo na rin ako sa listahan ng mga pasaherong nag boycott sa kanila…
I made the mistake of booking five flights with them last summer for my 4th Quarter trips.
Four of those were delayed for more than five hours, the worst being 13 hours.
And I’m sooo glad na ubos na lahat ng Zest Air tickets ko. Haha. Never again will I fly this airline.
same here. :P nagkatotoo ang sabi mo. hahaha
Eto may bagong post si Don. Yung Bacolod-Manila flight namin last October, with pictures pa!
http://www.bonggaba.com/zest-air-review-1-out-of-5-stars.html
hahahahaha! :D dapat mag PAL business class ka palagi. :D
BIG DUH on ZEST AIR! Flew with them early this year to Kalibo. Our flight going to Kalibo was a big let down they changed the plane to a propeller instead of an Airbus which was indicated in the flight details. On our way back, we waited for 2 hours before our flight back to Manila, we asked why it was delayed, the ground crew said “Kumakain pa po ang crew” WTH!!! Never flying Zest-O Air! Maski kakilala ko ung may ari!
WTH! Napaka unprofessional naman. T__T
Yikes. That’s bad customer service to the nth level. Napagastos ka pa. Zest air rin nasakyan namin last summer, to kalibo and it was funny, kasi 6pm pa flight namin but they offered us an earlier flight kasi may seats pa daw. parang bus lang.
ahahaha. yun nga nakakainis dun. at least kung bus, marami kang option. most of the time, they leave their passengers with no choice.
It just reflects the attitude of the Filipino business.. Stupid ass! You better close your airlines.. Magbenta na lang kayo ng ZESTO!
i suggest sa ibang plane magcheck-in di bale kung mahal basta on time..
i booked my davao trip this december on PAL. bahalag mahal basta sure ko makauli. waaaa
thanks for sharing this.. i was about to book flights with them for our group but with what you have just shared, di bale nalang… so count us too sa mga passengers na nagboycott sa kanila.. tsk tsk…
there are other better options. di lang naman zest air ang budget airline dito sa pinas eh. hehehe
when we went to Palawan last year, my friends’ flight was rescheduled and the agent only informed them about their MNL-PLW flight and not their return flight. Good thing, they came to the airport early and never missed their flight. And what’s with the No Show FEE??
The no-show fee in this situation is ridiculous.
Di ko pa nasubok sa ZestAir. I’m worried na baka kasi fruit juice ang fuel ng planes nila :-)
naku, wag mo nang subukan. :D
luckily i haven’t tried zest air, thanks for this awareness post.
It was my first time in Zest Air (Davao to Manila) last May 2009. Since I was 19 then, they asked me if I needed assistance as a ‘first-time’. I declined since it was not my first time riding a plane, and prior that I rode a plane from Manila to Davao via Cebu Pacific. So, I went to the normal process. I didn’t have any qualms or comments for that aside from the Zesto thing. Ok lang yun. Fast forward, the plane landed to Manila. To my surprise, the co-passengers don’t have the proper thinking, using their phones while the plane is taxing to the terminal. What if the other plane landing would get our tail, or worse, crash.
Anyway, when I got to the terminal to get my luggage. I am so not happy because my luggage got black spots as if it were placed with oil. Another thing is that my box – where I placed the suha – got crushed plus the black marks which I mentioned earlier. I am so not happy with the logistics. Next time, I’ll place all my luggage in the overhead compartment [not seriously] or the other seats [better] instead so that these would not get dirty again.
Sumali ako sa contest ni Jehz.. panalunin mo naman ako please hehehe eto link oh hehehe http://www.semidoppel.com/what-if-i-encountered-this-zest-airway-passenger-experience/3612
naku wala akong kinalaman sa contest ni jehz. hehehe. pero nabasa ko post mo. ^^
kuya winston grabe naman po yung zest air na yan.. Huhu
oo grabe sila. hehehe. :D :giggle:
oo kuya nag gawa ako ng hate post regarding sa kanila dun sa contest ni kuya jehz… read mo po http://halojin.blogspot.com/2010/12/first-last-and-never-more-for-zest-air.html
ska kuya … ganda po ng themes mo! :-)
Hi, all bad comments were “Going back to Manila”. how about leaving Manila, my flight is 8am from manila to tagbilaran.. would i also experience this extreme delay/hassle?
Most first flights of Zest Air (coming from Manila) for the day are on time, based on my experience. The worst that could happen is your flight sched getting moved less than 24hrs before your scheduled departure.
that’s why I hate zest air!
Good….that you didn’t pay. Don’t pay for there was no really no “service”.
yay! that is very stressful and my patience will eat me if that ever happen to me… service should be their main responsibility to us passengers and they should make ammends..
people are telling me a joke about it, when you fly with zest you may not land alive. tsk3
Grrr…wala pa rin tatalo sa Philippines Airlines….hehehe….
Grabe naman yon…terrible… :-((
Hi,lahat ng bad reviews na nakita puro “going back to manila”. If I will be coming from manila, delayed din ba sila?
Hi, all bad comments were “Going back to Manila”. how about leaving Manila, my flight is 8am from manila to tagbilaran.. would i also experience these extreme delays?
winston, nagkamali sila ng taong bubwisitin hehehe… nalalapit na ang araw nila… BUWahahahahaha :p
Oi kuya, . ,wait q pac0ntest mu ,haha. . . .
wooot! malapit na. inaantay ko na lang approval ng first sponsor ko. :D
Hey, I felt good upon reading these comments, I feel like I am not alone. MINE I GUESS IS SO MUCH WORSE, I LOST MY KIDS’ BAGGAGE ON A DEC. 18 LEGAZPI TO MANILA FLIGHT. AFTER 3 HOURS OF WAITING AT THE DOMESTIC AIRPORT, I OBLIGED TO GO HOME BANKING ON THEIR WORD THAT THEY WOULD GIVE ME A CALL BUT FOR THE MEANTIME I HAVE TO WAIT FOR MONDAY FOR THEIR MANAGER (‘NOT ON DUTY DURING WEEKENDS’). BUT SO FAR, AFTER CALLING THEIR HOTLINE NUMBER LAST MONDAY NIGHT AND FORWARDING AN EMAIL (W A HARD COPY)LAST DEC 23, I HAVE NOT HEARD ANY WORDS FROM THEM, EVEN A SIMPLE UPDATE WITH AN APOLOGY.. GRRRR. CAN SOMEBODY FROM THIS BLOG SITE HELP ME, OR ADVICE ME ON THIS? THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE… COZ M PLANNING TO SUE THEM
Hi Psyche, it seems that zest air has no PR working for them. The story had been covered by different online channels but none received a response from Zest Air. I think the best way is to deal with them higher ups directly and with paper trail. My case was dealt over the phone, hence, the only evidence I have is my word.
I do hope your case will not be left unnoticed.
Thanks for your posts (and others’ posts as well). Was supposed to book a return flight from Bohol to Manila coz its way cheaper. Di bale n magbayad ng mahal as long as I dont experience the hassle.
Thanks for this awareness blog! I have been planning to purchase a ticket to Manila from Cebu this month on Zest-naku-po-airways. di bale nalalng. I’ll just spend an extra penny from my pocket on PAL than to experience worst hassle with ZEST air.
Me and my friends were planning to book our our flights to Bora w/Zest because it’s the lowest fare I’ve searched thru net, but since I’ve read your post ’bout your bad experience w/them, we’ll have it instead with other airline so I can get the assurance that we will not be in the same situation..
Thanks!
Sayang at nakabook na ako ng ticket noong nabasa ko ito.
Nagkaroon rin ako ng stressful flight with them eh, 16 hours delayed kami. :O
Tapos pinatulog lang kami sa airport kahit bawal. Tas binigyan lang ng dinner @ 1am at breakfast @ 12nn.
http://conradmiguel.com/zest-air-fml
waaaa. kawawa ka naman mikko. T___T
Mas kawawa ka wala dumating na eroplano sayo.
Salamat for this info. I am planning to try their promo pa naman, buti na lang at nabasa ko to.
I tried to buy tickets for my 7 relatives in bacolod last Jan 18 and I am happy with their service as well as my relatives, I tried asking them how’s the experience since I bought a promo airfare and I’m worried baka promo nga pero pangit naman ang airplane or service and etc., I even as just to compare which is better: PAL, CEBU PAc and Zest Air and all of them told me they would go for Zest Air. Wider and new plane, clean surroundings except for a 30 minute delay. But the good experience outnumbered the 30 minute delay. Let us not throw stones at Zest Air, Im sure other airlines experience these kind of mistakes nung nag-iistart pa lang sila sa business. So in time ma-iimprove din ng Zest Air management yun, if ever there’s really a case like that.
Good for you and your relatives then. I hope you would not experience what others have experienced. You were lucky you only had a 30 minute delay. I know some, if you have read through other people’s comments here, have stayed in the airport for more than 8 hours. :)
good thing i read this…or else bka kung ano na ang nangyari sa gf ko when she said 2 read about the low price promo ng zest air…she plans 2 visit me here in MLA from BCLD…hell i care about my GF…so this thing is a definite no no…
i just want to know, if you buy your ticket via credit card? i bought my ticket via credit card and i did not show up last january 16 because i can’t call them i don’t why maybe because it was a weekend. di kasi ako aware sa mga charges unlike sa cebu pacific wala ng no show. natakot lang ako kasi baka nacharge sa credit card ko ang 1,220 wala pa sa akin ang bill sa february 10 pa ang cut off ko.
btw same case here namove ang ticket ko ng mas maaga na flight since may extra tickets kami sa cebu pacific iyun na lang ang ginamit ko para kasabay ko family and relatives ko.
omg! i have a flight nextweek with zest air going to cebu.. bt to come across this blog.. this just gives me the feeling that something might go wrong with my flight.. i’m booking another airline na lang just to be safe..
thanks bloggers!
I tried to call all Zest air office listed on their web site, the phones just ring and nobody except one answered just to hang out the phone when i started inquiring. What the use of putting your telephone numbers when your employees dont want to serve your clients?
to be fair with ZestAir, we’ve been booking flights with them and we are happy with their services, let us not be very hard on some of their mistakes, I suggest do not waste your time calling those numbers listed on their site, why not call their hotline number where you can get through no matter how long it takes, that’s what I do. I do not make my life worse but insisting to do what is difficult to do.
FYI, the hotline number only works on weekdays (office hours).
to be fair with ZestAir, we’ve been booking flights with them and we are happy with their services, let us not be very hard on some of their mistakes, I suggest do not waste your time calling those numbers listed on their site, why not call their hotline number where you can get through no matter how long it takes, that’s what I do. I do not make my life worse BY insisting to do what is difficult to do.
hi, i just read your story regarding Zest Air and ang masasabi ko lang…
“Ambait moh!”
I never had a bad experience with them, and I still book flights with them. But in case something like that happens to me…. Magdedemanda ako.
I’ve learned my lessons well with these airline customer service, so whenever I talk to their agents, I make sure I get their names first. Then if ever something untoward happens during your conversation, go directly to their complaints section in the website (may napaiyak akong agent one time sa CebPac, for putting me on hold for more than 5 minutes). In your case, I would go directly to their main office since their phoneline communications are not that reliable.
Hindi mo dapat pinalampas yung ginawa nila and you asked for damages.
1. hotel accommodation na dapat prinovide nila
2. reimbursement ng PAL ticket mo and refund ng Zest AIr ticket
3. Taxi fare since kung yung original flight date ka, pwede ka pa mag van at makakatipid ka, pag maagang maaga kasi no choice ka but magtaxi, and mejo me kamahalan ang taxi sa Iloilo.
4. Damages kasi naistress ang byuti mo.
Dapat sa kanila tinuturuan ng leksyon. Akala kasi nila OK lang yung practice nila, lalo yung mga naririnig kong overbooking. Keeping my fingers crossed not to encounter anything like that with them. Or else I’ll go the extra mile to teach them their lessons. The hard way.
mukhang mas ok kasi na mag-effort sa pagsusulat ng blog post na ‘to kesa pumunta at magreklamo sa kanila. Like in most cases that had been filed against them, hanggang pakikinig lang ang ginagawa. I doubt if any of these complaints have been properly addressed. If I had not written this post, I would have not made this known to 19,300+ readers who have read this post.
hi Mr. winston, we’ve been flying with zestair and haven’t experience problems with them. May I ask if you ever asked the zestair staff who called you to email you an e-ticket instead indicating the new schedule as reference for your re-scheduled flight? (well just to be sure that you are-re-scheduled, because if I am in your situation that’s what I would do)
Hi Vinz,
I took the representative’s word that she would call back with the information I requested from her superior. If they’re really concern with the quality of service they provide, they would have sent me an email of my updated ticket. After all, they have a copy of my email address. Yet, I have not received any emails nor calls from them. :)
bps: even you get their names, ask for supervisor.. supervisors will apologize and will tell you they will give warning to their agents, but that is.. after the transactions.. its done, nothing happened.. magkakampi yan.. anyway, if u got complain they will just give an email address wher you can send your complain, and u are saying to demands? they will just tell you thats the consequence, they cant give your demands cause they are selling it cheaper.. its easy to say, but impossible to get.. i also hate zestair.. but its just reality, they wont pay for those hassles.. the best thing is just dont fly with them.. best revenge is have them down..
HOT DAMN! This is by far the worst thing ever invented since the creation of the A-BOMB! Its vulgar airplanes, horrible managment/organization and horrid employees. How is such an airline even able to find the (friendly) skies? I thought the reviews from people about Zest we’re untrue so i decided to give them a chance. MY MISTAKE!
Tsk. Wanted to try Zest Air pa naman pero hwuag na lang. Hehe.. Thanks sa post.. :)
It looked like you were prank called?
nope, agent error yan.. yung nag advice nyan mali ang pag kaka advice.. and that is the person to blame.. btw, they have the record who did the advising..
HI! Zest air really does suck! last september, 10 of us were Manila bound from Bacolod. 5 of us were lucky enough to have reserved flights at AirPhil, but the other half were being very cheap and reserved their flights with ZestAir. They left anout 10 mins. earlier than us. Their ticket showed that they would be landing at NAIA 3, same as ours.
When we arrived at NAIA 3, we were expecting for them to be waiting for us, but we couldn’t find them anywhere. When we called them up, we found out that they landed at NAIA 3, allright, but the plane drove them all the way to the domestic airport instead!
So we had to pick them up ALL the way at the domestic airport with all of manila’s finest traffic. We were supposed to arrive at our destination around 8pm. We got there at 10:30, hungry and irritated. I could have swallowed an hour of traffic but we were late an extra half hour because of stupid Zest air!
zest air office website can’t be opened?! Why? Anybody knows the reason?
We booked on this site for flight in March. Worrying about this airline company when learned so much experiences from here.
Zest Air is not really keen about taking care of their customers. They lost my luggage. A staff from Zest Air asked for my contact details but didn’t get in touch. I’m gonna spread this blog all over to ward off passengers from horrible experiences with Zest Air.
My apologies to Winston and a handful of you who commented about your special cases… disheartening talaga ang nangyari sà inyo, and no one should experience that.
Honestly, ala akong masamang masasabi tungkol sa Zest air. Yung huli kong flight nga napaaga pa ng konti.
Pero yung ang problema ay delayed/rebooked flights, mahiya naman kayo. Budget airline ang sinasakyan ninyo, expect a whole slew of problems when they start happening. Kung ayaw nyo magkaproblema maysado, you’ll have to pay the price.
But, on second thought, nagkakaproblema din ang AirPhil, CEB, at PAL… PAL na yan, ha.
Hi Winston Kakabook ko lang ng flight with them just now , ngaun ko lang nabasa tong post mo , sana di ko ma experience yan waaaah, anyways hope to have a nice flight. 1st time ko mag zest
:laugh: Amazing!…ang mura ng ticket nyo.So d2 na ako
i just had an unpleasant experience din with ZestAir, March 14, 2011. I booked a flight in their Manila Domestic Airport office for Catarman on the very same day that the flight is going to leave, so, it is a bit expensive ticket. I paid with my credit card. Unfortunately, the flight got cancelled. The flighht was at first delayed and we waited until after luchtime (12:40PM), when they finally announced it is cancelled. Flight was suppose to depart at 10AM. TAKE NOTE: HUNGER PANGS! and you could not just take your lunch because at anytime, the airline will ask for boarding.
I opted for a refund since their next flight for the same route is 2 days after. Then they dropped the a-bomb: your fare will be refunded to your credit card balance in full only afer 30-60 days processing time. this is unacceptable because your bank will charge you immediately but refund takes 2 months at most! grabe ang business practice talaga dito.
anyway, i booked for a flight in airphilexpress the next day, and that was also more horrendous than the zestair bad experience. hayy……..
Ohh. I’m sorry to hear you also had a bad experience with them. What happened with your airphil flight?
Suki din ako ng zest air kasi mura. but to “hold departure” of my husband due to a suspected sore eyes does not compensate at all..we’re about to board the plane when suddenly somebody noticed na namumula nga mata ng husband ko. pinabalik kmi sa check-in counter and they told us they will split our ticket kasi nga bka may sore eyes ang kasama ko.. it could’ve been acceptable if we were notified in the first place na hindi pla allowed mag board ang may suspected sore eyes. kaso, they checked us in and even charge P4300.00 for our excess baggage tapos e ho-hold din nman pla kmi upon entering the plane? ganun ba ka taas and sweldo nyo pra pa ulit-ulitin ang trabaho? pfft! :smirk:
Ako suki ng zest air, kasi mura. Batang yagit ako e.
Asar naman yung nangyari sa akin sa Cebu Pacific, nadekwat yung pinakamamahal kong payong. :(
Zest Air – a former Asian Spirit airline, a piece of junk airplanes called in tagalog “kinahoy”. Means recycle. So beware for became a victim of horrible passenger experience. Last December 7, 1999 one of the poker plane crash in Isabela Province in northern part of the philippines becaude it is clear that the spare parts of planes was a recycle.
We had the same experience with them last year on our Ceb-Mnl flight. We found out that the flight has been cancelled sa airport na. Will never fly Zest Air. May FB page ba ng mga victims ng Zest?
wala ata. I don’t think Zest air is doing something about their customers’ comments
ang O.A. nyo naman. hindi naman puro panget ang experience sa Zest air.
who cares?
haha :-)
hey winston. noted to…thanks for sharing kahit medyo bad
Mura presyo… mura din ang serbisyo… try nyo mahal… para maganda serbisyo sa inyo…