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My cheap flight trick for Tokyo backfired a little, but I'm still glad I did it
I booked a flight to Tokyo for $550 by choosing a 22-hour layover in Manila instead of a direct 4-hour hop. I thought I'd save cash and see a new city for free. Big mistake. The Manila airport area was not walkable, a taxi to anything interesting cost $30 each way, and I was too tired to enjoy it after the first flight. I compared that to my friend who paid $700 for a direct flight and was in Tokyo eating ramen 5 hours after takeoff. The extra $150 was totally worth the time and energy saved. For a trip under a week, I now think paying more for less travel time is the real budget hack. Has anyone else had a layover plan that sounded good but just wore you out?
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miasanchez5mo ago
Oof, your "free" city tour sounds like a hostage situation.
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nina_taylor4mo ago
Manila is brutal for that, I've heard similar stories from friends. But @miasanchez called it perfectly with the hostage situation comment - that's exactly how it feels when you're stuck paying for cabs just to see a little bit of the city. What made you decide to walk around the airport area instead of just sleeping at a lounge or a capsule hotel? I'm curious if the exhaustion was more about the failed sightseeing or just the general 22-hour grind itself.
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thomas_butler5mo ago
Ever check the airport's actual location before booking one of those monster layovers? I learned the hard way, like you and charles720. Manila is a classic trap. That "free city tour" often means a $60 cab ride just to sit in traffic for two hours. Now I only do long layovers if the airport has a train straight downtown, like Singapore or Amsterdam. Otherwise you're just paying to be tired in a different waiting room.
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